Old Tea Warehouse

As I work in PR, I get to eat out often.  Quite obviously the ideal profession for someone as food obsessed as me but I need to cater to the audience so when I had lunch with two male unassuming business contacts, I though PUB. 

I’m fussy when it comes to this UK institution – the floors can be wooden but only, if it has character rather than being a cookie cutter clone.  And, while I don’t mind music, if it is before 10 and I can’t hear myself speak then we need to have a word.

So, trawling the options in the City, I found Old Tea Warehouse which lives in the shadow of the Gherkin.  It was hidden down a little alley – tick!  It could trace its history back to the 1500s –tick!  And, it served real artisan beer [tell two grown men that and there is a sad display of dad dancing].

Arriving, down a little alley, we found a character filled pub that could have hosted Dickens and the building may well have been designed by an utter nut.  Several bars, a games room with a pool table down stairs and a toilet that you need a compass to find – now I know I could spend a good evening here.

With thanks to pubandbarnetwork.co.uk

Perusing the menu, it looked to cater for the city lunchtime crowd with a selection of UK classics.  Not ‘Hestoned’ classics but honest to gosh, good solid staples that taste really good.  Between discussing pensions [yes, we are sexy like that] we ordered a gin & tonic as well as two lovely lagers – not that the wine list wasn’t good but well, we were in a pub.

I ordered Roast lamb rump, crushed Jersey Royals, truffle minted peas, wild garlic & beetroot jus with my companions choosing Pan fried salmon, green beans, olives, new potatoes, tomato, cucumber, anchovies & soft egg and Chicken Caesar salad, pesto croutons, parsley crumb, anchovies & shaved parmesan.  Okay, the menu is a little wordy for a pub but it is in the city and I’m sure someone knows what truffle peas are.

When the food arrived it didn’t disappoint!  The lamp was perfectly cooked offset by the sweet peas and lovely meaty potatoes.  I’m sure the wild garlic and beetroot jus added an earthy flavour but was too busy eating to notice this.  My beautiful companions reported that the salmon was ‘great’ as with the egg cooked just right and the Caesar salad was a ‘pleasant surprise’. 

Apparently, he had ordered it to be good and it was rather more than the normal sad arrangement of dry chicken on tired lettuce.  Dessert was a final tipple before we headed off to be adults again.

If you want posh, don’t visit the Old Teahouse as you will be blocking the table for someone like me who just wants a great meal in a lovely environment.  But do find out where the loo is before you have too much to drink as I’m sure there are some poor people still merrily trotting around from the 1500s.

Lxx

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