It's a strange feeling stepping off leafy Chiswick High Road into this attractive bar/brasserie. Located in a former paper factory, Sam's Brasserie is the sort of airy industrial space, all exposed brickwork and piping, that is ten-a-penny in East London and almost non-existent in the West. It's as if a magic portal has been opened, that instantly transports you to Wapping. You can see why Rick Stein has chosen to invest in this new venture by his former protege. It's the only restaurant of its kind for miles around, and when we visited, just two weeks after opening, it was turning people away at the door. There were even a couple of C-list celebrities enjoying a bowl of mussels in the corner. Fortunately, the food is of a considerably higher standard than most of the identikit Shoreditch brasseries that it imitates. Simple cooking, good ingredients and a little imagination are the order of the day in flavoursome starters like Steamed Mussels and Clams with Chickpeas and Chorizo, or Serrano Ham with Figs. Our mains offered some delicately pink lambchops, cooked to perfection, and seared scallops as good as anything from Rick Stein's tasting menu. Prices are pretty reasonable for this part of London, and the booze is very cheap indeed, with a good house red at £12.50, and Czech beer on tap. It's a noisy, bustling place, where you could happily relax on your own, or have a raucous meal with a group of friends, but in either case it would probably be a good idea to book well in advance. Following the success of Sam's, the team set up a second restaurant, Harrison's, in Balham in October 2007.
It's a strange feeling stepping off leafy Chiswick High Road into this attractive bar/brasserie. Located in a former paper factory, Sam's Brasserie is the sort of airy industrial space, all exposed brickwork and piping, that is t..
more