Barge House

Modern British

46a De Beauvoir Cres, De Beauvoir Town, N1 5RY

££

Barge House is a modern-british restaurant, famous for it’s ‘Breakfast in Bread’. If you haven’t seen the photos of this much-loved, hyped-up brekkie option, then quite frankly you must have been living under a rock for the past couple of years (include 2019 because everyone has been living under a rock in 2020). With a lofty, modern interior and delightful alfresco, canal-side dining, this was set to be a hit with almost anyone. It is the kind of place that would be perfect to spend a whole afternoon, however, due to high-demand and overbooking, this rarely becomes a reality.

We booked to go to Barge House one late September Sunday, deciding to try our luck at Columbia Road Flower market on the way. Columbia Road was a disappointment: with ridiculously long queues curving round multiple blocks and destined to take hours to get in. With only 30 minutes to spare before our booking, we decided to amble over and try our luck arriving early. When we arrived, there was a long queue to get in – we confidently galloped to the front, proclaiming that we had already made a booking. To our dismay, so had everyone else, and this was a queue for reservations to get in.

This was a disappointing start, after a tough year I completely understand why a restaurant would want to fill it’s boots as much as possible, but this should never be at the expense of its customers. Furthermore, we are living in the midst of a pandemic, and terms often rammed down our throats, such as “social distancing” seldom applied here. We were told that they only had outside seating available (fine, because it’s what we wanted anyway… even if it was pretty cold). However, we were seated practically on top of another table, and they even tried to add two guests onto the end of ours – meaning we were literally less than 20cm away from people at all angles. I am no covid preacher, but the whole experience felt decidedly unsafe and a bit shoddy.

We were both hopeful and optimistic that the food would save the day: four options called to us from the menu – The Original (think traditional fry up in a loaf, with added herbs and cheese), The Smokey Salmon, The Hot Stuff (think chorizo and beans) and The Vegetarian (all £14.5 aside from salmon which was £15.5). I went for The Original, whilst Tom tried his luck on the Hot Stuff. The Original was good, sort of… but the sausage and bacon could have both been cooked for longer. The herbs were nice but dominated the traditional fry up flavours, and the cheese addition made it… well… a bit too much. The Hot stuff was really disappointing – a bean chilli made the loaf incredibly soggy, and the whole thing tasted the same. It was filling, but not in a naughty, rewarding fry-up way - more a stodgy, uncomfortable feeling that hung around all day.

Barge House experience overall? A great idea in theory and a lovely venue, but unfortunately for me it most certainly did not live up to the hype.

OVERALL RATING: **

https://www.bargehouse.co.uk