Upstairs Bar is a little French place on Acre Lane, and the entrance is quite misleading. There is some sort of cafe on the bottom floor, and you can only find your way in by going round the side and buzzing yourself in. But once you get inside, it all gets very Clapham rather than Brixton. It is essentially a two-tiered affair, with a trendy bar with very nice sofas on the first floor, and a teeny restaurant on the second. I guess it sits 30 covers, and I guess the tiny kitchen couldn't really cope with more.
It is very sensibly priced - well under £30 for 3 courses, although the choices are limited to 3 for each course. But I did really like the fact that they are quite brave about the choices - quite adventurous given the length of the menu, no chicken and no beef main course for example. It feels like they are quite confident in their cooking. And I would say they have lots to be confident about.
Starter was a salmon tartare with scallop ceviche - very simple, the ceviche just a little bit too heavy on the citrus for me:
Main was panfried seabream with potatoes and a creamy dill sauce. It was the kind of sauce that made you want to be very unladylike and lick the plate afterwards. It was a bit mahoosive though given that there were two types of potatoes (steamed and crisped up) - all in all very nice. The other main option was a tenderloin of pork and some vegetarian creation.
Only disappointing thing was the pudding, of which there was more choice. Our lemon tart was really very tart, and for some reason I expected it to be hot. The raspberry sorbet was also very tart. Made my teeth ache, we struggled to finish it even though we shared:
If this was my local, I'd be here all the time. It is one of those places where the owners there, it's very cosy and homely, yet the food is of a very good standard. Definitely a spot if you're at the Ritzy in future.
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