A selection of the Brunswick House dishes.
What can you tell us about Brunswick House?
Open for nearly 10 years in Vauxhall, this is one of two Jackson Boxer restaurants in London. It's housed in a beautiful building and inside is one of the best looking restaurants in town. But alas, it's not one you can visit in lockdown (although we hope they make good use of their outside space soon).
The restaurant has been both a local favourite and much loved by critics, with an ever-changing menu led by the seasons. And, as with Boxer's other restaurant Orasay in Notting Hill, it's delivering a menu that is aiming to get as close to that Brunswick House experience in your home as possible.
The beautiful room at Brunswick House. Hopefully, we'll be back here soon.
So how does it work?
The menu is split into sandwiches (we'll get to that later) and small/large plates. It's a finish-at-home affair, so we'd recommend ordering for delivery in the afternoon ready for the evening's dinner.
The smaller dishes generally don't require re-heating, but there are instructions on how to dress/plate just before serving (we'll cover some of that below). The larger dishes do need a spell in the oven (or the pasta will need to be cooked), but no more than 15 minutes for anything.
We did like the sheet which explained how to finish off every dish on the menu. Each of the dish instructions were short and well explained - simple enough for anyone to follow, including us.
And what did you have?
We worked our way through a fair chunk of the menu (admittedly across a couple of days). Here's what we had:
Grilled Garlic & Potato Bread, Smoked Aubergine (£5) - the bread, heated up in the oven for a few minutes, may well be some of the finest garlic bread we've ever tasted.
Baby Gem Lettuce, Elderflower Champagne, Parmesan (£6) - putting our plating skills to the test
Green Piattone Beans, Yellow Wax Beans, Cocco Bianco Beans (£7) - a mix of beans and covered with a bean dressing. A perfect spring/summer veg dish.
Grilled Sandy Carrots, Barrel-Aged Feta, Smoked Almonds (£7) - another example of how Brunswick house caters very well for vegetarians.
Freekeh, Heritage Tomatoes, Kalamata Olives, Carosello Cucumber (£6) which comes with a wonderful scent-of-the-summer tomato vinaigrette.
Rack of Smoked Treacle Rare Breed Pork Ribs, Burnt Apple Hot Sauce (£18) with Cornish New Potatoes, Green Onions & Walnut Mustard (£6) in the background. There were actually two of these ribs - and we're a big fan of the BBQ rub they use.
12hr Glazed Lamb Shank, Green Olives & Pickled Figs (£22). This was an exceptional dish. We asked for more info about the sauce and were told: "The sauce in the glazed lamb shank is essentially a rather elaborate tagine base, made over three days - onions sweated out then glazed with a concentrated lamb stock, preserved lemons, pickled green figs, and a generous quantity of saffron." The hard work really paid off here - the sauce is just wondrous.
And what about dessert?
At the time of writing, there was a yuzu, orange and grapefruit cake (£6) or a lemon and meringue tart (£6). And then there was this:
Cru Virunga Chocolate Pot (£4.50) - it's so hard to make a chocolate dish stand out, but this was one of the best desserts we've had this year. We asked Jackson Boxer for a little more info - "The chocolate pot is layered up with caramelised white chocolate, and lightly moussed dark chocolate, then very good cream from the Estate Dairy. I get the chocolate from Original Beans, which has an excellent purity and clarity of flavour, not to mention an admirable focus on the ethics of production in an often exploitative industry."
And what if I'm terrible with choice?
There are a number of set menus too - all for two people. There's a picnic (£30) which will be very handy now that we can all meet up in parks, a vegetarian feast (£40) and feasts based around the ribs (£40) or the lamb shank (£49).
You mentioned something about sandwiches?
There are three sandwiches - all ready to eat without any prep - which all look quite incredible (but which are available during the week only). All £9, at the time of writing, they include "Fried Chicken Thigh, Bacon, Comté & Burnt Chilli Mayo", "Fried Haddock, Pickled Cucumber, Sriracha & Tartare Sauce" and "Smoked Mozzarella, Caponata & Salsa Verde". They look great.
How about drinks?
The restaurant and bar get as much acclaim for the drinks as the food - and this focus continues to the home menu. There are a number of cocktails on offer, all delivered in pouches and again supplied with instructions on how to serve (over ice, from the fridge etc). All are around £12 for two cocktails and include a Blood Orange Negronis, Walnut Old Fashioned and even a frozen margarita and daiquiri.
The wine list is priced between £14 and £34 and you'll find some great options in that range. If not - you can always order in a pouch of their keg wine.
Anything else?
If that wasn't enough, they're also selling fresh produce for delivery including various cheeses and ice cream sandwiches from Happy Endings.
Overall thoughts
Jackson Boxer had a relatively early start on the delivery scene with Orasay in Notting Hill. Following that with Brunswick House, he's delivering a menu which stands out as being quite unique in the food delivery scene.
More about Brunswick House
Where is it? 30 Wandsworth Rd, Vauxhall, London SW8 2LG
How to order: On their website
Delivery range: Tuesday, Wednesday (and all pre-orders up to noon Thursday) 5 miles radius. Orders placed on Friday to Sunday 2.5 miles..
Also see: Orasay at Home delivery (for west London)
Find out more: Follow them on Instagram @brunswick_house.
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