Bankside, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

2021 Review: “Beautiful views – adequate but unexciting food”: that’s the perennial trade-off at Tate Modern’s original, elevated dining room – a simple space, but with a stunning vantagepoint for viewing The Thames, St Paul’s and the City. It aims to be a showcase for top British ingredients and drinks but results can border on the mundane.

2021 Review: “A great view of the river and very competent cuisine” makes this would-be Elizabethan tavern – on the first floor of Shakespeare’s Globe theatre – “a delightful find on the tourist trail”. Chef Allan Pickett sticks sensibly to modern British rather than cod-historical cooking.

2021 Review: “A firm favourite for breakfast and brunch in Southwark” – this café-style fixture a short stroll from Tate Modern serves “a great menu to suit all tastes”, and fans say it’s “unbeatable”.

2021 Review: “Simple, well-prepared steaks” and “an excellent wine list (before you even get to visiting the cellar itself)” are the main treats in store at this South African-owned wine bar. Its “out-of-the-way but still central setting” by the Wobbly Bridge and directly opposite Tate Modern really comes into its own “when you can sit outside in the summer” (otherwise the nearby Thames merely sets the scene as you arrive and depart).

2021 Review: “So many amazing, creative options for brunch” together with “renowned coffee” (“meticulously sourced and roasted in-house”) have made these “loud”, “brash”, “buzzy” and “quite hip” haunts – particularly the well-known Granary Square branch – key destinations, particularly at the weekend. When busy, however, service can be “hit and miss”; and the food has sometimes been a let-down of late: “it feels like random, trendy ingredients are thrown into dishes so they can charge more for them, rather than for culinary interest or flavour”.

2021 Review: Gordon Ramsay’s “Italian-leaning” warehouse conversion in Southwark, with an indoor ‘olive grove’ complete with trees, pleases some with its “giant portions of great food” and “fantastic cocktails”. Far too many reporters this year, though, complain of a “sterile” aspect to its “industrial” decor, and dismiss the fare as mightily “uninspired”.

2021 Review: Views of the Thames and a chic interior combine to create a lovely setting for this well-groomed South Bank destination: on the ground floor of a swish hotel near Blackfriars Bridge. It escaped the harsh criticisms of past years in the most recent survey feedback: in particular its “super buffet brunch” with bottomless Prosecco is a top feature.

2021 Review: “The wine list’s brilliant” at these modern-industrial bars: “a huge range” that’s “regularly added to, with some unusual vintages”, “plenty at affordable prices” and “excellent options by the glass”. And this “wine focus attracts a more interesting crowd than some other chains”, all making the group “the perfect standby any night of the week”. “All branches are recommended”, with the one that’s super-handy for King’s Cross perhaps the most popular (though, being “always busy”, it can seem “squashed and hurried”, and booking is advisable). Perhaps the “food’s a bit average”, but practically all feedback actually focuses on its success as a “tasty” complement to the vino. Top Tip – “even better on a Sunday or Monday, when the wine’s sold close to retail price”.

2021 Review: “Tried it again… still disappointing” – this notorious South Bank rooftop has been our No. 1 top dud for about as long as we can remember. “Yes, the views are fine, but – with its quite insipid cooking and no glamour whatsoever” – the experience here is “just dull and mediocre”. At some level, “you’ve got to congratulate them for still getting patrons for such overpriced rubbish!”

2021 Review: “Why can’t they get it right?” in the cheaper section of this South Bank landmark. “The view is superb, the setting is relaxing… if only the food lived up to it”.

2021 Review: Stick to the good-value, meal-with-ticket deals at the theatre restaurant of this converted Victorian chocolate factory, whose food is “honest” but rather “hit and miss”, hence “not good enough to pay full stand-alone prices” – especially with foodie Borough Market just across the road.

2021 Review: This “wonderful” three-year-old is the brainchild of chefs Lucy Pedder and Natasha Cooke, whose “affordable” modern British small plates are “cooked to a very high standard” – so “full marks to these brave young women”. “Handy for Tate Modern” in the Flat Iron complex, they expanded their small space in early 2020 and it now has 44 covers. (Dishes are now also, apparently, 100% nut free).

2021 Review: This “warehouse-style” outfit from Gordon Ramsay near St Paul’s provides a handy amenity for business-lunchers and, out of business hours, has a “great atmosphere for families and groups”. But while it’s generally decent, especially for brunch, it’s rather “overpriced for what it offers” and apt to be “let down by average cooking and service”.

2021 Review: “The kind of place you could eat at any day of the week” – this open-fronted wine bar and café stalwart looking onto Borough Market wins consistent praise for its “punchy plates”, many of them from a wood-fired oven; and “well-priced wine” (with “a good selection by the glass”)… so “invent any reason, just go”.

2021 Review: “An amazing choice of wines” is served by “lovely staff, who are passionate and knowledgeable about the list” at these “proper wine bars”, whose liquid offering is “complemented by a very good food menu” of “well-made” dishes (small plates, plus cheese and charcuterie). The Battersea original is still the branch attracting most feedback, although the chain is spreading eastwards, and its operation in the crypt of St Bride’s Church and newer Liverpool Street branch are “very competent”: next stop is an opening in Canary Wharf.

2021 Review: “Still nailing it after all these years” – this “unpretentious but brilliant” Southwark boozer near the Young Vic was again very narrowly beaten into No. 2 place amongst London’s best gastropubs (by the Harwood Arms), but maintains a massive fanclub, and “you still have to queue to get a table”. The draw is its “hearty” British cooking – “always-fascinating-and-unusual” dishes (often using game or offal) “delivering great flavours and textures”. Top Tip – you can book for Sunday lunch.

2021 Review: “So many amazing, creative options for brunch” together with “renowned coffee” (“meticulously sourced and roasted in-house”) have made these “loud”, “brash”, “buzzy” and “quite hip” haunts – particularly the well-known Granary Square branch – key destinations, particularly at the weekend. When busy, however, service can be “hit and miss”; and the food has sometimes been a let-down of late: “it feels like random, trendy ingredients are thrown into dishes so they can charge more for them, rather than for culinary interest or flavour”.

2021 Review: “Escape the feel of the City for very reasonable home cooked-food” in the ancient crypt of Bow Bells church. “There are no better dining establishments in the Square Mile: affordable, great service, good food with delicious daily changing salads” including “excellent veggie and vegan options”. Depending on when you go, it’s either a “quiet” space or quite a “noisy” one.

2021 Review: James Lowe and John Ogier – of epic Shoreditch legend Lyle’s – plus backers JKS Restaurants launched this all-day bakery and wine bar venture in Borough Market in mid-July, too late for survey feedback. The offering stretches from coffee and croissants in the morning, through small plates at lunch, to a more wine-bar vibe in the evening. Early press reports are predictably adulatory… but they are probably correct.

Impressive views across the Thames to the Tate Modern and an ex-Aquavit chef are key attractions at this new hotel wine bar.