Weekly Review: Llewelyn's
First rate place well worth a trip to Herne Hill, whether you live nearby or far away.
Quick hit: Colourful plates deliver fabulous seasonal flavours.
Details: Booking advised. Herne Hill. £££.
Restaurant website. More on Instagram and from Michelin.
Find it on Google Maps. 293-295 Railton Rd, SE24 0JP.
“Amazing colour.”
I’ve started carrying a little moleskin notebook to restaurants that I might review. I scribble a few words to help jog my memory when it comes time to write.
And my first note about Llewelyn’s in Herne Hill just says, “Amazing colour.”
The interior at Llewelyn’s is white, like it was freshly painted yesterday. There are big windows that face into an open piazza, and the place is flooded with light, even on a cloudy day. The seating is grey leather which gently reflects that light. And the floors and other fittings are from wood stained with a mid-tone. It doesn’t absorb the light, but it doesn’t quite amplify it either. There aren’t white table cloths but there is bright white paper partially covering each table.
When food arrives, all of these surfaces — whites, greys, stained wood — serve as contrasts for the bright colours on Llewelyn’s plates. Reds, greens, oranges, yellows, and even browns leap off the table. It’s all like normal colour, but more, as if I’ve bungled the settings on a screen or overexposed an image during editing.
Those bright colours provide a feast for the eyes, but they make a promise to the palate, as well.
And Llewelyn’s delivers on that promise.
I dined with a friend who had been a food blogger in the U.S. before she moved to London. She has lived and eaten in great food cities. And though she gave up her blog and her Tumblr, she’s as much as food expert as anyone I know. And she invited me to Llewelyn’s because, she told me, it’s one of her favourite places anywhere.
I can see why.
The chef behind all of this brilliance is Lasse Petersen. His background includes stints at Westerns Laundry and Moro as well as Amass and 108 in Copenhagen. In interviews, he talks passionately about the need to vary the menu, experiment with ingredients, and never sit still.
All of that comes through in his food.
The menu at Llewelyn’s changes daily, so there’s always something new to discover. (And they get bonus points for updating the menu on their website every single day.) There’s a brilliant wine list, with really throughtful, tantalising choices.
We visited on a Friday in early November, so ingredients were autumnal.
We started with “beetroot, smoked ricotta, citrus & radicchio” and “persimmon, gorgonzola, celery & sunflower seeds.”
The beetroot dish brought together flavours in a way that I hadn’t experienced. Lots of sharpness balanced by smooth, creamy cheese. And there was red, orange, and pink — a feast for the eyes.
The persimmon dish married sweet, creamy, salty, and crunchy. And the golden persimmons glowed on the plate.
Mains were “pork loin, pumpkin, charred greens & lovage” and “spätzle, autumn truffle, pine nuts & confit garlic.”
The pork, pumpkin, and greens were another festival for the eyes. Bright orange tempered by glistening green. The pork perfectly cooked. The pumpkin wonderfully roasted. The greens delightfully charred. No flaws. Autumn on a plate.
The spätzle was decadent with grated truffle, but even it contained little notes of green, yellow, and orange.
We passed on dessert to try the local ice cream place, but I regret not insisting on the “coconut ice cream & chocolate magic shell.”
When it comes to places like Llewelyn’s, I’m supposed to talk about it as the perfect neighbourhood restaurant. And it is. It offers a more casual spot next door and a wine shop two doors down. Llewelyn’s is the dominant presence in the most important spot in Herne Hill. And they are important to their village the same way Kudu and its family of places are important to Peckham.
But writing Llewelyn’s off as a neighbourhood restaurant doesn’t do it justice.
First, Herne Hill is only 17 minutes from Blackfriars, which is less time than it takes me to get to Covent Garden from my office in Bankside.
But more importantly, Llewelyn’s would be a great restaurant no matter where it was located. It might have more buzz (and probably be more expensive) in Mayfair or the West End, but it would still be great.
Think of it like Chez Bruce or La Trompette. Their fantastic food and excellent wine make both destinations, and both are in lovely communities. They are very much worth the trip.
Llewelyn’s is like that, but brighter and more colourful. A destination to seek out. Not just a place to visit if you happen to be nearby.
Thanks for reading this week’s review. What’s your favourite under-appreciated neighbourhood spot? Let me know in the comments. And please subscribe if you haven’t already.
I do like Spätzle. I wish we saw it on more menus out here.