Foxlow Balham, launched this week on Bedford Hill with a 35-cover basement bar, The Owl…
The menu revolves around a real charcoal grill, and the best produce the team has been able to hunt down. There is brunch, Sunday roast, steaks, slow-smoked meat, along with seasonal salads and a range of seafood and vegetarian dishes. Balham also has a stand-alone 35-cover basement bar, The Owl, which has allowed the resident cocktail geeks to flex their creative muscles.
The Owl bar in the basement is a more intimate space with black leather banquette seating and walls clad in reclaimed maple and glazed bricks from the London Underground. The Owl menu features exclusive new cocktails, such as the Dr. Grey (blended Scotch, peated Scotch, lemon, ginger & bergamot) and The Ultimate Gimlet (Hepple Gin, cardamom & pimped-up lime cordial), along with a drink that has been the most popular on Foxlow menu since day one, Miami Dolphin (rum, strawberry, lime & Pina Colada) and Hawksmoor’s soon-to-be-honoured-in-the-cocktail-hall-of-fame*, Shaky Pete’s Ginger Brew (gin, ginger, lemon and London Pride).
The restaurant itself occupies a corner site with glass doors opening out onto the street and outdoor seating in warmer months. The interior, by Macaulay Sinclair is welcoming and comfortable, using reclaimed and vintage materials in what has become a signature look for the growing family of Will and Huw’s neighbourhood restaurants. Reclaimed floorboards from a notable theatre school clad the bar with pendant lights by 50s German designer Wilhelm Wagenfeld hanging above. Vintage 50s furniture dominates the open plan space, and walls are decorated with vintage prints, posters and maps.
Dishes that have become well-known Foxlow mainstays – Ten Hour Beef Shortrib with Kimchi; Foxlow Fried Chicken; Brixham Hake with Romesco and House-Cured Salmon with Fennel – all feature alongside a selection of new autumnal dishes, such as Ricotta Dumplings with Girolles and Butternut Squash; Beetroot, Baby Kale & Horseradish, Roasted Carrots, Avocado & Green Goddess and Squash and Purple Kale & Burrata.
The Sunday Roast is Longhorn Beef with all the Trimmings, whilst the weekend brunch runs from almost-legendary Fried Chicken, Egg & Croissant Waffle and Steak, Eggs & Green Harissa to Moroccan Eggs with Sobrasada Toast and Anari Ricotta and London Honey. A new addition is a tribute to a childhood guilty pleasure Sausage & Egg Muffin.
Foxlow Balham is now open for lunch and dinner Monday to Friday and all day on Saturday and Sunday (for a Sunday Roast!)
15-19 Bedford Hill, Balham, London SW12 9EX
