I love it when I discover somewhere new to eat in The City. I recently went to High Timber for lunch and although not a new restaurant, I had never made the short walk from my office to this riverside spot.
I’ve worked in this part of London for over 6 years now and it’s a strange place when it comes to dining. There are very few individual restaurants and not many great meals on offer, oh and a lot of steak! Spoiler: there is steak on this menu but firstly its good and secondly there is a lot of other choice too!
I find this part of London a bit strange when it comes to eating out. Restaurants are heaving during lunchtime and then quiet most nights, except of course for the big names like City Social and Duck & Waffle. But then again with sky high dining like that and brilliant food you can understand why!
High Timber is located on the banks of the River Thames, just down from the Millennium Bridge and opposite The Globe Theatre, this bright restaurant offers beautiful views of the Shard and the Tate Modern.
High Timber is definitely a wine-led restaurant with its founders being Gary & Kathy Jordan of the Jordan Wine Estate in South Africa, winners of some of the world’s most prestigious wine awards, and their partner Neleen Strauss, one of London’s most successful restaurant managers. But there is still a laid-back air about this City restaurant.
There is definitely a South African influence running through the menu with items such as biltong croquettes on the menu, but there is also a focus on English red meat and locally sourced fish there too. And honestly, I didn’t know what to order because it all sounded good. I actually went up and changed my order last minute because I was so torn between two dishes! As I may have mentioned before, I can get quite bad food envy…
Oh and there is a CHEESE room.
The Food
We had to start with a taste of the homemade biltong. We were with colleagues over from Boston who had never tried it before. I’d had it many years ago and it wasn’t tough and chewy like I remembered at all. It was thinly sliced and lightly spiced and quite peppery. It really reminded me of bresaola and I really enjoyed it.
For my starter I ordered the Heritage Tomato and Crab Salad with coriander and a white balsamic feta dressing. Firstly, just look how beautiful this dish is! And secondly, let me tell how delicate and delicious it was too. The tomatoes were perfectly ripe and sweet for the light crab meat and the salty, tangy feta gave the right balance.
The whole table bar one ordered the crab, but he did order the very generous looking High Timber Smoked Salmon with rye bread and horseradish. The thick slices of smoked fish looked very good indeed and he sang its praises.
As I mentioned above I actually switched my order for my main course because I couldn’t decide! A couple of people around the table ordered very good looking steaks but it was all the fish on the menu that caught my eye. A colleague ordered the Grilled Turbot with baby turnips, borlotti beans and smoked garlic. This is what I had first ordered. It was a work lunch so I don’t have photos unfortunately, but it looked incredibly good and the smell of that smoky garlic was lovely!
Instead I ordered the fish of the day, hake, with buttered spinach, crushed new potatoes and lemon butter sauce. The reason for the change? Buttered spinach! You know when you get something in your head and you just know you have to feed the craving? Well that.
You can see how well presented this dish was (as was all the food to be honest) and the generous portions. I was a very happy lady. The succulent fish topped the buttery spinach and potatoes which were surrounded by a heavenly lemon butter. Again the balance of the dish perfect. I would go back alone for this fish dish.
Not one to skip dessert, I ordered the grilled peach with a peach sorbet, espresso cream and meringue. So it was the best peach sorbet ever, fact. Just perfectly sweet and delicate and so fruity! I know it’s a peach sorbet, but you know lemon sorbet can sometimes taste fake because its just flavoured, you knew this was full of the real peachy stuff. The slightly bitter espresso cream was rich but great alongside the sweet fruit.
My colleague ordered the White Chocolate and Honeycomb Cheesecake with raspberry. It looked like a piece of art! And I can report it tasted incredible too.
The verdict
A wonderful meal from start to finish. I can’t fault anything with the food and the only little hiccup was the wait for our coffees at the end of the meal. But I can live with that after such a great lunch. I personally think High Timber offers a great menu for fish lovers with it being so fresh and so well executed. And obviously if you are into your wine there is a great wine menu to match. I hope to return soon to try more!
Do you have a favourite restaurant in London for fish dishes? Or any other good spots along the Thames for lunch?
High Timber
8 High Timber Street
London
EC4V 3PA
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I came here for an event once and I was really impressed by the food.
It really was a great meal. And such a lovely location too.