Tate Modern Restaurant

Travel and Leisure magazine had an article this month on World's Best Restaurant Views, Travel and Leisure doesn't list a restaurant in London, however my nomination would be the Tate Modern Restaurant (Oxo Tower offers a similar view but with a heftier price tag). In a low lying city like London it is a real treat to experience panoramic views from seven floors up. Given the view and somewhat captive audience Tate Modern Restaurant could probably get away with fairly mediocre food, but it has so far resisted. The food is decent stuff. Not too fancy but not boring either. A sort of modern British focus which is a bit of a relief really after some of the more challenging pieces of art you may have viewed while at the Tate.

My friend Lucy and I had just been to see the Cy Twombly exhibition and after so much of the scatological we were in need of some sustenance. To start with we shared an entree of asparagus with soft boiled egg. Simple but spot on. Both ingredients were perfectly cooked, the egg was just set and exuding some runny yellow yolk while the asparagus was tender but not soft.

Since it was a girls night out we ordered a bottle of French white wine, although it has to be said that our waitress (while eager to please) was not much help with any recommendations. As a main course I had the penne with butternut pumpkin, toasted pinenuts and a pesto sauce. It was tasty but not particularly memorable. I should have ordered the same thing as Lucy who opted for the salmon fillet. This was served unadorned on a bed of julienned zucchini and cucumber which was lightly dressed. We were in agreement that it was a perfect summer dish.

The highlight though was dessert. The menu featured several enticing options but we could not ignore our Australian heritage and both went for the brown sugar pavlova. This came as an individual pavlova encased in hard meringue which yielded inside to a softer stickier brown meringue. The centre was stuffed with cream and berries. It looked fantastic and tasted just as good. The stickiness of the meringue ensured that the pavlova was moist rather than dry which is always essential when you are talking about pavlovas.

All of this good food while looking out over an amazing vista of London. A view which clearly outshone Cy Twombly that night at least.

Details: Bankside, London SE1 9TG

Damage: Reasonable

8/10