Walking along the south bank I felt pretty damn lucky to be living in this beautiful city and was very much looking forward to dinner at Sea Containers.
I met my date in the sexily lit Dandelyan bar for pre-dinner cocktails. Sat in the luxuriously large chairs, it took a while to get anyone’s attention to actually order the drinks but kick back, relax & soak up the atmosphere or watch the endless stream of joggers filter past.
The pretty menu is divided into sections Cereal, Vegetal, Mineral & Floral. I ordered the Yellow & Green fizz from the Floral section which was made up of Merlet pear liqueur, grass, yuzu vinegar and Perrier-Jouet champagne (£14.50) – light and refreshing it was the perfect pre-dinner drink. From the Cereal section the Koji Hardshake was topped with a caramelised marshmallow which added a delicious sweetness to the scotch & liquorice bitters.
Front of house staff in their custom made black jumpsuits were super friendly but the table service felt in-experienced.
After a couple of drinks at the bar we made our way past the Tom Dixon designed foyer to sit down for dinner. A nice space with large tables & an open kitchen, ideal for larger groups! (Read: expense accounts).
Here the service slipped further. When asked for a wine recommendation I was informed that she hadn’t tried them so didn’t know, but she did offer me a taster before I made my mind up – fair enough.
The concept here is sharing plates so we ordered Tuna Crudo (£14) from the Raw section which melted in the mouth alongside artichoke & avocado. Charred eggplant with mint labneh, dates & sesame had a sloppy texture but none the less worked nicely alongside the Lamb Rump. This sat on a tasty ragout of borlotti beans, squash & salsify (£24).
House-made ricotta with a side salad of fennel & pickled squash represented the best value, served with grilled whole grain bread to scoop up the mint & chill spiked dish. (£9)
Unfortunately the Beetroot salad was very overpriced (£14) for the quality, dotted with feta the beetroot & grapefruit just didn’t justify the price. When I gave this feedback to the waitress she shrugged and said “Yeah, some dishes are more overpriced then others” – yikes! She did kindly take this off the bill once she saw my face!
Although the food was on the whole, pretty good, it was disappointing that it was all bought out at once. It made me feel like I needed to rush through the tuna before the lamb went cold.
A nicer alternative would be to serve the Tuna & Ricotta first, followed by the Beetroot, Lamb and Eggplant. When the waiter came to clear the table he also asked if we’d be sharing the food – very strange, you are literally taking our empty plates away – again, inexperience staff bringing the tone down a notch.
The cheese plate from Neal’s Yard was well put together.
With so much competition in London it won’t be somewhere we’ll be returning too in any hurry.
www.seacontainerslondon.com/eat-drink/sea-containers-restaurant
