Samantha Laurie visits The Swan Inn at Claygate, now owned by Spanish chef Jose Pizarro...
OUR VERDICT
The news that one of the UK’s most respected Spanish chefs was taking over a gastropub in Surrey’s deepest commuter belt raised more than a few eyebrows.
How would Jose Pizarro - creator of three of London’s hippest tapas bars – work his magic in a country pub setting?
Would Claygate’s much-loved The Swan Inn be transformed with swinging hams and flamenco vibes?
Locals needed not to fear - it’s still very much a pub, with a handsome bar, a smiley bartender and plenty of tables for drinkers. On a Thursday evening towards the end of a long dry January, there are more dogs than drinkers, but there’s a convivial buzz with a mix of locals and visitors, including a chatty travelling salesman staying in one of the pub’s six newly refurbished rooms. Merrily engaging everyone in conversation, he so completely epitomises Pizarro’s vision of English pub charm mixed with lively Spanish bar, we wonder if he’s a plant!
You can eat at the bar - as many are already doing - but the restaurant with its green leather banquettes beckons and we are shown to our table by one of the super-efficient local girls waiting on.
So far, so very English…until the menu arrives. Several tapas as you’d expect, with just two bigger dishes - fish and chips (battered in Spanish beer) and paella (min two people). I am curious as to how diners combine these, but the waitress tells us that in a group some order three to four tapas, whilst others opt simply for fish and chips.
On her advice, we order seven tapas between us. I’d quite like to have tried a bigger dish to share, but I’m not sure fish and chips quite fit the bill. First to arrive is my favourite appetite raiser - a simple and tasty dish of salty padron peppers (£6), followed by stuffed Gordal olives with goats cheese and seaweed (£3.50) and boquerones en vinagre, a tad pricey at £7 for six, but beautifully plump and tasty.
The prawn fritters with lemon allioli and coriander (£11) are a little underwhelming in flavour and I find the heavy sweetness of the grilled aubergine and Montenegro with honey, pimientos and watercress (£6.5) too much.
But the special of the night - a generous plate of smoked trout fillet with hazelnut, basil oil, and blood orange - is a game-raiser, lovingly presented, not overly fussy and a beautiful mix of flavours.
However, the stand out dish the evening is the last to come.
How would you like your tortilla cooked? Asks the waitress. Why, runny of course. I am an inveterate tortilla aficionado. It’s the dish I look for first on a menu, the one I imagine when I think of long happy holiday lunches. Pizarro’s version (£7.50) is an oozing delight, slightly caramelised on top, full of flavour and instantly conjuring up the taste and smell of a buzzing Andalucian bodeguita.
Of course, The Swan is not a bustling tapas bar. It’s a nicely done English pub, on the edge of Esher (quite literally on the other side of the road), close to a popular woodland area for walks. On weekends, this is full of welly-clad young families en route to the woods and Pizarro clearly has them in mind with his pub staples - fish and chips (£15) and a Sunday roast loin of pork or leg of lamb, with roast potatoes, peppers, spinach and gravy (£17), and a kids menu.
There’s even a breakfast menu (£10 for a Full English with Catalan sausages) to cater for the overnighters and hungry dog walkers.
His aim here – to find the sweet spot between English pub charm and Spanish village bar – isn’t an easy one. But Pizarro has a serious food name in the capital: in the 20 years since he’s been here, he’s created three successful ventures: restaurant Jose Pizarro Broadgate, and sherry and tapas bar, Jose and restaurant, Pizarro, both in Bermondsey. For a man who began adult life as a dentist and had practically no experience of cooking as a child, his ability to make things work is not to be underestimated.
On the way out, I see something that makes me think he’ll succeed. The friendly salesman, having exhausted his bar chat, has retired to a table with a glass of chilled white wine and a steaming hot slice of the wonderful tortilla. What better sustenance for a night in the pub than that? I could almost sit back down for another helping and more of his stories. Almost.
The Swan Inn, 2 Hare Ln, Claygate, Esher KT10 9BS. For more information and bookings, visit: josepizarro.com
