The White Onion Wimbledon Village

 Dining inside restaurants has been impossible for so long that we, that is mrs maytrees and I, decided to take my youngest sister to The White Onion restaurant in Wimbledon Village  yesterday, for a late birthday lunch. The White Onion has only been open for lunch for the past few days and like other restaurants without outside dining facilities, at least in England,  has been closed for months.

The White Onion is a French cuisine restaurant which is not part of a chain. My first thought before entering  was that perhaps it should have been called L' Oignon Blanc  or something similar. Upon entering we were taken to our well positioned table and provided with menus  for us to consider some pre-lunch  aperitifs. In the event we chose  non alcoholic Blackberry & Vanilla Mojitos which strictly speaking are I believe  cocktails rather than aperitifs. No matter, they were deliciously refreshing.

My late parents from London's East End had always enjoyed pickled herring as tasters though certainly I but probably  all their other children  in the family, loathed these, given their strong taste. Nonetheless I decided to try the "Pickled Cornish Herring" starter. Yes there is indeed a strong taste but simply delicious. Probably one's taste buds are differently conditioned at age 72 than they were at age 12.

Traditionally Catholics do not eat meat on Fridays. Given that the cost of fish these days is often higher than that of meat I am not sure that the Catholic tradition still applies; perhaps Fridays should be vegetarian?

In any event I chose Pan Fried Sea Bream for the main course with mrs maytrees and  birthday sister selecting Cornish Stone Bass, all of which were thoroughly enjoyed.

For Sweet we enjoyed:

The staff who were very attentive, made sure that as requested, our coffees (my selection was a fresh mint tea) were brought to the table at the same time as our sweets.

Overall a far better lunch than one might have expected given the lack of  any general publicity about the restaurant. The cost including tips, was some £40 per person which I thought was excellent value.

A further advantage is that Wimbledon Common is near by thus providing scope for a good long walk after lunch.