Long time no review! Big Matt has moved house so the Notting Hill, Ealing nights out are no longer so easy. However he can get a pretty fast train to Putney and that works well for me as well so we met up last night for drinks and food. It's been years since I have been out around here so I was keen to see what was on offer. After passing a very very empty tapas bar we happened upon Wallace and Co. The menu looked nice enough so we popped in and were shown to a booth table by the friendly manager. It's a nice enough room though quite bare, I think the design and layout are geared to the daytime trade but I think with a bit more effort they could give it a bit more of a bistro feel for the evening. There were some nice options on the menu so I went for the braised lamb shoulder following a recommendation from the manager and Big Matt had the duck leg confit. We skipped starters but ordered some bread and dripping.
The bread and dripping arrived though I wasn't a big fan, the bread was excellent but the dripping just tasted like congealed fat. Perhaps they should have served it warmer. Luckily my bottle of Adnam's got rid of the taste. The mains took a while to arrive though the manager was apologetic as their was a large group to cater for. I think one of the problems in here is though some dishes come from the kitchen others come from the deli counter which can lead to delays when putting together the service for the table. Anyway when our mains came they were very nice. Big Matt loved his duck leg which looked lovely and my lamb and beans were very tasty. Suprisingly my big disapointment was our side of veg, in the menu it said it would be enough for two. What we good was some decent cauliflower cheese, a couple of carrots and some overcooked broccoli. I was expecting a lot more quantity and quality bearing in mind this place is owned by a greengrocer.
The bill came to just over £20 each which I thought was fair. It's not expensive for the food you are getting though I was expecting better from the veg. The service was very friendly though I did feel they were struggling slightly. There does seem to be some work in progress here. I think it is only a couple of steps away from being a very good all day eatery. I'd be happy to try it again possibly day time as I think with the outside seating and big glass frontage it could be a very pleasant spot
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 8