South of the River - East Restaurants
441 restaurants in South of the River - East
Restaurants in South of the River - East:
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Tea Trade Wharf, Shad Thames, London, SE1 2YG [Map]
If you haven't discovered this part of London's riverside area yet, you really have missed out. Butler's Wharf has grown over the years and the formerly derelict warehouses have been converted into luxury flats, boutique shops and designer restaurants and bars.
Located in the shadow of Tower Bridge, Browns occupies the area's premier site with a stunning restaurant overlooking the Thames and the magnificent architecture of riverside London. Al fresco dining is always popular in the warmer months as the area's workers and residents enjoy the capital's impressive external decks. The whole area is thriving during the weekend as families and friends enjoy the relaxing feel to Shad Thames and the wonderful food and drink that Browns offers.
Browns is a classic English restaurant with a menu that evolves rather than changes. It offers a genuine value for money experience for guests and can also cater for large parties with a more expansive budget.
A plate of appetisers to share comes in vegetarian, seafood or Italian meat antipasti form, or there are thin and crisp flatbreads topped with such delights as garlic, rocket and Parmesan, and spicy beef and mushroom. Starters cleverly re-invent some of the classic brasserie dishes; expect to find crab and avocado salad, ham hock terrine, pan-seared scallops and a fine selection of freshly made soups depending on the day.
Fish and pasta dishes include prawn and chorizo linguine, served with tomato and chorizo sauce. A real value seafood platter will have smoked salmon, Browns crab mix, squid, kiln cured salmon with horseradish crème fraîche, large shell-on tiger prawn and marinated king scallops assembled together, whilst hungry chaps may well opt for the whole baked sea bream with lemon and ginger served with wilted spinach and new potatoes.
Browns's own steak, mushroom and Guinness pie is a real puller, with the rack of lamb not too far behind. Desserts include raspberry and chocolate brownie and cheese board with fresh bread, crackers, grapes and celery. The fact is that after years of experience in the field of what might be termed comfortable eating; Browns have it pretty well tied up.
On Sundays step into Browns for a relaxed Sunday brunch with newspapers, simple food and a well constructed Bloody Mary. And what a brunch it is! Smoked fishcake with poached egg and hollandaise, eggs Florentine, Royal or Benedict, the full English, or smoothies, it's all there.
Their afternoon tea is a real treat at any time, and two people can get into a friendly huddle over their Most Unusual version that introduces even more indulgence into the equation, including two large G & Ts. There is a full wine, cocktail and Champagne list with the Champagnes being particularly notable for their sensible pricing.
Adjacent to the stunning design museum, Browns has become an ideal neighbourhood restaurant and bar to those fortunate to live in the area, but also a perfect destination to those visiting this magnificent addition to London's amenities. Browns's private dining room is the ideal venue for corporate entertaining especially for those who want to offer their guests something a little bit different and special.
More information, including details on their full menu and private rooms, can be viewed on their Website.
"Where everybody goes and quite rightly so" - The Guardian
Brasserie, British
N/A£29.00
The Floral Hall, Stoney Street, London, SE1 1TL [Map]
Roast in the hugely popular Borough Market, with its intriguing twist on classic British food, is a great example of somebody seeing a unique opportunity, grabbing it with both hands, and then making it work. The last bit of course is almost invariably the toughest call. The man who has done this is no ordinary 'somebody'. Iqbal Wahhab made an early start by moving from Bangladesh at the age of 8 months.
In 2001 he launched the award winning Cinnamon Club, the Westminster restaurant where politicians, lobbyists and curries blend successfully together. Four years later came Roast, a wonderful opportunity to be at the hub of the rejuvenated Borough Market, one of the largest fruit markets in the world. Not for nothing was Iqbal voted into the Top 10 Restaurateurs in Britain by an Independent on Sunday survey.
Located in the elegant glass and stone portico on the first floor, the restaurant looks down into the Floral Hall of the market itself and out through tall arched glass windows over the surrounding townscape. As one leading newspaper recorded, 'restaurant locations don't come much better than this'. The atmosphere is one of excitement and buzz, sentiments wonderfully evoked by Prince Charles - whose Prince's Trust has a Table at Roast to support their work in the neighbourhood - when he and the Duchess of Cornwall dropped in on the Market in November 2005.
As with most markets, whose business is by its very nature an early starter, Roast starts the day with a full-on breakfast menu. Strewn with such evocative words as smoked streaky bacon, eggs Benedict, grilled Orkney kippers, toasted cottage loaf, Scott's porridge oats, smoked Loch Etive trout and Ramsay of Carluke black pudding, The Full Borough is highly recommended, or should you be returning from the hospital where your wife has just successfully given birth, The Roast Bubbly Breakfast. Any old occasion will do.
You will already have detected a note of Britishness about Roast. This celebration of our national culinary awareness moves easily to the main menu where spring pea soup, half a dozen Loch Fyne oysters or perhaps a Market salad precede roast Goosnargh chicken breast, or Isle of Wight asparagus and Berkswell cheese tart, in competition with slow roast Wicks Manor pork belly, or roast 8oz fillet of Welsh beef with spinach and fairy ring mushrooms.
A profusion of puddings - would chocolate banoffee pudding with Devonshire clotted cream tickle the buds? - is only surpassed by the seven or so cheeses always on offer, reading rather like a roll of honour to those afflicted by this persuasive, and yes, sometimes pervasive too, form of gourmet pleasure.
Markets are places where the human frame may benefit not only from wonderful uncomplicated top class food but also some decent wine to go with it. It is no exaggeration to say that the wine list at Roast would be the envy of many a top London hotel or restaurant. Lots come by the glass and the breadth of the list is truly astounding.
If you detect more than a little enthusiasm about Roast you are of course free to check out the reality. You will be in raptures when you do. Check on their Website for seasonal changes of menu.
English, Organic
£35.00£50.00
Oxo Tower Wharf, Barge House Street, South Bank, London, SE1 9PH [Map]
At the very heart of the South Bank, next to Blackfriars Bridge, lies Oxo Tower Wharf. Built as a power station for the GPO, the Wharf, has housed many businesses over the years, but most notably was home to the Oxo cube in the 1930s. The landmark tower, which 'subtly' advertised the product in its art deco windows, was built to get round an advertising ban imposed by the LCC.
The Restaurant was designed by award winning architects Lifschutz Davidson, who are no strangers to the South Bank, with local housing and office projects to their credit. The design incorporates sleek, natural materials but remains influenced by the art deco style of the building and the presence of the river.
Echoing the design of a 1930's ocean liner, the Restaurant is an elegant space, beautiful in its simplicity. A feature is the ceiling, which is made up of double-sided louvres, white during the day, revolving to midnight blue at dusk. The windows are angled to prevent any night time reflections, enabling the diner to take full advantage of the spectacular views over the City and St Paul's Cathedral.
The restaurant seats 130 people with an additional 80 seats on the terrace for summer dining. Dinner might start with slow cooked pork belly, mango carrot puree and chorizo, or crab cocktail, celeriac and apple macedoine and rocket foam. Grilled Herdwick mutton leg steak, asparagus, land cress and truffle pecorino salad, or halibut, marinated Jersey oysters, bok choi and sweet sake are amongst nine main courses of substance and original approach, followed by say, raspberry and elderflower trifle with shortbread. All desserts have a recommended chosen partner from the wine list.
A handy place for lunch after a little retail extravagance, or even bracing for the strain beforehand, a three course lunch offers excellent choices with starters of chilled pea and mint soup, lamb bacon and crisp pea shoots, and grilled sardines, tomato, pousse and herb vinaigrette from a choice of eight dishes. Amongst the nine main courses expect to find rabbit and black pudding, pea and morel risotto, baby carrots and coriander, or fillet of beef, café de Paris butter, smoked garlic cream and dried tomato dust.
Dessert of honey and peach brûlée, shortbread and Earl Grey tea has beside it a gentle reminder that a particular Austrian dessert wine might mingle well with it, whilst the selection of sorbets carry the flag for Kir Royale.
Service is of a high order, and combined with the modern elegance of the surroundings against a backdrop of one of the world's greatest cities makes for an experience which is an absolute must when in London.
The Restaurant has a bar situated on the south side of Oxo Tower that has equally stunning views thanks to the glass wall that runs down the south elevation, which at night is exclusive to Restaurant diners. In this calm environment, pre-dinner drinks can be enjoyed, with cigars and cognacs to look forward to later. A remarkable wine list of over 400 wines provides a stunning selection, spanning classic French regions, Spain, Italy and the New World.
A quick click on the Harvey Nichols Website will keep you abreast of menu changes and other Harvey Nichols related events and offers.
Photographs - Copyright Chris Gascoigne.
British, European, Modern British
£50.00£63.00
Oxo Tower Wharf, Barge House Street, South Bank, London, SE1 9PH [Map]
At the very heart of the South Bank, next to Blackfriars Bridge, lies Oxo Tower Wharf. Built as a power station for the GPO, the Wharf, has housed many businesses over the years, but most notably was home to the Oxo cube in the 1930s. The landmark tower, which 'subtly' advertised the product in its art deco windows, was built to get round an advertising ban imposed by the LCC.
Oxo Tower Brasserie is situated on the eighth floor of the Tower occupying part of the 12,500 square feet it shares with the restaurant, with the tower acting as a natural focus dividing the space into two equal halves. To the east lies the Restaurant and to the west the Bar and Brasserie. Both spaces are linked by a spectacular 250-foot terrace, which offers some of the most breathtaking views in London.
The Restaurant Bar and Brasserie was designed by award winning architects Lifschutz Davidson, who are no strangers to the South Bank, with local housing and office projects to their credit. The design incorporates sleek, natural materials but remains influenced by the art deco style of the building and the presence of the river.
A set menu is amongst those available in the Brasserie, starting with grilled merguez sausages, hummus and cucumber pickle, followed by Sumac spiced chicken skewer, fattoush salad, cucumber tahini tzatziki. Desserts include chocolate brownie with milk chocolate mousse and butterscotch popcorn. To give a lift before setting off for the theatre, say, a choice from three non-alcoholic vitality boosters can be invoked, with perhaps the oriental chill; crushed lychees, fresh limejuice and coconut charged with organic ginger beer, infused with Guarana extract.
A recent addition to the offering in the Brasserie is the 'Not Afternoon Tea'. A fabulously indulgent and quirky alternative to a traditional afternoon tea, this menu offers a selection of dessert tasting plates, each expertly matched with a cocktail mixed by the expert bartenders. A treat not to be missed, 'Not Afternoon Tea' is served daily between 3:15 and 5:15pm.
Head Chef Deon Jansen's menu features a mixture of global influences including Mediterranean and pan-Asian style dishes. Dishes on offer include Japanese beef carpaccio with teriyaki onions, shimeji mushrooms and wasabi mayonnaise, and buffalo mozzarella with caponata, marinated artichoke, pesto and toasted focaccia. For main course try the Korean barbequed pork belly, shitake mushroom stir-fried noodles and kimchi, or sea bass, fresh Devon crab and potato stuffed piquillo peppers, asparagus, broad beans and salsa Verde.
Separate menus cover lunch and dinner, and whilst there is some overlap between dishes on the other brasserie menus, more often than not subtle variations maintain interest as well as exhibiting the skills at work over the stoves.
In the evening live music, with a common love of jazz attracts not only gifted musicians, who find the atmosphere a vitalising element in their playing, but an enthusiastic audience to enjoy it. Sunday evening gains special attention from those who like a mellow setting of the sort created by a female vocalist and piano accompaniment.
For further details click through to the Harvey Nichols Website and get the whole story.
Mediterranean, Pacific Rim
£45.00£60.00
County Hall, Riverside Building, Queens Walk, Westminster Bridge Road, London, SE1 7PB [Map]
Housed in the elegant County Hall building, Zen China offers diners a stunning view across the River Thames taking in the London Eye, Houses of Parliament, Big Ben and Tower Bridge. Specialising in traditional Chinese cuisine, it invites guests to sample the glories of the imperial Beijing style of cooking in a grand riverside setting and is the perfect venue to recharge your batteries after taking in the South Bank's numerous sights and attractions.
A skilfully assembled menu focuses on traditional northern Chinese cuisine with specialities including hot and spicy beef fillet and tripe slices, and marinated spinach and peanuts and north-east China mustard flavoured bean thread. For a special treat allow yourself the pleasure of tucking into the restaurant's signature dish, Beijing roast duck, also known as Peking duck, which is skilfully carved at your table and served in two courses; first with pancakes, trimmings and hoi sin sauce and then stir fried with vegetables and pickles and served on lettuce, a gastronomic experience in itself. Customers should note that only a limited number of Beijing ducks are prepared each day so it is advisable to order one beforehand.
Starters of steamed fresh scallops with garlic, crispy king prawn shredded potato wrap, salt and pepper squid, spare ribs in barbeque sauce or deep fried duck rolls are ideal to get the meal going. The bountiful seafood selection embraces such dishes as fresh lobster with ginger and spring onion, wok fried fresh crab with salted egg yolk, braised sea bass slices in spicy Beijing sauce, classic kung pao king prawns, stir fried squid with asparagus and assorted seafood with spicy XO sauce. Main course meat dishes include sizzling spicy chicken with black beans, chicken with oyster mushrooms, Beijing minced duck meat lettuce wrap, classic double cooked pork slices with leek, marinated pork belly slices with north-east Chinese sauerkraut, fillet steak slices with dried chilli and spices, quick fried lamb slices with pine nuts and lamb skewers. You could also try steamed or wok fried dumplings filled with beef and radish, pork with celery, seafood with egg and chive and chicken with green pepper and shrimp.
Accompaniments include roast duck noodle soup, fresh shrimp, egg and tomato noodle soup, fried rice with duck meat, and chicken slices with fried noodles or a classic egg fried rice and vegetable slices with fried noodles. Vegetarians are also well catered for and can look forward to tofu with mushrooms and green and red peppers, braised mushrooms with seasonal Chinese greens with garlic, or traditional street market style potato, aubergine and green peppers. To round off consider apple tart Beijing style, coconut crème brûlée or chocolate delight.
Zen China also offers an extensive range of set menus with options such as the Zen Budda vegetarian menu and the luxurious Ci-Xi seafood menu which includes Imperial seafood and crab soup, and the signature 'Five Willow' sweet and sour sea bass. To accompany the meal diners can choose from an impressive wine list featuring well-chosen red and white wines from the old and new worlds as well as number of fine champagnes including Moutard, Bollinger and Dom Perignon. Check on their Website for further information.
Chinese
£18.00£25.00
Cardamon Building, 31 Shad Thames, London, SE1 2YR [Map]
It is not an easy task to maintain impeccable standards and uniformity of taste across a chain of over eight hundred outlets, yet that is just the distinction that The Gondola Group has achieved. Their restaurants, with the brand names of Zizzi, ASK and Pizza Express, serve authentic Italian food at reasonable prices, in a warm and friendly ambience. The chain continues to grow, with the group opening around twenty-five new outlets each year.
Another talent that the group has is converting listed buildings and in which to house their restaurants. This has helped the group maintain standards, but allows each location to keep its innate charm. Done up in light colours, with wooden floors and gleaming cutlery, Zizzi boasts of a bustling open kitchen which churns out freshly prepared, tasty fare.
Like all good Italian restaurants, the extensive carte offers four distinct sections of antipasti, salads, mains, including pasta, pizza and risottos, a meat and fish menu which changes seasonally and a vast and exciting dessert menu. The restaurant's special antipasti platter has mixed Italian meats with buffalo milk mozzarella, marinated sun-dried tomatoes, mixed olives and red onion focaccia bread. Garlic mozzarella pizza bread and caramelised balsamic onions too, set the tone for a hearty meal.
The calzones or folded pizzas are a treat and come with salads. The carne piccante calzone has marinated chicken, meatballs, Bolognese sauce, mushrooms, chillies, tomato and mozzarella while the clarissa version, has aubergine, and red pepper caponata, olives, goats' cheese, rocket, pine nuts, tomato and mozzarella. The pasta and risotto sections arouse plenty of interest, with the farfalle alla Genovese combined with marinated roasted artichoke hearts, Santos tomatoes, and pine nuts in a delicious creamy pesto sauce or the light risotto with tiger prawns, oak-roasted salmon, calamari, courgettes and baby spinach in a rich creamy base with lemon and chilli.
The pizzas are not far behind either, with funghi topped with field mushrooms, fresh tarragon, mozzarella and tomato while the popular Sophia has marinated chicken, pepperoni, over-roasted sausage, tomato, mozzarella, finished with green chilli and fresh rosemary.
The extensive wine list offers a range of red, white, sparkling and rose wines in addition to beer and spirits while the dessert menu is attractive too, with a range of tempting fare from the homemade tiramisu to the torta cioccolata with its thick hazelnut chocolate base served with vanilla mascarpone. A really hot and tasty cup of coffee, tea or chocolate rounds the meal off well.
The fact that the restaurant hires their employees very selectively is evident in the friendly, cheerful and capable manner with which the staff treat diners, lending each outlet the personalised feel of a family run restaurant.
Italian
£25.00£30.00
83 Southwark Street, Southwark, London, SE1 0HX [Map]
At The Table, in Southwark Street, you will find a real devotion to the proper use of the food and methods involved in producing an attractive and healthy menu choice, based on British ingredients wherever possible, a low carbon footprint, and touches of more widely spread cuisines.
Fruit and vegetables come from Secretts Farm in Surrey, fish direct from the boat and fresh from Billingsgate, a butcher, Mark Jones supplies meat from North Wales, the award winning bakeries Seven Seeded Bakery and Rhodes do the honours on the organic bread. Food is not wrapped in plastic and only the best biodegradable packaging gets through the hoop. For lunch a Welsh Black steak sandwich, fresh red fish or mackerel dependent on what they've caught. Dinner? How about roast red leg partridge, roast perch with Jerusalem artichoke, wild rabbit and hazelnut sausages with parsnip mash and rosemary sauce, or duck black pudding with roast beetroot and chestnut chutney.
The weekend brings brunch, a sense of relaxation, time, space and on Sunday the papers. Smoked salmon and scrambled eggs, three of them and free range, with Derreensillagh oak smoked salmon on organic toast. Yes, the ever welcome stack is to be found, but with changes, look out for the red pepper pesto, chorizo sausage, hollandaise and organic bagel amongst the homemade baked beans and poached eggs.
Much of The Table's appeal lies in its wealth of glass and hence light, which reinforces the sense of freedom, cleanliness, and I suppose if you summed it up, wellbeing. There are more smiling faces per table here than there are to be seen in many restaurants. When this is reinforced by the well displayed food, the ease of serving coupled with a lack of formality, you have a recipe for an early return visit. You could say that good food deserves decent surroundings in which to eat it, and the first floor occupants above The Table would be delighted, since they are the architectural practice who designed them.
Much of the food served, even the brunch, has an openness of identity, and could belong to all or most of the four main menus through which they operate. Take a starter of kohl rabi Waldorf salad with Muscat grapes and toasted walnuts, or ravioli of pork belly and Muirenn smoked eel with sage butter; both could belong almost anywhere on their very credible menus.
The same goes for hedgehog and chanterelle mushroom risotto with Parmigiano Reggiano, and side dishes of crushed Yetholm gypsy potatoes, or a Secretts Farm mixed leaf salad. Equally, the very names of the suppliers are a litany of charm and elegance. How's this, "we source all our spuds from Tip Toe Farm in Northumberland, courtesy of the lovely Lucy Carroll at Carroll's heritage Potatoes". Leaving the lovely Lucy to one side, that just makes you want to eat food that you know instinctively has been grown and treated with respect.
The wine measures up well to the food and all wines come in bottles or by the glass, at prices which are as much of a treat as the wines themselves. A white sauvignon blanc from the well respected Hawkes Bay in North Island New Zealand, is well worth a call, and for those who like their beer, Peroni and Stella are both to be found in bottle.
The movement to grow better and more genuine food is gaining momentum. With some pretty eye-swivelling media coverage, particularly via TV programmes, there is a growing realisation that less is more, and that restaurants such as The Table are in the forefront of a move towards better health and a wiser use of resources.
Last orders for dinner are taken at 10pm and their Website will keep you informed about such matters as lunch menus and other up to date considerations.
Café, Modern European
£12.00£32.00
15 Leathermarket Street, London, SE1 3HN [Map]
Just a short walk from Tower Bridge and the numerous attractions of the South Bank, The Leather Exchange in Bermondsey exudes old fashioned charm with its beautiful period exterior and traditional interior décor complete with chandeliers and classic wallpaper.
Located on Leathermarket Street, The Leather Exchange is a stone’s throw from Guy’s Hospital and a short walk from Borough Market and London Bridge Tube Station. Spread over two floors, the Exchange Bar occupies the ground floor and offers a superb range of beers, wines and spirits as well as classic pub lunches, while the Leather Uppers restaurant on the first floor is a more intimate, formal dining space complete with an open fire and stunning city views.
The refined experience carries over to the à la carte with its assortment of impeccably crafted modern British and international dishes. Dinner can begin with deep fried oysters with onion marmalade and fennel sauce, pig’s head terrine with beetroot and orange sauce or vegetarian stack of aubergine, courgette and fresh tomato sauce. Follow with pan fried monkfish medallions served on a bed of mashed potato and fish sauce, spaghetti with shitake mushroom, goat’s cheese and sundried tomato dressing or corn fed chicken breast with aubergine purée, sprig onions, sun blush tomatoes, veal jus and confit garlic.
As well as the aforementioned pub lunch, served daily at the bar, a takeaway lunch menu allows you to enjoy a meal in the comfort of your home or office or even outdoors in summer. On Monday and Tuesday evenings take advantage of a very affordable two-course meal for £12. If it’s Tuesday, then quiz nights are an added attraction.
On Sundays enjoy a traditional treat with family and friends at The Leather Exchange. Roasts, carved at your table, are served with homemade gravy, duck fat roasted potatoes; honey glazed roasted carrots and parsnips, green beans, cauliflower cheese and Yorkshire pudding.
Finish with banana Yorkshire pudding with strawberry jam and crème fraiche or white chocolate mousse in lemon meringue with strawberries.
Alongside the carefully selected international wine list, cask ales and bottled beers the Leather Exchange also offers a range of original and classic cocktails including an Espresso Martini, Bramble and Caipirinha to refresh the palate.
To gain further information, just visit their extremely comprehensive Website .
Modern, Steak, Traditional
£18.00£30.00
183-185 High Street, Eltham, London, SE9 1TS [Map]
On High Street, Prezzo Eltham offers fine Italian cuisine is a bright, spacious setting. Housed in a converted London electricity showroom building, the beautifully designed interior retains much of its original charm with a stunning first floor dining area, which features stained glass windows and wooden furniture.
Surrounded by shops and bars, Prezzo is just a short walk from Eltham Railway Station.
The restaurants satisfy the needs of those who like genuine Italian cuisine, as they use only the best seasonal products, many of which are imported directly from Italy. The menu includes pizza, pasta, risotto, grilled meats, fresh salads and frequently changing specials.
The freshly baked breads, like the garlic pizza bread with caramelised balsamic onions and melted mozzarella cheese, are perfect for sharing and give you adequate breathing space to order starters to follow. Crab cakes served with garlic mayonnaise or grilled goats' cheese with plum tomatoes and caramelised onions on focaccia bread with a balsamic glaze set the tone for a hearty meal.
Find pastas such as the unusual chicken ravioli, made pancetta bacon, petits pois and grana padano cheese in a cream sauce; amongst the special pastas, the polpette al forno with meatballs, field mushrooms, caramelised onions, red chillies and penne in a tomato and garlic sauce is interesting and different. Italian menus would be incomplete without risotto, like chicken and red pesto with roasted peppers and grana padano cheese, while tiger prawns with oak roast salmon and petits pois in a creamy saffron sauce, is enticingly different.
Classic pizzas embrace, among a wide selection, the popular fiorentina, topped with spinach, free-range egg, grana padano cheese, marinated olives, mozzarella and tomato, and the much loved quattro formaggi - gorgonzola, goat's cheese, grana padano, mozzarella, tomato.
Specials could include the pollo Siciliana, char-grilled chicken breast, prosciutto ham and plum tomato slices, baked with Prezzo's own blend of cheese, only one example from the many tempting offerings that come out from the Prezzo kitchens.
You can wash down the food with a variety of tipples - ranging from house wine and Chardonnay to liqueurs and beer and there is espresso or fresh ground coffee to wind up an enjoyable meal.
To gain further information, just visit their extremely comprehensive Website.
Italian
£10.00£25.00
Prezzo Valentine's Menu: 3 Course for £18.95, add your first glass of prosecco for £1 Book
Ravensbourne College of Design & Communication, Greenwich, London, SE10 OEN [Map]
Café Rouge has over one hundred branches throughout Britain all offering a wide range of dishes drawn from the French cuisine. Slightly less than half their branches are in or close to London. Almost inevitably the décor and design of each restaurant differs from the others, but there is a general curtsy towards La France.
Many restaurants do an excellent breakfast, or shall we say petit dejeuner, at which such delights as scrambled eggs and smoked salmon on toasted brioche, croque Madame, croissants and pain au chocolat make welcome appearances, and to their credit the English traditional gets top billing.
An array of small dishes takes in pulled pork pâté with French bread, and spicy beef and lamb sausage with harissa mayonnaise. Salads and pasta feature largely, as do baguettes and croques. Quick dishes, ideal for lunch, include slices of saucisson and cured pork loin with French bread.
Moving on to more serious stuff we find steaks, an 8oz bavette and thin cut rib eye, with a choice of béarnaise or peppercorn sauce. No French menu would be complete without the poulet jaune grille, pan-roasted breast of corn-fed chicken served on a warm taboulé of bulgar wheat and a medley of roasted vegetables with minted crème fraîche, or a steak frites before moving on to the crème brûlée, or the tart tatin. Almost invariably the coffee tastes like coffee should, something that sadly can all too often still not be said of our English restaurants, who depend too much upon technology and too little on the acquisition of a certain flair for this important conclusion to a meal.
By now we all know that the French, despite their distinctive habits when it comes to matters of satisfying the inner man, maintain a miraculous longevity of life. This is generally attributed to a number of causes, of which a measured consumption of decent wine is foremost. Café Rouge, you may be pleased to hear, encourages this with a well-chosen selection of French wines. Their prix fixe lunch and meals for children, both at a very reasonable figure, also offer excellent value.
Their Website will keep you updated on menu changes, news and other competitions and offers from the Café Society.
French
£21.00£26.00
Valentine's Menu: 3 courses and a glass of Crémant de Bourgogne - £25 per person Book
More restaurants in South of the River - East:
Featured Group Restaurant
Cafe Rouge - Dulwich Village
Café Rouge has over one hundred branches throughout Britain all offering a wide range of dishes drawn from the French cuisine. Slightly less than half their branches are in or close to London.
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Zen China
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Housed in the elegant County Hall building, Zen China offers diners a stunning view across the River Thames taking in the London Eye, Houses of Parliament, Big Ben and Tower Bridge. Specialising ...
Featured Restaurants
The Oxo Tower Bar & Brasserie
South of the River - East
Zizzi - Shad Thames
South of the River - East
Cafe Rouge - Greenwich O2
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Leather Exchange, The
South of the River - East
Roast
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