On London’s South Bank, in what we think of as Waterloo but what is in fact only a small sliver of this district, are an array of attractions. You can generally tell how touristic an area is by how many businesses use the place name in their own. With the London Eye, London Dungeon and London Aquarium nearby, you might have thought I’d end up in a steakhouse with a similar name.But here, stretched along the river, sits the former headquarters of London County Council - County Hall. This enormous building is now home to a number of businesses including a five star Marriott hotel and, within it, Gillray’s Steakhouse & Bar.
Named after James Gillray, an 18th century political cartoonist, this restaurant takes influence both from its location and its namesake. Like the electro swing playing in the background, the decor in the bar is both traditional yet modern. A huge, contemporary chandelier hangs over the middle of this circular room, which leads into the restaurant. If there’s one thing I like in interior decor, it’s wooden panelling. And my gosh was I in the right place. Not only this, but gold detailing and marble tables give the restaurant an even more sophisticated feel. With views of the Thames and across to the Houses of Parliament, it’s an enviable spot.
Featuring a cow in their logo, Gillray’s don’t shy away from where their food comes from. But why should they? Their 35-day-aged Aberdeen Angus beef is reared in Yorkshire and is specially selected on a number of different criteria. Fed a grass-based diet and butchered to the highest standards, this is where my starter - the steak tartare - got its impeccable taste. Light, delicate, and slightly sweet from the addition of confit egg yolk, this dish is as tasty as it is beautifully presented.Across the table, my guest was tucking into the duck liver pate, served in an egg box along with redcurrant chutney and brioche soldiers. A delicious blend of sweet and savoury, this made for the perfect appetiser.
The bar serves more than 100 different gins so it seemed only fitting to order a gin cocktail - a Jubilee. This was comprised of gin infused with rhubarb and ginger jam, shaken with fresh lemon juice and mint then served in a stainless steel martini glass. Sweet and zesty, it hit the spot.It was at this point that the mains - or should I say, main - arrived. One might argue that a true professional would sample as much as possible and certainly wouldn’t order a sharer. But we simply couldn’t pass up the opportunity to try the Bull’s Head: one kilo of double prime rib. Cooked medium rare and presented with its own dog tag bearing the name of the dish, the Bull’s Head made for quite a centrepiece.
The main came with sauces and sides so we opted for sauces of red wine and bearnaise, with sides of flat cap mushrooms and Lyburn dauphinoise potatoes. Having each chosen a knife from an arsenal of options, we tucked in. The steak was tender and flavoursome and the dauphinoise was especially delicious. After a quarter of a century of indifference to steak, my guest was converted.To finish, I opted for a chocolate pot with shortbread. Across the table: sticky toffee pudding with Dorset clotted ice cream. Deliciously sweet in taste and suitably sensible in size, this was just what we needed. Rounded off with a Duet, a challengingly spicy cocktail combining chilli and notes of white chocolate, we concluded our evening.One carafe, two cocktails, two starters, a sharing main, two desserts, one tea and mineral water came to around £200 ($260). Leaving the restaurant to hear Big Ben bong for the last time in four years, we were reminded that Gillray’s boasts an incredible location - as well as sumptuous food.
London is known for being an incredibly picturesque city — and from its imposing skyline to its historic landmarks, it's hard not to have your camera out to capture everything that's going on.
One of the most stunning areas of the city is the South Bank area; perched on the edge of the River Thames, it looks upon some of London's finest, and most recognisable views.
Luckily, South Bank is only a short walk away from London Waterloo station, which you can reach by hopping on a South Western Railway train. Before you know it, you’ll be in the midst of some of London’s best attractions.
To prepare for your big day out, here are nine of our favourite, most Instagrammable, spots...
1. Thames Evening Cruise
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Whether you're a native Londoner or a tourist, it's hard to get enough of some of the city's best riverside views, and what better way to enjoy them than with a Thames evening cruise. Marvel at world-famous landmarks, while enjoying a glass of prosecco and canapés, while a live performer sings a range of contemporary tunes, including rock, pop, swing and funk.
You can save 18% on a Thames Evening Cruise — taking the experience down to just £26.10 per person — when you book with City Cruises, and present a valid SWR ticket on arrival.
2. Views over the Golden Jubilee Bridge
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If you stroll over the Golden Jubilee Bridge — which links Embankment tube station and the Southbank Centre — you'll get a beautifully Instagrammable shot of the London Eye.
Make sure to come in the evening to catch the sunset as it illuminates the Eye, and the Houses of Parliament, which are directly across the river from the bridge.
3. Royal Festival Hall
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Depending on your taste, there are a number of 'Grammable shots to be had around the famous concert venue. There's the brutalist exterior, as well as the spacious and elegant concert hall itself.
Fun fact! The 2,700-seat concert, dance, and talks building is thefirst post-war building to be made a Grade I listed venue, and we can see why — it's gorgeous!
4. Smith & Wollensky
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If you're looking to make your day that bit more special, you can't go wrong with a trip to Smith & Wollensky. The restaurant, which first opened in New York in 1977, serves up some of America’s finest steaks.
Smith and Wollensky launched their London site in the Grade II-listed Adelphi Building — just off the Strand. It’s perfect for date night — or for a classy dinner out with the girls, and you can feast on a selection of signature USDA prime- dry-aged steaks and premium seafood.
South Western Railway is offering 10% off your final food and beverage bill when dining from the à la carte menu. To redeem this offer, please call 02073216007 and quote ‘South Western Railway offer’ when making your reservation.
5. Ernie’s Beach
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One of the hidden gems on the South Bank is known as Ernie’s Beach. Yes, there's an actual beach in the heart of London, who would have known?
Two times a day, as the tide recedes, London's only beach becomes accessible to the public. Just climb down, and scoop up some gorgeous, river-level snaps of the Thames, and the city's skyline. If you're visiting this summer, you're even luckier as sand artists often create stunning, temporary installations on the shore.
6. Southbank Skatespace
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London's Southbank also has a grittier, urban scene centred around the skatepark — which is directly underneath the Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall.
Turn on your strongest people-watching skills, as you can see all manner of skateboarders, and BMX-ers test out their skills.
7. Tate Modern
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As you stroll down the South Bank, you'll likely stumble across the iconic brutalist structure that is the Tate Modern. Ensure to snap a picture of this London landmark, but also take some time to soak up its surrounding view. You have the Millennium Bridge — made famous from the Harry Potter movies — as well as the picturesque St Paul's Cathedral right opposite it.
Oh, and you don't need to go inside the Tate Modern to soak up some culture. There's usually art on display by the banks if you're in a rush to make the most of London's most enticing views and don't have time to pop in for a gander.
8. OXO Tower
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If you meander down to the OXO Tower — which you won't be able to miss — you'll be treated to a plethora of Instagrammable views. As well as the tower, which is an iconic landmark in London's skyline, you can also spot Blackfriars Bridge with its historic Victorian detailing, and the red pillars that once carried the railway tracks.
The tower itself is pretty picturesque too, with its glittering lights and neon red logo.
9. Clink Street Tunnel
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If you continue past Shakespeare's Globe Theatre (of course, make sure to soak in the view of this historic theatre), you'll reach Clink Street Tunnel.
Narrow, dark, and cobbled, it's known as the former location of the notorious Clink Prison. While the prison was burned down in riots during 1970s there is now a small museum and tourist attraction on that site. If you're a movie buff, you'll recognise the tunnel from the Oliver Twist film, An American Werewolf in London, and for rom-com fans, it was used as the exterior of Daniel Cleaver's flat in Bridget Jones' Diary.
In a smart corner of Limehouse called The Mosaic sits an incongruous little business trapped between two worlds. Two doors down is a piano bar where the interior design has been pored over and the drinks are expensive. Diagonally opposite is an upmarket restaurant which commands £30 for a main and boasts full tables. But here, tucked away in the corner of the square, is an eatery having an identity crisis.
A curtain of gentrification meanders all along the Thames, manifesting itself in concierge desks, six-figure salaries and brunches on the balcony. To the east are the steel-and-glass towers of Canary Wharf. To the west are the brick-built testaments to the shipping trade which have come to characterise Wapping. However, in Limehouse you don't have to venture far before you're no longer in the clutches of the curtain. But it’s here that you’ll find La Verde.
The first thing you notice are the A4 posters advertising deals in the window. They look like they came from a printer far past its prime where a click-wheel of planned obsolescence tells you you’re out of ink long before you are. In this case however, it was certainly short of a few vital colours.
Inside is a budget reimagining of an Italian restaurant. Faux leather chairs and unconvincing wooden tables are arrangement uniformly. A wire hangs lazily out the back of a TV mounted to the wall. Meanwhile, large, beige, wave-textured tiles adorn the walls of the single-occupancy bathroom. Somewhat fittingly, it’s reminiscent of a domestic Italian bathroom (albeit an outdated one).
A tapestry of options, the menu features everything you wouldn't expect an Italian restaurant to sell. From cheese burgers to chicken schnitzel, it’s all there - and there are around 150 menu items altogether.
This doesn't include drinks (choose from 10 different bottled lagers) and, tellingly, there’s also a breakfast menu with British classics such as ham, egg and chips.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the menu is the pricing. Almost all the evening meals cost less than £10, a selection of salads are under £4 and a number of sandwiches under £3. It is, without doubt, the cheapest restaurant I’ve been to in London.
Watching a slightly drunk, very overdressed man decide whether this was the restaurant for him and his girlfriend, I was secretly overjoyed to see that he knew good value when he saw it. This, I believe, is the main sell.
That said, there are a number of idiosyncrasies to La Verde. Having finished an evening meal, I was told I’d have to go to the bar to pay by card. It was here that I noticed a regular eating a bacon sandwich and finally realised that all was not what it seemed.
I’ve taken a couple of unwilling participants to this restaurant. The bruschetta, one of them concluded, was “soapy”. The other was less forthcoming with comments, but neither of us were especially impressed by the intensely stringy calamari.
The food isn't great. But unless you're adverse to adventure, it’s definitely worth mining the menu to discover its best offerings. The lobster ravioli, for instance, is delicious.
Clearly, Limehouse is something of a cultural purgatory. There are still more chicken shops than coffee shops and La Verde’s dual identity betrays a certain begrudging gentrification you don't often see.
On the one hand, it’s a restaurant-cum-cafe combo that Frankenstein himself would be proud of. On the other, its ingenious rebrand allows the restaurant to cover both bases. For me, it represents enduring loyalty to its existing customers - and I’ll happily drink a £2.95 bottle of Peroni to that.
In Nottingham’s city centre lies one of the most famous pubs in the world. Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem has been a distinguished part of the cityscape since 1189, acting as a refuge for pilgrims, a watering hole for locals and now a hotspot for tourists who flock to pay homage to the planet’s oldest inn. Nearly 1,000 years later, some aspects remain nearly unchanged. The labyrinthine limestone caves that make up the basement still offer an eerie insight into eleventh century England. However, there are some things about the inn today that would baffle an early patron, not least of which would be the food. The term “public house” was first coined during the reign of Henry VII as a collective term for alehouses, taverns and inns. While early pubs - especially inns - would provide food on occasion, the idea of a food-focused establishment would have been laughable, as the origins and importance of public houses are rooted in alcohol. This is reflected in the fact that in the 1550s, of the near 20,000 pubs of all types dotted all over England, 85 per cent were dedicated solely to booze. Beer has always been a staple of the English diet, and for medieval Britons the drink was often a safer bet than the alternative of untreated water. This combination helped contribute to placing the pub front and centre of English life, as not just a pastime, but as a necessity.
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In Britain, and indeed many countries, the pub was not and is not just a place to drink. It is the social heart of a community, a place for bonds to be built, gossip shared and local matters debated. As society has evolved and working people have found themselves with more downtime, the pub came to represent an escape and release from the trials of work. It was the place to relax and unwind. Since the foundation of Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem way back when, it has been this growing feeling that has helped give the pub such unique status in British culture and such a distinct place in society. Today, we still romanticise over what it means to go to the pub. A trip, for whatever reason, still feels special. Until relatively recently, pub culture had remained virtually untouched, and was thus stagnating. Booze was still the star of the show, and food options were severely limited. A cold ploughman’s here. A drab-looking pie there. To a certain extent, pubs’ disinterest in food was reflective of a wider situation in British dining: we were a nation that was slow to catch up with the rest of the culinary world, content with tradition and stoic in our defence of somewhat bland British staples. The first serious attempt to transform what a pub could be took place in 1991, when David Eyre and Mike Belben took over “The Eagle” in Clerkenwell. The pair emphasised expanding the business’ menu as well as continuing to offer alcohol, providing British classics such as fish and chips, Sunday roast and shepherd’s pie. The Eagle’s new model created a new type of institution - the “gastropub”.
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The introduction of the gastropub reinvigorated the British dining scene. The Eagle’s success saw others attempt to innovate in a similar vein and before too long, some real talent began to enter pub kitchens. Arguably the most well known celebrity-chef-cum-publican is Tom Kerridge, who took over the “Hand and Flowers” in 2005. By 2006, he had been awarded his first Michelin star, followed by a second in 2011. There are now 17 pubs in the UK that have been given international recognition by the French culinary awarding body, highlighting that the pub has completed a remarkable transition from bawdy drinkhall to viable fine dining destination.
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The food-focused changes to pub culture have not always been through choice. A significant factor in this forced transformation came in 2007, with the introduction of the smoking ban in Britain. Where pubs had previously been a centre for sitting, smoking and chatting away an evening, smokers found themselves banished to the cold outside, under the orange glow of heat lamps. This left some pubs with a dearth of atmosphere that needed once more to be filled by the hum of conversation. Food was the most readily available option for keeping punters in their seats. Within a few years, many pubs would find that their income was just as dependant on the success of their food as their drink.This metamorphosis has not been without drawbacks or controversy. Whilst the newfound foodie aspect of many pubs is cause for celebration, there can be little doubt that the new and necessary emphasis on food has drastically altered traditional atmosphere and culture. Many now decry that loss of the great British pub, and see what exists now as a sanitised compromise - neither restaurant nor alehouse, but somewhere straddling the fence. But what is also true is that pubs now cater for a greater variety of clientele than ever before. Many are marketed as a destination for families, where once they may have been significantly more exclusive and intimidating.
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In the end, the changes to pub culture may just be indicative of wider changes in our society. The most successful businesses are those that adapt to this change and look to progress. Even Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem proudly displays a modern menu of pub classics, sharing platters and gourmet burgers alongside traditional beers. No business model, however traditional and rooted in history, can remain utterly inflexible in the face of evolution. As society becomes more inclusive of the tastes of others, so too must the pub.
Gordon Ramsay is well known for being a kitchen hot head, but he's recently been under fire for the prices at his restaurant. The latest dish under the microscope is the steak and chips at one of the chef's London restaurant.
News of the "tiny" steak and chips - priced at £23 ($29.80) - was publicized this week by a scathing review for Ramsay's York and Albany restaurant in London.
In the video below, Ramsay shows off a "raw" steak:
A disappointed diner by the name of Guillaume R left a one-star review TripAdvisor this week and said: "Gordon isn't Heston, but Gordon is Jesus."
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Guillaume added: "He multiplies the steaks - give him a regular sized, one portion steak in any restaurant and this is what he comes up with.
"Five slices of meat with over salted fries. £23...."
"Gordon you made a name giving advice on how to run a restaurant.
"Let me give you my advice."
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The angry reviewer continued: "This is Covid time, [the] hospitality sector is in bad shape, blatantly joking at your customers won't help your business.
"Two stars for the polite staff.”
Ramsay was previously slammed this week for his restaurant's "overpriced" fry-up,.
The famously foul-mouthed chef took to Twitter to reveal the new fry up, posting a video of his creation with a knife sliding into one of the eggs.
He captioned it: "The most amazing Full English.... can’t wait for you to try it from 21st September at Savoy Grill!"
Another added: "Can't wait for you to try it!!!!! Are the sides £5 each or is that for all of them???? Who is mug enough to pay a fiver for one sausage??? Get a grip GR."
Halloween is fast approaching and if you’re anything like me, it's probably just dawned on you that you've nothing sorted. You’re made to feel like not going out on Halloween is like not eating cake on your birthday. (Even though it’s just like any night out except all girls dress as cats and guys get to splatter a white T-shirt with red paint and become a zombie.)
Going out and getting completely trashed with your friends, dressed as a half-hearted Donald Trump, is so last year. Why not try something different this Halloween? Like one of the devilish dishes served at some of London’s hottest hangouts.
Testicles at Testi
Testi gives you the chance to compete in your very own bush tucker trial this Halloween with the famed testicle eating round. If that hasn’t been on your bucket list for years, you should probably reevaluate! These nuts are of the lamb variety and come served skinned, skewered and grilled at this traditional Turkish grill. Eating at Testi is probably the only time it’s acceptable to play with your balls at dinner.
Century Eggs with Pig's Trotter Nuggets at BAO
While the rest of BAO’s menu is fairly standard, this dish has definitely turned a few heads and stomachs. Definitely worth a try if you’re up for it. Chinese cuisine uses an offal lot of offal (offally sorry) and while we may turn up our snouts, trotter nuggets are on the up.
Garlic Locusts at Archipelago
Garlic locusts are one of many spooky dishes that are permanent fixtures on Archipelago’s menu. Pan fried with garlic and chilli, these crispy, crunchy mouthfuls are actually quite nice. A sort of Halloween inspired tempura?
Nose to tail at St John
Dining nose to tail is not a new thing. But there’s no denying that going the whole hog and chowing down on a pig's eye or kneecap is not for the faint hearted.... making it the ideal dining experience for London’s Halloween lovers! There’s something very Addams Family about this meal. I’m envisioning a huge banquet table and people ripping whole legs from the pig's body, devouring them and chucking the remains over their shoulders. Waste not, want not and all that.
Brains Masala at Tayyabs
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last however many years, you’ve probably had some sort of masala by now. But have you ever had a brains masala? No, didn’t think so. Well this Halloween your prayers have been answered. At Tayyabs, you and your date can pick each other’s brains over dinner, literally. Unfortunately, this delicacy will need to be requested ahead, but at least that way you’ll have plenty of time to psych yourself up.
Ducks’ tongues at Viajante
Served alongside a portion of an equally obscure looking Brill (fish), this dish is fit for any daring diner. Although intrigued, I think this might be one of those ‘chefy’ things that, in actual fact, is a bit pointless. Surely there can’t be much meat on a duck's tongue.They’re pretty small? And maybe I’m wrong but I can’t imagine the tiny morsel being all that worth it. The whole thing sounds a bit quackers to me. Ba-dum-dum-cha *physically cringes at own pun*.
Blood and chocolate pâté at Bocca Di Lupo
Designed with London’s chocoholic vampires in mind, this dessert combining a sweet pâté of pig's blood and chocolate is in fact a Calabrian delicacy. Served with sourdough. you could almost be tricked into believing this was the norm. But it's notIt's a chocolate pud featuring some not entirely welcome pigs blood. I wonder what Edward Cullen and his clan would have made of this one?
Whatever you decide to wear this year, it's definitely worth investigating these dishes further. Why not challenge your friends to one of these fantastic feasts to decide who is the bravest Halloween fanatic of them all.
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