Set in a rather nondescript row of shops, this buzzy Battersea hangout has branched out to do Sunday roasts

I’ve never really got this part of Battersea, it seems dreary and characterless, but for decades now it’s been where posh parents have bought their kids their starter flats. Somewhere safe and, crucially, not too far from Chelsea.

This being Sunday many of the young chaps are walking about in rugby shorts and many are walking into The Farmer’s Mistress where they’re packing the place out and downing very tempting looking brunches.

We get there at 12:30 as the crowd begins to change to young parents entertaining grandparents to Sunday Roast. The kiddy count is not too high, which is pleasant for those of us now in full retreat from pubs where Sundays have become Creche Day.

It’s compact in a good way. Nice and friendly, with just enough room to move, it’s also warm and cosy. Perhaps too warm for one woman, who may not have had enough sleep, and I watch as she repeatedly nods off at the table and only just saves herself from landing in her brunch each time. Her girlfriends blithely ignore her.

I suppose that the starters have come off the main menu, which is fine as this is the more creative bit. We try Crispy Chicken Tenders with Sweet Chilli which are brilliant. The chicken breast really is tender and the sweet chili glaze just the right amount of heat for midday on a Sunday. It goes well with a bottle of Hawkstone IPA, which is really an excellent beer, well done Jeremy.

We also try a maple carrot hummus with crudités. Also very good, but it needs a few more crudités, as we are soon reduced to crudely using our fingers to scoop up the hummus. Messy, but nice.

So to the roast. Chicken, Pork or Beef. The latter is a rump cap often known as Picanha. This is a special ‘butcher’s’ cut like onglet, and like onglet it needs very, very, careful cooking. We decide on pork instead.

There’s a bit of a delay before it comes out, a good thirty minutes after starters, but it arrives just before grumpiness sets in. It looks good. The Yorkshire is puffy, but not so large as to conceal the whole plate, while the gravy is in a jug. I hate it when my roast comes already swimming in gravy.

There’s red cabbage, which is often seen on Sunday Roasts. It’s not my favourite vegetable as it’s often served too vinegary but here I actually rather like it. Also good is green cabbage, wilted to retain some texture and not boiled into limp submission. Swede and carrot mash (so that’s where my crudités went) is a nice change. Sweet and earthy and comforting.

The pork is great quality and thickly cut,  but rather too much fat remains under the crackling veneer. I like the fat to be rendered away so that the crackling comes free easily. The only real way to get good crackling, imho, is to separate it from the meat and blast it super hot. A tangy smooth apple puree – I have to admit my mother’s secret method was to always use Heinz Baby Food, it was never discussed outside the house.

Of course we must discuss the spuds. It’s not easy to do good roast potatoes in a restaurant situation, sadly many resort to the deep fryer. Here they roast in duck fat and that definitely gives flavour. A bit more fluffing of the spuds’ exterior before roasting would have helped give more crunch, but otherwise very good.

To end there was a home made cheesecake, it was a bit sloppy but who cares? We happily shovelled it in. Sunday’s allow such indulgence..

So a good Sunday roast in a non-pub environment (but with excellent beer). The Farmer’s Mistress made us happy as the farmer.


Address

300 Battersea Park Rd, London SW11 3BU

Opening Hours

Open 7 days a week, from 9am. Mon-Thurs: 9am-4pm. Friday-Sun: 9am-5pm

Vegans can have a Nut Roast Tart with rosemary roasted potatoes, wilted greens, swede & carrot mash, roasted parsnips and gravy.

A  kid-sized version of the above roasts is available

The Bottomless Roast for £32pp which includes bottomless portions of meat and all the trimmings, including giant yorkies, for 90 minutes. 

Dog-Focused Roast

At The Farmer’s Mistress a  Dog Roast! Roast beef or chicken is served  with peas, carrots, baked potato, broccoli, cabbage and seeds and topped with a salt-free beef bone gravy.