London Street Brasserie is a Michelin star restaurant located in the centre of Reading overlooking the river Kennet. It is privately owned by chef Paul Clerehugh who also owns the Crooked Billet at Stoke Row. I have eaten here before on many occasions and we thought it would be a great way to celebrate a staff party!

My former work colleagues and I set out to meet at London Street Brasserie for 8pm, the restaurant looks small from the outside however it’s deceptive; once you walk into the restaurant – when you first enter there’s a reception area where a friendly face met us and offered to take our coats to pop in their cloakroom.

London Street Brasserie

The environment was welcoming with customers chatting away. We were a little early so they sat us on a spare table, and a couple of our work colleagues were running late. We didn’t have to wait too long, until our table was ready – they led us up to the second floor – a cosy spacious environment, we had the best table in the restaurant – snug in the corner overlooking the river Kennet, soon after settling down the rest of the team arrived. We had the option of the Winter party set menu or the a la carte – we all chose from the set menu – 3 course meal £38pp.

They bought out the drinks menu – I frantically looked for their cocktails menu – it was an exciting range of delicious drinks, and it wouldn’t be me if I didn’t ask for a recommendation from the staff! – she did suggest something very intriguing their Salted Caramel Jaffa – salted caramel kahlua, ginger ale and a fresh orange slice – a great combination of salt and sweet and a hint of orange seeped through my first taste, and throughout the evening I ordered more!

For the starter the majority of us ordered the half freshly prepared lobster. Crispy bacon. Parmesan crisp. Avocado Caesar (£7 surcharge). – worth every penny! We didn’t anticipate how big the portion was for a starter, it was delicious, we were impressed by how all the flavours and textures worked well – this left us wanting more and a great first impression of their courses to come! 

When the mains came we all had something different my friend Miranda [A July Dreamer] chose their roast cod. Tempura soft shell crab. Bok choi. Rice noodle laksa. Lime. Coriander. You can find out what her thoughts were on her page! Although I felt she thoroughly enjoyed her dish, but sadly was too stuffed to devour it all.

My dish was their Lebanese braised lamb shank, split peas & lime. Persian basmati, saffron, dill, fava beans. Lebanese pickle. The presentation was creative with bright colours, I didn’t even want to touch it – however when I did, the lamb fell off the bone easily and it was very tasty however I felt that the combination of the sauce didn’t spark my interest as much as the meat itself.

When they bought out the dessert menu, all the desserts looked delicious and I was worried I couldn’t try any as I was so full from my starter and main, however I was glad that they gave us time to digest our food – I chose the Oreo cookie cheesecake, peanut butter ice-cream, salted caramel popcorn. The portion size was also huge! I honestly didn’t know where to start. I managed to devour majority of it but it did defeat me, but I remember leaving feeling very happy.

Miranda chose their Crème brûlée. Stem ginger brandy snap.

We had a lovely evening enjoying each others company and eating London Street Brasserie’s food. I do recommend this restaurant as the staff were friendly, and beyond helpful. However I think you should bare in mind that the food doesn’t come cheap but it was exceptionally good and worth every penny. The Winter party menu was £38 but with all the surcharges and additional drinks we all paid £70 each, which I feel is not bad for fine dining experience. I look forward to eating there again in the future.

London Street Brasserie’s opening time are Monday to Thursday 12pm to 10.30pm, Saturday and Sunday they open from 12pm to 11pm.