Brentford can hardly be described as a culinary hotspot, but The Weir makes a brave stab at bringing a touch of gastropub class to the suburbs.

The Venue
Tucked away off the High Street in what used to be the White Horse pub, The Weir takes a little bit of hunting out. Once inside, the dedicated dining area in the conservatory feels a bit soulless, but the main bar is much cosier, particularly if you can snag a table on the very pleasant raised area.

The decor is squarely in gastropub territory; think brown leather seating, cream walls and stripped wooden floors, but it’s none the worse for that. There’s also an attractive garden for the warmer months.

The Atmosphere
The Weir is definitely a place where you’ll feel genuinely welcome whether you’re popping in for a drink or for a full three course meal. It has to be said that, at times, it can be painfully quiet but people trickle in throughout the evening, creating a pleasant buzz.

The clientele consists mainly of couples and small groups, with generally a slightly older skew - this really isn’t a venue for the party crowd. Once settled in to the comfortable leather seats, it’s easy to while away the hours over a few glasses of wine and if you’re looking for a chilled-out and intimate atmosphere then you’ll feel right at home. Look elsewhere if it’s lively you’re after.

The Food
The Weir offers both a full restaurant menu and a decent selection of small bar snacks. Starters are priced around the £5 mark with most of the mains between £12-£15. The main menu is packed full of British classics such as roast belly pork, smoked mackerel, salmon and prawn fishcakes and lamb shanks, while the bar snacks have a more Mediterranean theme - the selection includes hummus, olives and chorizo sausage, all served in tapas-sized portions.

Overall, the menu is well thought through and attractively presented, whilst the quality of the ingredients is good – the roast chicken is free range and beautifully cooked, and the well-aged steak gets top marks for flavour. Unfortunately though, the execution isn’t perfect. The bread sauce served with the chicken is creamy and well-flavoured but far too runny, and the rather dry sticky toffee pudding is saved only by the accompanying ice-cream and puddle of butterscotch sauce.

The Drink
There’s a decent, well priced wine list that steers generally towards the New World (including a particularly easy-drinking Australian Shiraz), with the majority of bottles hovering around the £18 mark and very little priced over £30. There’s also a small but delicious sounding cocktail menu, and a good selection of beers on draught.

The Last Word
The Weir does a lot of things right, and certainly deserves credit for bringing something different to Brentford, but it has some very stiff competition just down the road in Chiswick. This is a charming and comfortable place to linger over a reasonable meal and good wine, but to draw in business from outside the area it needs to up its game and cut the mistakes.

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