Butcher and Grill, The

The Butcher and Grill really is something a bit different. Imagine a bang slap up to date butcher's shop, doing the business as any such shop would, combined with a pretty informal restaurant where the shop produce forms the basis of the menu, and as an added attraction a casual bar serving coffee and patisserie for the morning crowd, and soups, salads, pies and sandwiches throughout the day - and you have The Butcher and Grill.

The site formerly held a Café Rouge, and is spacious, terraced and with river views. Customers at the Grill can choose their preferred cut either from the counter or make a selection from the menus. Nor is the menu blind to other attractions, so expect to find starters of H Foreman's smoked salmon, always an excellent prelude to a decent steak, lobster with an artichoke salad and chive vinaigrette, or six rock oysters with shallot vinegar.

To the main event, and humble beginnings with the B & G Burger. At the other end of the scale is the 40oz rib of beef, admittedly for two, though I don't expect someone wishing to break diet in a singularly spectacular manner would be denied. A 20oz t-bone strikes me as a particularly good compromise. A range of pork cuts, including the celebrated chop, together with lamb cutlets, a Barnsley chop, and rump of lamb all add to the temptation.

Now that evidence is becoming convincing that veal can be produced with no adverse effects, it is to be seen increasingly on discerning menus. A 16oz cutlet makes an excellent meal, as does a spatchcocked poussin, expertly prepared and cooked. There is even a fish of the day; how's that for tolerance?

Apart form the chips, in the view of many an essential adjunct to a good steak, there is a range of "stuff on the side", over a dozen in number, that includes horseradish, Hollandaise, honey, soy and sesame, or burnt chilli and garlic salsa, all with the compliments of the house.

Nor have puddings been neglected, with the ever popular Eton Mess, summer pudding with Cornish cream, and melt-in-the-mouth greengage and orange cake with tarragon syrup.

The concept of shop and restaurant together is still a major step for good old traditional Britain, but all over the place we are thinking the unthinkable, so why not our shopping and eating habits?

Check on their excellent and user-friendly Website for further information, not to say inspiration. Bon appetit!