Restaurants

Historic Leadenhall Market is an enticing spot for a meal, with its elegant wrought-iron and glass architecture and smart cream and red paintwork. At lunchtime the shops and restaurants are buzzing with City workers. You’ll find the richer ones in this upmarket fish restaurant, where prices are clearly aimed at expense-accounters (dover sole £32, rump of lamb £29.95). You can eat in the light-flooded ground-floor restaurant overlooked by a small mezzanine, on the cobbled street outside beneath the market roof, or in the first-floor dining room, where smart table linen, leather-covered chairs and chilly air-con provide a more formal setting (there’s also a brick-vaulted basement bar). The quality of the ingredients is beyond doubt; a half-dozen Irish oysters and a cylinder of dill-flecked crab meat encased in a parmesan crisp were top-quality starters. But a main of pan-fried salmon on a bed of sprightly samphire was severely undercooked. Po-faced staff offered no apology, but quickly brought a replacement: which was cooked just right. The wine list allows for blowouts, but the house offerings are perfectly acceptable. Puddingss – English strawberries and cream (for a stonking £7.50), crème brûlée and cheese – seem an afterthought.

Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide 2008