Randomness Guide to London Menu

Small cafe/restaurant on Tooley Street near the More London development and London Bridge Station, run by the people who started up the Real Greek and Livebait chains. It opened on 20 May 2009.

The decor is modern and fresh-looking, with white walls set off by a deep-red floor and a purple ceiling. The chairs are made from see-through red plastic. There are 10 high seats at the bar, and about 20 seats at normal tables. Samples of the day's dishes are displayed in the window photo.

Kake and bob visited for a late lunch on a Friday in May 2009, just over a week after they first opened. It was empty apart from staff when we arrived a little after 2pm, but shortly after we were seated a table of four arrived who seemed to already be regulars. Music was playing, but fairly quietly.

Unsurprisingly, given how new the place is, there were a couple of freebies; we were offered still or sparkling water on the house, and Kake's glass of wine was also free since they hadn't got their liquor licence yet (the Evening Standard review linked below states that they have the licence now).

The lunch menu photo isn't divided into starters or mains, and was slightly confusing at first. Our best guess is that it's arranged in order of lighter (marinated olives, £3) to heartier (ribeye steak, £15.20) with a couple of side dishes at the end.

bob had the devilled crab (£7.90) photo, accompanied by some new potatoes with lemon and mint butter (£3.50), while Kake went for the artichoke and goat cheese salad (£6.40) photo. The artichoke and goat cheese salad was great; the use of fresh herbs was just right, the pine nut dressing worked well, and it all just went together very well. bob finished with a slice of banana and date streusel (£4), which he seemed to enjoy.

secretlondon was given a 50% off voucher during the June 2009 tube strike and popped in for lunch. This place is more expensive than the other lunchtime places in the area and seems to see itself as "foody" rather than an office worker drop in. I had the polenta photo, the chocolate dropata photo and a bottle of lime crush. At half price it came to £10.50. It was very nice but too expensive for lunchtime passing trade I think. My polenta came with a slice of bread that was offered to me off a plate with a little bowl of butter (?). I wasn't exactly sure what to do with this and sheepishly dipped the bread into it. They have filtered water for free - both still and sparkling. They are also licenced.

Accessibility: Can't remember if there was a step to get in, but the toilets are down a steep set of stairs with a sturdy handrail on both sides.

See also:

• More on Twitter
• Dos Hermanos review
• Evening Standard review