Battersea’s Brunel Bar

As I enter The Brunel, past the ornate flaming gas canisters guarding the front door, I feel instantly housed in the pride of eloquent construction, coolly immersed in olive green and gun-metal grey, and warmly protected by steel fixtures and dark polished floors.

The Brunel’s themselves may well have come here to eat and drink after a hard day across the road, where all those years ago their boot factory used to be, (if only they’d ever got round to finishing that Great Western time machine).

On Battersea Bridge Road, in a handsome 19th century building, a famous English engineering dynasty is being paid tribute with style, music, great food, and gorgeous cocktails. You should go.

Shortly after introducing myself to the beautiful staff, I am shown to my table with due care, a smile, and all the relevant information for one about to embark on the Brunel Bar experience. I am presented with menus for food and for cocktails, and then I set about doing what comes naturally in these situations.

The food menu is a friendly thing, simple, and as I later find out, filled with the dishes of an accomplished chef who carries the theme of flawless presentation and engineering excellence directly to the plate. The wine list has some deftly chosen wines as well: a white Rioja which, when complimented with the red Rioja, and the food altogether, makes for genuine satisfaction. You should go.

But I am not here to let you know about the treasures of Brunel’s kitchen, or wine. I am here to talk to you about the cocktails. So, menu in hand, I arrive at the bar, where Vadim from Moldova, Matilda from Roma, the French girl from France, and Bea have all got the skills.

While choosing I can’t help but notice that the menu is very short, with only eight listed cocktails to choose from, namely: English Mojito (with gin and apple), Original Mojito (with Bacardi), Sours (all variations), the Brunel Banoffi Martini (an absolutely delicious Brunel original), Collins Infused (all variations), Cucumber Cosmo (a successful variation on the classic), and a Long Beach Iced Tea (a variation on the Long Island Iced Tea using cranberry juice instead of coke).

I hardly need to worry though as it isn’t long before I realise these bar tenders are able to make anything you ask for any way, quickly, and with enthusiasm. There is even the French Mojito invented and immediately placed on the menu as I sit there. It seems, in a very appealing way, that anything can happen here. You should go.

So, after sampling all of the cocktails, and being impressed with them all, I pick myself up to leave. Outside, looking back at the building, noticing the function rooms above the bar extending themselves into a rooftop glasshouse, I feel like great times here are an inevitability. As I look forward onto Battersea Bridge, I think, we’ll always have the occasion to raise a glass to clever industrialisation, so long as The Brunel bar is standing. You really should go.

The Brunel
37 Battersea Bridge Road
Battersea
SW11 3BA

For bookings call: 020 7223 3322