Chiswell Street Dining Rooms
Tom and Ed Martin are a sibling team who seem to be slowly building their own food and drinks empire. Having previously established The Gun, The Botanist, The Cadogan Arms and The White Swan, their latest restaurant/cocktail bar is the aptly titled Chiswell Street Dining Rooms, located on – you guessed it – Chiswell Street, near the bustling finanical hub of London.
The cream-walled, wooden-floored venue has the archetypical unassuming look of a city chain, but if you look a little deeper you will find little traits – such as a low ceiling – that make it, well, a little more characteristic. Still, I would suggest it had the potential to be a more bespoke and interesting feast for the retinas given that it is housed in the shell of an old brewery.
But, playing Devil’s advocate, one may wager it was kept to a tone more befitting of the local corporate, banking crowd. That being said, it certainly looks smart, and is also quite formidable in size, thanks to a long, thin profile, with seven private dining areas and an upstairs to boot.
The menu is geared towards seasonal, British produce, and aims to cater right through the day with breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner, as well as providing plenty to keep you busy if you are just there for drinks. Early risers can enjoy classics such as porridge, eggs, fruit plates and a full English breakfast, but it is the lunch and dinner menus which really leap out from the page.
I tried some mini versions of dishes from the lunch/dinner menu, and was impressed. Potted ham hock (£8), foix gras with apples and candied hazelnuts (£12.50), king scallops and samphire (£9.50) and the Guinnessy snail and smoked bacon pie (£9.50) were all delicious. The quail’s egg with artichoke and mustard (£7.50) was a little heavy on the frisée, but still a good runner up. To finish, classic desserts such as summer pudding, chocolate tart and sticky toffee pudding (all £6.50) offered a sweetly satisfying finale.
If liquid refreshment is more your style, cocktails are a big feature, and from what I saw and tasted, they are well worth a trip in themselves. I think that’s largely helped by the bar staff who all seemed to churn out cocktail after cocktail effortlessly and exactly to spec. If that’s not your taste, wines, champagnes and bottled British beers are also to hand.
Now, let’s talk again about location. It is likely that this will become very much a corporate haven, which may put off some other would-be punters from making a special trip. That’s for you to decide, but given the fantastic food, not to mention the alternatives down the road (ok I will: All Bar One), Chiswell Street Dining Rooms can wear the Chiswell Street badge with absolute pride.
Chiswell Street Dining Rooms
56 Chiswell Street
City of London
EC1Y 4SA
Tel: 020 7614 0177
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