The Harwood Arms
Walham Grove
London SW6 1QJ
Tel. +44 2073861847
The dishes
Venison Scotch Egg
Potato crisps with cod roe
Beef tongue on bone marrow toast
White Beetroot Salad (Deer tongue, Hazelnuts and Horseradish)
Cured Sea Bream (Cucumber, Shiso and Seaweed)
Roast Cornish Skate (Tomatoes, Basil and Mussels)
Berkshire Fallow Deer (Smoked beetroot, Blackberry and Bone Marrow)
Whitley Manor Honey Tart (Cherries and Buttermilk Ice Cream)
The Harwood Arms has long been my favourite gastropub in London, and that’s independent of the fact it is the only such establishment in the city with a Michelin star. It’s just that the place does so many things well: tucked away in a quiet part of Fulham, it offers a very casual and relaxed setting in which to enjoy well-cooked British fare (focusing on wild game, with roasts available all day Sunday) made with quality ingredients sourced with care. Add a wine list that can be exceptionally good and fairly priced depending on the latest arrivals, and a very friendly and competent service, and you realize there isn’t anything about the Harwood Arms that’s not to like.
Head chef John Cutress worked at length in some of London’s best restaurants including The Square and The Ledbury. It won’t surprise you much then that Brett Graham is the restaurant’s director: Graham is of course the head chef and owner of The Ledbury, touted almost universally as London’s numero uno in matters of dining, but has been director at The Harwood Arms as well since 2009. In fact, Graham doesn’t fly solo here: there is another director, Mike Robinson, and it’s his presence that makes the wild game focus The Harwood Arms is much loved for, all that much easier to understand and realize. Robinson also runs The Elder in Bath and The Woodsmann in Stratford Upon Avon, and his company (Deer Box) supplies restaurants with wild venison. On top of that, Robinson also oversees 24,282 hectares of land devoted to deer management and produces three TV shows about wild game for The Outdoor Channel. This coinncection is important, for The Harwood Arms is all about sustainability.
