Review: Browns Brasserie & Bar Bluewater

Living within 20 minutes from Bluewater Shopping Centre has its benefits, like being close to exciting entertainment and a generous array of restaurants serving dishes from all over the world. I was recently invited to review the new menu at one of those restaurants, Browns Brasserie & Bar.

Browns first opened in 1973 with the aim to offer quality food and drink in combination with a bustling atmosphere, beautiful interiors and special touches. Browns is open for brunch all the way through to dinner in the evening, including afternoon tea and elegant cocktails.

My husband and I were very much looking forward to testing out the new menu – we can be difficult to please as I am vegetarian and my husband can’t eat grains. We were warmly welcomed and shown to our booth towards the back of the stylish restaurant which reminded me of a first class train station lounge with dark, sumptuous furniture and arched windows.

First, we chose our drinks. I went for a virgin raspberry and grapefruit mojito, unfortunately, they were all out of the cordial – however, rather than asking me to make a different choice they very kindly offered to make me one using an alternative cordial, so I happily had a spiced dark fruit mock-mojito instead. Vlad went for a cider, the Somerset Orchard Pig Reveller.

After browsing the impressive menu we settled upon our starters; I chose the whole baked Somerset camembert which was served with toasted bread and a blob of tomato & rhubarb chutney. Vlad went for the asparagus and prosciutto ham which came with a poached range egg and hollandaise sauce. I almost squealed with delight when I cut open the camembert and molten cheese oozed out, perfect for dipping.

I have to admit that the cheese was a bit more aged than I am used to (we were told by our helpful and friendly waiter Jack that it is aged for 32 days), but I still enjoyed it. Vlad’s asparagus was perfectly al dente and complimented by the rich, salty prosciutto and the poached egg was wonderfully runny. Browns were kind enough to provide my husband with gluten-free bread to mop it up with.

When choosing mains I decided to go for a lighter option in order to save space for pudding. I went for the vegan option of courgette, mint & lemon tagliatelle; a plate of tagliatelle combined with green and yellow courgette ribbons, mint, freshly grated lemon zest, and toasted pumpkin seeds for added crunch. This is a fresh, zingy and satisfying dish. Vlad went for a bigger dish, choosing the 8oz sirloin steak with an added half lobster. The steak was cooked to medium well as requested and served with lightly dressed baby watercress and thick cut chips. I didn’t hear any complaints!

We couldn’t resist a pudding and when I spotted salted caramel profiteroles on the menu I just had to have them. I am such a salted caramel junkie. The profiteroles came with a delicious Devon cream toffee sauce and fluffy whipped cream. The profiteroles were surprisingly light and filled with morish salted caramel and coated in a light layer of chocolate. Vlad went for a decadent pudding too, choosing the trio of chocolate; warm chocolate fondant, white chocolate pot, chocolate ice cream, hazelnut praline.

Overall we very much enjoyed our lunch at Browns Brasserie & Bar Bluewater. The service was impeccable, the food was fresh and satisfying and the atmosphere was elegant and cosy. I would definitely recommend a visit for anyone wanting something more sophisticated than the other restaurant options in the shopping centre. We award Browns Brasserie & Bar Bluewater 5 out of 5 stars.