A gastropub delight

Avalon was the fairy isle of Arthurian legend, the place where the sword Excalibur was forged. It is also a Balham Hill gastropub, which underwent an equally magical transformation a couple of years ago from a dodgy pub called the George to a smart foodie destination.

These days it is part of a mini-chain called Renaissance Pubs, also including the Stonhouse and Abbeyville in Clapham, Rosendale in Dulwich, the the Tommyfield in Kennington and the Bolingbroke in Battersea. There seems to be a general theme of attention to food and decor, a modern-British menu with touches of other popular cuisines, and a level of gastro-pubbiness that doesn’t mean you feel you can't just have a drink there.

Avalon is a big place, with a large bar area at the front and a rather nice restaurant area at the back – no tablecloths, but huge light fittings made of chainlinks, like an industrial chandelier, and cream-tiled walls with old photos set into them.

We didn’t peruse the wine list, opting instead for the real ales on handpump – Timothy Taylor’s Golden Best for me and Landlord for the Real Ale Drinker.

We got off to a solid start with ham hock terrine with piccalilli (£5.50) and pumpkin and ricotta ravioli with parmesan cream (£5.50 on the menu, though it seemed to have gone up to £6.50 by the time it appeared on the bill). The terrine was excellent. The Real Ale Drinker thought there might have been a bit too much piccalilli, though as I pointed out, he could have just left some of it. The piccalilli was good stuff, anyway, with just the right level of spicing, with a mix of crunchy vegetables including baby onions. I couldn’t honestly tell what was in the tortellini, though to be fair by the time you wrap a small amount of filling in a complicated pasta casing, and serve it with sauce, it is by no means unusual for the filling to get lost. The parmesan cream – think a very rich cheese sauce - had bags of flavour to make up for it.

A vegetarian main course (£11) was nicely presented and something a bit unusual – half an aubergine and half a courgette, stuffed with puy lentils and topped with buffalo mozzarella. There was some roasted red pepper to complete the autumn flavours, with some escarole, a vegetable I haven’t knowingly eaten before, but which is related to curly endive and once cooked, looks and tastes quite similar to chard.

The other half was quite impressed with his whole plaice (head removed for the squeamish) with caper butter, new potatoes and slightly salted spinach (13.50).

The chocolate tart (£6) was lovely – dark, not too sweet, with a slightly soft filling that contrasted with the crisp pastry. It came with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream that was nothing special – I should have gone for the crème fraiche option instead.

The sticky toffee pudding (£5.50) filled me with happiness – light sponge, lots of toffee sauce with a deep, brown-sugar flavour, and a scoop of ice-cream again.

All in all it was an excellent meal, and most unusually, I couldn’t find much to complain about. Well, the ice-cream could have been a bit better, but that’s about it. They do 50pc off food with Tastecard, and judging from the bookings sheet there were quite a few Tastecard tables there on our visit.

There is a pleasant garden, too, though sadly I can't see myself using this for some months to come.

Avalon
16 Balham Hill
London SW12 9EB
020 8675 8613
www.theavalonlondon.com