Neighbouring London’s most famous bridge, One Tower Bridge is a contemporary new development with a collection of new bars and restaurants to dive into. Described as ‘the ultimate riverside dining and cultural destination’ it is not only new but has a lot to offer its southside river location with a portfolio of varying dining and drinking destinations.
I was invited to One Tower Bridge to sample a selection of what it has to offer. An urban oasis that has been pedestrianised, this new set up currently offers eight restaurants alongside London’s leading contemporary new theatre, the Bridge Theatre. We begin our evening at London’s first dedicated prosecco bar, aptly named: Prosecco House. Warming our taste buds for the evening ahead, we settled in with a pair of elegantly filled bubbling flutes with a bowl of crumbling chunks of parmesan cheese to balance the sweetness. Delivering the finest prosecco from Veneto in Italy, Prosecco House has partnered with family-owned vineyards in Italy and offers a selection of over 20 proseccos which cannot be found anywhere else in London.
Across the modern piazza, filled with brightly lit water fountains, we see our second destination for the evening, the contrasting rough and rugged – The Coal Shed. Combining sustainably sourced meat and fish with traditional methods of cooking on natural fire and with charcoal; The Coal Shed’s raw and honest ambience has a distinctly masculine presence and would satisfy any carnivore. My vegetarian guest and I arrive and this unsurprisingly challenges our equally rugged looking waiter. He presents us with bread, smoked butter and the most delicious air whipped beef fat to spread (my) bread with. Soon, our small wooden table is crammed with a selection of small plates (both inclusive of meat and vegetarian friendly). From short rib croquettes to thinly sliced black angus beef carpaccio with parmesan, pickled mushrooms and truffle, some smoked aubergine and charcoal gnocci dish; we could have easily stayed put all night.
With its very own vegetarian menu, Rosa’s Thai Café was our next spot. Renowned for serving the most delicious and beautifully fragrant Thai dishes; Rosa’s Thai Café was the most casual pitstop of the evening with an engaging waiter we soon got chatting to. With a small basket of crispy prawn crackers and glasses of wine, we chose a rich beef massaman and vibrant vegetarian green curry with steaming sticky rice. As popular today as they were when the first Rosa’s opened almost 10 years ago, Rosa’s has remained true to its roots, and continues to serve up fresh flavours in a friendly, relaxed atmosphere with signature dishes such as Pad Thai to spicy Drunken Noodles.
Squeezing in space for dessert, we step across One Tower Bridge to Tom Simmons: the restaurant from award winning Welsh Chef and MasterChef finalist. His first London venture, Tom’s passion is to support artisan Welsh producers to create dishes that are both influenced by the UK and France. With a pot of hot tea, espresso martinis and chocolate truffles to share, this is where we satisfactorily sat, mulling over our restaurant safari of One Tower Bridge.
Having been given a taste of what One Tower Bridge has to offer with a viewpoint of the River Thames paired with relaxed pedestrianised streets and spacious piazzas, it also boasts its very own Ivy restaurant: The Ivy Tower Bridge. From the renowned restaurant group that is quickly spreading its famous brand across the country, it specialises inelegant modern British classics within a high-end, all-day dining experience. This particular Ivy setup at One Tower Bridge is adjacent to the river and frames the iconic backdrop of Tower Bridge.
One Tower Bridge is easily accessible from nearby tube stations London Bridge, Bermondsey & Tower Hill, located between City Hall and Tower Bridge. For more information, visit www.lifebyonetowerbridge.london.
