Terroirs

I'm clearly a little behind in terms of the London food scene, as when all of London's food bloggers and critics have hit the East End to check out Brawn, I have only just visited Terroirs the original wine bar of the two. Terroirs seems to get mixed reviews from most bloggers and to be honest I wasn't too excited about the prospect, but it ticked all of my boxes which are; a) easy to get a last minute table b) not on the otherside of town, (unlike Brawn) and c) starts with a letter at the end of the alphabet, (also unlike Brawn).

Terroirs was bustling when The Boyfriend and I arrived last Thursday. The staff asked if we would mind waiting at the bar for five minutes until our table was ready, which we didnt. However, five minutes turned into 30 minutes. 25 minutes + 1 pair of 5 inch heels + crowded bar - any food =  2 less happy customers. Thankfully, the bar guy was cute (sorry, The Boyfriend), and charming and the wine was wine,  so it was hard to get too worked up. The wine and water (tap was immediately assumed) came in reusable glass bottles which was a nice touch.

When The Boyfriend and I finally made it to our table in the "upstairs" (does a staircase of 7 steps really make it an upstairs?) part of the restaurant, we discovered they had at least given us the best table in the house.

Starving, we started with Bread - 1.50 - lovely and fresh, but with boring, unsalted butter - and a charcuterie - 12.50. The Charcuterie included pork salami, duck rilletes and pork and pistachio terrine. The Charcuterie was a bit of a letdown, and I imagined this would be where they should have been strongest. The salami was nice, but it would have been better to have cut the portion in half and served a second type of dried meat. The duck rillette was bland, nothing particularly special and definitely not as good as the rillettes at Tom's Kitchen or 28-50. The Boyfriend liked the terrine but again, to me it was a little bland. 

Potted Shrimp - 8.00 - came next. The Boyfriend reported it was "pretty good".

The Beetroot salad - around 6.00 - was again equally unexciting. It was actually better looking than the photo implies but The Boyfriend and I ate the first half of it before remembering to take a photo.

The Clams however, were beautiful. A fairly large portion given the cost. The liquid was garlicky and spicy and I finished it in about 30 seconds flat. Finally, some success.


At roughly 70.00 the price was not that reasonable. What we ate wasn't interesting enough to make me desperate for a return visit and frankly, waiting 30 minutes is a little annoying if you've booked. Saying that, the table next to us had ordered the Vacherin Mont D'or with potatoes and a selection of meat at 36.00. It looked incredible and I spent the majority of the meal watching them eat it. So maybe I will go back for the Mont D'or, as they did look very happy while eating it.


5 William IV St
Westminster, London WC2R 0
020 7036 0660