The Dairy Clapham

The Dairy Clapham

We recently spent a few days in London and decided to try out The Dairy.I'd seen some fantastic pictures of food on twitter and had read also how much effort they go into ensuring that their staff are well fed on food from the restaurant. This made me want to try it all the more. After getting off the tube you find yourself on a rather pleasant high street on which The Dairy is situated. On the day we went we arrived to find Mary Berry sitting in the window after just having filmed something for the BBC there. We were seated at a high table with old school science lab chairs.Looking around it has that feel of somewhere really relaxed and informal (there were even bar stools made from milk crates fixed together).Definitely an eclectic mix of furnishings but very pleasant.There were large doors at the front which they later opened as the weather was so sunny and warm.





We looked at the 2 menus that we were given and decided to go for the £25 special 4 course lunch. This meant choosing one from each section of  Snack - Garden -Sea or Land and a Dessert. Although the menu was not an extensive one we still had trouble choosing as the combinations sounded so good we had the dilemma of which one to choose. As we were waiting we were bought out some little canapes which we devoured before I  could even snap a photo.We were then bought out a little warm hessian type bag with a small  bread in accompanied by absolutely wonderful hay smoked marrowbone butter served on a pebble.Then came our 'snack' my hubby chose the Truffled Brie de Meaux on a fig &walnut toast with rooftop honey ( their own).The truffle sprinkled on top unsparingly. I opted for the Galician octopus,fresh coco beans and Sicilian tomatoes. The octopus in this dish was so well cooked it was so tender and not at all chewy.The octopus as tender as the beans.  
Next course was the 'Garden' course.This time hubby had Soft Bantam egg with wild mushrooms.The combination of the earthy mushrooms with the eggs simple but delicious!

My choice was the Hay smoked curd,Jerusalem artichokes,roasted onions and chanterelles. The Jerusalem artichoke is a vegetable which many people turn their nose up at.This was a dish which you wouldn't be able to do this with. The artichoke was cooked in different ways which gave the dish many textures, the smokiness adding another aspect which finished it off.Another very good dish.

We both chose the same dish for the 'Land' selection. This was a really difficult choice for myself as I found it really difficult to choose.I think I could have had all 3 very easily!! We opted for the Yorkshire venison,celeriac,game sausage and blackberries. a rather pretty dish with a good balance of the fruit with the game.The venison cooked pink and the little nuggets of sausage had  a nice gamey spiciness.



For dessert hubby had the Roasted pears ,hay milk pannacotta and brown butter.An unusual dessert but pronounced delicious as it was demolished! I had the Salted caramel,cacao and malted barley ice cream.I very rarely  go for anything chocolate related for dessert but as the other 2 had pears and apples in (not my favourites) I tried this.I'm so glad I did.Because it was cacao instead of chocolate this was not overly sweet but was full of flavour,the ice cream perfectly complimenting it.
Feeling a bit naughty we also decided to add the cheese course in to the end of our meal.Again we were so glad we did .36 month aged Comte with strawberry grapes and homemade maple and thyme crackers. The right amount of a good cheese makes up for masses of bland cheese.
The final surprise came as we were waiting for our bill a couple of lovely Petit fours served in a little old  fashioned tin.A perfect end to a perfect meal.
We would highly recommend The Dairy.The food is not the normal run of the mill but very cleverly put together ingredients that really work well.An all round very enjoyable experience.This is somewhere we would definitely return.