Franklin's - East Dulwich

Oh dear, this was supposed to be the crowning glory of my latest visit to the smoke. And while, in many ways, it was a lovely evening I'm afraid I can't share it with you in the way we would both want. Why is this, I hear you ask! Well, look no further:

Yes, dear readers, I'm afraid I got a bit happy with the snappy and after the second bottle, things went a little awry. However, as a true profesh, I will post everything anyway and leave you to peer through the fuzz and gloom yourselves.

So, from what I can recall of the evening, Franklins started life as the deli which is situated next door. This proved so popular that they branched out (about 10 feet across the road) and opened the Franklins restaurant. The food changes daily depending on what's available from their various locally sourced (where possible) suppliers and the menu was short with limited options - not a bad thing so long as everything tastes top notch.

So, there were several starters, I had the brown potted shrimp which were tasty... I think. Certainly the Child and Mrs P. had several 'tastes' which is a good sign.

I think Mrs P. had this:

But I don't know what it was/what it tasted like. I do know that The Child liked the asparagus (top pic) which suprised everyone, but not as much as the oyster that she had a crack at. After eating it, she pulled a face and declared it was 'too salty!' Still, I'm pleased with that - it wasn't a full on puke after all!

For mains, I then had duck, Mrs P. had a steak and another diner had fish:

I'm pleased at this point that all three photos are at least recognisable! These were great. everything kept simple, although in the case of the duck and the steak - perhaps a little too simple as sides had to be ordered in addition. I would love to give you a blow by blow recollection of these but you'll have to imagine it. What I can tell you, is that they were all delicious! However, the last plate remains a bit of a mystery. I think it was possibly lamb but I actually have no idea. I'm sure it was tasty but I can't remember *sadface.

Then pudding:

I think this was a brownie but to be fair, I was in no position to make any judgment calls by this point. I remember, leaving with Mrs P. and a very tired Child happy but 50 quid per head lighter (The Child doesn't count, she just shared a bit of everything). It was an enjoyable evening, the restaurant is small and cosy with great food and great atmosphere. The service was slow but the place was full on a Saturday night and we were busy enjoying ourselves. While Franklins is clearly a solid choice for dinner and I doubt you'll have anything to complain about, for me it doesn't have the 'wow' factor. Perhaps if they had given me a story about why the items on the menu were there today, something that tells me what in that menu is why they opened the restaurant in the first place - what they were trying to achieve. I don't need luxurious or posh, just honest done honestly.

http://www.franklinsrestaurant.com/