Harwood Arms * | London (UK)

A highly elevated take on the traditional pub. Celebrating quality and provenance in a kitchen that excels at gutsy dishes of wild food and game!

Tucked away in the quiet backstreets of Fulham, we discover the Harwood Arms, the only Michelin-starred pub in London. It looks like a pub both inside and out, complete with bare wooden tables and chalked-up specials. But I really like the rustic charm and sophisticated feel of the place. Everything seems thought out to create the right atmosphere.

Co-owners Chef Brett Graham of The Ledbury ** in London and Mike Robinson opened the Harwood Arms in 2009. The Harwood Arms’ focus is on using as much wild food as possible, particularly game. A lot of which is shot by the owners, who are both keen hunters. Just a year after it opened, the pub was awarded with a Michelin star, which they’ve held ever since.

Head Chef at the Harwood Arms is Sally Abé. Originally from Mansfield, Sally really got into cooking, when she was eighteen, working a mundane office job in Sheffield. For her final placement year during her hospitality study, she headed to The Savoy. After which she moved to Gordon Ramsay at Claridges (then one Michelin star). After a stunt with Marcus Wareing, she started working for Brett Graham at the Ledbury **. Sally stayed there for 5 years, going from chef de partie to sous chef.
After that Sally decided to take a break from the chef’s life. She swapped chef knives for a mouse and keyboard and joined Great British Chefs as a recipe editor and developer. After 18 months it was time to go back into the kitchen. She worked for Phil Howard’s Elystan Street, before joining The Harwood Arms as Head Chef in February 2017. 
Sally was named Chef to Watch at the 2019 National Restaurant Awards and happens to be married to Matt Abé, Chef de Cuisine at Gordon Ramsay *** in Chelsea.

Harwood Arms is open for lunch and dinner every day, except Monday lunch. The Daily Menu offers 5 Starters, 5 Mains and 4 Desserts and a Cheeseboard (3 courses at £49,95). From Tuesday to Friday they also offer a Set Lunch Menu (2 courses at £29.50 and 3 courses at £32.50).

We had lunch last week and selected three courses off the Daily Menu.

Housemade brown sourdough bread with oats, Guinness and buttermilk. Very dense but deliciously flavoursome. Works well with the creamy house butter with sea salt.

The daily menu has a “Before” section with two cocktails and a Scotch egg. Couldn’t resist to order the Scotch egg of course, which was ever so lovely. Beautiful venison meat and not over-seasoned. The bit of salt on the scrumptious crusts finishes it perfectly. A high-end take on the humble scotch egg and a great start!

The starters followed. Lamb sweetbreads with a light but crunchy crust, perfectly prepared. Love the barley salad with the mushrooms, frisée lettuce and some crispy barley. Excellent. A gorgeous and harmonious pairing of textures!

Faggots not too strong in flavour, showing beautiful finesse. Do need more of the deep and shiny onion jus. Crispy onions on top just add to the comfort. This is lip-smackingly delicious!

Lamb nicely pink. Could have rested a bit longer, but excellently seasoned. Silky mash with cep mushrooms and chard. Sauce Diane is delicious and good to leave the little sauce jar on the table. This dish is pure comfort. Love it!

Deer cooked perfectly. Love the pumpkin in three ways: the puree, confit slice and particularly the duchess balls. Bringing nice textures as well. Pickled walnuts and Brussels sprouts work well with the deer. As does the jus, but not enough of it! I do love my sauces, as a lot of times they make the dish. Still, this was an excellent plate.

With the deer came roast garlic potatoes (Sorry for the blurry photo). Nice and dark, fluffy on the inside and crunchy on the outside. Very nice. Would have liked that jus to dunk them in!

Well layered pastry of the tart tatin. Fresh and tangy quince, with a gently sweetness. Well complemented by the raisin caramel and creamy buttermilk ice cream. Excellent dessert!

The other dessert we choose was this delicious sticky toffee pudding. Comforting and bold, without being too dark and strong. Head Chef Sally incorporates figs to achieve this great taste and flavour. Deep and sticky caramel sauce and a smooth vanilla ice cream. Lip-smacking again!

Service was charming, welcoming and informal. All adding to a thoroughly enjoyable experience. As we are in the middle of the game season, this kitchen that boast of focusing on wild food and game could really thrive and show their best. And boy they did!

The Harwood Arms is a highly elevated take on the traditional pub. Showcasing quality and provenance in a kitchen that excels at gutsy dishes of game and wild food. The venison faggots being the prime example of that. I will be back for those!

Thanks Sally for coming out of the kitchen to say hello. Really appreciated! It was a genuine pleasure to enjoy your cooking. We certainly will be back for more and I would recommend everyone to do the same!