This week I had the pleasure of dining at Audrey’s, where they were launching their new spring menu from New Head Chef, Vincent Hiss. Audrey’s itself is a café type-restaurant, a stone’s throw from Borough Market and behind Flat Iron Square. Upon rounding the corner to the street, the vibrancy of the restaurant and its picture-perfect terrace acts like a beacon. How they’ve managed to incorporate the existing mature trees into the structure is very impressive.

Upon entering the restaurant, we were warmly greeted by the staff and took a table by the window. The menu was explained in detail as well as the delicious-looking cocktail menu which we sampled to great effect. Our favourites were the French Martini which was delightful, and the strong Rum Swizzle, a concoction of white and dark rum,  pineapple & orange juice, and some Angostura bitters. If you visit between 5pm and 7pm you can take advantage of Audrey’s 7 till 7 offer where all 7 cocktails are only £7 – Bargain!

For starters we chose the Chicken Liver Parfait with accompanying red onion jam and toasted brioche, which tasted sublime, a winner from both of us. The Borough Market fish cake topped with a juicy prawn, sweet potato puree base and cucumber salad and pieces of samphire was also tasty, I found it had a very interesting mix of flavours…

It took us a lot longer to decide on the mains as despite only seven items, all the dishes sounded scrumptious. Following lots of mind changing I settled on the Fish Pie which had a very generous medley of prawns, mussels, salmon, and smoked haddock. My guest was torn between the Spring Vegetable Risotto with asparagus, tomato fondue and parmesan crisp and the Dry Aged Longhorn Ribeye steak but of course the Ribeye won and deservedly so, it was cooked perfectly and just melted in your mouth. Skinny Fries and Braised Sweetheart cabbage was ordered to share.

Due to the very generous portion sizes of our starters and mains, we left it a while to have our desserts. The crème brulee & soldiers were certainly a showstopper, served in eggshells within 2 eggcups with meringue shoulders for dipping but it missed the silky consistency that is usually associated with this dessert, enjoyable all the same. My guest was full of compliments for the Chocolate and Apricot mousse accompanied with a cacao crumb tuile, and was very tempted to lick the plate (she didn’t).

Overall, a very pleasant evening with good food and drinks and one to add to your list, especially when the weather gets better so you can sit on that beautiful terrace and people-watch.

Address: Audrey’s, 1 Flat Iron Square, Union Street, London SE1 0AB

Website: www.audreyslondon.co.uk

Written by Lorna Byrne

Photography courtesy of Audrey’s