It's beautifully but darkly lit, so the photos of the food took a bit of tweaking here and are not up to the usual standard. (You never use a flash with food it looks awful). But as I was saying, it was the only time I felt self conscious, this is because the only people who were in the giant alleyways were the waiters and because of the way the booths were set out you could have several pairs of eyes on you at once. One table (glam Essex types done up posh for the evening), nudged each other and stared giggling, maybe they thought I was part of the paparazzi. I slunk back to my seat temporarily until we got to our proper table. A gulp of the my cocktail of choice the Old Fashioned set me straight. We'd all had a few cocktails already that night already so exact details of the meal are a little hazy to say the least.
We were shown to our booth (which we were very pleased with) and set to order. The staff by the way were absolutely superb, I'd say to Michelin star level, and after a few drinks our party can be a little riotous which they handled with aplomb.
To start I had the “Egg, Ham and Peas” Deep fried Clarence Court duck egg, mushy peas and crispy Cumbrian ham (£8.50). This I thought to be lovely and comforting but just short of totally stunning.
I also sneaked in a few fabulous Oysters (Native rock, West Mersea, Fine de Claire, pickled shallot, Vietnamese dressing) at only £2.65 each.
I'd already decided on my mains Whole slow cooked Irish Ox, tongue ‘n cheek, roast carrots and onions, bone marrow and horseradish mash (£40 for two people). I knew Mrs B wasn't going to go with me on this one, but I'd already decided I was having it on my own.
![]() |
That really was a great carrot. |
The dessert was a complete disaster, a very dry éclair (Caramel apple and Calvados éclair, Devon cream salted caramel ice cream), both of which had clearly been left out for a bit and weren't the freshest. To give them their due they removed them from the bill.
To conclude, we all enjoyed Berners Tavern, it doesn't give you the very best food in London, nor does it really attempt to, the food is very decent for what it is. What it does give you is the grandest dining room I think I've ever been in, a wonderful atmosphere and extremely good service. I think that is enough to have a thoroughly fantastic evening.
Atmosphere: Wonderfully opulent interior.
Food: Good.
Star dish: The Oysters.
Score: 7/10.
Soundtrack: Roxy Music - Angel Eyes.
Berners Tavern is booked up for the rest of the year.

Nice photos , really like the one of the Bottles / yellow background. The food looks ok also.
ReplyDeleteOh and i still cant bring myself to start shooting in RAW....Jpeg all the way for me.
Cheers and have a lovely Xmas.
Thanks Cumbriafoodie - you do pretty well without shooting in RAW - your pictures are amazing! Have a great Christmas!
Delete