Restaurant Reviews and Food Musings

Restaurant

The TreeHouse
78 South End
Croydon
CR0 1DP

Phone:- 0208 688 9837

Website www.treehousepeople.com

Overview

Eva and I were in the TreeHouse bar on Sunday, having a drink, and decided to try out their restaurant.

The Treehouse is a bar and restaurant, serving imaginative dishes far removed from traditional wine bar and pub fayre.

Ambience

The TreeHouse is a quirkily decorated bar and restaurant, occupying the premises of a former pub. The outside of the building is illuminated by a wall of white fairy lights.

Inside, the ceiling is also illuminated by a “net” of the same fairy lights interspersed with tree branches. The emphasis of the décor is wood, wood and wood. The chairs in both the bar and restaurant range from an eclectic mix of traditional wooden four legged affairs to exotic carved tree trunks.

The bar is cosy and positioned at the front of the Treehouse, the restaurant is open to the bar yet secluded and intimate.

We sat by the fireplace, which had been decorated with a mosaic of broken crockery. The intimate ambience of the restaurant was enhanced by the fact that it was illuminated by a bountiful number of candles.

A live Latin band played in the corner of the bar, the music was good and not intrusive.

The bar was quiet, but the restaurant was quite busy; unusual for a Sunday night in Croydon.

Menu

The main menu had a variety of gourmet dishes including; gigot of lamb, scallops, ribs, vegetable shepherds pie, pan fried fillet of sea bass and smoked bacon & stilton salad. There was also a blackboard list of specials.

Service

The staff, in both the bar and restaurant, were very friendly and welcoming. I was particularly pleased that our waitress was honest enough to advise us not to have the lamb, as it was apparently a little tough.

Food

I chose the beetroot and pine nut risotto to start with. This was superb, the risotto was creamy and rich. The taste was a well balanced blend of nuts, rice and cream; topped off with a few shavings of Parmesan.

I decided to try the calves liver for my main course. This was excellent, thick and succulent. The liver had been cooked pink, just as I like it, and was exceptionally tender and flavoursome. It was served on a bed of hazelnut mash, with bacon slices. The mash was delightful.

Eva started with the scallops and peppers. These were lightly poached in white wine, and served with a piquant medley of peppers.

The scallops were excellent, tender and juicy; the portion was just right for a starter.

Eva then opted for the guinea fowl for her main course. This dish consisted of a breast and leg of guinea fowl, stuffed with black pudding; roasted and served on a bed of garlic crushed new potatoes.

The dish was first class, the black pudding complemented the tender and succulent guinea fowl; and the potatoes were a delight.

I will have that myself next time we go there.

We pigged out, and had a side dish of hazelnut mashed potatoes as well; this of course was not really required.

The meal, which included a bottle of Chablis and liqueurs, came to £83 including service.

Overall Opinion

This is definitely one of Croydon’s better restaurants, and one of the few that does not serve reheated or microwaved food. We heartily endorse The Treehouse, and will definitely be visiting it again.