Even greedy Tom Jeffreys can't eat everything at 16" West Brasserie. It's not for lack of trying though...
The museum restaurant may seem like a relatively recent invention – in keeping with the Tate-led brandification of cultural institutions. But in fact it dates all the way back to the 1860s, when the V&A opened the the Morris, Gamble and Poynter Rooms as, apparently, the first museum restaurant in the world. These days everybody's at it – with highly rated restaurants at the British Museum, Saatchi Gallery, National Portrait Gallery and Tate Modern, among others. But now there's a new kid on the block: 16” West Brasserie, housed in the recently opened Sammy Ofer Wing of the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, and rather lovely it is too.
16” West (so-named due to its proximity to the Greenwich Meridian) is tucked away down a little corridor by the more obviously located café, and consequently, when we visit, on a sunny(ish) Saturday lunchtime, it's surprisingly quiet. Inside, it's cleanly minimal with glass and concrete, but doesn't feel cold or impersonal. Table décor is kept discreet but effective: vivid blue napkins that hint at something nautical without pushing it, and elegantly hefty glass tumblers (from Luigi Bormioli) filled with acorns, leaves and other near-autumnal green-brownery. All foraged that morning, we're told by an enthusiastic waiter.
Nonetheless, we decide to sit outside in order to catch the last vestiges of summer sun. Our table is dangerously near to a wailing child, but all thoughts of violent solutions are forgotten thanks to a crisp class of Picpoul de Pinet. And then our starters arrive, both of which are quite delightful. I tuck into a colossal smoked haddock fishcake (£8.50). Surrounded by a creamy fennel and mustard sauce that is both richly delicious and leavened by punchy acidity levels, it's a wonderfully executed dish.
My companion, the editor of the New London Cocktail Review Kina Lillet, opts for the potato and leek soup (£4.95). Fearing something creamed and hefty, she's relieved to receive a bowl of light clear liquid in which the green seems almost suspended. Orientally tinged in both flavour and consistency, it's a lovely, and unexpected, take on standard British fare.
From this brilliant start, mains are a little disappointing. Ms Lillet opts for the gnocchi (£11.50), which is pleasant enough but the professed tomato, chilli and basil flavours fail to come through a sauce that feels a little generic. Opting on a whim to be vegetarian (it's something I'm beginning to seriously consider) I order the grilled Mediterranean vegetables with halloumi. It's a nice dish (halloumi's always delicious) and the streaks of pesto and balsamic reduction add a certain something, but it's inexplicably expensive at £13.50. Maybe that's why it comes in such an enormous portion.
Failing to realise the scale of the main courses, we also opt for sides (all £3.95) of excellent thick cut chips, and a salad which isn't quite what we're expecting, on account of the lack of promised radishes. Sad face. By this stage, however, we're ludicrously full: I'd suggest even the greediest visitors order starters, but share the mains. We can only thank the lord we didn't order burgers – I see stacks of them going by to various tables, and they're intimidatingly enormous.
In order to have a little break before dessert we potter off to check out the brilliant High Arctic exhibition downstairs, before returning for a delightful panacotta, which we share inside. Topped with punchy elderflower jelly, it's a classic of Modern British cooking, expertly done and presented Jackson Pollock-esque, with real flair.
It's little touches like this – along with the prompt, friendly and accommodating service – that suggest the staff here genuinely care. The arrival on the bar of a colossal and delicious-looking sponge cake signals the approach of afternoon tea, and time to leave Greenwich. The Sammy Ofer Wing is one of the most exciting extensions to a museum that London has seen in recent years, and, with both a contemporary feel and a good deal of charm, 16” West is a more than fitting addition.
www.16secondswest.co.uk
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