The restaurant also offers a Post Workout Supper for fitness fanatics.
London’s appetite for fine food is growing by the week. Twenty-nine new restaurants opened in November alone, while 2013 has seen a 10% rise in openings in the city from last year.
Yet you don’t have to book at new restaurants to taste something fresh and exciting. There are plenty of established eateries across the SW postcode that pack just as much punch as the newcomers.
One of these is Metro Garden, an inconspicuous gem hidden in plain sight just off Clapham Common.
According to my +1, Thursday is the new Friday and is the best day for those wanting a night with friends and a glass of white to go grazing on London’s food scene.
That’s why Metro Garden, a restaurant that intersects the busy lives of SW Londoners, is perfect for the social eater. The further you delve into the restaurant the more surprised you’ll be, as its character unravels with time-old collections of antiques that adorn the walls and soft lighting in its cavernous conservatory.
It’s unique charm, the warm conservatory-cum-dining hall, reverberates the atmosphere of excited diners and thankfully the menu lives up to the décor.
Rich in flavour that leaves you wanting more, Metro’s tiger prawn and chorizo skewers offer a flash of paprika to get the taste buds dancing ahead of a fish pie main.
Toasted with cheese, Metro’s chef achieves both fundamental credentials to a fish pie: taste and texture. Without the other you either get a soggy mess of fish puree or a chuck of flavourless steak. Across the table, meanwhile, my +1 grappled with a toad in the hole drizzled with tangy gravy and thick sausages.
While our mains possessed all the hearty goodness of winter warmers, Metro Garden also serves those who want to keep trim this Christmas.
Clapham has a growing fitness, gym and social culture, spurred by the rise of Northcote Road and Clapham High Street as hubs of entertainment. To cater for the these social gym-goers, Metro Garden has produced its own unique menu, the Post Workout Supper, which means you maintain your fitness regime and social life.
For just £15 you get all the delights of an A La Carte meal without the carbs. High protein chicken mains and seasonal vegetables mean you replenish the muscle lost in exercise and it’s topped up by Metro’s own whey protein shakes.
It’s innovative ideas such as these that keep established restaurants such as Metro Garden ahead of the newcomers and, even if whey protein isn’t your thing, the restaurant is well worth sampling this winter.
Metro Garden Restaurant and Bar, 9 Clapham Common, Southside
Call: 0207 627 0632 / Website: metroclapham.com
Follow us @SW_Londoner
