Our first lunch in London was at Simpson's-in-the-Strand. The restaurant has immediately become one of our "must-go" places in London once we found that Simpson's was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's favorite. In fact, Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson were Simpson's regulars. In the stories of both The Dying Detective and the Illustrious Client, Simpson's was mentioned.
The restaurant used to be a chess club and coffee house in the 1800's. The remains of the old times were still seen here and there in the restaurant.
We ordered two seafood dishes from Chef's Signature menu to share. One was thyme baked sea bass with artichoke puree, girolle mushrooms and roast new potatoes. The other was sea trout fillet with cauliflower puree, sprouts and chestnuts, lemon butter sauce. Both were excellent. Especially, chestnut and cauliflower puree toppings for sea trout was superb. It was one of the top five fish dishes, said J. I agreed with him.
While the seafood dishes were amazing, the restaurant's special was actually roast. Several Simpson's master carvers were busy to serve 28 day dry aged Roast rib of Scottish beef and Daphne’s Welsh saddle lamb in the dining room. Well, we live in Yorkshire now and have an easy access to meat. Fish was a right choice for us this time.
I really enjoyed their food and the atmosphere as a London's legendary eatery. Imagine that Holmes and Watson were reviewing a case over meals just right next to our table. Isn't it romantic?
