Butler’s Wharf Chop House – Shad Thames – London – 9/10 (The best yet)

The Bear and I were celebrating on Wednesday night, so I booked a table at the Butlers Wharf Chop House near Tower Bridge. I’d heard about it from a friend over a year ago. They had sampled an amazing bar menu at £12 for three courses, what a bargain. We booked in the main restaurant and got ready to gorge.

It’s famous for traditional British dishes and the head chef Winston Matthews (great name!) has gone out of his way to source local and seasonal food. The fresh produce really shone through in the dishes we ordered, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

I chose the restaurant because of the amount of meat on the menu. As a celebratory dinner for The Bear I thought it only fair to go somewhere he would really enjoy. Luckily for me, there were a lot of fishy dishes too.

The restaurant itself is long and thin and one side is flanked by the Thames flowing under Tower Bridge. It’s quite a view, and on a balmy evening such as this, the whole of the side is open to the elements with the French windows concertinaed back like a long see-through fan. There are a few tables outside on the deck, but most of the tables inside have a view off the river.

The décor is simple and pleasing, with wood panels, large country-house-style chairs and a simple tiled floor. The place is full to bursting and buzzing with business, pleasure and pure meaty abandon. The waiters seem a little over-stretched and we waited a while to give our order, and even longer to order our wine, but that was pretty much the only annoyance of the evening.

We were meant to be ordering off a set menu of 2 courses for £19.50, but we couldn’t resist going a la carte. For starters we had a dozen West Mersea oysters.

West Mersea is located near Colchester in Essex, and the Bear and I had recently been on a gastronomic trip to Orford in Suffolk, just down the road. The oysters in Orford were very creamy, so we were looking forward to more of the same. We weren’t disappointed. Eleven of the oysters were plump and milky. Unfortunately one of them was definitely the runt of the litter. You can’t win them all.

The oysters were served with the usual accompaniments, shallot vinegar, Tabasco, a slice of lemon. A nice touch was the extra tomato, garlic and paprika sauce, which was a new one on me, and spot on.

The plates were cleared and we sipped on gorgeous English wine (yes English!). The Ortega Biddendum is from a Vine Yard near Biddendum in Kent. The Bear convinced me to give it a go, even though the sommelier said it had a touch of “tropical fruits” – oh dear! But I was pleasantly surprised. It was fruity but not too sweet, and an excellent companion to the oysters.

The mains came soon after the sun started to set over the river. I went for the Fisherman’s pie with mashed potato and cheddar crust and The Bear went for The Offal Truth. “What the hell is that?” I hear you say. It’s a plate of every part of an animal that you would normally throw away. Ox liver, lamb kidney, black pudding, ox faggot, Old Gloucester tongue, Daylesford smokey bacon, bubble and squeak, beef marrow in the bone, and one hen’s egg.

Urgh urgh yuk yuk, urgh!!!!! That’s my opinion anyway. The Bear’s was more along the lines of “it’s offally good” (groan) and “I like faggots” (double groan). He ate everything very carefully and was suitably impressed. He even went so far as to get the marrow out the bone and shove it in my face. Charming! I definitely picked the right restaurant though. If you like that sort of thing, you’ll love this place.

The fisherman’s pie was very good. When it first arrived I was a little disappointed with the size, but I was just being greedy. There was plenty, and the minted peas I ordered as a side were spectacular. They tasted like they had been picked and shelled five minutes before cooking them. The pie was creamy and full of prawns, salmon and cod. Ten out of ten.

The dessert menu came and there was a whole page dedicated to the luscious British strawberry, it being June and all. Strawberry fool, strawberries and cream, strawberry puff, you name it.

We went for the apple fritters.

And they were amazing. Big rings of apple covered in crunchy batter and icing sugar. Served with a boulder of apple ice cream with a hint of mint, and caramel sauce. I could have eaten three servings.

The whole meal came to £95 including service and it was money well spent. You could get a similar meal much cheaper in the bar with the set menu if you can’t stretch to the main restaurant.
The setting and the food could not have been better. One puny oyster and a lack of service to begin with being the restaurant’s only flaws. It’s my parent’s anniversary in a few weeks, and I think this place is a shoe in for the booking.