Randomness Guide to London - Differences between Version 7 and Version 6 of Magdalen, SE1 2TU

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

[[Kake]] and Moray visited lateish on a Wednesday evening. 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.

Modern European restaurant on Tooley Street, near London Bridge Station, recommended by Hardens. (Used to be Fina Estampa, a Peruvian restaurant.)

Modern European restaurant on Tooley Street, near London Bridge Station, recommended by Hardens. (Used to be Fina Estampa, a Peruvian restaurant.)

Other reviews:

Opening hours taken from the Magdalen website, September 2007.

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