Its from gate to plate tagline may smack of canny marketing but you’d be hard pressed to fault the restaurant’s ethos – they butcher their own meat on the premises and solely use artisan, locally sourced and seasonal produce. But how does it fare from fork to mouth?

The Venue
In terms of location, Platform couldn’t be better placed for transport links (it’s mere moments away from London Bridge station) or its target audience - the capital’s most famous food market, Borough Market, is also just around the corner. Inside, the former strip club has been transformed and the late licence is now the only attribute of its former guise that remains. The ground floor acts as a late night bar, ideal for enjoying a pre or post dinner cocktail or after work drinks, and the bar is long enough to ensure that you’re not crowded in when ordering a drink to take back to one of the clusters of seating.

Upstairs, the dining area with its warm exposed brick walls, high ceilings and industrial styled open kitchen is just warehousey enough to make the stroll away from the well-known restaurants on Shad Thames and Bermondsey Street worth it. A gigantic glitter ball spins above the bar on the floor below adding a tongue in cheek twist and the dappled light creates a pretty effect on the walls of the L-shaped galleried dining area. The simple G-Plan extendable tables and mismatched chairs are as stylishly retro as you’d expect but they’re also exceedingly practical, allowing the room to transform itself in an instant to accommodate larger groups.

The Atmosphere
At weekends, breakfasts are a lazy, tranquil affair but at night Platform is far louder and upbeat as the music and competing conversations rise up over the gallery and into the restaurant. This certainly isn’t the place for an intimate meal but if your patter is past its sell-by date and you’d rather let the food do the talking you’re in luck. Unless you’re prepared to shout over the table, as soon as the food has arrived you’ll be totally engrossed in the plate in front of you, only pausing to comment on how good it is.

The Food
Part of the joy of good ingredients is their ability to inspire chefs into refining cooking styles to do them justice and that’s certainly the case at Platform. From the cuts of meat used (they have a cross-shareholding with a farm and take the entire free-range beasts direct from it) to the North Sea day boat catch of fish and the seasonality of the vegetables used, the care that the chefs have taken is clear in every dish. The Country Gloucester Old Spot terrine served with bright yellow, homemade piccalilli (£7) is a generous slab served simply to showcase the quality of the pork. The potted shrimp (£6) is served just as pared down, in a small kilner jar with piping hot toast to spread it onto and the delicate flavour of the plump shrimp is a nice light way to start a meal.

Unlike many pies, the Dorset lamb and minted pea pie (£9), is not bulked out with any vegetables, it’s just meat, save for the smattering of minted peas to add flavour. The contrast in textures between tender chunks of lamb and the pop of the peas works exceptionally well and the familiar combination of the ingredients and the traditional recipe make it the ultimate comfort food. The steaks (£18.50) are only slightly less impressive. The Devonshire Ruby Red beef is free-range as you’d expect and again served in a generous portion with the fat melted perfectly into the steak to create such a depth of flavour that you only need some triple cooked, hand cut chips (golden and crisp on the outside, fluffy and light in the middle) or some simple buttered spring cabbage to accompany it.

The ingredients-are-king theme continues with the desserts. The pear and rhubarb crumble served with piping hot custard (£5) is presented just as it was cooked in an individual dish. The crumble topping is light, crunchy and buttery with a hint of cinnamon and the sweetness of the pear and just tart enough rhubarb marry well. The Bakewell Tart (£5) served with a dollop of clotted cream is slightly less successful. The fact that it is served warm is encouraging but the pre-requisite almonds are imperceptible which is disappointing and results in the dish being far blander than it should be.

The Drink
The upbeat atmosphere calls for something sparkling at the beginning of a meal and there’s prosecco and Champagne to choose from. The NV Carte Noire, Jean-Paul Deville Champagne (£8.50 per glass) is gloriously golden hued and rich and syrupy in flavour. The cheaper NV Prosecco Frizzante, Cantina Bernardi (£4.75 per glass) is a good, well priced alternative. The 2009 Malbec ‘Finca Los Primos’, Bianchi, Argentina (£6.25 a glass, £24.00 a bottle) is robust and well rounded and works particularly well with the lamb and steak dishes on the menu. As for the white, the 2009 Pinot Grigio, Corte Giara, Veneto, Italy (£6.25 a glass, £25 a bottle) works particularly well with the pork. After dinner, head to the bar for an organic and botanical cocktail (£8).

The Last Word
Platform is a welcome addition to an area that prides itself on knowing what makes a restaurant stand out from the pack. With their diligent approach to the provenance of ingredients and animal welfare, this Tooley Street restaurant deserves to be a success. It’s not intimate dining but there’s plenty of passion.

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