Not content with his two other Clapham-based restaurants, Robin Gill opened a third – Counter Culture – that serves up his innovative Nordic cuisine in a Basque country pintxos bar setting.
For most people, having just one successful restaurant in a single place would be enough – but not for Robin Gill. Less than two years after The Dairy opened to rave reviews, Robin has two more restaurants in the vicinity of Clapham – Sorella, just off Clapham High Street, and Counter Culture, which sits right next door to his magnum opus.
If you’ve visited Robin's other restaurants, you’ll have an idea of what to expect at Counter Culture. The food has all of his hallmarks – it’s thoughtful and clean, with a Scandinavian influence that runs throughout – but the setting is more tapas than à la carte, taking inspiration from the pintxos bars of San Sebastián.
The menu is heavily seasonal, and dishes are ingredient-led to the extreme, often appearing as a simple collection of elements on a plate. Sour potato flatbread, ’nduja and cultured cream – a dish that probably has days' worth of work invested, but can be devoured in a matter of seconds – is a perfect example of this, letting the flavour combinations speak for themselves, without the adulteration of cheffy plating techniques.
If that sounds like your sort of thing, you’d better get in line quick – Counter Culture only has room for fifteen people. There’s extra room outside for balmy summer evenings, but the real action is at the counter inside where you can watch the restaurant’s cheerful chefs plate up your food. In fact, the food, service and setting are so fantastic, the only problem at Counter Culture is getting a table in the first place.
16 The Pavement, London , SW4 0HY
0208 191 7960
