Completing the ‘adorable village scene’ jigsaw surrounding Herne Hill station – with its sprawling parkland, independent shops and Sunday market – is Llewelyn’s: an elegant neighbourhood restaurant whose European menu shifts with the seasons. Deep fried rabbit leg with pickled chilli in spring, snapper carpaccio in summer, and as the nights draw in, words like ‘hearty’, ‘stew’ and ‘broth’ creep onto the menus to warm the cockles.
Behind the glossy 1930s shop front, Llewelyn’s is ever so easy. The whitewashed walls, smart dusky blue leather banquettes and mid-century furnishings effortlessly adapt from breezy lunchtimes to an intimate, wine-fuelled date spot come evening. And a smattering of outdoor tables – some covered and heated – help you make the best of sunny days, where you’ll dine surrounded by a meadow’s worth of flowers cascading out of buckets from the florist next door.
The showrunners at Llewelyn’s have each brought their own individual slice of rich culinary history to the joint, including Executive Chef Lasse Petersen who’s on the pans here after stints at Highbury’s Westerns Laundry and Hackney’s Morito. His menu is chock full of seasonal thrills. Short of literally eating fallen leaves, it’s hard to imagine a more autumnally embodied dish than the fantastically hearty confit duck and pork belly cassoulet. The fish is generally excellent too, with numbers like skate wing with samphire, brown shrimp & parsley sauce.
Then there’s the carefully assembled drinks list, resplendent with interesting wines (some of which come from local food market guru Le Grappin), as well as bold apéritifs, ports, sherries and the de rigeur negroni.
We’re just a London cultural guide standing in front of a restaurant asking it to make us feel good.
Reader, it did.
NOTE: Llewelyn’s is open for dinner Tuesday-Saturday and Friday-Sunday for lunch. To book a table, or to find out more, head to their website here.
ALSO NOTE: If you liked this, pop your head into their sister bar, Lulu’s, next door.
Llewelyn’s | 293-295 Railton Road, London SE24 0JP
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