Aquarium

Homer: I like pizza, I like bagels, I like hot dogs with mustard and beer...
Editor: I get the picture.
Homer: I'll eat eggplant, I could even eat a baby deer! La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la, who's that baby deer on the lawn there?
- Guess who's coming to criticize dinner

On Wednesday night, we tried out Aquarium for the first time. We're not very good at doing restaurant reviews, struggling to get beyond the "food good, drink quite good" template for which the BrocSoc Foxes are often lampooned. So here's our effort.

We shared a starter of deep fried brie, followed by peri peri chicken. Our wife had the gnocchi and our son had pizza. All were good - the chicken was more elaborate than we'd been expecting, but this too was good. Desert included ice cream and tiramisu, both of which were also good.

The decor is best described as being in a state of flux. It still has many of the features inherited from the days when it was Ecosium, but the furniture has been shuffled around, so the front room feels more like a bar. Indeed, although we sat on the sofas in the corner near the window (good for kids) for our meal, the people who sat next to us were a large group of people in their early twenties who were just enjoying a drink. We understand the plan is that the look of the place will change gradually and that's probably a good idea - currently, it suffers from an identity crisis.

The service was warm and friendly and the discussion between the chef and some of his customers at the bar added to the atmosphere of the place.

After the meal, we introduced ourselves to Halim, the new manager, who sent us this voucher offer for BC readers. He said that about a dozen people had already taken him up on the offer, which he was really pleased about, as he said one of his biggest challenges is to let people know about the changes that have taken place since he took over. Twelve sets of diners in just over two weeks is a great result and shows that BC readers will support local business.

We also took advantage of the free bottle of wine offer and in our view, the house red is perfectly fine.

We're currently taking soundings here about whether Aquarium should be the venue for Brockley Central Drinks V and it appears to be a popular option.