Edwins is a cosy restaurant, hidden away on the first floor, just meters away from Borough underground station. The wine list offers a range of good options by the glass and the food is nicely presented, and more importantly, tastes excellent.
After Christmas shopping at the Tate Modern Shop, I looked for a place to have dinner in the area and soon ended up at Edwins in Borough. The restaurant is upstairs with only an ordinary door downstairs, which could make it easy to miss.
When I walked in, I immediately felt as if I stumbled into someone's living room. Edwins is not very big, maybe ten tables. The whole interior, the furnishings in combination with the candlelight, created a warm and homely atmosphere. Even the background music blended in nicely.
I browsed through the wine list and liked quite a few options. After a quick chat with the lovely waitress, I went with her recommendation, the inexpensive Masseria Dei Carmelitani, Gavi di Gavi, Italy, from 2014. It was a very fresh wine with citrus notes, perhaps a bit sour, while also being fruity.
To start my dinner, I ordered the item described simply as "rabbit, spinach, polenta". If you ask me, this is pure understatement for a brilliant dish. The little plate even came with parmesan shavings on top. At the core there were pieces of delicius rabbit with a sauce that intensified the beautiful, light rabbit flavour with a pinch of salt. The little, carefully cut polenta square with spinach inside was a delight. It was an absolutely amazing, elegant and well-balanced starter - I would take a bigger portion as main anytime.
Following the rabbit was guinea fowl breast, confit leg & autumn vegetables. I also added some fries. There were three pieces of guinea fowl on the plate, with the confit leg having the most crispy and tasty skin. The largest piece was the guinea fowl breast, a nice chunk of meat with a pleasant and strong taste and again great, crispy skin.
In contrast to the main, the fries were remarkable unremarkable. At least, the otherwise disappointing softness allowed them to soak up the lovely sauce very well.
The vegetables that came with the main were okay, pretty similar to what you get with any Sunday roast. The carrots were fine, but a bit too buttery for my taste.
I was very lucky that they gave me a table at all. They were pretty much fully booked, but one table was only booked from one hour later, so they sat me there. After finishing my main, I moved over to the bar - just to discover about 45 minutes later, that the bar was also booked then, resulting in a bit of a rush, as I had not expected that. Still, I am happy that they were so flexible and accomodated me spontaneously. Given the time constraint, the service was friendly and efficient so I could easily complete starter and main within one hour.
The helpful waitress stayed with me as I moved to the bar, and when going through the dessert menu a bit later, she recommended the chocolate fondant. Another valuable tip - the fondant was warm and runny in the centre, as it should be, and intensely chocolatey. The small size was just right, so I could still fit it in. The honeycomb ice cream did not really add much to the dish, it was okay, but maybe not strong enough in itself to cut through the chocolate.
At the end, when one waiter announced that the bar where I was sitting by then was booked in fifteen minutes, I rushed it a bit and ended my great dinner abruptly with a cocktail, downed probably a tad too quickly. I had heard about Monkey 47 gin a few months before, but not the opportunity yet to taste it. As I saw it on the drinks list, I decided to seize the chance and go for it. While sitting at the bar, I could see that the bartender looked like he knew what he was doing, I still went for a rather simple option, a classic gin and tonic. The gin was beautifully smooth and a worthy last leg of my stay at Edwins.
Edwins in Borough really does very tasty, beautiful food in an intimate atmosphere, I enjoyed every minute and would definitely go again. read more