The first British chip shop opened and 150 years ago and today sees the official launch of The Tommyfield in Kennington, which takes its name from the Oldham market where it was located.
The latest venue from Tom Peake, Mark Reynolds and Nick Fox of Renaissance Pubs - responsible for the renowned Avalon, Abbeville and Stonhouse in Clapham as well as The Bolingbroke in Battersea - The Tommyfield embraces its Victorian heritage, taking inspiration from chop houses and markets of the time.
Food is of the highest quality: fresh, seasonal and sustainable. Cooking is simple – letting the ingredients speak for themselves. Drinks showcase the best Britain has to offer and design is smart, mixing elegance with industrial.
Offering the very best produce available that day, executive chef Massimo Tebaldi has created a menu which allows over ten daily changing blackboard ‘specials’ to become the star of the show.
To begin, enjoy new season asparagus with fried duck egg and toast or dive into a British meat board, a robust selection of pork terrine, sausage roll, Scotch egg, Caerphilly cheese, onion chutney and homemade piccalilli.
For main course, opt for ‘blackboard’ fish - all caught from English day boats and MSC certified where possible – choices might include cod, coley, sea bass and soft shell crab, battered or grilled. Meat options on the blackboard feature your choice of cut, cooked your way - sirloin, hanger, rib eye or châteaubriand. The pie and mash section of the blackboard offers the traditional and contemporary. Try cow pie made from an age-old recipe of beef, tripe and ox tongue or the more modern combination of duck and guinea fowl.
Those looking for more complex dishes won’t be disappointed with the likes of lamb rump with butternut squash, garlic and caper jus or pork tenderloin and crispy belly with buttered kale. Chips make their mark, as one would expect - proper, English, neither thin nor fat and cooked twice.
Sunday roasts hit the spot with organic chicken with bread sauce and British beef with Yorkshire pudding. Desserts don’t muck about either. Feast on rhubarb and apple crumble, Eton mess, banoffee pie or pecan and chocolate brownie.
Drinks continue the commitment to quality produce with British brewed ales such as Wandle from Battersea, Doom Bar from Cornwall and Timothy Taylor’s Landlord from Yorkshire. Award winning English wines on offer include Nyetimber Classic Cuvee, 2005 and Chapel Down Bacchus Reserve 2008 and with over 20 different international bins available by the glass or carafe, there is no excuse not to experiment.
The Victorian chop house inspiration is also evident from the entrance marked by smart striped canopies. Inside cream crackle-glaze antique brick tiles cover the walls interspersed with exposed original brickwork that together provide the handsome backdrop for stunning light installations created from old Naval ships, a suspended steel wine cage, a majestic mahogany bar inlaid with iron and an open kitchen.
Upstairs the Master Room offers private dining and cocktail parties, with an elegant space for up to 80 standing and 40 seated. Taking design cues from the pub’s previous incarnation as The White Hart, it features four representations of The Wilton Dyptch (1395-1399), commissioned by Richard II whose palace was previously located across the road and whose emblem was a white hart. Two striking empire chandeliers, vintage chocolate Chesterfield armchairs, warm mustard walls and a stylish fire place complete the picture.
Address: 185 Kennington Lane, London SE11 4EZ
Tel: 020 7735 1061
Email: info@thetommyfield.co.uk
Twitter: www.twitter.com/tommyfieldpub
Web: www.thetommyfield.co.uk
Nearest station: Kennington Tube
