Winter is the season when gastro pubs should come into their own: a place offering an attractive shelter from the elements and a menu of good solid, warming food.
The Ebury on Pimlico Road, pretty much meets this demand: a 'de jour' decor of dark wood, coffee-toned furnishings and fashionable mood lighting, gives it a low-key sophistication which makes it a pleasant place to while away the long nights. Unfortunately, the lay-out of the pub means that post-work drinkers and evening diners are parked cheek-by-jowl which combined with a loud sound system to ensure our conversation was peppered with "What?" and "Sorry, I didn't catch that". But while the noise level dropped to a more dinner-friendly level as the evening progressed, this is perhaps not a place for an intimate dinner “a deux”.
Judging The Ebury's fare was a more straightforward affair: the menu is reassuringly concise, removing the fear that there was a microwave working overtime in the kitchen, with many of the dishes you would expect to be offered at gastro pub, but with a twist, avoiding the contempt that can come with familiarity.
For starters, I had the white bean minestrone with pesto tortellino, which proved to be a solid warming bowl, with plenty of chunky vegetables and pasta and a tangy, sharp soup. S opted for the prawn tagiatelle, though only after giving serious consideration to the goat's cheese tart and tomato chutney. The tagiatelle was accompanied with a good helping of prawns laced with chilli, ginger and coriander, which S adjudged to be "nicely balanced, a bit of spice but not aggressive."
Our main courses arrived smartly - the service it should be said was excellent: friendly and attentive but not overbearing - along with an excellent, robust Spanish Rioja. I plumped for the Toulouse sausage and mash with onion gravy, which came in the sort of quantities that rendered dessert a receding prospect. But the sausages were well herbed and meaty, the mash smooth and creamy, while the gravy served as an effective sharp top note. Taking the same robust warming route, S ordered the braised lamb shank with butter beans, red peppers and chorizo casserole. She declared the generous helping of lamb lamb to be "meltingly tender" and the sauce "dark and rich", but did note that the butter beans were slightly over-salty for her taste.
Despite both of us feeling pretty much full, in the interests of journalistic completeness we ploughed on to dessert. Giving in to greed, between the two of us we had the sticky date pudding with butterscotch sauce and ice cream, which proved to be a gorgeous silky combination of dark toffee and vanilla flavours, and a nice selection from the cheese board.
With the bill coming in at £47.50 for the food, and £71.50 with the wine added, it represents pretty good value in a competitive part of the market. Indeed, it could arguably be said that The Ebury is serving up bistro-standard fare, but its confused lay-out means it remains steadfastly in gastro pub territory, which perhaps does what is on offer a disservice and that’s a pity. A case, perhaps, of falling between two bar stools.