The two guys behind The Hour Glass also run Brompton Food Market, a greengrocer, fishmonger, deli and butcher all under one roof. The all-British produce (fish from Cornwall, meat from Yorkshire farms, etc) is what fills the menu at this dining room above a pub.
The room may be a little too bright, and it can get quite noisy, particularly given that there’s a group next to us in a very jovial mood, but we quickly forget about all this. A rabbit terrine set with a layer of bacon butter is very tasty, served with toast, gherkins, and plump caper berries. The other starter is crispy, garlicky sprouting broccoli, sprinkled with toasted pumpkin seeds, and with slices of pickled pumpkin and a large helping of burrata.
There’s plenty of game on the menu, as it’s in season. A wonderful whole smoked partridge worthy of Instagram has been carefully sliced to reveal the meat, with its legs splayed apart. It’s served with mash potato, along with pickled blackberries and red cabbage. It gives me instant food envy, not that my main isn’t good - Cornish brill with creamy Jerusalem artichoke puree, juicy mussels, and dulse, a type of seaweed.
The chips are fantastic and puts most other eateries’ offerings to shame. They’re fat, triple cooked in beef dripping, crispy, and fluffy on the inside. When we mention it to the waiter he agrees, adding that most diners comment on them.
When the chocolate and porter cake arrives it provokes gasps of admiration from our neighbours, who then order the same. It comes with ice cream and a slither of crisped honeycomb, which reminds us of cinder toffee. The buttermilk pudding is a bit like panacotta, with roasted pears flavoured with rosemary, and shortbread.
A great pit stop on Brompton Road, in well-heeled South Kensington.
South Kensington doesn’t have a slew of what you might call ‘normal pubs’ so picking out the Hour Glass is almost paying the pub a backhanded compliment. Located on Brompton Road, between Harrods and the V&A Museum, on the outside it appears as an unremarkable little pub. Once inside, the charm offensive begins.
A long bar with little depth, it trades on its cosy intimacy. Groups of small tables are pushed together, booths sit at either end of the bar and there is a happy looking open fire carved into one of the walls. Drinks are standard offerings for this type of institution – meaning Kronenbourg, Peroni and London Pride – but that’s another thing that the pub has going for it. In an area packed with high-end restaurants, cocktail bars and ‘grills’, the Hour Glass serves up no-frills lager and ales along with a food menu packed with what they call ‘honest, home-made pub food.’
Make no mistake this is a cold weather pub. The open fire leaves cheeks rosy, the food is hearty and you’re more likely to find the local Barbour Brigade than groups looking for a post-Harvey Nichols knees-up.
