About a month ago I bid farewell to the region of London I’d called home for three years. The Clapham Junction area was where I lay my hat during two different house tenancies and I was lucky enough to have three fantastic years living in that much-abused haven for the culturally unimaginative and the demographically nondiverse. I’ll admit that it wasn’t my first choice of neighbourhood, but over the years I naturally found myself seeking [with some desperation] gastronomic gems that weren’t synonymous with a bottomless brunch on the Northcote Road. And that I did!
Behold my shortlist for where to find an authentic gastro experience in and around the Clapham Junction area:
- Deli Boutique, Webb’s Road
Lovely Deli Boutique, how I miss your perfectly buttery, custardy and flaky pain au raisins that had my heart over the past year. I can proudly admit that one in every two weekends this would be my breakfast treat of choice to take the edge off even the most painful of hangovers or stressful of weeks. There is something so wonderfully simple and non-London feeling about Deli Boutique. One front of house lady takes your orders, one lovely chef churns out tray after tray of fresh pastries and baguettes.
This little café perfectly captures the French vibe, and *queue abuse* after sampling significant quantities of pain au raisins in Paris over the past year, I can hand-on-heart say that Deli Boutique’s are superior. I’m not sorry for telling the truth. For a mere £2 you can pick up one of these supremely gooey, crispy and flavoursome pain au’s. Or, as I did several times, you can buy a small French baguette that is a very convincing replica of the real deal. The bread is stretchy and soft on the inside and perfectly crisp and light on the outside. I sat in for a brunch one time and was treated to baguette sandwiches which were whole-heartedly simple and filling.
However, for me it’s the pain au raisins that are worth the trip. Did I mention pain au raisin? You can also grab some of the world’s favourite French products should you get a hankering for Prince biscuits or Danette chocolate yogurts.
- Soif, Battersea Rise
What a gorgeous surprise it was to eat at Soif one rainy Sunday lunchtime. Another French-inspired joint, Soif has a cabin-like, wooden and rustic interior that is accentuated by wine bottle-lined shelves. As its name would suggest, Soif sells itself as a wine bar first and foremost, thanks to the restaurant’s extensive list of all-organic and natural wines. They even have a selection of wines on tap (dreamy).
But we’re here for the food, and I’ll walk you through what to get. Firstly, their selection of homemade bread. There was Sourdough, focaccia and a sweet, dense, nutty soda bread that was impossible to stop munching. The bread was paired with a gorgeous olive oil that was so green and vibrant that I had to ask the chef to bring out the giant can from the kitchen so I could try to replicate the flavour at home. Much to my dismay, a ten litre carton of Belcari’s Olio Extra Vergine Di Oliva is impossible to find online.
After the bread, we had a notably tasty burrata starter, which I would usually be opposed to ordering, but it was loaded with the good stuff (that beautiful olive oil) that left the big ball of cheese impeccably vibrant and melty. The showstopper is undoubtedly the Sunday sharing rotisserie chicken. As you walk up to Soif’s entrance off Battersea Rise you may notice a rotisserie chicken oven working its magic outside in true French style. The smell alone of that buttery, fatty confit chicken was enough to lure us in. Come with a companion – dad was my trusty choice – and share the rotisserie chicken with fries and salad for two. I guarantee you a good time.
The chicken is supremely moist and has that gorgeous barbecued flavour that we know and love from rotisserie chicken. The chips were very, very well cooked and seasoned. The simple salad complimented the other components, and a deceptively small bowl of stonkingly strong garlic aioli knocks your socks off. I can recommend not sharing a confined space with anyone for several hours, for their sake. A deal clencher for me was the jus; it was heavenly. Delicate and light yet packed full of deep umami chicken-y flavour. The perfect bath for chips and any leftover bread. The whole sharing dish works wonderfully in terms of flavour and overall satisfaction. The waiting staff are definitely a bit hap-hazard and gave off a general sense of confusion, but in quite an endearing and certainly unpretentious way.
- Tierra Verde, Webb’s Road
Funnily enough, I didn’t actually live on Webb’s road, but the placement of Tierra Verde directly next to Deli Boutique was enough of a pull to keep me coming back to this quiet little street. Tierra Verde is a miniscule Spanish deli that also serves coffees, bread and pastries in the mornings. The space itself is intimate and inviting: it is just one small room dominated by a large sharing table, a counter and a couple of bar stools for the window seats. The walls are lined with shelves of delectable Spanish produce.
The deli showcases products from ecological, small-scale farmers hailing from Andalucia, Almeria and Cadiz, who are known personally by Tierra Verde’s owners. Much like its French neighbour, Tierra Verde offers simple plates of good quality food: avocado on toasted sourdough topped with juicy tomatoes, topped with sea salt from Cadiz and served on an intricately designed Andalusian ceramic plate. Each sandwich option is accompanied by a tiny bowl of olives and a pile of olive oil crisps. Breakfast options include toasted focaccia topped with tomatoes and Mallorcan chorizo and drizzled with rosemary olive oil and sea salt. Simple, clean, delicious. Go for quality produce, a coffee, a Jamon Iberico sandwich and a refreshingly genuine Spanish experience.
- Sorella, Clapham Manor Street
While I’m here, I wanted to share my honest opinions on Sorella. Praised by critics as the Clapham’s ‘it’ spot, my housemate and I had huge expectations going into our farewell dinner at this highly acclaimed restaurant. Unfortunately we were placed on a table next to one incredibly shouty Clapham gals reunion, and in a spacious corridor next to the toilets and off the main restaurant space. The main room is beautiful, but our two-man table next to the bog felt a little makeshift. As for the food, the Sorella focaccia was very tasty, and the truffle arancini were everything you would expect them to be: rich, meltingly soft inside, crisp outside. These were a triumph. But the main event, the pasta, was incredibly salty and left us gasping for a swig of rather expensive rose. Perhaps where we went wrong was ordering the same dish as each other, which is something I strictly never, ever do.
My housemate and I both ordered the tagliatelle with wild mushrooms, Pecorino and smoked pancetta, because it sounded like the best of the bunch. £16.50 felt a little steep, but the richness and saltiness of the dish definitely didn’t leave me wanting more. Overall the meal was, in our opinion, overpriced and overhyped. I know we only tasted the tiniest fraction of the menu, but it’s enough to make me not want to return for round two.