Creature Comfort

Fat Cow by Gordon Ramsey

For someone so spectacularly associated with ballistic profanities, Gordon Ramsay’s new venture, Fat Cow, certainly marks a softer, more family-oriented avenue for the colourful celebrity chef. While the aesthetic may seem fairly ubiquitous – bare bricks, salvaged wood, exposed bulbs and flea market accents – the gastropub concept has gained and maintains a global following for reasons little to do with cutting-edge looks. Comfort, both physical and culinary, is the name of the game which keeps guests coming back, from the decor to the menu to the atmosphere, and at Fat Cow, Ramsay is clearly in his own family comfort zone.

The European-inflected menu also reveals mod Californian and South American flavours such as ceviche and gazpacho alongside all-American favourites like beef sliders, stone-baked pizzas and mac n’ cheese with lobster, with classic Brit fish and chips, shepherd’s pie and meringue mainstay Eton Mess representing Ramsay's Blighty roots. A New World wine, local craft beer and cocktail list keeps frazzled mums and dads happy, while the kids tuck into their own special menu faves like chicken fingers with hand cut fries and ranch dressing. A dessert station named Moo Bar sits up front of the communal 200-seat space, offering soft serve, sundaes, milkshakes, and myriad house-made treats like sticky toffee pudding and treacle tart. It's all great PG-rated fun – as long as Ramsay can keep his lips zipped! Moo!