The first thing you need to know about Roast is that you get to ride up to the restaurant in a lift. I know, big. Then there’s the floor to ceiling windows with wonderful views out over Borough Market and the surrounding streets, that make for a real 'heart of London' kind of setting. I took my family for brunch and - maybe because sometimes we look a bit scruffy first thing in the morning – we were shown to one of those tables that seems to be in everyone’s way, right up close to a family having a domestic. I always resent restaurants that give you a crap table if you’re just a pleb, but I resent them less if they’re happy to move you if you ask. We did ask and were transferred to a quiet corner table with those fabulous views, with very little fuss.
The atmosphere at Roast is just the right mix of pretentious and casual. I like the fact that it feels like an occasion type place but is not so stuffy that you can’t get away with flipflops and bad table manners. The service was charming, maybe a little slow at times but we were happy to forgive that once we’d got that nice table.
Food-wise, this is a restaurant that takes genuine care with its ingredients and aims to “bring a new level of energy to British cooking,” so it’s good. The Full Borough sounded a bit overwhelming on the menu (streaky bacon, Roast recipe sausages, fried bread, Ramsay of Carluke black pudding, grilled tomatoes, field mushrooms, bubble ‘n’ squeak AND eggs), but it didn't last long on the plate. The sausages were particularly flavourful and juicy and the Bubble a 'caff' kind of addition, which I liked.
It’s good value too - for this kind of restaurant - and at £15 pretty much the same price (and similar, if not more satisfying in terms of taste and quality) as an institution like The Wolsely.
The tattie scone (a potato cake) with smoked streaky bacon, field mushrooms and a fried egg (£9) was a slightly more modest option. I am a black pudding fiend and not a mushroom fan - when I asked to swap the field mushroom for a slice of black pudding, they did it without even a frown and didn’t charge any extra for it.
Our party also ordered the Eggs Benedict (£6.50/£12) which was pretty as a picture with nicely runny eggs and a delicious Hollandaise.
If you’re more of a fish fan, I’d highly recommend the grilled Orkney kippers with lemon and butter (£5/£9) and for something sweet, pancakes with rhubarb jam and Welsh Village Dairy natural yoghurt (£7.50).
So does Roast still live up to the Good Food Guide 'Best breakfast in London' award it won in 2008? I'd have to sample some of the other dishes to get down off the fence. But I'd say it's definitely in my top ten.
Roast
The Floral Hall,
Stoney Street,
London
SE1 1TL
www.roast-restaurant.com
