22nd Jan 2025
We were given a voucher for a lunch at the training restaurant with Brixton Prison in south London. Apparently this place has had rave reviews on tripadvisor. The idea is the rehabilitation of offenders.
Don't get the idea that you can just walk into here and sit down for a meal. You have to be booked in well in advance (at least 7 days), and the hours are very limited, so it won't do for an after theatre supper. The instructions are so severe that it almost makes it punishment to be a customer. The biggest deals are that you cannot take any form of electronics including phones and cameras (even film cameras) inside the prison, there is no alcholol, and there is only plastic cutlery. You are told to turn up at least half an hour before you appointed time, and have to be questioned, leave photo id and lock away all your property including wallets, and anything with printing on it. There is a strict dress code, and your slot is timed from begining to end. The menu is interesting but short and is high end British/continental. No cash is allowed, and you can carry one debit card into the restaurant to pay.You can see the menu here:
https://theclinkcharity.org/theclinkcharity/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Winter-A-La-Carte-2025.pdf
The restaurant,which is a separated building, can hold about 60 guests but on the day we went, there were only three other people, so service should have been great.
I had the pork belly starter followed by ox cheek, my wife had a scallop starter followed by duck with a side order of chunky fries, and we mistakenly ordered two deserts, which we did not need. To drink we had a bottle of still water and a couple of mocktails. There was also a an order of bread (baked in the prison), with butter and salsa.
Our waiter, who probably told us far more than he was supposed to about himself (but we did not necessarily believe him) was great, but they seemed to have difficulties coordinating the serving of food resulting in a lot of down time. He was somewhat older than the other staff members, and let slip that he had no intention of working in hospitality when he was released. Even though I made it quite clear that I wanted hot food to be hot, the mains turned out to be no more than a 7.5 on the CHOF scale, which, for the price we paid (I know it is a charity) should not have been the case.
The quality and taste of all the food was excellent and could have been from a good central London restaurant, or a good cruise liner, and the home baked breads were particularly good. I could have done without the mocktail, as life is too short for pretend alcoholic drinks. The desserts were a bit too sweet for my liking and were not finished. Quantities were huge and the portion of fries for one person was more than enough for two. The pricing of everything was high west end (see link to menu), with a 13% service charge. Without alcohol or coffee, a lunch for two was over £135 which I would never choose to pay except for a really exceptional occasion. I also bought a souvenir mug (could not resist) for £12.
Would I go there again. Not under my own steam, as it is inconveniently out of the way for me, is a lot of bother to get into and whilst it was an interesting unique occasion, for the price it was more for novelty value. I also understand that in the evening, it is tricky getting something to eat beyond 7pm due to prison regulations. Another thing that slightly spoiled it was the fact that prison staff could get lunch here and either carry it away or eat in an adjacent room (i.e. not with the guest diners). To me it was rather distracting having the continuous footfall across the restaurant. If it had been fuller, I might not have noticed so much. But you would not expect somewhere like the Ivy or Wolesley to have a takeaway trade in front of their diners, so why here?
DUE TO PRISON REGULATIONS AND SECURITY THERE ARE NO IMAGES (SHAME)
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