It seems I’m losing friends left right and centre in October. The next member of my London family to be departing is Pauline. Sniffle.

For one of our final dates 🙂 we decided that we’d have some food at the top of the Oxo Tower which is has been on both our to do lists for a while now. The Oxo Tower Brasserie is the more relaxed half of the restaurants on top though that’s not to say it was any less busy than the Restaurant.

Entering the space that is the Brasserie I could well imagine how great an eating area this would be in the summer. I think they can either open up the roof or put tables outside for dining but in either case it’s a great location with views out to St Paul’s Cathedral which can be seen out of floor to ceiling glass windows. There is also supposedly live music (normally jazz) though I didn’t hear much of it tonight. There was, however, quite a buzz anyway and it was probably better for conversation that we weren’t also competing with the music. Although towards the end our meal a very drunk woman started screaming and making funny noises which was a bit disturbing. The waitress couldn’t help but laugh about it though I don’t think she meant for us to catch her laughing.

Tables are a little cosy in the brasserie as we could certainly hear most of the conversation from both sides of our table, including when the guy next to us was trying to impress his girlfriend by asking for the sommelier. Hilariously the waitress just went on to make some recommendations for wine. Shot down much?

They started off our experience with bread and butter. I’d just sworn off butter but I couldn’t resist the little patty that they served us. Weakness! The only way I can resist is if its not served to me! Ha ha.

Pauline started off with a Laksa and I opted for a grilled octopus, chorizo, and squid ink dish. I can’t speak for Pauline’s soup (I think she liked it) but my dish tasted fantastic though the octopus was a little overdone. Great flavour in it though. The smearing of the squid ink on the plate was certainly an interesting, if not exactly functional, presentation choice.

For mains we both went for meat – Pauline pork chop and myself with a rabbit. Pauline was very happy with her pork chop but I was once again thinking that my rabbit was a touch overcooked. I’m also not convinced the sauce that it was served with helped any as it was certainly dark and heavy. (It wasn’t disgusting.) We’d also ordered a couple of sides which were probably not necessary!

Finally we finished off with a banana cheesecake for Pauline and a crumble for me. A nice way to finish our meal though I felt a little too full at the end of it – not an unfamiliar state for me. Heh heh.

Overall I had an enjoyable time at the Brasserie though I was expecting the food to be a slightly better quality and it did feel a bit uncomfortable to be so close to other diners. Service was generally a hit though when it started to get busy the waiters/waitresses suddenly went mising. I think we were sat there for a while waiting for a dessert menu or other option to be brought to us. One of the highlights was getting out on to the terrace for the sweeping views up and down the Thames (though actually you don’t have to eat at either the brasserie or restaurant to visit the terrace. Oh – as your coats are put into the coat room before you dine they do offer you the use of blankets if its chilly out.