Tamesa@oxo

Time Out says

Tue Dec 15 2009

Far below the high-flyers on the Oxo Tower’s pricey top floor sits Tamesa, which boasts the same glorious river views but lower prices. It’s not cheap, mind – around £15 for a main course, albeit one made with impressively seasonal ingredients. No-nonsense furnishings (and an awful lot of yellow paint) suggest an unpretentious lunchtime joint, but Tamesa seems to hanker after higher things. There’s an incongruous digestif trolley, and some fussy items on the menu. Mushrooms à la grecque with cauliflower purée and truffle contained no discernible truffle, and the purée was excess to requirements. But watermelon and feta salad was achingly fresh and exceptionally pretty. Lamb was cooked to perfection and chips were terrific. A samphire side dish was so flavourful and crunchy, and so rife with garlic, that it vanished in seconds, to the delight of the lovely staff. There aren’t many places in London that offer riverside dining without the bother of booking. Were it not for our waiter’s open-mouthed incomprehension when asked to replace a substandard bottle of wine, nothing would have spoiled the view.