Tuesday 3 January 2017

New Deptford eateries: The Full Nelson

The Full Nelson is the eagerly-awaited eatery from the team behind my favourite Deptford coffee shop, The Waiting Room; it opened a couple of months ago and is a bar that serves veggie and vegan 'junk food'.

(Photo by The Full Nelson)

It's not quite as minuscule as the tiny shop front on Deptford Broadway suggests, but it's still quite snug. However if you are familiar with the Waiting Room you'll realise that these guys are already adept at working miracles in confined spaces. 


From the front door the premises stretch back quite a way, opening out to make room for a long thin bar and a number of tables. The first couple of times I tried to visit were aborted due to the place being packed to the rafters, but having been back twice, the general impression is that they certainly seem to have achieved what they are aiming for, and it's definitely filling a gap in the market.

The drinks focus is on cocktails and shakes, with a selection of craft beers on offer at the bar, both draft and bottled. On Wednesdays you can get two cocktails for a tenner, rather than £7 each. No cask ale sadly, but I presume they just wouldn't get the turnover to make it viable. (Perhaps they could be persuaded to stock one or two traditional bottled ales for those who like something a bit less hoppy?)

(Photo by The Full Nelson)

The junk food range consists of veggie burgers, 'seitanic' wings or a faux-beef reuben stacker, with optional sides of fries (cheesy or otherwise) and battered jalapeƱos/pickles. Everything can be made vegan on request.

I tried out the Sith Burger as I am a big fan of the hot sauce that the Waiting Room puts into its falafel wraps - it didn't disappoint. Despite being a meat-eater I never turn up my nose at veggie fare, and the burger made a very acceptable substitute when compared to those bland potato-based things that are often served up elsewhere. We ordered the fries and the deep-fried sides too, all of which were good and fresh and crispy.

Food is priced very competitively with a burger and fries adding up to just £8 - and unlike most places you can save yourself a couple of quid if you are not so hungry by just ordering the burger. Drink prices are similar to elsewhere with the draft craft beer prices still able to make me wince a little.

In keeping with the 'junk food' theme the food is served very informally on greaseproof paper and plastic trays - not something I'm a fan of but I guess I'm just showing my age...! I always find burgers quite challenging to eat without dropping half the contents down my front. They should probably just give me one of those baby bib things and have done with it.

Opening hours are currently Wed - Sat from 4pm weekdays and from midday on the weekend. A great addition as far as veggie and vegan locals are concerned - I recommend even sceptical meat-lovers should give it a go, you may surprise yourselves.

The Full Nelson
http://thefullnelsondeptford.co.uk/home/

1 comment:

lewishamflasher said...

Visited a couple of months ago - agreed it's very snug but has a really good atmosphere inside. Had a couple of pints but skipped the food as we weren't aware it was a veggie/vegan place. Feels like Deptford is starting to really forge itself into a destination to visit!