Blueprint Cafe

On the first floor of the Design Museum, the Blueprint Café was the first restaurant in the Butlers Wharf Gastrodrome. It has stunning views from the City of London along the Thames to Canary Wharf.

The floor to ceiling windows and light wooden floors create a light and airy space in which to enjoy Jeremy Lee's fantastic cooking and the knowledgeable and courteous service.

Head Chef Jeremy Lee is renowned for his eclectic style of cooking - taking influences from his native Scotland as well as Europe and North Africa. His menu changes daily depending on what is good that's in season. Dishes might include salad of beetroot, a boiled egg, mustard, horseradish or whole grilled stuffed mackerel, herbs, bacon and garlic or polenta, mushrooms, rocket, mascarpone and Parmesan. One of Jeremy's specialities is his desserts which range from gingerbread with toffee sauce to almond cake with clementine curd.

Apart from the well-loved Sunday roast there are three menus, an à la carte, set menu and lunch menu. Starters from the carte could include crab soup, rouille and croutons, beetroot salad with a soft boiled egg, mustard and horseradish, or salt mallard, quince and watercress.

Ox tongue, potatoes and green sauce kick the mains off to a heady start, and for the less adventurous there is still plenty to enjoy, In season look for roast grouse with the essential game chips and bread sauce, hake with a parsley mash, beetroot and horseradish, or a whole grilled bream with a warm potato salad.

A lemon posset with blueberries does justice to the flavours of each, whilst a raspberry shortcake follows well after a game dish, with full marks to indulgence for the almond tart with mirabelle jam and Jersey cream.

A seasonal main course at £10 is invariably good value, particularly if taken with one of their £10 wines (but only between 12 noon and 5pm), say in autumn smoked haddock, beans, mustard and poached egg in company with a Chardonnay/Sauvignon from Côte Tariquet or baked mutton, mustard and parsley crust with a 2003 Côtes du Rhône Rouge from Perrin.

The set lunch of two or three courses has nine choices from the starters, with smoked eel sandwich and red onion pickle, two terrines, anchovy, capers and toast, or a clam, mussel and chickpea broth, followed by mains of blackface haggis and clapshot, a Lowestoft kipper with warm potato salad and a poached egg, or grilled Middlewhite pork, beans and herbs. An uncomplicated but tremendously good choice is the beef pie, added to by some purple sprouting broccoli and roast potatoes for a meal that will keep you in steam for more than most, particularly if you round it off with a plate of British cheese or a hazelnut meringue, berries and cream.

The wine list is an elegant mix of European wines mainly from France, Spain and Italy with some additions from Germany.

There is plenty of information on their comprehensive Website, such offers and seasonal menu changes.