It was a Thursday night so my friend Michelle and I decided
to go scuba diving in white wine. We started at The Orange, a gastro pub and
hotel on Pimlico road. I'd been there before this summer but didn't eat. I did, however, almost get my phone stolen by dodgy guys who came into the pub and tried to sell us birthday cards. After failing to blag our way into the dining room, we
sat in the pub area at a small round table with great food lighting and ordered
our dinner. Upon initial perusal of their new menu, my initial reaction was
that this food was a bit stuffy for a pub. The special was a burger, which in
my opinion should be a staple.
I ordered the calamari to start and was super relieved to
see that it came with just the rings. I don’t like to associate calamari with
what it actually is. To me, it’s essentially round French fries with protein.
It was very very crispy, actually I’d say it was crunchy and the rings weren’t
rubbery. Overall, pretty good.
My friend had the pumpkin soup, which she said was delicious
and looked fantastic.
For our main, we moved to another table because we had some
friends joining. By this time we were almost a bottle deep in the wine (which
they didn’t open at the table… ew). I ordered the burger with sweet potato
fries because they both had bacon on them. The burger was mediocre. It was cooked
well, but a bit dry and the brioche bun fell apart easily.
The bacon was just barely cooked and too
chewy for my taste.
On the upside, there
was a nice spicy tomato relish on the burger.
The sweet potato fries were excellent, but it took the
waiter a really long time to bring the bacon aioli they came with.
Unfortunately, this meant the sweet potato fries started to get soggy by the time
it arrived.
Our friends joined and ate most of my fries and wanted to
order another. It was 9:59 and
apparently one kitchen had closed. She could, however, get an entire
pizza. That just didn’t make sense to
me. She ordered the pizza anyway and they seemed to enjoy it.
Verdict: Overall the orange was a good way to begin our
night but I wouldn’t go out of my way to eat there again.
What to wear: I was dressed as a chic and expensive 1960s
prostitute. Everyone else was in jeans.
What you’ll see: Good looking men with cute dogs who are
‘waiting for their girlfriends’.
The Orange
37-39 Pimlico Rd, London SW1W 8NE
Labels: Burger, Dinner, food, London, Pimlico, Restaurant, Restaurant Review, The Orange
