Rating: 6.5/10

Telephone: 020-7924 3999
Address: 39-41 Parkgate Road, London SW11
Open: Mon-Sat, butcher 9am-9pm; restaurant (lunch) noon-3.30pm and (dinner) 6-11pm. Sun, restaurant 12-4.30pm
Wheelchair access and disabled WC

The day was potty. Terrorist red alerts, airport seizures, and the journey to the restaurant was detoured by a police cordon around a knifing in a kebab shop. Where are we going again, dear? Oh yeah, the Butcher & Grill. What a coincidence.

So we needed relaxation. "We're actually overbooked, so we are cramming people in wherever we can find space," said the floor manager. Ten out of 10 for honesty, minus several million for reassurance.

The difference between the best and worst seats in the house should be small, otherwise you get business-class envy. Our table was like eating on a roundabout. We were perched on the main thoroughfare of the restaurant, next to the kitchen exit. It pounded with rushing staff and customers, six inches from the table. If you get this seat, bring your own pedestrian crossing, so you can get make it over to the toilet. At one point, I actually managed to get a waitress's hair in my mouth as I looked over my shoulder. It needed seasoning.

Anyway, Butcher & Grill. That's a no-nonsense name. None of your abstract Mazes, Seacows or Bombay Bicycle Clubs. The meathead hopes this means flesh, served simply, with confidence in its provenance. Or as my mum would say: "Take its horns off, wipe its arse and stick it on a plate. I like my beef so a good vet could save it."

The innovation at Butcher & Grill is that there's a butcher/deli at the front of the restaurant, which sells meat mostly from Highfields Farm in East Sussex. And that's the meat they are cooking, so you can find out what the cattle was fed on, how many miles the beef travelled (60) to get there, and that it has been well hung (four weeks). Animals are everywhere. The spacious blue-andwhite interior of the dining area and bar is blood-stained with paintings of hanging meat. In the toilet, photos of cattle (alive this time) watch you pee.

Mains are predominantly, err, meat (two vegetarian options), but the starters are evenly divided, with further evidence of careful sourcing. The smoked salmon is produced in London - by H Foreman - a lovely mild cure, served with a clean cream cheese, capers and a hint of horsesradish heat. The slight problem with the duck rillettes - no, massive problem - was that it wasn't rillettes. There was no fat. How can you have a rillettes that falls off your toast when you turn it upside down? Rather than a moist, shredded paste, it was like a cat-plate of duck morsels.

The Barnsley chop was a perfect pink, with just enough charred flavour on the fat. "Can't fault it," said my partner. Good to see beef onglet on the menu (hanging steak in the US). It is tough, irregular, sinewy, but the great payoff is a rich, livery flavour, well in evidence here. The Bordelaise sauce (red wine, shallots, etc) was too sweet formy taste, but the meat saw it off. Dauphinoise came braced with garlic and pepperiness - it wasn't piping hot, but each potato slice was defined, rather than collapsing into the cream. Great green beans, almost minty fresh, but we disagreed on the mash: I don't like it that gluey, as if it had been blended.

A full French-style board is a labour of love, but it's amazing how many places can't even babysit three cheeses. Here, the Cornish Yarg was a bit scrag-end but it was, along with the Lincolnshire Poacher and Colston Bassett, in good condition and at room temperature. Summer pudding came happily bitter-sweet, with concentrated fruit - quite doughy.

There's a good eclectic concentration of wines around the £20-40 mark. We went for the Saint Cosme 1994 Gigondas (£37), a bottle of local Battersea Brewery Power Station Porter beer (looks like diesel, tastes weirdly refreshing) and a glass of Pinot Grigio. All that came to just over £120, including service (which was friendly but slightly panicked). At that price, no one wants to be "crammed in" wherever they can find space. Butcher & Grill is a good idea, and has sound priorities in its local sourcing. As it settles down, let's hope it finds its heart in the right place. Preferably on a plate.

· Matthew Norman is away.