Jamie Oliver’s Big Feastival – My Pick of the Restaurants

I was delighted to have the chance to visit Jamie Oliver’s Big Feastival down on Clapham Common on Saturday. I took my best friend and we had a wonderful day in the sun, filled with amazing food, bubbly drinks and great entertainment and music. There is so much to report from the Big Feastival that […]

I was delighted to have the chance to visit Jamie Oliver’s Big Feastival down on Clapham Common on Saturday. I took my best friend and we had a wonderful day in the sun, filled with amazing food, bubbly drinks and great entertainment and music.

There is so much to report from the Big Feastival that I’m splitting the day into two posts, starting first with the restaurants. We made the most of the opportunity to try both the local, and the well-known restaurants by sampling our way through their taster plates…

Popcorn Shrimp by Redhook  was cooked to order, so was hot, crispy, juicy and full of flavour. I took an extra one home for my boyfriend to try as it was so good!

I’m a sucker for duck, especially with a fruity accompaniment. So four o nine ‘s Pomegranate Roasted Duck Breast with Apricot and Mint Jam had to be tried – the duck was perfectly cooked and left me wanting to try more from the Clapham based restaurant.

I was excited to see Atul Kochhar standing at his pop up restaurant so couldn’t resist being served by the man himself. I’m not convinced that the Chicken Tikka Pie will make customers want to visit Benares  but it was certainly very good pastry, nicely spiced chicken tikka, smooth mashed potato and deliciously spiced berry chutney on top.

The noisy (and friendly) staff at  Trinity restaurant lured me into trying one of their Hot Scotched Clarence Court Eggs, served with a tangy cider mayonnaise. It was certainly worth it! I am desperate to try Adam Byatt’s tasting menu, I’ve heard great things.

Cinnamon Kitchen provided the dessert (well, one of them anyway!) with their Mango Mousse with Mango Mint Salad. It didn’t quite have the mango kick that I was hoping for but was delicious all the same  and the sesame snap style shard added a really nice crunch.

The Pit Smoke Barbecue Pulled Pork and Slaw from Barbecoa  brought back smokey memories of America and was so tender and good that I forgot to take a picture!

Lots more to say about the Big Feastival but will leave it for another post. Anyone else go to the event? If so, what was your favourite restaurant dish?