TOOTING ROAST SERIES: The Selkirk

If you’re an SW17 local worth your salt, you’ll have been to The Selkirk. It’s a real hub for the community and there are events going on all the time: life drawing, live music, pub quizzes… you name it, it’ll probably be happening here. We’ve spent hours and hours by that fire with a big glass of red. It’s a proper home-away-from-home that you’ll hunker down in and forget the time.

Ambience: A crackling fire, the smell of delicious food coming from the kitchen and the chatter of a consistently busy pub makes for a pretty unbeatable ambience if you ask us. Especially at this time of year, The Selkirk is the cosy winter salve we all need.

The Food: On their website they say “…we think we’ve got a little something for everyone” and we agree. Their weekday menu is just the right combination of (gastro) pub grub and the more refined dishes you might find in a central London restaurant. Their small plates are truly fantastic and though we were there for a roast, we knew it would be a mistake to miss the sharing starters. We tried out a trio; the pork scotch egg with piccalilli was a delight. A jammy Burford Brown came piping hot and was snug in that signature crispy coating. It was especially lovely with the sharp and fresh piccalilli. The sticky chicken thighs just fell apart they were so tender. As the saying goes: finger likin’ good. We appreciated them being boneless, but appreciated that sweet, sticky sauce even more. Finally from the small plates was a seasonal special which was a pig’s cheek scrumpet (a ‘scrumpet’, by the way, is a cross between a crumpet and a scone and truly is the best of both worlds). It came with a caramel flavoured burnt apple sauce which went very nicely with the mayo-like gribiche. The addition of some pickled cucumber was an extra bit of tang to the flavour profile which worked very nicely. So yes, it’s true what they say: don’t miss out on the small plates.

But onto the main event! The roasts all come with roasted potatoes, seasonal vegetables (carrots and meltingly soft cabbage), a Yorkshire pudding and gravy so there’s a lot going on before you even choose between the 4 options: beef, pork, chicken or vegetarian. The trimmings were all plated amply- without overwhelming- and we really enjoyed the spongy, light Yorkshire. We tried out the pork belly which came with a small pot of tart apple sauce to cut through the natural fattiness of the meat and the vegetarian choice, which was a butternut, spinach & mushroom wellington. The mushrooms in this took on a meat-like quality so even if you’re a meat stan through and through, this one is a delicious option. A side of cauliflower cheese really completed the whole meal; it was nicely creamy with sharp notes of strong cheddar which made for some very moorish mouthfuls.

Standouts: That pork belly was seriously special. As is a theme with The Selkirk, the portion size of the meat was generous but it was the perfectly done crackling that really won us over. It’s rare to find it done so well, but they really nailed that crunch here.

Price: Pork belly: £21. Vegetarian Wellington: £19. Cauliflower cheese £6

As roast prices go, and for the quality of the food that you’ll get here, we were mightily impressed by the bill at the end. Just make sure you go with enough space in your stomach and cash in your pocket for a few of the starters… and those puddings are pretty tempting too.

THE ROAST SERIES: We are on a journey to discover some of the very best Sunday roasts in Tooting. Each will have remarks 4 categories: Ambience, The Food, Price and Standouts to make it clear what it is we loved about each one. We will aim to order similarly in every place we try to give you the clearest indication of how it compares to the rest of the neighbourhood.  Stay tuned to find your favourite.