Randomness Guide to London - Differences between Version 20 and Version 19 of Magdalen, SE1 2TU

Modern European restaurant on Tooley Street, near London Bridge Station. (It used to be Fina Estampa, a Peruvian restaurant.)

Kake and Moray visited lateish on a Wednesday evening in September 2007. We hadn't expected it to be too busy midweek, but there were a number of people waiting for a table when we arrived. Luckily the staff managed to find us a table for two almost straight away (initially we were told there'd be a fifteen-minute wait, but while we were trying to decide whether to wait or to go somewhere else, a table appeared).

The restaurant is split over two levels, and both upstairs and downstairs are further divided into two rooms. The walls are painted a deep red (I think — it was dark!), and the lights are kept dim, so it all feels quite intimate. We were seated upstairs; there was a good buzz of conversation going on around us, but not to the extent where we had trouble hearing each other speak.

Although the place was pretty much full to capacity, service was very efficient (without being brusque) and perceptive to the point where I occasionally suspected telepathy. Helpful, too; when I expressed my liking for the Chateau Grand Village Bordeaux Blanc that we shared a carafe of, our waiter went and found the name of the supplier for me.

The wine list is extensive — I am not a wine expert, and indeed got our waiter to help me choose our wine, so I will confine myself to pointing out (a) there is a very even spread of prices, starting at £14/bottle and going up for quite some way in increments of £1–2; and (b) five reds, six whites, and one rose (all in the sub-£32 part of the list) are available by the half-bottle carafe, costing exactly half the price of the full bottle.

The menu is meat-heavy, with no vegetarian dishes included at all; although it does state that they are available "on request", there seem to be a few comments on the interweb that suggest this isn't always the case, so it would definitely be best to check in advance. Anyway. Kake started with pigeon terrine with apple and celeriac remoulade (£6.50); this was really rather nice, with a good, varied texture. Moray chose the salt cod with chickpeas and swiss chard (£7.50). Next up was confit duck leg with hispi cabbage and mustard sauce (£13.50) — competent and plentiful — and mixed fried veal offal with lentils, garlic, and parsley (£16).

The final bill for two starters, two mains, a bottle of still water and a bottle and a half of wine came to £85.50 — half food, half drinks. Service wasn't included so we rounded it up to £100 and considered it money well spent. Kake will definitely be back; to put this in context, this place is less than half an hour's walk from my house, but if I was more of a meat lover I would happily travel a good deal further.

Ewan comments: Visited with a friend on a Friday lunchtime (had booked in advance, though as it was a late lunch, the place wasn't completely packed). Service was friendly and approachable, a carafe of tap water was brought swiftly over on request, and bread placed unbidden after we'd ordered. I had a starter of white asparagus soup with hazelnut, which was really lovely Flickr photo. My companion's frogs' legs went down well as well, with a particularly nice garlicky accompaniment Flickr photo. Her main was rabbit, but as a vegetarian I requested the "available on request" option which turned out to be more like a breakfast (fried egg with spinach and mushrooms, on toast) Flickr photo. It was, in any case, absolutely perfect: a beautifully fried egg, nicely runny, with the best mushrooms I've had on the side. My dessert of apple and cinnamon tart with vanilla ice cream was likewise a beautifully presented and tasty creation, which makes me think that what Magdalen do well is not inventing wild and interesting combinations, but in doing really well some more familiar dishes. My friend's cheese board came with three British cheeses - one a blue cheese, one a cheddar and one a goat's cheese - and all three were sublime, really well-chosen, and fairly large chunks of each. The wine we chose (a Montepulciano d'Abbruzzo) went down very well, and at £9 for a half-bottle carafe, it was good value too.

Finally, to settle the problem of pronunciation, the lady who took our booking pronounced it "MAG-da-len" (and not "maudlin" or anything else one might say).

bob says: We were seated on a saturday night without a booking. The restaurant was probably half full downstairs. The food was really good. The oxtail ragu was fantastic. I think people should go just for that. My roast middlewhite was very good also. The crackling especially so. The cheeseboard again was very good. There is a choice of 3 ports although realistically only 2 unless you can justify a bottle for £145. Service was friendly and efficient. I certainly agree with this being a RGL Recommended restaurant. See also:

• London Eating comments
• Evening Standard review
• London-SE1 comments
• Matthew Norman's review in the Guardian
• londonfood review
• eGullet thread
• Chowhound thread

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