It’s A/W season at Minnow

Minnow are so good at seasonality. The exterior will change with the months and, honestly, walking past them is always a useful reminder of where we are in the year. Roses? Gotta be summer. Blossom? Easter is around the corner… and at the moment there is a beautiful burnt orange coloured floral display adorning the entrance. Must be autumn. And with the changes on the exterior come the changes on the interior. The A/W menu has arrived and we just had to try it.

Overlooking the Common, heaters on and blankets out, sitting on the terrace outside Minnow has got to be one of the chic-est spots in Clapham. We parked up there with two refreshing, pastel-coloured cocktails: The floral elderflowery Temperance and The Minnow, a classic gin and cucumber muddle,  and some oozy, hot mushroom arancini and got ready to indulge in their new seasonal plates.

Starters wise, the slow cooked beef shin with hummus was an instant winner. Intense flavours of the beef paired so well with the creaminess of the hummus schmear. We also tried the bursting burrata with a bright basil oil, the juiciest king prawns with a punch of garlic and lemon and a luxuriously seasonal chicken liver pâté. As we’ve now come to expect with Minnow, each came out presented beautifully. They always manage to make everything look as delicious as it deserves and these starters were no exception to the rule.

Next up was a trio of mains. Vegans and meat eaters alike will love the savouriness of the aubergine which was glazed in tamari and felt as umami and rich as you could want. The steak is always a fantastic option at Minnow and we couldn’t help but reorder one of our old time favourites. If you’re hungry get a plate of this for the table and drown it in the béarnaise sauce. It comes sliced up so is an unexpectedly easy sharer that will disappear fast. The pan fried cod was a real delight. Tender fish, crispy chorizo and creamy pea purée made for such a colourful plate, it was (almost) too good-looking to put a fork into. Some braised, sweet red cabbage and potato Dauphinoise were lovely sides to bolster the mains and went very happily with all of the other flavours.  

And can we talk about the desserts? Don’t get too full to overlook them because the amaretto-spiked tiramisu was so comforting that we didn’t want it to end and the apple and blackberry crumble was what autumn dreams are made of. We’re convinced that the house made cinnamon ice-cream that came with it has the power to change your life. It did ours.

Minnow just oozes romance and their new menu didn’t let down. The service was -and always is- very attentive and there is a reason that Minnow remains a Pavement favourite, you just can’t go wrong with any of the dishes you’ll order but just promise us you’ll add the beef shin hummus starter and the crumble to your meal. And there’s often a great deal to be had here. Go for an early evening supper between Monday and Wednesday and you’ll get 2 courses for £24. If you want a quick brunch then make the most of their ‘express’ deal where a tenner will get you poached eggs on toast, an OJ and a hot drink or if you’re after lunch then you can get a toasted sandwich and chips for £10 too. Whenever or whatever, Minnow’s got you.