The Harwood Arms - Fulham, Thursday August 30th, 2012

Last summer proved to be a spell of re-visiting popular places. In the course of justifying our expense, the wife and I tend to use any social occasion as an excuse to eat out. More often than not, our friends will give us the choice of where to eat with the caveat that we should be picking somewhere we've previously gushed about.

The Harwood Arms is one of those places. And, like Heinz Beck and Gauthier Soho, last summer saw us making our third visit there, following a Christmas meal in 2010 and a birthday meal in 2011. A friend of ours was due to be leaving the country soon, so we thought a proper English meal as a send-off would be fitting. Our friend Mike, who originally started this blog with me years ago, was also invited since he'd been dying to try the place and was too ill the year before. Sadly though, the curse struck again, our friend for whom the meal was organised coming down with food poisoning.

So, a table for three it was and the options on the card were enticing. The great thing about The Harwood Arms' menus is that they always play to their strengths in the most appealing way: simply-presented food which makes sense. Glamorous pub food such as this requires two main things: great ingredients and good combinations. Execution is really a given, so the short of it is you're expecting to be impressed. And having been less than impressed at supposedly the greatest pub of them all - The Hand & Flowers - earlier this year, The Harwood Arms remains the zenith of pub eating to me.

Since Mike and I are such sticklers for people ordering distinct dishes at the same table, the fact that we were going to try nine different plates across the evening was never in doubt. I don't really understand people who have an aversion to sharing food but that may be because most of my social life revolves around eating. Every course was tried and dissected by each of us, and if that sounds like taking the fun out of a meal, you're just not as sharing and open as I.

The wife went for the starter of smoked salmon with broken eggs, pink fir apple potatoes and sorrel (left). The combination itself sounded marvellous and, with the right balance, it would have been. Unfortunately, only two pieces of salmon meant the perfectly broken eggs (soft-boiled and scattered across the plate) overwhelmed the flavour of the main event somewhat. The potatoes as a base and the sorrel as a dressing were undeniably excellent, but the whole thing fell slightly short overall.

Mike plumped for game as he tends to more often than not, with rabbit shoulders cooked in cider, served with girolles and spelt dumplings (right). This is what proper English gastro-pub food is all about: bold, traditional flavours harmonising perfectly. A sticky, sweet offal sausage was presented on the side, lending a delicious rustic punch of flavour. The mushrooms and dumplings sat exactly as they were intended to: a delicious support for a fine use of rabbit.

My starter was a special of the day and it seemed impossible to resist given that it was summer: chilled beetroot soup with a sour cream quenelle, buttermilk scone and mackerel (left). It was indeed a refreshing take on a more hearty starter and the scone, with cold mackerel inside, was delight. Sadly the actual soup wasn't all there, with the excellent beetroot flavours dulled by how cold it all was. The cream and chunks of cucumber within were lost; it was almost too sharp and chilled to fully reach its potential in the event.

Main courses were no-messing, hearty platefuls. Mike went for the neck and chop of lamb, served with barley, curd cheese and stewed courgettes (right). This was an imaginative and nicely varied plate of food, and one of those dishes which seems a bit disparate until you combine all the components together. On doing so, this jumped from average main course to serious excellence.


Mine was a more straightforward classic: cheek and jowl of middlewhite pork with celeriac, cabbage & crackling (left). Nothing can get in the way of this being a total winner if executed properly and it was. All the meat was succulent, seasoned exceptionally and for £18, a bit of a bargain. The two cuts of meat were impeccable on their own but came to life even more with the classic accompaniments. A rip-roaring success, especially when augmented with the divine garlic butter roasted new potatoes we shared on the side.

The wife pushed the boat out more with her main course of grouse, blackcurrants, sweetcorn and girolles (right). Costing £23.50 it was the most expensive thing on the menu but I suppose for out of season top quality game, you have to pay a little more. This was a delicious bird and the sweetcorn & mushrooms were spot-on choices to serve with it. I was a little confused by the blackcurrants which added a nice touch of sour acidity but then overwhelmed more often than not. A little sauce would have worked better here instead of the fruits themselves.

Desserts were a slightly tough choice because we were all wary of certain elements to just about every dish on the menu. There is nothing more frustrating than a dish (especially a dessert) which reads beautifully but has one thing you cannot stand. This is usually nuts of some kind in my case. However, I did find one thing that I jumped at sharpish: rice pudding (left). Made from pearl barley and served with stewed plums, yoghurt sorbet and a home-made jammy dodger biscuit on the side, this was without a doubt one of the best desserts I ate all last year. Stunning consistency and flavour in the rice pudding along with the sorbet adding contrast was an absolute delight. This was the rice pudding to end all others.

The wife ordered the brown sugar doughnuts (right). Served with sea buckthorn curd and sour cream, these were perfectly well made but lacking the wow factor of a great dessert overall. The curd was enjoyable and packed with citrus tang but the sour cream left a little to be desired as part of the dish. The wife certainly scarfed them down without complaint.

Mike was in a real jam as to what to order, so he went for a special of strawberries (left). This was a very simple assortment of fresh strawberries, stawberry sauce, ice cream and sorbet which actually acted as a lovely light finish to a meal which - to be fair - had been heavy up to this point. If you're going to eat rabbit then lamb, you need to finish with something fairly mild and this was a very pleasant, fruity end to a satisfying meal.

The Harwood Arms is one of my (and the wife's) favourite places to eat in London and the quality of the dishes combined with the natural charm of the pub make it a consistent winner. I don't know if I've ever had a meal beyond reproach here, but the highs are always high enough to justify the price and the food quality is - at its best - fantastic.

I cannot recommend this place highly enough if you are in the area. Actually, even if you aren't in the area it's worth the trip. It is still just a pub, make no mistake, but the food on offer is as good as I have eaten in a drinking house anywhere at all.

The Harwood Arms