Menuwatch – The Salisbury
Recently relaunched in south-west London, the Salisbury pub's "British tapas" option makes for an unusual and clever offering. Tom Vaughan reports
The link between tapas and booze runs deep. Even a mooted source of its name - tapa meaning lid or cover in Spanish - is that drinkers standing round bars would balance tapas dishes on their glasses to better graze. But in British pubs we've always had pork scratchings, scotch eggs and scampi fries, so why swap a century of heritage for jamón and tortillas?
The UK's attempts at tapas have been mainly confined to sit-down restaurants rather than bars, from success stories such as Fino in London to La Tasca's inauthentic effort. Even Fino's celebrated sister Barrafina is a restaurant in spirit, not a drinking hole. So it kind of makes sense to ship the ethos of tapas into a British pub.
CULINARY HERITAGE
And that's just what the Salisbury in Fulham has done. But it manages to combine the ethos of Spanish tapas with the hallmarks that have driven British pub food forward this past decade: seasonal adherence and a creativity based on our culinary heritage. Chef Adrian Jones's menu is pub food, there's no doubting that, but it also has the simplicity and conviviality of Spanish tapas. It's British tapas.
Such hybrid concepts are normally flawed from the start, but the British tapas offering isn't some wacky hook for the refurbed pub, but an idea Jones has been slowly developing for years. "It's something I started when I worked at Shibden Mill in Yorkshire, doing small versions of seven classic British dishes," says Jones. "I took it to the Spencer Arms [the Salisbury's sister pub in Putney]. Here, we've taken it on and expanded the idea."
Jones's credentials - including time spent at La Tante Claire with Pierre Koffmann, with Nico Ladenis and a long spell in Gary Rhodes's kitchens - mean that the sourcing and cooking of the food is nothing if not assured. And despite his Michelin background, Jones's dishes are simple, gutsy and dependent on what is available and reasonable from his suppliers, which include Aubrey Allen for meat, Rushdens for fruit and veg and Penbra for fish.
So, when rabbit kidneys were a good buy, Jones sautéd them and served them with mustard (£2.50) crab comes served with eggy bread (£3.50) lamb sweetbreads with parsley and capers (£4) and smoked salmon with pea shoots and tapenade (£3.95). There's plenty of luxury in the 17-strong tapas choice, in the shape of healthy slices of pan-fried foie gras on toast (£6) European nods with dishes of charcuterie (£9) and chorizo and harissa-fried potatoes (£3) as well as British classics such as Welsh rarebit (£1.95). Rooster's beak - an Anglo take on Mexican salsa dish pico de gallo - is the one mainstay in a menu that is forever changing in order to preserve customer interest. There's also fantastically good value: to encourage high cover numbers, diners can buy any four tapas dishes, apart from charcuterie, for £10.
The Salisbury reopened in February under the guidance of Jamie Sherriff, owner of the Spencer Arms, and the tapas concept is doing well, with the kitchen sending out 70 dishes a night to the bar and restaurant. Jones is keen to at least triple this in the near future.
However, stubborn adherence is the downfall of many a concept, so the menu also boasts 14 main courses, from salads to pies, alongside the tapas selection. Comforting British mains such as maize-fed chicken, peas, white pudding, celery and smoked chicken (£12.95) and a venison pie (£10.95) sit alongside lighter options like a smoked chicken and Waldorf salad (£8.50). The kitchen is also selling its pies to a local butcher and for customers to take away.
Desserts are defiantly comforting and include milk chocolate, rum and raisin truffle and honey madeleines (£5.50) and the excellent cinder toffee and rhubarb Eton mess (£5.50).
UNIQUE OFFERING
The secret to the Salisbury is that, while Jones may mess around with the portion sizes and the starter-main-dessert formula to include a tapas option, he doesn't dispose of the basics of pub dining. Drinkers can graze on a tapas dish or two at the bar diners keen for a quick-paced meal can have a line-up of tapas dishes, the simplicity of which makes kitchen assembly a doddle while traditionalists can have a tapas dish followed by a main and a dessert. In the competitive market of south-west London gastropubs the Salisbury has launched a unique offering that truly sets it apart from the pack.
The Salisbury, 21 Sherbrooke Road, Fulham, London SW6 2TZ.
Tel: 020 7381 4005www.thesalisbury.co.uk
ALSO ON THE MENU
Tapas dishes
- Feta, mint, peas, broad bean salad, £3.50
- Smoked duck, plum relish, £3.50
- Blue cheese fritters, £2
- Corned beef hash, fried egg, £2.5
- Rocket, salted almonds and artichokes, £3
Main courses
- Mince beef and onion pie, £9.95
- Mussels, saffron, garlic and a bowl of chips, £8.95
- Rib-eye, corned beef pasty, onion gravy, £13.95
- Fennel and avocado, truffle oil, £7.95
Desserts(all £5.50)
- Chocolate marquise, pistachio ice-cream
- Butlers Blacksticks Blue cheese, warm oatcakes
By Tom Vaughan
