Recently the Instagram invites have been rolling in and a lot of restaurants in London have been contacting me and asking me to give their food a try. The best part about the free food is the fact they don’t even want me to write blog posts, they literally just want insta coverage. In fact I’m sure not a lot of them even know I have a blog. Meaning that I get to go and try all these amazing foods for you and I get to choose the best ones to write up for you here. One such place was Flour and Grape, which I just had to write about.
I rocked up in Bermondsey on a Thursday lunchtime to find the restaurant absolutely packed, this is a busy restaurant with a lot of turnover it seems. It isn’t surprising as the place is adorable. Chic and modern but with a lot of charm. As I cast my eye over the menu I could see that its very reasonable prices are why its so popular.
I kicked off my lunch with an Aperol Spritz (£7.50) at the bar whilst I waited for my date Gem Takes Food Pics. I wasn’t planning on drinking but they looked so good and it was such a lovely sunny day it seemed churlish not too. A little while later I also tried the Grapefruit Spritz (£6), which was incredibly refreshing and fruity. I mean once you start drinking, why stop? For those who don’t fancy cocktails their wine by the glass selection is also very varied and starts at an incredibly reasonable £5 a glass.
As soon as I saw they had my favourite cheese on the menu we had to get it. We ordered the Buratta (£6), along with the Heritage Tomatoes (£6), and of course some Bread (£6). This was the perfect trio of starters to begin our meal. The heritage tomatoes were sliced pieces of heaven. Sweet, juicy, and strewn with basil leaves, they paired perfectly with the creamy burrata. The fresh hand made bread was the ideal host for these two wonderful ingredients. It was like a DIY bruscetta.
The main event here are the pasta dishes, there are half a dozen on the menu and we managed to narrow it down to three. The second I saw the menu there was one dish I knew I couldn’t leave without trying, the Taglierini (£12.50). The beautiful handmade pasta is slathered in preserved truffle, butter emulsion, and cured egg yolk. This was the rich and indulgent dish of my dreams. I literally couldn’t leave a single strand of the pasta on the plate.
The Tortelloni (£9.50) was stuffed with roasted pork shoulder, and sage butter. The pork inside was super light and was again smothered in the tasty sage buttery sauce. If you love butter then these will be the dishes for you. The Spaghetti (£7.50), which was a simple medley of tomatoes, black olives, garlic and white wine, was probably my least favourite, after the richness of the other this couldn’t quite compare. I think I would have enjoyed the pork shoulder ragu a little more as it was have been able to stand a little better against the other dishes.
Despite being very full after all that pasta, it seemed rude not to have dessert. My date had to run off so I settled for an Espresso (£2) and a Tiramisu Gelato (£5) which I turned into an affogato. The gelato was absolutely orgasmic. There was a delicate mix of coffee ripples and rich and creamy mascarpone gelato that was ridiculously fresh and tasty. It was pure poetry, do not leave without ordering it.
Overall the lunch was absolutely fantastic, we easily had enough food for three though you might be as greedy as we were and not want to share. The ingredients were all top notch and everything was homemade. The fact the prices are so low just adds to its popularity. It is a gem of a place, be sure to make reservations to avoid disappointment.
Flour & Grape is located at 214 Bermondsey St, Bermondsey, London SE1 3TQ . The nearest tube station is Borough. For more information you can call them on 020 7407 4682 or check out their website. They are open from 12pm-3pm & 5:30pm -10pm Tuesday – Sunday, and 5:30-10pm on Mondays.