Gourmet Burger Kitchen 44 Northcote Road, Battersea London SW11 1NZ
Cute Santa Kiwi at the bottom right
After spending a few hours at Wandworth Common taking photos of Egyptian geese we were starting to get cold and a burger sounded nice so we went to GBK where they had a Christmas menu including an interesting venison burger. I had to try it
We ordered one Christmas menu (with cajun chicken pieces, the venison burger, the portion of fries and the Christmas mince pie – £10.95) and a Kiwiburger (£8.15) with a side garlic mayo (£1.55). As drinks we had a Macs Gold beer and a glass of redberry smoothie (£2.95).
Cajun chicken pieces
Venison burger
Kiwiburger
Good fries
Christmas mince pie
The chicken cajun pieces were great: hot, tasty and crispy. The sour cream and sweet chilli dip was also excellent. Probably not healthy but I am into anything with cream and butter… The venison burger was not good. First, it was not very warm and the spiced redcurrant and crumberry sauce was somewhat weird. It looked like a kind of gelatine on top of the burger. The kiwiburger was much better but here also it could have been warmer. The fries were quite hot and nice. The garlic mayo was not up to the one we used to have during our previous visits. It was less garlicky and on the bitter side. The mince pie was minuscule but very good. It wasn’t too sweet, probably partially because it was that small 😉
Cost and conclusion: it was £27. It was a little disappointing this time compared to our previous experiences there. Hopefully it was just an accident! The service was friendly as usual.
The Prince Albert 85 Albert Bridge Road, Battersea London SW11 4PF
The Prince Albert
Two dogs at the door and a cow on the roof
Nice great Dane
Great statue
The main entrance
The Prince Albert is a surprising-looking pub with two big statues of dogs outside and a cow on the roof. If, like me, you like to see Meerkats at Battersea Park Zoo and feel hungry after watching them eating (the feeding time is 11am by the way) the pub is very well located right in front of Battersea Park on the Albert Bridge road side.
The counter
Another view
Inside it is spacious and there is also outside seating. It seems the pub is frequented by many parents taking their babies out at the park but we did not hear any babies screaming etc. It was fine.
We ordered chicken liver pate, apple chutney (£6.50) and onion and thyme soup with Cheddar cheese toast ($6) as starters. They were followed by a cheese burger, dill pickle and chips (£9.50) and a Kilravock pork chop, Irish black pudding and duck egg (£10). As drinks we had a lemonade (£1.60) and a pint of Stella (£3.50).
Ketchup and mayonnaise in the little cups
Other interesting meals were the Berkswell cheese, pickled walnuts and beetroot salad (£7.50), the smoked trout, green brean and soft boiled egg salad (£8), the Scottish mussels, cider, leeks and bacon (£9), the 28 day aged rib eye steak on the bone, parsley butter and chips (£18.50), the roast skate wing, brown shrimps and capers (£13) and the Welsh lamb rump, roast garlic and white bean stew (£12.50). I was interested by the Ploughman’s lunch but unfortunately it contained stilton cheese and I have not been converted to it yet despite living here for over 5 years now. I still remember the spoon of vegemite on a toast I ate in Sydney while visiting a friend. It was horrible but compared to stilton it was quite edible.
The two starters
Chicken liver pate
The chicken liver pate was quite large and thick. It came with 4 slices of toasted bread but they were still not enough to accomodate all the pate. Another slice would have been welcome. As for the pate itself, it was very rich (it was surrounded by butter-like fat on its side, if not just pure butter) but was nice and smooth. Conversely, I really did not like the apple chutney. It was like baby food and I stopped eating it after half a spoon.
Onion soup
The onion soup wasn’t too good either. It was made with a sort of caramelised onion that rendered the soup itself sweet (really not what you want with onion soup). The cheese was fine, but the toast it apparently was on was well and truely disintegrated within the soup, so hardly noticeable. Overall, a rather strange and not especially nice dish that I would not choose again.
The two main courses
Kilravock pork chop
The Kilravock pork chop was a little dry and bland. Full of fat too and little meat, and I am not a fat meat gourmet. It was well cooked at least but no taste at all. Maybe they forgot to add some salt? The Irish black pudding was good, not too strong as can happen with black pudding. The duck egg was perfectly cooked. Compared to hen eggs, duck eggs contain less water so the white looks more gelatinous which is the case here.
Cheese burger
The cheese burger had potential – but the “medium” cooked burger was rare to the point of nearly being a tartare! I could have lived with that, but had asked for it medium expecting – as is usual in the UK – to get something well done, as I wanted my meat well cooked. It also seemed a little sad that the burger arrived rather empty looking with just the meat and cheese inside the bun, with a little squirt of mayonnaise, whilst the remaining contents were outside on the plate. The chips it came with were fine and crispy, if a little floury.
Cost and conclusion: it was £37. The food was average, nothing exceptional but it is conveniently located and has a pleasant clean surrounding. The service was friendly and it is kid friendly.
Gourmet Burger Kitchen 44 Northcote Road, Battersea SW11 1NZ London Telephone (020) 7228 3309
Gourmet Burger Kitchen in Battersea
Have you ever tried a Kiwiburger? It is a burger with beef, cheese, salad, egg but also some beetroot. It originated in New Zealand hence the name. The idea for Gourmet Burger Kitchen originated in New Zealand and this can be seen by the presence on the menu of not only the kiwiburger but also from several wines and beers coming from there. It happened I was wearing a flashy green fluo t-shirt with New Zealand on it so I fitted in well in the restaurant 😉
The restaurant is quite simple inside, a little crammed but there is a terrace so you can eat outside if you wish. Our table was next to the counter so it was getting a little busy with all the people ordering their food especially since they also do take away.
We ordered a Kiwiburger made of 100% Aberdeen-Angus Scotch beef, beetroot, egg, pineapple, cheese, salad, mayonnaise & relish (£7.95) and a Habanero made of 100% Aberdeen-Angus Scotch beef, hot and spicy sauce, mozzarella cheese, salad & mayonnaise (£7.65) plus two NZ brewed beers, a Steinlager (£3.30) and a Mac’s Gold (£3.30). We also added two portions of fries (£2.75 each).
The burgers were excellent! They were also massive, so only for very hungry people (or could alternatively be shared). The burger bun was nice and fresh, and lightly grilled so it was crispy on the outside whilst remaining nice and fresh inside. All the burgers are cooked to ‘medium’ (unless you ask for something different) – medium was perfect. In addition to the meat, the kiwiburger has cheese, egg, beetroot and pineapple, plus the usual salad and tomato. That means about 3-4 full rings of pineapple and at least half a beetroot – so really not a small meal. It had a little too much tomato for my taste, but that is easy to expel. The only complaint/comment here is that there is no way in the world to eat this thing other than dissecting it with knife and fork. It is a seriously large burger – about 20 cm in height.
The Habanero burger was very good too and the spicy sauce was a little sweet and surprisingly spicy (hot). I like that! Apparently it is a novelty on their menu. The fries were good. They were still crispy while being quite large. Do not order two portions unless you are very very hungry! We managed to finish one only. The mustard provided with the fries was incredibly hot, be moderate with it 😉
The macs gold beer is a pleasant lager and the Steinlager was fine too if you are into bitter beer – both were served properly cold as they were designed to be, not the semi-cold (too warm) bottles you get too frequently in London pubs.
Not very large inside
2 NZ brewed beers! Mac’s Gold & Steinlager
Habanero burger
Details of the Habanero burger
Overview of the table
Details of the massive Kiwiburger
Done! Nap time required now...
Cost and conclusion: it was £27.70 in all. It is possible to have offers like two for one etc if you do some search online. We did not know at that time since we tried it just because the burgers looked good while visiting the area. It is not exactly the refined food but the quality was there and it was good. What else to ask for burgers? The service was very good too. Definitely recommended!
Ukai Sushi 39 Lavender Hill, Battersea SW11 5 London 0207 350 2565
Reviewed on Saturday 9 May lunch time
We discovered Ukai Sushi really by luck. Today we first wanted to try the Franco Manca pizzeria in Brixton Market since it gets so many good reviews. Despite getting there at 12:30 there was an umbelievable queue at the pizzeria! Even the best pizza in the world is not worth wasting our time in a queue so we decided to go to look for a restaurant around Clapham Common. While trying to find a restaurant we saw a butcher cooking sausages on a BBQ in the street. They looked good so we tried them. Big mistake! They were greasy and the bread dry. Also, the guy serving us was using gloves but he handled the money and other things whilst keeping his gloves on. Lovely sense of hygiene…
Greasy award winning sausages
They looked good...
... but they were awfully salty and greasy, the grease going through the paper
Well, after finding a bin for getting rid of that 1000 calorie sausage we were looking for a nice light lunch and on our way to Clapham Junction we found Ukai Sushi. Ukai Sushi has a nice sober and modern decoration all in black. Seats are large cubes. The only downside was that you can’t put your feet under, and have no support for your back – so no relaxing back in your seat. We ordered a spicy tuna platter and a spicy salmon platter and for drink it was a kiwi + mint iced tea and a golden lotus with jadeli tea.
The spicy tuna and salmon were indeed spicy, and everything was good quality and fresh. Both were a mix of sashimi (4 slices), nagiri sushi (2 pieces) and hosomaki sushi (5 pieces) – respectively with tuna in one case, and salmon in the other. We would have preferred the sashimi to be a bit colder, but no complaints beyond that. Another general observaton is that the entire platter being tuna (or slamon) can get a little boring even if its spicy, and we shared – so another time we would probably choose a selection of different sushi.
The golden lotus tea was excellent. The only complaint to make about it is the type of glass it is served in – which gets very hot and can burn your fingers. A balloon glass or one with a handle would be much better for the customer. The kiwi/mint iced tea was very good, and freshly made. Not the easiest thing to drink with a straw though, as the bits of kiwi tended to block it.
Ukai Sushi restaurant
Wasabi peas
Kiwi and mint iced tea
Hot water and a lotus flower
Bigger...
Full size
Spicy salmon mix
Spicy tuna mix
Details of the spicy salmon mix
Details of the spicy tuna mix
Overview of the two meals
Cost and conclusion: for £29 (service not included) we enjoyed our quick lunch. It was nice to discover a Japanese restaurant in that area.
The Fish Club 189 St Johns Hill, Clapham Junction, SW11 1TH Tuesday-Sunday from 12 to 10pm.
Reviewed Sunday 5 April 2009.
The Fish Club in Battersea
Some art for sale
Another nice fish in papier mache and mosaic for sale.
The menu is displayed on a black dashboard on the wall with all the currently available fish, starters, side, drinks… The menu may vary because they only use fresh produce – which is very welcome. The staff were nice to suggest some fish and to describe them and we decided for the red gurnard (£9.95) and the whole royal bream with chilli and garlic (£12.95). Sides were the chips (£2) and the roasted veg (£4.50). I was surprised to see we could get the Japanese beer Asahi there but we chose a bottle of Australian wine Willowglen (£12.95).
An easy to drink wine
The red gurnard on top before...
The red gurnard after...
The royal bream
Chips and roast veg
The two fish were cooked chargrilled for the royal bream and ovenbaked for the red gurnard. Both were fresh and firm. The royal bream with chilli and garlic was tasty and fortunately the chilli, which was not hot at all but sweet, was not too sweet. The skin was nicely crispy. The red gurnard was nicely cooked, with a crispy skin. The flesh was firm and with a nice delicate flavour (neither fishy nor bland). Nicely enhanced with just a touch of lemon. The chips were excellent and certainly the best chips we have ever eaten in the UK. Usually they are quite boring, suffocating and look boiled. Here, they are cooked twice like they do in Belgium (which is the country of frites) so they were crispy despite being pretty thick. The roasted vegetables were good, soaked in olive oil and well roasted. The wine was very drinkable.
For dessert, we ordered a chocolate brownie and vanilla ice cream (£4.95) and Jude’s Ice Cream (£3.95) with butterscotch flavour. No bad surprise, they were good too! The brownie was not too sweet and the butterscotch ice cream was fine (very similar to “hokey pokey” ice cream that you get in New Zealand).
Chocolate brownie and vanilla ice cream
Cost and conclusion: for the two fish, two desserts and the bottle of red wine the total cost was £54.25. The food was great and while what we ordered was not the ordinary cheap fish & chips (a haddock costs £6.95 for example) the setting was like a fish & chips place so I find the place a little overpriced.
