New Street Grill City of London – Never Ending Sunday Review

Never Ending Sundays at New Street Grill:

What a wonderful idea.  Now if the nice people at the New Street Grill and The Old Bengal Bar could just make Sundays go on for ever, I’m sure we’d all be willing to pay them a LOT of money.  Failing that, the idea of a lazy Sunday lunch in a comfortable restaurant that has a great outdoor terrace, with unlimited Bloody Mary Cocktails or champagne and a range of dishes on offer seemed like a great idea to me.

I imagine that during the week the New Street Grill and Old Bengal Bar is full of City workers.  Just a few minutes from Liverpool Street Station and the Broadgate Centre, it’s the sort of place that is bound to be popular with the boys and girls of the Square Mile when they are let out to play.  But, at the weekend the pace slows, the City of London is actually rather relaxing and a good place to chill out.

The never ending Sunday offer at New Street Grill is a very reasonably priced set  menu, particularly if you like Bloody Marys or Champagne – for £30 you can have three courses with your choice of never-ending Champagne or Bloody Marys while you dine!  When we arrived, there was a large party taking up one end of the restaurant, clearly celebrating and taking advantage of the excellent priced food and drink.  But for all that, the restaurant had an air of calm and it was a great place to sit and relax.

I started with the London Cured Salmon with classic garnish.  And a glass of champagne.  I do think I had the better option, though my companion’s salad was probably a lot healthier.  And, her’s was the choice of a food lover – immaculately presented with nicely balanced set of flavours.

The main course for me was a challenge because the set menu option of confit duck had finished – and I’d set my heart on that.  So instead I chose from the extensive a la carte menu and had Josper roast baby chicken which was lovely with tender meat and that wonderful charcoal grill taste.  And, served with buttery juices in a little pot it was the kind of simple Sunday lunch I really enjoy.

I think my companion drew the short straw.  She did asked for her roast beef to be served rare, but what was presented was definitely medium to well done.  The Yorkshire looked spot on perfect and the vegetables were nicely cooked, although the roast potatoes lacked that all important crunch.

From what we were told when we queried the dish, the roast is not cooked to order and is kept warm so that by later in the lunchtime service it is inevitably well cooked. And, while for the price of the set menu that might be inevitable, for the rather classy venue, it seems a shame.

Desserts were, however, delicious and faultless.  My companion’s apple pie and custard came with a home-made crème anglais and looked very good.  And my brownie and ice-cream was just what I wanted to round off the meal.

To sum up – an excellent value proposition and a fine place for a Sunday lunch, especially for groups.  The outdoor terrace makes this somewhere that will be very special when the sun chooses to shine on London.  But, I’d hesitate to recommend the roast of the day if you arrive late for lunch or prefer your meat rare. Regardless of that it’s a charming place and somewhere I’d happily return to with friends or family.

New Street Grill
16a New Street, EC2M 4TR