• Travel
    • Canary Islands
    • Germany
    • Greece
    • Italy
    • Malta
    • Mexico
    • Tenerife
    • UK
  • Lifestyle
  • Restaurants
  • Bars
  • Drinks
    • Beer
    • Cider
  • Food
  • Wine
  • Events

by invitation

Bringing you the best things in life

You are here: Home / Bars / The Candlemaker – Retro Food in Battersea

The Candlemaker – Retro Food in Battersea

August 2, 2015 by Simon Narracott Leave a Comment

After a hard week in town, I wanted a good beer, good food, relaxed environment and a great place to unwind before going home. So what could have been better than The Candlemaker, a pop art inspired pub, at the end of Battersea High Street. Michele Cremona (The Full English Kitchen) has taken over managing the pub and brings with her a retro food menu of real tasty natural ingredients making great quality comfort food.

The Candlemaker Battersea Outside

We arrived at around 6pm and it was already busy, the two outside areas being fully used by people wanting to make the most of the warm weather and evening sun

Inside is nicely laid out, with plenty of room between tables for diners and lots of room at the bar. The pub is laid out with pop art décor and some just weird things that add a certain extravagance and homely style.

The Candlemaker Battersea Bar Reception

Straight to the bar I ordered a pint of the locally brewed Laine beer and a glass of Prosecco for my date. I was told that prosecco was on special at £12.50 a bottle if I wanted one. Now that is a good price, and it did explain why almost every table was drinking prosecco; not just because of the good weather.

The Candlemaker Battersea Bar Area

Looking through the wine list, my first choice wine, a Petit Papillon Grenache Rouge had sold out (I am not surprised at the low price it was!) so I went for the Argentinian Tilia Malbec Mendoza. It goes well with beef, but my wine choosing skills were not needed as the menu indicates pictorially which food goes best with each wine. A great idea, especially in helping beer drinkers move to wine with meals, and promoting the matching of wines by the glass to the relevant dish.

The Candlemaker Battersea Wines

The menu at The Candlemaker offers a good range of mains with classic British dishes presented simply, some with a slight twist. Cauliflower Cheese with smoked paprika, Scampi with Pea Puree, Shredded lamb and meatloaf burger all looked good. Traditionals such as Wiltshire Cured Ham and Eggs or Bubble and Squeek are all dishes to please a resident and excite a tourist. All the dishes really reflect Michele Cremona’s skill in using the best seasonal ingredients from chosen farmers to deliver memorable dishes full of traditional natural flavours. Michele Cremona has a farm-to-fork philosophy that supports small British family farms and everything right down to tomato sauce is homemade. It’s a great chance to taste what real food actually tastes like.

The Candlemaker Battersea Seating

There were no starters, and I think The Candlemaker are missing an opportunity here. We would have happily had some olives and bread or a small charcuterie plater whilst waiting for our food.

I chose the Beef Brisket Hash with Roasted New Potatoes, Pickles, Caramelised Onion, Mustards Seeds, Pickles and Black Pudding. It came served on very floral and typically countryside English china plates, as if it was served from your family kitchen.

The Candlemaker Battersea Beef Brisket

My date chose the Shepherds Pie 6 Hour Slow Roasted Shredded Lamb Shoulder. It was the dish I would have gone for if she had ordered the Beef, so we were both in a meaty mood that night. Delivered to the table in a china bowl dressed with grilled carrots, it looked every bit a full meal in itself. The meat sauce exposed when cutting into it was full of lamb and herbs, with each chunk of meat breaking apart on the fork it was so perfectly cooked.

The Candlemaker Battersea Sheperds Pie

Neither dish needed any extra sides, but chips, black pudding, potatoe cake and bubble and squeak were available if you wanted it.

For dessert we shared an Apple Crumble with British Apples and Oat Crumble with Fresh Vanilla Custard. It wasn’t a difficult decision; it was the only pudding on the menu. It was well presented when it arrived and had all the full goodness taste of homemade apple crumble, and certainly exceeded expectations. We shared it, but matched spoon for spoon, it was so good.

The Candlemaker Battersea Apple Crumble

Typically British, Friday is fish day, with an East End Fish Stand serving oysters and other freshly sourced seafood. Something nice to have with the Prosecco next time I visit.  It would have been good to have met with Michele Cremona, but she was busy in the kitchen creating the food for what was going to be a busy night, and really building the success for this London Pub.

The Candlemaker
136 Battersea High Street
London
SW11 3JR

0207 223 6532

 

Filed Under: Bars, Restaurants

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Tags

Ale American Australia Barley Beer Bordeaux Cabernet Sauvignon Cava Champagne Chardonnay Chile Cider France Germany Hops Italy Lager Lebanon London Malt Merlot Mexico Montepulciano Olives Pinot Grigio Pinot Meunier Pinot Noir Prosecco Red Wine Rioja Rose Sangiovese Sauvignon Blanc Shiraz Sicily Somerset South Africa Spain Stout Syrah Tempranillo United Kingdom USA Valdepenas White Wine
blogl

Check out The Frugal Flexitarian for a new way to eat – great healthy recipes to make at home that use less meat or no meat at all.

Recent Posts

  • Mayfair’s Mount Street Unveils Christmas Lights
  • Champagne Deutz Across London
  • Lisboa Jardim London Pop-Up Opens For Summer At The Terrace
  • Chambord Queen of Hearts Gin Cocktail
  • London’s First Bottomless Brunch on the Beach At The Montague Bloomsbury

Pages

  • About
  • Media
  • Privacy
  • Seasonal Cocktails

Copyright © 2023 · Magazine Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in