Franklins

[rifleman harris]

Yes thats the one.

[Christopher]

Went yesterday with my lovely wife for lunch and had the following...

2 x starters (mine was mussels with chorizo and they were superb)

2 x main courses (both had wonderful fresh Torbay sole with home made tartar)

2 x sides (salad & new potatoes)

2 x desserts

1 x large mineral water

1`x double macchiato

2 x glasses wine (less than we would normally have - but I'm abstaining for January)

TOTAL = ?75 (not inc service)

Bargain. Well cooked, fresh, well sourced interesting ingredients, good service, clean, bright well tendered environment. They are an example to the rest of East Dulwich, honestly.

You cannot have a similar meal for two in Yauatcha for ?75 I'm afraid - unless you come out of there hungry. Sorry.

Franklins is an excellent local restaurant that is in the same price bracket as the other decent restaurants in the area (I'm thinking of The Rosendale, Number 22, The Palmerston and Upstairs in Brixton).

Franklins (and, imo, the others I mentioned) are much better restaurants than any of the Village restaurants or any other on the strip - but you get what you pay for, don't you? I'd hate to see any of those places drop their prices by 15% just to snap into line with any other local restaurants (real or imagined, Nero) with no regard for quality. Anyway - they are probably the most consistently busy restaurants in the area, so I don't think they really need to do they?

[mockney piers]

Franklins are pretty uncompromising (ask for something well done, go on I dare you) so I can't see that happening.

[Brendan]

We have wanted to try Franklins for some time now but whenever we read the menu there is just nothing that grabs us. My choice is severely handicapped though by the fact that I don?t really eat fish and they seem to do a lot of it (well that and the fact that despite my better half?s attempts to civilize me I am still a curry and kebab man).

Eating there is on my to-do list for the New Year though.

There is one thing that bothers me about the place. From the outside it looks like it should be a pub and not just any pub at that. It looks like it should be the type of boozer with comfortable leather chairs and 5 well kept ales on tap but when you get inside you are greeted with a little scrappy loincloth of pub covering up a restaurant.

A very good restaurant, as I have been reliably informed but it is still a bit like getting into a Porsche and finding that there is only an 1100cc engine under the bonnet.

[Keef]

Exactly the same Brendan. Mrs Keef and I have been talking about going, but she's veggie, and I hate fish, and am not really keen on offal, so we're a bit stuck.

[Polly D]

Take Mrs Keef for Welsh rarebit and have yourself a bacon sandwich for brunch - YUM

[mockney piers]

Good call Polly, top notch bacon sarnie, can cure any hangover; not that I suffer them anymore of course ;-P

[danrees]

Going there on Saturday - will see how it goes!

[david_carnell]

In honoour of Alan Dale.

Franklins

Meal 1) Breakfast.

No doubt half the population of East Dulwich reads the Guardian and on the back of a fantastic review in a recent breakfast supplement Franklins, for a while at least, has become the fry-up destination of choice for the local chatterati. Not wishing to be left behind in this onslaught of gastronomic oneupmanship I duely pootled along the lane, consort in tow, and settled on a terrace bathed in sunlight only partly obscured by the dust cloud from the local roadworks. Previous patrons had left their payment on the table and there it remained for some time under our ever increasing fustration at being ignored. Even after it was removed our order was still not taken until buggins here, reaching the limit of patience, went inside and explained we would like someone to attend to us.

Order placed; food arrived. Two of the full English breakfasts already legendary by reputation. A solitary sausage was slightly palid but tasty. Well seasoned and of good texture. One rasher of bacon seemed somwhat measley but it was not of sufficient excellence for me to care too highly. Black pudding was beyond reproach and would proudly grace any plate. Cherry tomatoes were succulent and mushrooms had a well rounded earthiness one looks for in funghi. Coffee was strong and hot, freshly squeezed orange juice was a final flourish.

A good meal then spoiled only by somewhat lacsidasical staffing attitudes and the endless superlatives that had placed in on a pedastal no breakfast could hope to reach.

Meal 2) Dinner.

Huzzah. My birthday. Mom and Pop come up to the smoke to spoil me and off to Franklins we go encouraged by the good food from a previous visit and hopeful of better service on a Friday night than a Saturday morning. A quick pre-dinner drink is encouraging with a poor selection of real ales made up for with a single beer of high quality.

And so the meal. And what a meal. Each dish sung with delight. Starters of black pudding (even better than last time should such a thing be possible), prawns and Welsh Rarebit all excelled and received plaudits. Mains of calves liver and also a chicken leg were well flavoured and hearty of portion. Special mention must be given to my partner's steak, however. A rump of short-horn it was one of the finest pieces of meat I have tasted in memory. Perfectly cooked and devoured with gusto. A truely standout plate of food. No desserts but good coffee. A half bottle of Sancerre zinged on the palate and a smooth Syrah accompanied the beef very nicely. The only tiny niggle was the ever present fridge cold butter that is impossible to spread without turning your slice of soft brown bread into crumbs.

Not the cheapest of meals but nor should it have been for this level of quality. Service was dilligent and professional and the interior is cosy. One tip - try not to be seated at the back by the kitchen door. It is off-putting if not annoying.

So....bravo to Franklins, yes? Not quite. Despite two good meals the ropey service of the first came back with a vengeance when a close friend reported back to me on her own visit. Staff were rude to the point of obnoxiousness and even went as far as questioning menu choices. Not to be repeated under any circumstance I would hope.

The food is close to being without fault. The service however is erratic and is in need of consistency. Be warned, it can spoil an otherwise great venue.

[cwade]

Hi,

I live a few doors away from Franklins and just realised i have never eaten there, If we go out for dinner we tend to go to the Harvesters or to central london...

Must try Franklins soon

Carly xx

[buggie]

Have had brunch in Franklins once and it was lovely, however the service does leave lots to be desired... went in there at the insistance of my other half last month and headed in at 11 in the morning, so they weren't hugely busy. I had to out by 1230 at the latest as was due in suffolk by 2pm.

After 15 mins sitting right by the bar I acosted the waiter (it'd seemed he'd been trying to avoid our gaze) and asked if we would be able to order and have breakfast in the next hour, and he said it was unlikely so we upped and left, ended up having to grab brunch in the lane cafe.

Maybe it is more difficult than it seems, but even if food wise their offering "the best brunch in London" (or whatever was said in the guardian) I wouldn't recommend it due to the rubbish service - or am I daft to want brunch when I'm hungry!!

[bawdy-nan]

I love Franklins and I've found the service, on the whole, to be great. Occasionally a bit ditzy but warm and, bizarrely, kid friendly. I don't mean in a its ok to run around the restaurant way - rather in a we'll bring bread quickly and make sure the kids get something to eat fast so they're not fractious and be a bit flexible with the menu (we'll cut the lamb's tongue up) and be kind, kind of a way.

A real treat especially for a naughty mid-week lunch and totally splendid for a big slap up celebration meal (limited menu but thorougly gorgeous.)

[JesusCappuccino]

...........

[mockney piers]

Ate there saturday.

I'm already a big fan, but food was nothing short of terrific.

Gull's Egg and pickled pigeon for starter, and lamb for main. Lamb is often my litmus test for a restaurant as I love it, but most place just can't do anything intersting or inspiring with it.

Franklins excelled itself, flavoursome, rare, moist, tender...wonderful.

And was also keeping an eye out for this fabled terrible service people seem to be receiving and honestly can't work out what planet people are on. The waiting staff bent over backwards to make it a pleasant experience, it was prompt and polite and friendly, with some great banter with the delightful French waitress.

Glad to see it's high standards are being maintained and continues to get a big thumbs up from me.

[buggie]

... is it fabled if you've experienced it?!!!

Food was fab and (with no where to be for several hours) will go again!

[Guest]

Gull's egg?? I guess they must be farming gulls now then. Strewth.

[bloke]

Easily the best restaurant in ED.

Chef was at St Johns in Smithfields.