REVIEW: Ninth Ward, Farringdon Road, Clerkenwell

For the past three years now I’ve been working in Marylebone and within all that time I’ve been incredibly spoilt in terms of food choice. From fine dining, amazing burgers, to Michelin star bonanza. Our offices have since moved to Holborn and with just a mile in-between them both – the food scene is totally different. It’s all about drinking here in Holborn and fast casual dining. Walk into any restaurant or shop after 3pm and it’s like a ghost town, with most places not even bothering to open at the weekends. It’s all very odd.

Ninth Ward is a new restaurant in the area and has come all the way over from the US, set to bring its Louisiana-themed bar to us Londoners. Inside I’ll admit it does look pretty great, but nothing like I was expecting. I was expecting more of a restaurant for some reason, but it really feels just like a bar – perfect for the workers in this part of town, though perhaps not for a quiet evening meal. A big selling point about this place is the craft beer list – it’s huge and ever-changing. There are some right stunners on that list too, worth visiting for alone. Cocktails are another hit, they’re not outstanding but they’re very good. Forget the Black hawk cocktail on the menu and go straight in with the Cotton Bale – a bloody good take on the whisky sour.

I’ll quickly apologies for my photos now too. My lovely snazzy camera has a mind of its own and decided to give up on itself. Food wise here it’s nothing particularly inventive, but it’s all very good drinking food. I’m not a big fan of oysters generally, but the baked variants here were actually quite nice – topped with a tomato and vegetable mixture and crumb – the seafood variant to lasagna was the only way I could describe it. Slap Ya Mama Wings (yep) were described as hot and smothered in a house made sauce. Hot was an understatement – they were fiery and lip numbing. I couldn’t resist their flavour but the heat soon defeated me. If you’re less of a man then I am (which may be hard) I would steer clear and go for the buttermilk wings. Flavour wise these lip-burning hot wings were really good. Cob salad was (apart from the burgers) the best dish I ate here. Apparently it’s one of their most popular dishes too. Full of crisp, charred and smoked salad ingredients, a beautiful dressing and sweet pomegranate – moulding each mouthful together.

Inside it’s also looking pretty great. Very well decked out – block your eyes from the main road and you could almost believe you weren’t in London. They’ve got a nifty voodoo cabinet downstairs, full of treasures from around the globe, but at the same time it’s equally as creepy. Burgers here are definitely the highlight of a visit to Ninth Ward – reminding me of those from Tommi’s Burger Joint in Marylebone. A good brioche bun which held its own and a lovely medium-rare cooked pattie –  a sign that the meats of quality. Nothing worse than a burger where the waiter informs you it can only be cooked well-done – I won’t name and shame those who perform such a treacherous act. Ninth Ward’s other burger offering was the braised beef brisket. The same well structured brioche bun again, but this time filled with tender and sloppy 12hr braised beef, gravy soaked and with house made pickles. A lovely few mouthfuls – in fact we struggled to finfish it.

Ninth Ward is certainly a great addition to the Holborn/Clerkenwell/Farringdon (not really sure where it’s situated) and while it may not be my first choice for dinner – if drinks were on the cards then It couldn’t be more perfectly suited. If you’re looking for a good watering hole, good burgers and an array of drinks to keep you well and truly falling into the night, then this is the place for you. Ninth Ward is missing only one thing at the moment – a hot wing challenge (which I will not be partaking in).

7/10