Open daily midday–11pm
The style & crowd:
I was at the first Wednesday of Wimbledon 2013. So far I’d seen Sharopova, Hewitt, Tsonga & Cillic either knocked out or retire. Murray played (you know how that one went) and last on was Federer. My friend and I were on Henman Hill and things were not going well for old Fedex. But I had to leave to review Goat. Dragging my heels, I left SW19 for the Fulham Road. I was this close to cancelling (imagine me doing that motion with my thumb and index finger) but I’m glad to say I didn’t… My friend and I were in for a treat with Goat.
Set on the Fulham road, just down from Chelsea and Westminster, Goat is lively and busy. We were greeted by a beautiful and animated hostess from New York who set the scene for the Goat experience. I would say the age range of my fellow diners would be from 25–40, both well dressed and casual. The vibe in this restaurant is a mix of cool and sophisticated. I can imagine it could be more on the lively side at the weekends.
We were seated inside by the large open windows which would have been great if it wasn’t for the smokers outside which, for a non-smoker, wasn’t pleasant. A problem quickly rectified by the Goat staff.
The food:
Overall, the food was okay; the dishes were certainly not hideous but not necessarily memorable either. My friend and I both commented that we would go back to Goat for the general feel, drinks and overall experience; we would not go back solely for the food. For starter I had the home cured sliced beef, rocket, truffled wild mushroom dressing (£8), and for main the lobster salad (£18). To be fair to Goat, where lobster salad is concerned I’ve been thoroughly spoilt by a certain Nobu – it was unsportsmanlike of me to opt for this, but like a cheeky Djokovic drop shot, I went there. However, that said, both dishes were enjoyable. I definitely made better choices than my dining partner who had the bland calamari fritti, black olives, sundried tomato pesto (£7) and the charred-rather-than-chargrilled monkfish (£19) for main.
We decided to share the signature Goat peanut butter cheesecake (£6) and lemon meringue pie (£8) for pudding. The cheesecake was out of this world but the lemon meringue could have done with a little more citrus.
The drinks:
We left it up to the manager to choose our pre-dinner cocktail and wine. We were not disappointed. Our fruit cocktail felt almost healthy in a devilish way (I run a travel company specialising in healthy hedonism so cocktails like this please me). I get the impression that for £10 a cocktail you will get your money’s worth here, whichever cocktail you choose.
Our meal was accompanied by a hearty red, Angelo Nero d’avola, 2011, from the Sangiovese region. This was a medium bodied wine which was elegant and smooth with high notes of vanilla, cinnamon and strawberries typically coming through.
Overall, a thoroughly enjoyable evening with an attentive team who were on point and seemed committed to making your time at Goat a memorable experience and one you would want to repeat and tell your friends all about.
Oh, and Federer, he was controversially knocked out of Wimbledon 2013, making way for our man to make sporting history and take the championship title.
