The ViewLondon Review
The Warrington is a peaceful haven, set apart from the claustrophobia-inducing bustle of Central London. If you’re after a decent meal, excellent service and great views, make Gordon Ramsay’s gastropub your choice.The VenueThe nearest tube is Warwick Avenue - a five minute walk to the end of Warrington Crescent. With Mary Poppins style architecture filling the pleasant road, the stroll to the pub is impressive in itself.
The Warrington is actually an old hotel, and its historic aspect has been kept intact. Upon entering, you are immediately hit by the ye olde world feel of the place. Dark reds and browns make up the decor, with fireplaces and stained glass windows completing the effect. It looks and feels very authentic and manages to pull it off without appearing dark and dingy. However, this is the pub part of The Warrington (complete with outdoor seating in a small garden); the restaurant resides upstairs. This area has a very different feel to it and is much more modern. It’s quite small, with just a handful of tables, but the light cream walls and big windows make it feel airy and spacious.
The AtmosphereThe Warrington is a refreshing mix of being a nice, peaceful place to eat where service and presentation is taken very seriously whilst remaining friendly and lacking in pretension. The pub itself tends to be pretty quiet – more of a chilled out local – although with the Gordon Ramsay connection you can expect most of the tables to be occupied. The clientele is predominantly made up of adults in small groups, and isn’t well suited to people with young children or large groups of friends, due to its size. The bar and waiting staff are very friendly and incredibly attentive to customers.
In comparison to the character of the pub, the restaurant upstairs could be accused of lacking in atmosphere - the modern decor doesn't hold the same historic charm as downstairs; however, if you face the windows you are treated to an impressive view of the surroundings, which creates its own ambience.
The FoodTwo menus are offered at The Warrington – the full restaurant menu and pub snacks. The latter offers a small but good quality selection of snacks, think Scotch egg, pork pie and chips, for £3 each. There is also a Sunday Roast available for a well priced £12.
The a la carte menu isn’t huge, with a skew towards seafood and very little for vegetarians. Nonetheless, the meals on offer are of a very high standard, filling and taste great. The starters range from a reasonable £6.75-£9.75 and consist of impressive dishes – oysters, scallops, pig’s head terrine and steak tartare. The spinach and ricotta spanakopita (a Greek pastry similar to a spring roll) is particularly impressive – a good size with a fresh, delicate dressing sprinkled with pine nuts. Considering the relatively small menu it’s notable that oysters are offered twice (you can choose from either Colchester or Jersey Oysters, the latter being slightly more expensive). A large plate of six is £9.25 and arrives with a dressing. The crayfish cocktail is a little disappointing in terms of size, but is well presented and fresh.
For mains you can choose between salads, meat dishes (priced at £12.50 for a veal burger rising to £18.50 for a Casterbridge rib eye) or seafood dishes (from £12.75 for the Colchester crab cake). The dishes themselves come in decent sized portions although the crab cake is relatively small (if delicious). The roast lamb, however, is a great size and comes with perfectly cooked roast vegetables. Finally, there are various desserts on offer, including a Knickerbocker Glory and fruit praline, priced at £6-£7 each. The Knickerbocker Glory is particularly recommended, consisting of delightfully creamy ice cream with a simple raspberry sauce that cuts through with a tangy snap in the mouth.
The DrinkA huge range of well priced drinks are on offer at The Warrington, with a truly astounding beer selection. Averaging at just £2.90 a pint you can choose between such highlights as London Pride, IPA, Broadside, Landlord Pale Ale, Organic Best Bitter, Champion Live Beer, India Pale Ale, Organic Honey Dew, 1859 Porter and a locally sourced guest ale. If lager and cider is more your thing then the choice includes Meantime Wheat Beer, Leffe Blonde, Peroni, Kronenbourg, Fosters, San Miguel and Guinness priced between £3.10-£3.95 a pint. Finally, if that’s not enough to tempt you, the bottled beer selection is excellent with Corona, Nastro Azzurro, Becks, Budvar, Bonsecours Framboise and Chimay Red.
If beer isn’t your thing then there’s a decent selection of well described wines, ranging from just £13.50-£28.50 a bottle. There’s also a fine selection of Champagne from £30 for a bottle of Australia’s Green Point to £135 for Dom Perignon. Finally, there’s a great choice of spirits, with many premium brands to choose from.
The Last WordDon't be fooled by the extravagant appearance, The Warrington is far from flamboyant. It doesn’t try to impress with over-the-top menus or extravagant prices, but rather focuses on a high standard of food and service, an excellent range of drink and lovely surroundings, both inside and out.
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