We stumbled across this restaurant quite by accident and were delighted by what we found.
It was Sunday lunchtime and we were treated to a choice of wonderful Sunday roasts on a really good set menu. My Beef Sirloin was melt in the mouth delicious. It was accompanied by crispy potatoes roasted in duck fat, and seasonal vegetables. For dessert I had a lighter than air warm dark chocolate moose with coconut ice cream which was (for me) the ideal finish to the meal. This was fantastic value at £23.
The staff were unfailingly helpful and couldn’t do more to assist, offering a table near a power socket so we could charge a phone!
If you are visiting the Tower of London or the Southbank, and you want a quality meal at affordable prices, this is it!
Chef Tom Simmons of MasterChef – The Professionals 2011 fame has opened an eponymous restaurant (his first) at the south end of Tower Bridge, showcasing his admiration of British and French cuisine with an emphasis on his Pembrokeshire heritage and on sourcing high quality Welsh ingredients. I’d been trying to get a table at Tom Simmons – Tower Bridge since the restaurant opened a few weeks back but to no avail. The nights when I could go were all booked up. So when an invitation to attend a LLamb’s Day press dinner came my way I was glad to RSVP my seat at the table.
Big portions for fine dining style food from an ex Masterchef Professionals finalist. Waiting staff were attentive but not particularly knowledgeable about the food. If you ask questions about the menu, they need to dart off to the kitchen to get answers. But hey, we went on the second day of opening. They are soft launching with 50% off food up to and including Friday July 14, 2017.
As we sat down we were brought complimentary pillowy sour dough with a fantastic leek infused butter. An intensely flavored buttered apparently made with smoked salt.
My companion's starter of smoked haddock fish cakes were five deep fried potato based croquettes served with pea puree and tartare. Pleasant if very filling. My starter was the chicken liver and lardo terrine that was extremely flavourful and tasted gamier than most chicken liver pates. Texture was a little difficult as it tended to break off in large crumbs when spread onto the toasted brioche it came with. Accompanying tomato chutney was a nice sweet foil containing lots of onion and a hint of raisin.
My companion's main of roast cod was beautiful. Perfectly cooked fish that was still a bit translucent. It came with pan fried girolles and a creamy sauce. Nicely balanced dish. My main of wild sea bass garnished with pork belly was weird. I like the combination of fish and pork, which occurs a lot in the Chinese kitchen. But the addition of a sauce of passata, pancetta, artichokes, and braised carrots was just strange and unbalanced. My fish was pan fried to just opaque but had a lovely crispy skin.
They had sold out of the triple cooked chips so we had the mash as a side. Nice attention to detail with fried breadcrumbs on top for texture. Perfectly smooth, obviously mashed by hand and very buttery.
Portions were generous so we were too full for dessert. The cheapest bottle of red at £26 (a merlot) was really excellent and fruity and served slightly chilled. At full price our meal would have been £96 including service. Decent value considering the quality of the cooking but not my favorite place within this price range.
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