Dinner near Tower of London?

[Tom G]

Anything wonderful near the Tower??? Going to the ceremony of the keys. Would love to eat nearby.

Could be casual, could be fancy. Could be cheap, could be expensive. We're easy.

Any thoughts???

On another topic - thinking of going to New Tayyab. I've seen across the board raves about food. But some questions about decor and cleanliness. Should i let this stop me? Should I go somewhere else???

[JC70]

  But some questions about decor and cleanliness. 

I was unimpressed with the cleanliness. They cleaned our table with dirty napkins and we decided to leave without eating.First time there, and how disappointing. Don't know about the food, maybe is good, but I care about my health

[Suzi Edwards]

i can't think of anywhere around there.

i went to a restaurant on an old boat that's moored in st catherine's docks, but thought that it was pretty uninspiring for what we paid. given the cost i'd recommend just jumping into a cab and going somewhere else. st john would be about a £10 fare from there....

[Gareth]

Don't know when you were thinking of going, but New Tayyab is shut for Ramadan (24/25th Nov).

But should you go, otherwise ? Yes. Though probably not for the elegant place settings...

[sandra]

Walk across Tower Bridge and turn left, walk along Shad Thames, there are several restaurants there including Pont de la Tour... Plus loads of other little restos, cafes and bars...

Otherwise, there is a new Wagamama (noodle shop) next to The Tower as well as new Korean which I have not tried...

[Winot]

I'd recommend Tentazioni which I reviewed at the end of this thread. It's in Mill St just round the cornner from Shad thames.

I've been to Tayyab's perhaps a dozen times and never had any health problems.

W.

[Bapi]

Tom G - On that side of the River you could go to St Katherine's Dock and try Lightship Ten, which I think is the place that Tarka may have visited. There was also a place called The Aquarium at the dock, but yesterdays ES stated the owners had moved on. On the same side of the river is The Don , or alternatively as Tarka writes- take a cab up to Farrrigdon and you have Moro, St John, The Eagle , Sutton Arms and the Bleeding Heart tavern to choose from.

Alternatively, as Sandra suggests, cross the river and its Terence Conran central, with La Pont de la Tour, Butler's Wharf Chop House and the Cantina all in a row . Round the back is the Blueprint Cafe. I haven't tried any of these places, so can't comment on them, but I will be going to the Chop House in late December.

Alternatively , if you walk past HMS Belfast to Hays Galleria , there is an adequate Thai place called - Kwan Thai - I think.

Hope that helps

Re New Tayyabs- If you go expecting salubrious surroundings and silver service, you'll be disappointed. This place is a wholly functional Pakistani restaurant serving top notch food at monstrously low prices, primarily for the local community. The fact that its so popular with the rest of us is a testament to the quality of the food, and the lack of concession towards amending their spicing to suit western tastes. What you'll get is fantastic grilled meats, authentic flavoursome curries and moist buttery breads.

The only problems are that because it is so popular- queues both inside and out of the restaurant- the starters and mains can arrive all at once. As its bring your own alcohol, once you have finished your meal and stopped ordering, they may have a tendency to place the bill on your table, since they want the table back. But so what. Re cleanliness, I have been there about ten times in the last six months, with different groups of people and we have never had anything complain about.

Have a look on the "New Tayyebs" thread on the Board- I know its spelt incorrectly, but there is a lot of information there. Or send me a PM and I'll let you know what to try. But good god man - Do go

PS Its not open again till 27th November

[Gary Marshall]

i second bapi's thoughts on the new tayyab.

best indian food i've had, i thought bradford would be able to compete but so far it doesn't.

cheers

gary

[circeplum]

there's quite a strange little place just opened round the corner from the t.o.l., on a road with nothing else on it other than the railway, called rosemary lanes.

odd collision between incredibly ambitious, organic food and old boozer surroundings. the dartboard was still in situ. they've put in plush banquettes and the silverware and glassware is all comme il faut, but looks like they may just have run out of money.

the chef (a woman) is, i think, californian and it shows. we had things like soft shell 'club' - good crab, 'heirloom' tomatoes, yellow pepper foam and 'caviar' (flying fish roe, i think). and seared foie gras with banyuls on brioche. and john dory with shallots, preserved lemons, cape gooseberries and celeriac. see what i mean about ambition?

you even get amuse bouches and inter-course sorbets (excellent blackcurrant and star anise) - totally anomalous in these surroundings. but definitely worth a visit, if only to admire the pioneering spirit.

m

[JC70]

there's quite a strange little place just opened round the corner from the t.o.l.,

Interesting. Do you have the address and phone?

Tx

[tigerwoman]

i can't think of anywhere around there.

i went to a restaurant on an old boat that's moored in st catherine's docks, but thought that it was pretty uninspiring for what we paid. given the cost i'd recommend just jumping into a cab and going somewhere else. st john would be about a £10 fare from there....

was the boat moored in St. Katherines Docks called the Lady G or the Lady Gwynfred by any chance?

[fredbram]

What about Cafe Spice Namaste--is it still there a few blocks away?

[circeplum]

there's quite a strange little place just opened round the corner from the t.o.l.,

Interesting. Do you have the address and phone?

Tx

rosemary lanes

61 royal mint st e1

7481 2602

x

[Tom G]

Just a report - ended up going to Cafe Spice Namaste and had a terrific meal there...the wife had a lamb special (sorry, can't remember details) and i had a ginger chicken dish that was aces. Had a good but reasonable bottle of wine. The service was great and the restaurant itself was better than expectations. Some review had called it very DIY, but i thought it was rather lovely - high ceilings, nice bar, etc...

Other notes - lunch at St. John Bread & Wine: food was quite lovely, the service was terrible and the hostess was ruder than just about any i have ever run across. we were seated at the ledge running along the wall by the front door, so we heard almost all of her dealing with customer and potential customers. she was incredibly hostile to anyone who deigned to come in without a reservation, getting into verbal fisticuffs with at least a few of them.

Dinner at Osteria Basilico - one of my faves. Just a great homey italian restaurant with a wonderful feel to it.

Dinner at The Enterprise - another old fave (maybe we fell back on too many old faves on this trip and didn't try enough new). Warm and cozy. Great food. My kind of place.

HOTELS:

The Great Eastern Hotel - this is a joint project by Terrance Conran and the Wyndham Hotel Group. Got a great deal through luxurylink.com. Essentially paid for 3 nights what the rack rate of the room would have been for 1 night. Wonderfully modern hotel in the frame of an old railroad hotel. Great comfy beds, good water pressure, biggest hotel room i've ever stayed in in London. Nice serviceable restaurants and bars on-site (as it is a Conran hotel). Competent service. Very conveniently located right on top of Liverpool Street Station - which is on 3 or 4 different tube lines.

The Barnsley House - Barnsley, Gloucestershire. This is Rosemary Verey's old house - she apparently of great English gardening fame. The owners of the village pub took it over and turned it into a high class inn with a restaurant with multi-star intentions. Booked this room on a deal, too - through their site if you book less than 14 days in advance you get a good rate that includes dinner and breakfast and champagne (apparently unlimited quantities), and an upgrade to the best room possible when you check in. We got the best room in the house as it was an empty Monday. Highlight of the room was two huge bathtubs right next to each other - with a flat screen television at the bottom. The wife and i were thrilled to consider watching a DVD - while each lounging in our OWN tub. But alas the DVD connection was broken. Like the Great Eastern, theme here is stark modern in an old shell. Very well executed. Restaurant is less well executed. When I asked for a slight change on something was told by snobby French maitre d'/waiter that i was essentially going to ruin the dish. Same snobby French maitre d'/waiter was easily heard in the dining room excoriating fellow staff members for tiny errors. And food was fussy, without the reward for fussiness (hence my request to make something a little less fussy). Also, exact same menu for lunch and dinner. Not very inventive.

THANKS TO ALL FOR THEIR SUGGESTIONS!

[MobyP]

Thanks for keeping us up to date, Tom.

[Suzi Edwards]

Other notes - lunch at St. John Bread & Wine: food was quite lovely, the service was terrible and the hostess was ruder than just about any i have ever run across. we were seated at the ledge running along the wall by the front door, so we heard almost all of her dealing with customer and potential customers. she was incredibly hostile to anyone who deigned to come in without a reservation, getting into verbal fisticuffs with at least a few of them.

it's such a shame you had terrible service here. i had a complete nightmare with them last week and know exactly where you are coming from. i hate it when places get too big for their boots.

thanks for that website suggestion btw, that might come in useful.

[Niall]

If you need to eat here again you could try Suchards Thai on Tooley St, or Champour Champour down at London Bridge.

All the reviews I've heard and read about la pont and the other conran places aren't good, There's a Bengali place on Shad thames which is supposed to be good (I haven't eaten there yet though) and Blueprint is supposed to be decent. There's also a few ok pubs aroung; the River Bar, The Anchor and a few other.

Edited December 16, 2003 by Niall (log)