Treacle Tart, Clotted Cream
The White Swan

The White Swan

108 Fetter Lane London, EC4A 1ES, EC4A 1BN, United Kingdom

Pubs • Fish • Meat • British


"meanwhile through a busy week, I decided to be a little bit cheeky by jumping off the work for a few hours. a quick text to my friend and a finished customer meet later, I was on the way to a lazy lunch. we heard the buzz over the recently reworked white swan at chancery lane. herr flavour and I were once regular and could not wait to see the new version. Unfortunately for him he was gone on the business and let the ladies explore in his absentness. this former irrigation hole was historically a popular hot spot of the fleet street pressebrigade before it turned into a posh pub and dining room. now again opened as pub and cophouse, the natives are already in the waiting line to come. at the entrance were the delicious aromen from the dining room to sue us up. rule number one of the lazy lunches dictates, however, that a frecher g t has to be consumed before eating in a sleepy manner. gin is something that the white **** has in full! our sophisticated bartender led us to a Hendrick ginn, served long and chilled with a gurkenband. this is the point! the new chophouse theme was certainly well received. past are the white tablecloths and wallpapers, replaced by trendy exposed bricks and deep wooden tables. this beautiful room is available for private rental and would be a great place to impress your friends or colleagues. the menu consists of pub favorites, cuts from British finest meat and fresh fish from south coast day boats and British fishing ports. if mr. flavor had been here, he would have made a beeenstock for the 45-day white park sirloin with béarnaise and large chips. we believed a little easier. the salt baked celeriac, blue monday cheese and kale salat with chestnuts was divine and flavored with a beautiful earthy seasonality. my friend ordered iron age ‘Pick and Brunch’, pickles and English senf, which came in the form of a terrine. I could not resist helping me to a greedy unhappiness. the albarinho was certainly a suitable partner for following the fishing nets. fluffy fishcake with fertile tomatenrelish were mouth-watery crunchy and bursting with terribleness. I had never ordered gurnard before and his fleshy texture was beautifully complemented with braided fennel. the big chips were absolutely crushed and let us dessert without room. as much as I enjoy a girly lunch, it is time like this when I miss my pretty man and his inexorable appetit. a quick espresso later I was moved back to the office with an earlyling in my step and a very satisfied little bit. I cannot expect to introduce my customers into this wonderful new venue, which is available for 7 days in the week."

The Quality Chop House

The Quality Chop House

United Kingdom, EC1R 3EA, London

Meat • Beer • Steak • Sushi


"The QCH was recommended to me by a friend so I went ahead and booked. To be honest, I’m not sure why they recommended it and I will struggle to recommend it to others at the moment. I might have to have another visit then decide. The menu changes daily and whilst the one on the day wasn’t what I’d expected for a chop house, it certainly had some items you’d expect, plus some you wouldn’t. Neither myself or my dining partner were up for a 400g chop (or 800g bone in steak), nor the 40 60 min wait that came with them so we opted for “Yorkshire game, trimmings Pheasant £28 Mallard £34”. I opted for pheasant whilst my friend chose the duck. The menu was short on the description of them so we asked the waitress if they came with something. What she described sounded good, although she did say there were 3 sides with the dish, which seemed a bit much but we went with it. We didn’t order starters, which was a good decision. We consumed some tasty red wine whilst catching up on what has been going on in our lives so I’m really not sure how long our mains took to arrive but they looked slightly odd when they did. Presentation was unpretentious but also a bit confused. The pheasant (or Duck) were simply laid on the plate, another 1/3 was occupied by a jam like substance (can’t remember what it was nor what it tasted of), and the other 1/3 was occupied by something else I can’t remember! On the side was a watercress and onion salad, what looked like a mini shepherd’s pie (served in a mini saucepan), and a plate of warm bread sauce with salty crisps to dip in them. I have to say the little mini pie (it wasn’t a shepherd’s pie) was good, as was the bread sauce. The main plate of food was underwhelming though. I don’t think it helped that the steak knives we had were blunt well I hope they were but the pheasant was hard to cut through. It was at least cooked though. My friend’s duck was just about dead. She flipped it over and the underside was very red **** red and cold. We asked the staff to cook it more thoroughly. They took it back and brought it back around 5 mins later but for 5 extra mins of cooking, it was barely warmer and still quite pink. Trying not to be one of ‘those people’ my friend lived with it, but it was still tough to cut through. When the plates were cleared, my friend fed back on the duck, which the waitress was very apologetic for. A couple of minutes later the presumably manager came over and apologised and asked what the issue had been. My friend explained again, which was again met by an apology and an offer to right the problem. We ordered dessert, a tasty pear tart, that went down very well at the end of the meal. When the bill came we thought the desserts may have been free of charge but they’d actually taken the more expensive duck option off the total. We were both unsure on what to take away from the evening. The service was excellent throughout. Dessert was good too. I think perhaps the main courses were just dishes that didn’t really come off in reality. The chef probably thought it all looked good on paper but the presentation was odd. The whole course was confused; almost trying too hard. I think I might go back in a few months and try something from the more traditional chop house options and then decide."