Prince of Wales, Putney

Luckily, we didn’t have to wait too long until our table was ready and we could get on with the real food. I started with the scallops with Jerusalem artichokes and truffle puree while Stephen had the crab and papaya salad with pomelo. I enjoyed the scallops; they were perfectly cooked and the whole dish was very well executed. It was rich and earthy though and as soon as I had tasted Stephen’s salad I realised that I would have preferred something light and fresh. There wasn’t a huge amount of crab flavour but the other ingredients were light and bright and really woke up the taste buds.

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One of our friends had the giant puffballs on toast. We were all intrigued as to just how giant the mushrooms would be and, having asked the waitress, she brought it out to show us. The picture is rather fuzzy but it does at least give an idea of the size, enormous! Although I didn’t order it, I tasted the finished dish and was very impressed, there was a strong, earthy flavour that was reminiscent of soy sauce.

Next, I opted for the hare because I haven’t had it before (I actually had it at the Bull and Last but didn’t remember until afterwards). The inclusion of “baklava of hare leg” worried me slightly but I assumed it would be a savoury version. It wasn’t though and that, paired with the rich, almost chocolatey sauce made the whole dish very sweet. The hare itself was very good, densely flavoured and melting in texture but unfortunately completely over-powered. I didn’t like the bulghur wheat accompaniment either; I assume it was included to lighten the flavours and while it probably was more appropriate than something like mashed potato, it just didn’t work with strongly flavoured hare.

Stephen had the deer, which came with some very good fries and bearnaise sauce. The portion looked very small to me but he was happy with the amount. Again, it was well cooked and both the flavour and the texture were perfect. The chips were very good too and I was happy to see proper, thin fries rather than those ridiculous, huge chips many places are still serving.

And then, on to dessert. We don’t often eat dessert but I noticed the peanut butter ice-cream as soon as we arrived and was really keen to try it. I like peanut butter but am always slightly disappointed that it’s a savoury spread. For me, this was perfect and the real highlight of the meal. A good balance between sweet and salt and the perfect way to finish off.

Stephen had the cheese plate which was also very good; a selection of four cheeses which we should have asked about, but didn’t. One was definitely stilton and the others seemed to be British (and possibly Irish) too but we didn’t identify them. They were all tasty though.

While I didn’t enjoy my main course, I was impressed with everything else I tasted and, in retrospect, I probably should have ordered something like fish and chips to give me a better idea of how good the food can be. I’m keen to go back and sample more of the menu and, given it’s much closer than the Bull and Last, it shouldn’t be too difficult to achieve.