Restaurants

The buzzy, bustling Garrison certainly makes a good first impression. Crammed (indeed, slightly too crammed) with funkily jumbled furniture, from distressed farmhouse tables to modish 1970s stool-chairs (and with a mix of ornate lampshades and bare bulbs hanging from the ceiling), the characterful, shabby-chic room is pleasingly removed from hackneyed gastropub style. The cooking is just as eager to impress: sometimes too eager, as with a rather busy starter salad of honey-roasted parsnip, goat’s cheese, pine nuts and raspberry vinaigrette; and a dessert of pistachio crème brûlée, a slightly unhappy collision of flavours. But when the kitchen keeps it a little simpler, as with a starter of salmon on a potato pancake, the food is far more successful. Both our mains were straightforward, comforting and beautifully tender: a special of seared tuna topped with tomato sauce and served on a bed of tapenade potato; and a particularly moreish portion of braised lamb shoulder with spring greens and Jersey Royals. Add in solid service and decent drinks (Adnams on draught; bottled St Peter’s Organic Best Bitter), and it’s easy to see why this likeable spot is packed most nights.

Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide 2008