Refueling with Tradition... Some Thoughts on Dining in London Part 3

This post is a continuation of part one of this series on dining in London.

On Saturday evening I joined friends of mine at Simpson's in the Strand. Established in 1828, it gained fame around 1850, firstly for its traditional English menu, particularly roast meats, and secondly as the most important chess venue in Britain. As my grandmother dined here in the 1920s and I'd dined here with family myself, this restaurant holds special meaning to me.

Simpson's dinner specialty is their aged Scottish beef on the bone, traditionally carved at guests' tables from antique silver-domed trolleys for over 150 years. Other signature dishes include potted shrimps, roast saddle of lamb (which is not listed on the current bill of fare) and steak and kidney pudding. Having been remodeled in 2017, it appears the menu remains mostly the same with a wonderful assortment of traditional English deserts once again appearing on the bill of fare, but all slightly updated to modern tastes.

Featured by name in "The Guns of Navarone", "Howard's End", Sherlock Holmes stories such as "The Illustrious Client", stories by P.G. Wodehouse, and in film in Alfred Hitchcock's 1936 film Sabotage, it is without a doubt one of London's most famous restaurants.

I began my meal with one of their specialties, Potted shrimps with Warm toast. Not something you see in America, and that is quite a shame. Delicious and I'd order them again without hesitation. 

 For my main, I decided upon another of their specialties, the roast saddle of Lamb with homemade redcurrant jelly & gravy, and for sides had the roast potatoes and Savoy cabbage. The lamb is carved at the table from one of their traditional trolleys. 

Americans don't eat an much lamb as the British. I'm not sure why, but if you are in the UK, try it, it is delicious. And don't worry about the mint sauce, go with the redcurrant jelly and gravy, it was delicious.

I will say I was disappointed that there was no traditional British desert on the menu, so I reluctantly tried the Simpson’s Quidditch, a chocolate concoction of the chef's design. It was tasty, but not very British. the current desert offerings since the remodel now consist of English summer berry pudding, Simpson's trifle, Scorched egg custard tart, Fresh goats curd with chilled poached apricots, Eton tidy mess, Ridgeview sparking wine consomme, coffee-chocolate knickerbocker glory, Simpson's cheese selection and a selection of ice creams and sorbets, which all make me want to return to try them and appreciate their return to traditional English deserts.

For more information on Simpson's in the Strand, please visit their website at https://www.simpsonsinthestrand.co.uk/

After dinner we took a short walk to Rules for after dinner drinks and conversation in their cocktail bar where I enjoyed a classic cocktail, the French 75.

More to come in the next installment of this post...