Adam is behind the MICHELIN-starred restaurant, Trinity.
“What's the matter?” asked my dining companion, noting the sudden tears in my eye after I’d chewed my first mouthful of pie. “Is something wrong?” The opposite, in fact. “I’m just moved,” I explained.
The pie in question was a Coronation Chicken Pâté en Croûte with mango chutney, created as an homage to the woman who gave Brasserie Constance its name: Constance Spry, a florist and chef who invented Coronation Chicken for the banquet celebrating Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation in 1953.
Part of my emotion was surprise – I don’t particularly like Coronation Chicken, at least not the type you are served at school dinners or picnics – so this supremely well-balanced version was like a sudden reframing of childhood as the sun-kissed, carefree era it is meant to be.
The presentation was beautiful, too. The dish comes thinly sliced, with a perfectly firm, golden crust forming an outline not unlike the shape of a football shirt – apt, given that this magnificent restaurant is, surprisingly, located within the grounds of Fulham Football Club, in a building overlooking the Thames called Fulham Pier.
Brasserie Constance is very much off the beaten track. It’s ten minutes from the nearest tube, via a lovely walk through a riverside park (don’t believe Google Maps’ navigation if it tries to make you walk along the road), but that station is Putney Bridge, down the southern leg of the District Line. So the food needs to be enough of a draw to make it a destination restaurant – vaut le détour, as the Michelin Guide rating puts it.
It is. Our other starter was Killough Bay Oysters with Apple Cider Mignonette. How can raw oysters be a good test of a restaurant’s cooking, you may wonder? Ah, but it’s a test of its dedication to provenance. Many oysters are so fat and chewy that you slurp them down without a bite, but these were melt-in-the-mouth creatures with the lightest taste, beautifully complemented by the mignonette.
Another test is the care taken over the complimentary bread that precedes the meal. This was truly exceptional: an unusually crunchy, golden crust encasing a yielding, soft interior made with croissant flour. Even the butter is stamped with the restaurant’s crest – as are the ice cubes in our cocktails, both of which were terrific.
From the Large Plates To Share section of the main courses, we selected Roast Cod, Leeks and Potted Shrimp Butter. It was superb – the flesh fresh and firm yet yielding, the sauce rich – as was the Purple Sprouting Broccoli, Hazelnuts and Anchovy we ordered as a side. Another good sharing option might be the Clay Pot Chicken, Barley and Beer. Head chef Charlie Crote, who works with a menu curated by Chef Adam Byatt, told us after the meal that this was his personal favourite.
Top marks also go to an excellent wine list, from which the knowledgeable sommelier selected a Sicilian Grillo for us to complement the fish.
The one false note came with dessert. The Walnut, Date, and Rye Tart with Pouring Cream looked wonderful – a perfect triangle of pastry topped with deep, dark dates in a pool of white cream – but both my companion and I felt it tasted a little dry and bitter. But then Adam Byatt declared it on his Substack to be one of his favourites, so perhaps it’s down to personal taste.
By contrast, the Baked Alaska was a showstopper. It arrives on a trolley as a whole log, with the stiffened egg whites nicely browned and formed into spectacular plumes that make it look like a Chinese dragon. The waiter cuts off a thick slice of heaven that again transports you back to childhood. It tastes, unusually, of banoffee pie, and comes surrounded by whisky jelly cubes, caramel sauce, chocolate sticks and crème fraîche.
The service was exemplary, particularly the tall, charming and impeccably tailored maître d'. The décor is a little old school (“like a cruise ship”, remarked my companion), with huge round mirrors on the ceilings, but the seating is comfortable and spacious. A spectacular spiral wooden staircase lifts you up to the inner sanctum away from the rest of Fulham Pier’s more downmarket establishments, and the river view is a treat – we’d have eaten on the covered terrace if the weather had been better.
There was one more nice surprise in store. The Lionesses played the Euros semi-final on the night we ate at Brasserie Constance – one reason this restaurant in a football stadium was perhaps less full. We’d managed to discover the half-time score during the meal: England 0, Italy 1. On the train home, we found that a miracle goal by a late substitute deep into injury time, followed by another last-minute goal in the extra period, which sent England to the final (and on their way to winning).
Yet we still wouldn’t have traded this meal for watching the match. Brasserie Constance gave it 110 per cent – back of the net.
GO: Visit https://brasserieconstance.com for more information.