Art on a plate: Tate Modern is located in one of London’s tastiest food districts
(Picture: Getty Images)From depictions of ancient Egyptian meals on the inner walls of the pyramids at Giza to Leonardo’s Last Supper and Andy Warhol’s cans of Campbell’s Soup, food has been the subject of art for as long as humankind has been able to pick up a paintbrush.
Tate Modern opened in the former Bankside Power Station on the south bank of the Thames in 2000 and is the UK’s most visited art museum. The gallery itself is home to the Kitchen and Bar, where menus reflect current exhibitions (Provençal cooking to tie in with Cézanne, say) but the Tate also happens to be located in one of London’s most food-focused districts.
Blackfriars is the nearest station to the gallery but arrive at London Bridge and the walk to the Tate goes via Borough Market; we’ve compiled not only the Market’s best places to eat but the best things to eat there for under a tenner.
En route from London Bridge there’s also the new-ish development of Borough Yards — home to Spanish grill specialist Parrillan, among others — while a slight detour leads to Flat Iron Square, where independent food outlets trade out of railway arches and there’s a beer garden when the sun shines. And don’t forget that the restaurants near St Paul’s Cathedral are but a super-scenic stroll away over the Millennium Bridge.
“To eat is a necessity, but to eat intelligently is an art,” the great French moralist La Rochefoucauld quipped between mouthfuls. Here’s where to do just that with our guide to the five best restaurants near Tate Modern: food for thought before or after seeing some world-class art.
Casa do Frango
There’s a Nando’s by Southwark tube but far better to take a punt on this original outpost of a slowly expanding group of Portuguese piri-piri places. Strictly speaking, this is Algarvian cuisine and there’s a breezy holiday feel to a menu which offers tapas of grilled chorizo, salt-cod fritters and garlic prawns ahead of the star attraction: charcoal-grilled, piri-piri seasoned chicken, the only main course on the menu. The location, however, is pure south London not southern Portugal, a vastly proportioned warehouse conversion with huge windows and a skylight to boot. Pastel de nata custard tarts and a cocktail bar are welcome extras; the only way in which Casa do Frango doesn’t improve on its more famous rival is that there are none of Nando’s excellent chicken livers on the menu.
How far? A 10-minute walk
How much? Piri-piri chicken, £12.50
32 Southwark Street, SE1 1TU, casadofrango.co.uk
Bao Borough
The trio of friends who have made bao buns so ubiquitous that one can buy them in Marks and Sparks are to be commended for attempting to make each of their six Taiwanese restaurants different. The theme in SE1 is 1970s Taipei, though really no one is here for the nudge-and-a-wink design nor the dishes specific to Borough such as 40-day aged beef with butter rice. Rather, it’s the half dozen savoury and one sweet bao that make this place such essential eating: the umami bomb of the pork-and-peanut classic bao, the doughnut-like prawn shia song bao, and the fried bao filled with Horlicks ice cream like an Oyster Delight. If there’s a drawback, those small plates delivered at breakneck speed can add up to a big bill: don’t be surprised if with a couple of the brilliant cocktails you end up paying £1 per minute for an hour’s meal.
How far? A 12-minute walk
How much? Classic bao, £6.25
13 Stoney Street, SE1 9AD, baolondon.com
Caravan
A caravan in the African and Asian sense of an inspiring group of fellow travellers rather than a depressing Carry on Camping-style staycation, this branch of the Aussie-themed chain, housed in a high-ceilinged warehouse space, is worth pitching up at whatever the time of day. Breakfast (which segues into brunch) is a highlight — vanilla pancakes, fried jalapeño cornbread, chorizo and potato hash — though almost any meal occasion is accommodated by a lengthy menu which breezily zips from snacky small plates to full meals, whether sourdough pizza, pork schnitzel or baked cod with harissa chickpea ragout; the vegan and vegetarian options are just as inclusive. Caravan’s founders were originally coffee roasters, so a flat white and slice of pumpkin loaf is a good way to go here, too.
How far? A seven-minute walk
How much? Breakfast dishes, around £10; small plates around £9; pizza around £14; large plates around £20
30 Great Guildford Street, SE1 0HS, caravanrestaurants.co.uk
Swan
A location right on the riverside tourist trail between Tate Modern and Borough Market and next door to Shakespeare’s Globe should make the Swan a complete turkey for any metropolitan restaurant-goer. And yet it’s a bit of a gem, with a corking view straight over the Thames to the dome of St Paul’s from the elevated dining room, G Plan-style furniture to contrast with the ersatz olde-worlde setting and an appealing menu of confidently executed modern British cooking based around quality native ingredients. Highland venison carpaccio or hand-dived Scottish scallops might be followed by roast Scottish partridge, with celeriac and wild mushroom millefeuille for vegetarians and fig and blackberry tart for pud. Not cheap, though there’s a two-course set for £26.50, plus separate menus for kids, Sunday roasts and afternoon tea.
How far? A six-minute walk
How much? Three courses approx £50
21 New Globe Walk, SE1 9DT, swanlondon.co.uk
Tonkotsu
“Tonkotsu” is the Japanese word for “pig bone”: not the most salubrious of ingredients until one learns it is what imbues the stock at this chain of ramen joints with such depth of porky flavour (that and the fact that all the sticky piggy bits of fat and collagen are slowly simmered for about 20 hours). The stock is the star attraction but there are good things dropped into it too — Dingley Dell pork belly, Clarence Court egg — along with silky strands of noodles. Other good things include prawn and pork gyoza, crunchy fried chicken and prawn katsu — all more than serviceable but really just conduits for the astonishing garlic and chilli oil which, once tasted, becomes an addictive all-purpose condiment; buy a jar to take home. Decent veggie and vegan options too and kids’ bento boxes.
How far? A three-minute walk
How much? Pork belly ramen, £12.95
4 Canvey Street, SE1 9AN, tonkotsu.co.uk
