Sweetings is a real City of London institution. Open on its current site since 1889 and apparently pretty much unchanged over time, it is also one of the very few London oyster houses to be rated by Toronto shucker supreme Patrick McMurray of the Starfish Oyster Bed and Grill (http://www.starfishoysterbed.com/) in his excellent book Consider The Oyster. I’ll be writing much more about Patrick as this series continues.
Back to Sweetings, which I visited on a chilly Wednesday in November. The place is on a street corner near Mansion House tube station, but in that part of London nowhere is very far from anywhere else, St Pauls and Bank are only a few hundred yards away. The window is filled with seafood laid out on plates to attract passers-by. Most of the clientele, however, didn’t look as if they needed attracting, being almost as much a a part of the scene as the quirky ancient décor.
The layout is rather unusual – counters along the sides of the place, facing outwards, with waiters positioned between the counters and windows or walls beyond. Presumably this allows for maximum top secret insider city gossip. There are also long tables towards the back which one is expected to share, two by two, as it fills up. Downstairs are the original 1889 loos (at least, that’s how they looked to me! But in quite a good way.) The menu is totally given over to fish and seafood – not even a steak for the not-so-piscinally oriented. Excellent! I opted for half a dozen West Mersea oysters, described as native flats but a little smaller than one might expect. Anyway they were very tasty, nice and cold, bread and butter and lots and lots of lemon wedges on the table definitely added to my enjoyment. I do hate it when places scrimp on the lemon. A pint of Guinness – served in a pewter tankard no less – completed a great combination. I think it’s the only time I’ve ever been actually served beer in such a receptacle, rather than just seeing them hanging on the wall. Full marks. My companion’s lobster bisque looked very inviting on a cold day.
On to the main courses – scampi with bacon, and fish pie. This place is very much about good fish cooked simply and the way you want it. I asked for my scampi (8 tails) grilled, and it duly arrived such, with two thick slices of smoked bacon alongside. A side order of chips completed the picture – everything is extra. My companion’s fish pie again looked just the job for a cold day, mashed potato atop fish pieces in sauce. Lots more lemon on the scampi and an excellent and not-too-fattening lunch proceeded.
Sweetings doesn’t actually have a website (presumably as they weren’t around in 1889… I guess the adverts on the sides of sedan chairs are still running somewhere), but the various online reviews all rave about the puddings. I’m not much of a pud person, but the apple pie was really excellent, something like a pain au chocolat slightly-flaky pastry surrounding the apple. Two generous scoops of vanilla ice-cream and all was well. We didn’t have coffee – Sweetings is the only restaurant I have ever visited which doesn’t even offer it, apparently to encourage punters to move on a make room for someone else. Even though it wasn’t full when we went, the current financial crisis was not preventing a fair few besuited types gathering for a good lunch. So we wandered off to the nearer Costa coffee to continue our discussions. Not cheap at all, the bill came to £70+, but a unique London seafood experience. Why not get your financial advisor to take you?
Sweetings, 39 Queen Victoria Street, London , EC4N 4SF, 0844 5672326 but no point phoning as they don’t reserve tables, open 11-3 lunchtimes Mon-Fri only.
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