We had previously visited the Rail House Café’s much talked-about sister Riding House Café in Fitzrovia and had not been overly impressed (our review here). Visiting the newly opened Rail House Café in London Victoria seemed like a chore at first, but turned out to be an absolutely brilliant week-day brunch experience (consider our Update at the end of this article though).
I ordered their signature Burgerdict (burger Benedict) and steak tartare. Both dishes were prepared to perfection. The Burger with egg Benedict on top was among the tastiest burgers I have had in years. The steak tartare was incredibly delicious too, with the wasabi paste that came with it. Like all the best steak tartares it wasn’t made of minced meat, but of little short strips of raw beef, that had just the right texture.
Not least of all, the service was very quick, professional, and friendly, and I thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere. The Barbarians will be back soon.
UPDATE 2 June 2018 – We did visit this restaurant again for brunch this morning, and boy oh boy, not sure what happened to this lovely place. We had shakshouka (egg, feta, avocado, parsley, sourdough; £9.50) and Burgerdict with crispy bacon (£11.50). Our coffee tasted nice and we liked our two small juices (“Yellow”, consisting of pineapple, mint, star anise, and “Green”, consisting of kale, spinach, cucumber, celery, each for £4.50, the large ones cost £7), but the shakshouka was highly unspectacular, to put it friendly, and the Burgerdict, to which I had been really looking forward, arrived at our table looking like an accident. It bore no resemblance to the photos in this post. No lovely yellow, full-flavoured, expertly prepared Hollandaise with bits of chive, sitting elegantly on top of the egg and the burger. Instead the whole unsightly lump of calories was covered in a weird tasting, kind of tomatoey, pink cocktail sauce with parsley that was impossible to remove from the already soaked beef patty. The egg was not properly poached. I could go on. A complete disaster. We won’t be back. Such a shame. 2.25 out of 5. Worse, if it weren’t for the coffee, juice, good service and pleasant atmosphere.
For other brunch places within a 5 minute walk perimeter, try our posts about bbar, Aster, and Timmy Green. For brunch in other parts of London, try Aquavit, Berners Tavern, Galvin at the Athenaeum, Pachamama, Mamie’s, Leicester Square Kitchen, or Cambridge Kitchen.
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