Brunswick House

Brunswick House was one of the glories of Vauxhall when it was extended lavishly in the mid-18th century, but its fate was to be hewn in two. One half ended up headquartering the gasworks and then the local railway company, while the other was acquired by the Duke of Brunswick. It is here, amid chequerboard floors, battalions of chandeliers and luxurious drapes, that a combined restaurant, café and cocktail bar operation has sprung forth, with an outdoor terrace for taking the Vauxhall air. The main dining room can feel a touch draughty on a winter's night, but hang tough, because here comes Jackson Boxer with some contemporary brasserie cooking that adds gloss to an already lustrous scene. The smash hit among the nibbles is his hash brown piped with duck liver parfait and topped with sliced kumquat. Togarashi-spiced Brixham squid with charred white cabbage makes a case for itself among the starters (apart from its jarring dollop of English mustard), or there might be on-trend crudo of chalk stream trout sharpened with green apple and sorrel. For main course, the likes of Tamworth pork chop with rhubarb or cod in saffron broth with broccoli, aim to keep taste buds firing, but the most dynamic action is in the sharing dishes. Our spatchcocked chicken had been roasted to retain its moistness from leg to wing to breast, and came with accompaniments of salty clams, Brazilian-style moqueca broth and discreet jalapeño pistou, all topped with a herbaceous border's worth of mint and coriander – a roaring success. At the end, there could be riz au lait with rhubarb and pistachio, or a wodge of walnut and coffee cake in a sabayon of Pedro Ximénez. Wines look as though they are doing their best to live up to the surroundings, with fairly ferocious mark-ups. A short slate of 'special pours by the glass' could be worth considering, if you've a yen for old Gevrey, middle-aged Austrian Riesling or spanking-new Oxfordshire fizz.