Ox Wagon

It’s a good time for fans of American diners, there are burgers/cocktails/retro sounds joints sprouting up all over town at the moment. On the back of this, restaurateurs are starting to plunder the cuisine of the southern states too; Lowcountry’s head chef Jennifer Ryan’s most recent stint was at a fine dining restaurant in St. Louis, and this new addition to Fulham aims to “challenge British misconceptions about American food”.

The menus proudly declare that food is either local or from the south-east wilds of the US, prompting the partner to quip, “I really hope our food comes from further away than Putney”. Cuisine from the Low Country, primarily the coastal areas of Georgia and South Carolina, is hearty and well-seasoned. Lowcountry hasn’t been open two weeks yet, so perhaps that’s why they haven’t quite managed this.

Some of it is good. A stack of ribs has very tender meat, coated in a sweet and smoky glaze, although adding chunky chips to a starter is a tad over-generous. The Lowcountry roast pork picnic leg is smothered in a very similar sticky sauce, paired with potato wedges and crunchy greens. From the bar bites, the mini Pinot Noir burger has a nice char aroma, although we can’t taste the red wine marinade, and the basket of fried pickles, slices of pickled gherkin in breadcrumbs, are a very moreish side.

Other dishes are lacking in flavour. Cracked crabs with drawn butter, or melted clarified butter on these shores, are advertised as spicy, but once we prize the steamed meat out of its shell (this is not date food) we find tender crab, but not the slightest hint of spice. Spiced cheesy grits suffer the same absence, and the seafood gumbo with Andouille sausage and crawfish is disappointingly bland. What should be a signature dish tastes like oily fish stock – the jasmine rice packs more of a punch.

The knickerbocker old glory turns out to be three sad scoops of strawberry, vanilla and chocolate ice cream in a tall glass, had we wanted this we could have ordered the trio of ice creams instead.

The venue seems ambitiously huge, but closer inspection reveals there is more space than tables. Perhaps the aim is to fill it with drinkers, and the alfresco patch at the back will no doubt be a huge draw in sunny weather. It’s just a shame the food isn’t up to scratch yet.