Historical version 3 of Masons, SE13 7UZ (view current version)
- 020 8314 0314
- 38 Ladywell Road, SE13 7UZ (streetmap) (osm) (gmap) (bingmap) (streetview)
- 11am-11pm Mon-Fri; 10am-11pm Sat; 11am-6pm Sun
An excellent value local restaurant in Ladywell.
This place is furnished in a basic country cafe style, with solid wooden tables, and light coloured walls. Service is generally friendly and efficient, but one on Thursday evening visit in June 2008 at peak hours, they were clearly understaffed and had trouble responding to requests (it took most of the meal to get some tap water, and they never did get around to clearing glasses). On both a Thursday and a Friday evening it has been very popular, and so booking is advisable (unless you are eating very early or late -- one couple came in at 10pm and were seated without too much problem). The downside is that this means it can get a bit noisy.
The food sticks to continental dishes but changes quite regularly, at least every week or two photo of sample menu. Food is well-prepared and presented, but best of all is the fantastic value (two courses for £10, and three for £12). Comments on the internet suggests that the quality can be variable, and this has been Ewan's experience as well -- never really bad, but some dishes work better than others.
On one visit in June 2008, Ewan's wild mushroom main course, in a filo parcel, with dauphinoise potatoes and cheese, was extremely tasty, though my companion's tuna (the menu advertised monkfish but they were out of that) was not quite so highly praised. Desserts were perfect, both the cheesecake and the summer pudding. Returning later in the month, the vegetarian option was a Thai green curry, fine but somewhat bland, though banoffee pie dessert was excellent.
They have a decent wine list, the shiraz cabernet (£12.50) was perfectly good, and a muscadet (£14) was likewise lovely, served in an ice bucket. They also have Erdinger beer on draught, as well as a fairly large selection of Belgian beers. There's a few seats along the bar, and some seating outside just off the main road, and clearly some people just stop by for a drink.
Verdict: Just the way local restaurants should be, well-presented and tasty food in a comfortable setting. Will definitely return as long as the value is so good.
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