Cinematic Dining: Lunch at Olympic Studios, Barnes

Whenever my mother comes up to town, we tend to end up exploring areas that perhaps I wouldn't usually venture out to. (In part, this may be because she tends to bring a car, whereas usually I rely on public transport.) This weekend, we headed out to Barnes which, admittedly, is really just a stone's throw from my doorstep. Since the weather was down-right grotty, we found ourselves taking refuge in Olympic Studios - a local cinema and (it seemed) a rather popular restaurant.

A little research post meal lead me to understand one thing - Olympic Studios is rather a big deal. Back in its hey day, Olympic Studios was a recording studio where some of the biggest names in rock 'n' roll history came to record their latest tracks. Artists included the Rolling Stones (who recorded six albums there!), The Beatles, The Who, Led Zeppelin and even Queen! Later on, Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Oasis and my personal favourite, The Spice Girls, all paid the studio a visit. It seems the studio wasn't just a rock and pop haven however - film soundtracks (The Italian Job, The Rocky Horror Picture Show...) were also recorded there. Personally, I found all this quite astounding given Barnes to me seemed like a lovely but quiet end of London!

Anyway, back to lunch.

You wouldn't maybe thing that a recording studio-cum-cinema would have a particularly good restaurant attached. However, in this case, you'd be wrong - we had some wholly unexpected excellent food!

As the rain poured outside, we settled down to a starter of a large ball of burrata on a bed of beetroot, pomegranate and pistachio served with bruschetta. We also ordered some tasty pineapple based smoothies which were delicious and came beautifully presented!

Then, Mum opted for a lovely looking salad and I (feeling slightly unadventurous) went for the cheese burger. The burger was definitely tasty, but I have to say the chips were fantastic! I'm not normally a big chip person, but each one of these was crispy on the outside and soft in the middle, without being too thick or thin. The texture on the outside almost looked 'bubbly' so I wonder if they had been double fried? Anyway, they were great!

We finished the meal with an absolutely stunning little pudding (a mille-feuille filled with baby rhubarb and pistachios) and just about felt ready to face the very British weather outside.

All in all, the Olympic was a completely unexpected and enjoyable surprise. Not only was the food good, we also had an excellent waitress - attentive, friendly and generally helpful. I can definitely see myself venturing out to Barnes to go again, although I may wait for a slightly less-wet day!