PUBS are closing by the dozen but one restaurateur reckoned turning his Fulham Road eatery into one would improve business. And, judging from the amount of people that were packing out The Brown Cow on a freezing Tuesday evening last month, his decision has very much been justified.
Formerly Manson - a restaurant named after it's owner, Eamonn Manson - The Brown Cow has become the 'little sister' to the businessman's other pub, The Sands End. Manson was meant to act as the big brother but, despite being a firm favourite of mine, never quite exploded in the way The Brown Cow seems to have, which is less little sister more its equal twin.
So what is different about the reincarnated product? Not a great deal, really, save the name and pubby sign outside. The interior is still broadly the same except side booths have been replaced by regular tables, of which there seemed to be more and which are now sans linen. The bar area is unchanged, though there seems to be more space at one side. The menu still features high-end dishes at around the £17 mark like Red leg partridge, confit savoy cabbage, fondant potato and poached pear and sea bass with pak choi and mussels, but it has been padded out with pub classics like sausage and mash and fish and chips. The staff remain excellent and are even posher than before.
Ninety per cent of the place is set aside for eaters, so, while not technically a restaurant anymore, is certainly a pub gastroed to the max. Of those dining, we noticed an extraordinarily high ratio of women to men. There must have been three times as many ladies and all looked so similar that we reasoned it must have been some kind of convention for blonde 33-year-olds, but the waiter said it was normal. Safe to say it's not a traditional boozer.
To the food. Chef companion had a Manson-style foie gras with caramelised apple (£11) to start with, which looked distinctly underdone, and was. My citrus cured salmon (£8) with lemon oil was cut very thick, which may have somewhat diluted the fragrance, but the bottle of Muscadet complemented it very well indeed.
Sticking with fish, I went for the battered haddock, triple cooked chips, mushy peas and tartare sauce, and it was perfect. Great fish, great batter, minty (less mushy) peas, and big chips (£11). Did exactly what it said on the tin.
My friend's pan-fried halibut with courgette, tomato and chestnut gnocchi was nearly back up to Manson standard and only fell short, I felt, due to it being slightly dry. Flavour-wise, the chestnut, sweetness of the veg and saltiness of the fish was a triumph.
We finished with another old classic, an apple crumble, pimped with almonds, which, again, was a great pub dish.
A lot of pubs seem to be trying to stave off closure by closing in the early week but this place was rammed and has, almost overnight, turned into a proper, buzzing local. It seems slightly confused as to which gastronomic direction it wants to take but with hordes of desirable women seemingly attracted to it like cats to nip, the formula doesn't need tinkering too much.
The Brown Cow
676 Fulham Road
SW6 5SA
0207 384 9559
