My brother has a friend (“He Who Knows”) who challenged him to give the Kua-rating on a number of experiences to be had in London. One of the experiences was The Conran Restaurants. Conran Restaurants are synonymous with fine dining and as anyone knows there are a LOT of Conran Restaurants to choose from so my brother had a bit of a challenge just narrowing it down to even one. He thought that there are actually not a lot of English fine dining experiences in London so today we ended up at Butlers Wharf Chop House which is known for making the best of British ingredients.

The Chop House has an amazing location right on the Thames with views of Tower Bridge. Today its outside seating on their riverside terrace was the perfect place to enjoy the fantastic late summer weather we seem to be experiencing of late, even if we had loads of tourists walking by gawking at our food.

Food-wise I was determined to try something a little bit different instead of going with the usual something safe. For a starter I went with Potted Morecambe Bay shrimps. Something very different to be sure. I love my seafood but even these potted shrimps for me were almost too shrimpy. The triangles of toast that accompanied the shrimps were definitely needed to break up the buttery shrimpiness. Not a bad starter and I don’t regret choosing it but I’m not sure I’d eat it again. Oh – I can say I’ve tried sweetbreads now (which my brother had as starters.) I was prepared not to like them but they were actually fairly tasty with none of that strange taste you get with other wierd innards you might eat (giblets, livers, etc.)

Choosing a main was a little hard. English food isn’t all that adventurous and while the usual suspects: Fish and Chips, Fisherman’s Pie, Roast Rib of Beef & Yorkshire Pudding and Steak & Kidney Pudding were all very tempting to go with choosing them would definitely break my rule of going for something different. Just as well they had a seasonal game menu and on it was partridge as pictured above. I can’t remember the description but the partridge sure was fun to eat. Its a lot gamier than I thought it would be but it was very tasty.

Of course we fit in dessert as well. I wouldn’t say that the first two courses were overly filling though to be honest if we’d stopped after our mains it would have been enough but who can resist the call of Apple and Blackberry Crumbled served with warmed custard. Yum much?

The experience at Butlers Wharf Chop House was pretty good but unless you’re made of money it won’t be an every day experience. The food was very high quality. The waiters were very attentive (almost overly so) though ironically they were slowest when we asked for the bill (not once but twice!) – the good thing was we never felt pressured to leave once we’d finished eating and drinking though to be fair the restaurant wasn’t exactly packed solid. The astmosphere was fabulous (great views!) I would definitely recommend it – but mostly for that great summer day where you can make the most of the blue skies and warm weather.