Simple Pleasures at Applebee's
Applebee's
4 Stoney Street
London
SE1 9AA
020 7407 5777
4 Stoney Street
London
SE1 9AA
020 7407 5777
My visit to this rather unusual restaurant started surprisingly well. I had a quick look at what’s on offer, and actually felt like eating all that was on the menu. Not a very frequent experience for me nowadays, when every restaurant and in London seems to run the same, boring agenda.
Admittedly these days the food is better cooked than it was years ago, but it's still too often boring, in a new and not good way. I'm sure you know what I mean: the veloute this or that, and the crostini galore that are never just tasty, with well sourced, ripe tomatoes and basil on a deliciously crispy thin slice of bread, well garlicked up with good olive oil (as you would get in any half-decent trattoria in Italy). Instead, it's huge wedges of limp, tasteless bread dressed so fancy that no flavour is left after all the camouflage, flavours that are so recherché, I certainly can't taste them any more.
But at this refreshingly plain place underneath the arches in Borough Market you get a good menu with the likes of scallops with garlic mash and bacon, mixed fish platter with chips, tagliolini with clams, lime and courgette - and all is freshissimo and changes every day. You can see the fish at the counter when you come in, like in the Parisian seafood temple we (well, I) cherish in our hearts. The food looks and tastes fresh, clean, and tasty, and the Italian chef makes sure that nothing is too super-recherché.
We're talking cucina di Mamma, and we all know Italians Mammas do know best.
While the surroundings do not aspire to be luxurious - you are in the middle of a food market after all - honest architecture brings a cosy, comfortable feel to the place. Exposed bricks, good lighting and space between the tables.
They only have room for 44 guests, so they actually have the time to smile at you (another rarity in London), and when I went at lunchtime, people seemed in no hurry to get back to their City desks.
All in all, an excellent place for a good, reasonably priced meal. If you want chi-chi or boring modern, do please go elsewhere.
The locals won't miss you!
- The Southbank Gourmand
But at this refreshingly plain place underneath the arches in Borough Market you get a good menu with the likes of scallops with garlic mash and bacon, mixed fish platter with chips, tagliolini with clams, lime and courgette - and all is freshissimo and changes every day. You can see the fish at the counter when you come in, like in the Parisian seafood temple we (well, I) cherish in our hearts. The food looks and tastes fresh, clean, and tasty, and the Italian chef makes sure that nothing is too super-recherché.
We're talking cucina di Mamma, and we all know Italians Mammas do know best.
While the surroundings do not aspire to be luxurious - you are in the middle of a food market after all - honest architecture brings a cosy, comfortable feel to the place. Exposed bricks, good lighting and space between the tables.
They only have room for 44 guests, so they actually have the time to smile at you (another rarity in London), and when I went at lunchtime, people seemed in no hurry to get back to their City desks.
All in all, an excellent place for a good, reasonably priced meal. If you want chi-chi or boring modern, do please go elsewhere.
The locals won't miss you!
- The Southbank Gourmand
