4 days ago
The Fat Badger review: ‘The genius is that it seems so simple — it isn't'
The doorman greets us at an inconspicuous side door. He shows us upstairs to a wood-panelled bar, where a cool jazz band are performing to an audience that seems to consist of the forty best-looking people in the postcode. That's saying something — in this part of the capital, if you drink the water you get Botox by proxy.
I'd been holding off going to the Fat Badger. In fact, I was actively grumpy with it. An article appeared in the Standard a few months ago calling it 'London's invite-only pub' and I thought, 'Screw them. I live in the best restaurant city in the world, with a gem on every corner yearning for my custom. I'm not begging to get into your silly cool-kids-only treehouse.'
Actually, that's not what I thought. What I thought was, 'Oh no, I've not been invited to the party.' And I felt a bit sad. Then I forgot all about it.
Until now. It turns out that the Fat Badger is not an invite-only pub. They let everyone in, even me. The chef — George Williams, formerly of the excellent Bull at Charlbury and only in his early thirties —came over to explain. At first it wasn't open to the public as the kitchen was still experimenting. Williams used friends as guinea pigs for his dishes, some of which, he says, were 'not very good at all'. The dishes, not the friends. It wasn't an invite-only pub, it was a soft launch.
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This was, admittedly, a foolhardy idea. The Fat Badger is part of the Public House Group, the company behind many of London's most fashionable new restaurants — the Hero, the Pelican, Canteen. When customers got wind that PHG was opening somewhere new, they all wanted to go. And poor Williams has spent two months assuring angry punters that he wasn't running an invite-only pub. I'm choosing to believe him, mainly because running an invite-only pub would be an utterly deranged business choice.
So come one, come all. And thank goodness, because for my money Williams is one of the best chefs of his generation. I've suspected this since I went to the Bull last year and ate lentils far more thrilling than lentils have any right to be. The Fat Badger confirms it. Upstairs from the jazz bar, in a low-ceilinged, log cabin-style room with an open kitchen, we are checked for allergies and told to await whatever food arrives.
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And arrive it does. Little tacos made from thin slices of celeriac, containing a strip of mackerel and bright tomatillo salsa. A second set, with crunchy nuggets of veal sweetbread, makes me gasp with joy. Sodabread, almost treacley, and whipped butter. Then tiny slivers of pigeon on toast, with a burnt apple relish. They taste like sweet, rich, delicately burnt toast: charcoally and full of childhood memories.
Then the starter arrives — a fillet of turbot in a puddle of foamy lobster bisque with firm, bright peas that are somehow the star of the show. As with those lentils at the Bull, peas have no right to be the star of any show; particularly not a show including lobster.
For the main, a fat, pink fillet steak with morels (guests on their second visit are offered pork chops, to keep the menu varied). On the side, hasselback potatoes and an elegant green salad, seemingly made up of everything left in the fridge: flame-grilled asparagus, pickled radish, beetroot, courgette, a selection of leaves. It works so well. At heart this is just steak, potatoes and salad. The genius of this place is that it all seems so simple. It isn't: all the ingredients are so cleverly balanced, so frequently surprising.
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Dessert is three dishes to share: honey tart (almost a flan), strawberry ripple knickerbocker glory (too sweet for me) and strawberry and basil sorbet (delicious). I can barely eat more than a spoonful of each. That's my only criticism (apart from the three flights of stairs to the loo). It's a big old production and £85 a head before the service charge, or the cheapest bottle of wine (mildly upsettingly: £65).
But then the day after I went they announced they are starting lunch service; at £55, with a lighter menu. Such is the power of my pen, no doubt, that they'd answered my criticism before I even wrote it. Look, this is still more a place for a special treat than a casual Tuesday lunch. But the Fat Badger is absolutely worth it. And the best part? Everyone's invited.★★★★★
