When the lights go out
Written by Peter | Filed under Eating & Drinking, General
A quick mention of Willow restaurant on Denmark Hill [memo to self: find address], which we visited on Wednesday last week. Small, comfortable, surly waitress, limited menu, great food, full of doctors (not in their white coats) on account of it being next to the hospital. Not sure if I would go there again as despite the good food it just didn’t feel right; kind of unwelcoming. Really good food though — although expensive.
On Monday night, just before midnight, my area of Camberwell was plunged into darkness. It was pretty damned eerie; streetlights, houses, everything was unlit. I don’t think I’ve ever seen London like that; you could see more than four stars, for Christ’s sake. Out of our front window the City of London was beautifully lit and looked romantic. We padded around the house with candles and savoured the moment (which was only slightly spoiled by the continuous wailing of burglar alarms, set off by the interruption to their power).
At 1am the lights came back on and the mood was spoiled.
I discovered your blog because last night I had the best meal that I’ve had so far this year (with an apple pie to die for) at Willow restaurant in Denmark Hill and I did a Google to see if they were mentioned in any retaurant reviews. I’m really surprised about you finding them unwelcoming and expensive. We re-discovered Willows again last October (It really went downhill as a cheap wine bar under the previous owner and we stopped going there.) Now, it has been completely renovated and is managed by someone who seems determined that we enjoy their food. We eat out once a week at a variety of places but always want good food in a friendly NON-SMOKING environment, and because we are cheapskates we never like to pay more than £25 a head including wine
Willows fits that criteria (last night the bill for 3 of us was £63) and is gradually becoming our favourite place to eat. I guess that a waitress having a bad night can make so much difference to how a restaurant presents itself.
Well I must say I totaly agree with the second comment. I have been to Willow restaurant on a number of occasions recently & always found it to be a very enjoyable experience and certianly great value for money — we found the staff very friendly & attentive.
With the closure of Blake House, which I always found to be quite expensive, Willow is just what Camberwell needs — a real find!
Like I said, the food was really good; I think we just had an off-night from the staff, because we’ve absolutely no desire to go back there again.