The River Cafe
The River Cafe review: Rose Gray's original Hammersmith restaurant remains the benchmark for Italian cooking in London. Expensive, unimprovable, still.
The River Cafe opened in 1987 as a staff canteen for the Richard Rogers architectural practice. It has been, uninterruptedly, one of the most important restaurants in London ever since.
The room
A long, low, bright white room, one wall of full-length windows onto the Thames, a wood-fired oven at the far end.
What to order
Whatever pasta is on. If there is Dover sole, order it. Pudding: the chocolate nemesis, the most famous pudding in British restaurant history, still the best.
The drinks list
Italian, long, deep, honest.
What you will pay
Lunch for two with a shared starter, pasta each, a main to share, pudding, a bottle: £250-£300.
The verdict
Still the benchmark. A long lunch here, in summer with the doors open onto the terrace, is the best use of a Friday afternoon in London.
Clara Whitfield
Editor and restaurant critic
Clara Whitfield is the editor and lead restaurant critic of Vivi. She has eaten through the London restaurant scene professionally for over a decade, contributing reviews and features to regional and national food publications.
She writes Vivi's weekly restaurant review and the Saturday essay. She prefers early dinners and a table facing the room.
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