Last weekend was our first taster of the (hopefully) bright and warm summer months to come. We spent the morning perusing the David Shrigley and Jeremy Deller exhibitions at the Hayward Gallery before strolling along the Southbank and across the Millennium Bridge to Bread Street Kitchen where we were booked in to sample the Lazy Loaf menu at 1pm.

Despite the tempting brunch options such as ricotta hotcakes, banana and honeycomb butter shining out at us from the top of the menu, we opted for dishes from the lunch menu – it was 1pm after all. We settled into our seats by the window and were surprised to hear live music being played through the speakers. I popped my head up and saw a small band situated in the far right hand corner of the restaurant, playing a wide range of soul classics.

The whole menu was appealing so took us a while to decide but in the end we settled on the warm beetroot tart with toasted pine nut and fresh goat’s curd (£8.50) to share for starter, followed by the BSK short rib burger with Monterey Jack and tomato ketchup (£12) and the roasted rib of beef with Yorkshire pudding, roasted potatoes, carrots, bone marrow and onion gravy (£18) for main, followed by the treacle tart with Jersey clotted cream (£7) to share for dessert. But first we indulged in freshly baked warm bread batons, which we spread with mounds of unsalted butter.

The beetroot tart arrived and I noticed that it was similar to the tomato tart I had enjoyed a few months before at the bloggers dinner that I attended. Thin slices of sweet beetroot sat on top of a layer of flakey pastry, which was engulfed by a generous layer of goat’s curd. The dish didn’t last two minutes and shortly after we had started, we were scraping at the remnants with our knives and forks.

Anticipation for the mains was high. The roast was placed down in front of me and a smile emerged over my face when I clocked the pillowy Yorkshire puddings, tender beef and lashings of gravy. The vegetables and potatoes were served in a separate side bowl, I guessed to keep them from going soggy. Nice touch. The carrots and parsnips retained a slight crisp and the roast potatoes were fluffy on the inside, yet crunchy on the exterior. The only criticism was that the beef was more well done than medium-rare but it was still tender enough not to matter too much.

The short rib burger was tall, neat and beautiful, everything I love in a burger. The meat was medium-rare and utterly tender with just the right amount of Monterey Jack cheese, pickles and a good spread of ketchup. Along with the burger, we also ordered a side of thick hand cut chips, which looked and tasted as though they had been triple cooked. Absolutely divine.

There was a lot of food on the table but we managed it. Almost. The only food that was sent back to the kitchen was a tiny bit of beef and a few chips. We were full but couldn’t say no to a glimpse of the dessert menu. And it didn’t take long to decide what to share.

The treacle tart arrived and I couldn’t hide my disappointment that it was cold. Never have I been served a cold slice of treacle tart before. In my eyes it should be warm and preferably fresh out of the oven. I’m not saying that this tart wasn’t fresh, because it was. I’m also not saying that it wasn’t delicious, because it was. But it would have been a whole lot better if it was warm.

We were tempted by the Lazy Loaf cocktail menu with a choice of four bloody Mary cocktails and others such as the marmalade fizz (Bombay Sapphire Gin, marmalade,Demerara syrup, cream, egg white- £8.50) and Corpse River #2 (Bombay Sapphire Gin, Cointreau, Lillet Blanc, Pernod, Absinthe – £8.50) but it was Sunday and we weren’t about to face a tipsy walk back to meet our friends on the Southbank.

Instead, we walked out of the restaurant, tummies full, past the band in the corner who flashed us a quick smile to show us on our way.

Bread Street Kitchen
10 Bread Street
London
EC4M 9AJ
0203 030 4050