The Naked Grocer, Walton-on-Thames

The Naked Grocer, Walton-on-Thames

The 'squeezed middle' have got food wrong in my opinion.  Some of the more socially or ethnically diverse areas ('vibrant' in estate-agent-speak) have fantastic food markets, great street food and really cost-effective cafes and restaurants.  I'm thinking of places like Tooting or Camberwell or Peckham (or even Brixton 'village')

Conversely there are the affluent areas with artisan bakeries or the delis where "Mummy goes to get the good chorizo".  Here is where you'll find a market for tapas bars, sushi bars or food marketed to local-vores where your steak comes with a grid reference and a family tree.

Your average, middling town has a Sainsbury's and a Greggs.

Walton-on-Thames finds itself just on the right side of average-to-affluent in my opinion - which means that although we have to suffer through Giraffe and Carluccio's there are some real diamonds in the rough like The Naked Grocer.  Opened 2 years ago and hidden away in Bridge Street (a hop, skip and a jump from The Thames) I had seen it many times but never actually gone in.  It's second birthday and special events tempted me to make the trip in to see what the fuss was about.

'Officially' the best green grocer in the country according to the RE:FRESH awards I could tell immediately that if this was within walking distance of my house I'd be here at least once a week.

Decent piles of local (or least British) and seasonal produce abound in suitably rustic surrounds.  I was reassured at the somewhat rugged appearance of the fruit and veg which shows that it has thankfully bypassed the supermarket procurement teams and their search for the visually inoffensive.  This is food that you would describe as having a 'good personality' - beautiful on the inside.

Their suppliers were out in force for the birthday celebrations and I sampled some of the Cottage Delight preserves and bought some of their Chilli-lilli.  That this is a familiar brand if you shop around some of the less obvious places should not distract from the quality of the product.  I also was offered a sample and subsequently bought a slice of Surrey's only remaining locally-produced cheese - Norbury Blue.  This is a mild, creamy-tasting blue cheese that is currently stinking my fridge out (but in a good way)

The find of the day though had to be the Isle of Wight Tomatoes.  I came away with a big bag of heirloom (or heritage?) tomatoes of all shapes, sizes and colours.  This was in addition to the new love of my life:  Oak-smoked Tomatoes.  Imagine crossing sun-dried tomatoes with smoky bacon and you're almost there.

Well what were we to do with all this lovely produce?  We were tasked with producing a starter for a dinner party and I knew these tomatoes would have to form the centrepiece so with the contents of my fridge in hand an assembly job of a modified Caprese Salad was in order

ISLE OF WIGHT CAPRESE SALAD

INGREDIENTS

• A big bag of heirloom tomatoes - as many different sizes and colours as you can get.
• A couple of avocados.
• A couple of Buffalo Mozzarella Balls.
• A handful of Basil.
• A few spoonfuls of Oak-Smoked Tomatoes
• A dressing of 50% Extra-virgin Olive Oil and decent Balsamic Vinegar
• A handful of pine-nuts browned in a dry frying-pan.

METHOD

I'm sure you can work it out!  Its all about the presentation!

Isle of Wight Caprese Salad

Review: The Anglers, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey

One issue I have found with Walton is that there is no restaurant in the town centre that has really grabbed my attention.  It has the usual chains in any new development; Giraffe, Pizza Express, Carluccio's but a limited selection of independents.  In addition I'm afraid that the town centre pubs are also typical of their kind up and down the country.

Luckily, less than half a mile from the town centre there are two great pubs literally next door to each other on the river towpath.  The Swan is a Young's pub with a fantastic beer garden and what looks like a good BBQ menu.  For this reason it is generally packed on a nice day.  The Anglers is a slightly different proposition being much more food-oriented and a definite destination for a nice meal.

Its a real shame but I don't think we've made it up to the riverfront this summer until earlier this week.  Its a good two mile walk away but that shouldn't have dissuaded us.  I think we have just been distracted by all the possibilities of finally owning a car!

With this in mind and remembering a couple of nice meals enjoyed in the past we waited for a brief lapse in the bank holiday showers and sauntered along the Thames from Cowey Sale to the The Anglers - along a section of the river that we have enjoyed walking along before.  For the history fans out there this is where Julius Caesar is said to have crossed the Thames during the initial Roman invasion of these isles.

The Anglers itself definitely looks like a riverside building, or perhaps something one would expect to find nestling beside a sleepy lake somewhere in the Deep South.  The interior downstairs is from the school of gastropub 101 but the upstairs room must be one of the great places to view the Thames - with rowers from the local clubs constantly zipping back and forth and the lucky owners of small boats enjoying the river.  Outside is what must be an exclusive terrace - exclusive in the respect that it is always full by the time I get there.

The Anglers - Walton-on-Thames

I believe The Anglers may have new menu - its certainly changed and upped its game since the last time we were here.  There were also 3 real ales on tap including an excellent Sharp's Own of which I sampled a couple as well as a selection of Lock Fyne Oysters that went down well with the provided shallot vinegar (£2 an oyster)

The Anglers menu

Sharp's Original

Bread selection at the Anglers

Loch Fyne oysters

My main course was the day's market special; a well-presented Bacon-wrapped Sea-Trout with Parsley Pesto, new potatoes and Samphire.  The Sea-trout was moist and flaked nicely and was set-off well by the piquant pesto.  I have to admit to loving Samphire when its paired with a nicely cooked piece of fish and this didn't disappoint.  

Sea-Trout from The Anglers.

Also tried by me was the pan-roasted chicken with potatoes, broad beans, chorizo crisps and tarragon cream.  Normally chorizo will dominate any dish but here it was tempered well by the tarragon cream laced with peppercorns to give a well-balanced flavour.  A good dish.

Pan-roasted chicken from The Anglers.

Spiced-pork chipolatas, fried potatoes, corn-on-the-cob and tomato and apple chutney did exactly what it said on the tin.  These may not be exciting flavours but it was a well-executed plate - just one that I would not order myself given the other options.

Spicy Pork Chipolatas at The Anglers

I do like the portion sizing for most of the dishes here which should allow most people to comfortably try 3 courses.  Given it was lunch we did skip starters but these look equally good.  There are more substantial options though including that tried by one member of our party.  Scotch eggs were substantial with a rich orangey yolk but the Deep Fried Potatoes would have fed an army.

Scoth Egg at The Anglers.

Deep-Fried potatoes at The Anglers

Desserts were very good.  First up was a deconstructed Sipsmith Gin-and-Tonic trifle; the custard was homemade and the gin-and-tonic jelly tasted potent.  The only thing we thought was odd is that of course the sponge wasn't soaked in booze like it normally is - all in all though it was a thought-provoking dessert well worth the purchase.  Well done to The Anglers on this one.

Sipsmith Gin-and-Tonic trifle.

The other dessert sampled by the table was an Eton Mess with Chocolate syrup.  I'm loathe to write too much about this as I know just how easy these are to make - however that does not take away from the interesting presentation and the quality of the dish.  Recommended.

Eton Mess at The Anglers

On balance I'd say that The Anglers is the best meal out I've had in the immediate area.  Putting this in context I mean that this is a very good example of a gastropub which is a definite local destination - however would I recommend someone travel for an hour across London to go to it?  Not quite - there are  other good examples of the kind in most affluent neighbourhoods and villages both in and outside the Capital.  This should in no way take-away from my view that The Anglers offers a quality meal out in a fantastic location - there should be only one choice if you find yourself in Walton-on-Thames or are enjoying the Thames Path walk from Hampton Court.  If you live locally it is an absolute no-brainer.  

A 2-course lunch for 2 people with drinks and service would be around the £50 mark.

The Thames Path

After 6 years of living in Tooting I thought I knew the Thames quite well.  I'd walked along the South Bank, the Peace Mile at Battersea Park and even along the river at Richmond (hint - London's best day-walk is Wimbledon Park to Richmond).

I always knew that the Thames 'came from somewhere' but was somewhat vague as to where that was.  It was only in the latter years of my time in London that I started exploring the more suburban stretches of the Thames.  I won't say the rural stretches of the Thames just in case a resident of Oxfordshire pipes up to to remind me that this blog post still describes a stretch well within the M25!

So on a sunny day in April we packed our day-packs and took an early train down to Hampton Court.  The plan was to walk at least as far as as Walton-on-Thames with a view that a late lunch would give us an opportunity to decide whether or not to push onto Staines.  A quick 30 minute journey from Clapham Junction and we were at the start - staring across the river at the impressive site of Hampton Court Palace.

The Thames at East Molesey

The Thames at Hampton Ferry

Walking down this section of the Thames it is easy to forget that you only a short hop from Zone 6.  It would be possible to forget you are near Heathrow if it wasn't for the planes flying overhead - still its surprisingly peaceful to walk along this stretch of the river.

A lovely lunch stop was the Anglers at Walton-on-Thames which is right on the towpath.  I would go into what I had to eat but I cannot remember and have no photos.  Suffice it to say that food is of the gastro-persuasion and clientele of the Yummy-Mummy/little Freddie and Francesca  brigade - nice food and beer choice though with a fantastic view of the Thames in both directions from the top floor.

Swans at Walton-on-Thames

D'Oyly Carte Island

A nice lunch and walk along the rest of the towpath to Weybridge left us waiting for the Shepperton ferry to continue the rest of the walk

Shepperton Ferry Landing

At this point interested readers should pickup the descriptions from the excellent The Thames Path website.  I remember the section after Shepperton being even more interesting (lots of very imposing houses with private moorings, the water meadows at Chertsey) however my photos do not reflect this!

As for Staines...well what can I say?  The riverside is actually quite nice but to be honest we were pretty tired by this point and caught the first train back to Clapham Junction.

UPDATE:  subwarrier on http://www.walton-on-thames.org/ made me aware of a free CD/mp3 audio guide offered by Elmbridge council about the history of some of this stretch of the river.  http://www.elmbridge.gov.uk/leisure/arts/liquidhist.htm