So its been almost two years since I last visited Sinabro – which was just a short few weeks after they opened their doors to the residents of Battersea (or Clapham depending on your view of the whole thing). Back then I enjoyed it. It needed some tweaking, portion sizes were a little out of whack, but it had lots of potential. Head chef here at Sinabro is French-born Yoann Chevet. This young and enthusiastic Michelin trained chef runs the restaurant with his charming wife, who provides everything front of house and she’s fabulous at it. Together they’ve created a marvellous little haven tucked away on a hill in the depths of Battersea. Inside its modern, cosy and with a lovely open kitchen giving guests the chance to watch everything created right in front of their eyes. All the preparation is very meticulous.
We started our journey here, propped at the bar with a glass of chilled Champagne in hand and a stunning amuse bouche of courgette jelly and parmesan. The textures and flavours explode in the mouth and the Champagne actually paired perfectly with these beauties. The last time I visited Sinabro, bread was sourced from a local bakery and while I wasn’t against it, the bread was nothing special. Now however bread is baked in-house and I’m so glad – all the varieties were absolutely fantastic and the smokey churned butter was heavenly.
Dining off the a la carte menu we started with a gorgeous starter of foie gras and beef terrine with pickled vegetables. Overall a lovely dish, the terrine itself was rich and silky, with good bite and structure – however those pickled vegetables needed much more pickling and intensity to them. Snails quinoa and parmesan galette arrived looking like a piece of art, with smears of vibrant green masquerading as a watercress puree and wild mushrooms sat between the medley of snails on that rather lovely galette. The snails were very earthy, which I personally love – but it may not be to everyone’s taste so I’d highly recommend a huge increase of garlic butter during the cooking process.
As we made our way through the meal here at Sinabro, food simply kept on getting better and better – especially on comparison to our visit those two years ago and portion sizes are now no longer a problem. This time we left feeling full and felt like we certainly got our money’s worth. My duck breast with red cabbage puree, cavolo nero, parsnip & juniper berry sauce was draw droppingly good. Rich, juicy, sensual – I’m not sure I’ve ever used that word to describe a plate of food before – but it just feels right. The duck was cooked to inch of pure perfection and most importantly, well-seasoned. Colours were fantastic and everything on the plate was screaming flavour. If you make it down to Sinabro I highly recommend you give this dish a chance. Equally as good was the Braised pork cheek with carrot puree and mooli. Perhaps not at the level of the duck (that’s a hard dish to live up to) but we really had no complaints. The pork fell apart from the touch of the fork and that pak choi was a lovely alternative – soaking up all that gravy which then exploded in the mouth.
If there was one thing Sinabro executed well right from the start, it’s desserts. On both occasions I’ve visited this restaurant, desserts have always been absolutely perfect – and very playful. This time round Yoann and his team have excelled themselves. If I could put a dream team together of the best pastry chefs in London – these guys would definitely be included. Rice pudding with caramelized pistachio was one of the best rice pudding’s I’ve ever come across, presented to look like the start of a cake mixture with a dollop of mango sorbet at the centre. Rhubarb, passion fruit bavarois & speculoos biscuits was one of my favourite dishes here. Bang on rhubarb season, all the flavours were fresh, zesty and a little bit tart. If there was one sweet treat you shouldn’t leave Sinabro without trying it would be this beautiful warm chocolate fondant mousse with a raspberry sorbet. Dark, sultry and oh-so decadent.
Sinabro has gone from strength to strength over the last two years and all I can say is that I only wish I’d not left it so long. The food is beautiful visually, full of flavour and inside it’s very charming. If you live in Battersea or Clapham then you need to visit Sinabro now, but if not then it’s well worth the travel. Of course Sinabro isn’t without fault, and still has plenty of room for improvement but given how much they’ve improved already I only imagine it’s still only going to get even better.
8/10
