Wining & Dining: riverside staple Le Pont de la Tour opens a new bistro
Le Pont de la Tour has, for over three decades, been such a constant in the City-ish dining landscape that it’s quite possible to forget it exists at all. Nestled right by the river at Shad Thames, Le Pont built a reputation for its high-end French cuisine and its nice views of Tower Bridge.
Since celebrating its 30th birthday during one of the windows between Covid closures last October, it’s added a new dining space imaginatively called Le Pont de la Tour Bistro, where the vibes are more relaxed and the prices less vertiginous.
So what’s new?
While some restaurant renovations aim to blow you away with their sheer newness, this is a more restrained affair, to the extent you might assume the grey banquettes dividing the bar from the seating area had been there all along. The lack of an entrance from the Shad Thames side makes it a little tricky to find, but once you’re in it’s easy on the eyes without ever threatening to leave a lasting impression.
In true bistro style it does away with fripperies such as table cloths but maintains the vaguely art deco styling that we’ve been trained to read as an implicit symbol of low-key luxury.
In terms of menu, it’s exactly what you’d expect of a middle- to high-end French bistro: steak frites, quiche, duck confit, various grilled fishes. In terms of prices you’re looking at around £12 for a starter and £22 for a main.
Is it any good?
Yeah, it’s decent. I had a generous shrimp cocktail – every chef in the land seems to have got the memo that prawn cocktail is back, baby! – while my guest had a nicely put together asparagus mimosa.
I followed it up with a genuinely banging slab of pork belly, the fat perfectly molten beneath a thin crust of crackling, served with more asparagus (white this time) and a golf ball sized portion of pureed potato that nevertheless was so buttery that I suspect it contained most of my daily allowance of calories. On the opposite side of the was the aforementioned steak frites, which must have been good because it vanished before I got a chance to try it.
How’s the wine list?
This is still Le Pont de la Tour and they know their way around a cellar. I had a very nice glass of Montredon Picpoul (£8 a glass or £38 a bottle) followed by an even better Château Des Gravières (£11/£55). There’s also a decent selection of cocktails should you decide to turn lunch into apres lunch; you’re already in the bar, after all.
What else?
The bistro and the main restaurant share the terrace, where you’ll find the “Summer of seafood and rose” menu in collaboration with Mirabeau. It does what it says on the tin, with some seafood options that aren’t on the other menus.
• For more information or to book go to lepontdelatour.co.uk or call 020 7403 8403