Swan at the Globe

I love this restaurant. The dining room is gorgeous and the view just incredible. The hearty food is always dependable, too, but we had terrible service at lunch this week. I kid you not: our waitress did not speak a word to us for the entire meal. I understand the Christmas rush can be tough on staff but are smiles and a few words here and there too much to ask for?

I have given this a good rating because of the wonderful view, which really is sensational. It is a lovely space and the tables all comfortably far apart. Otherwise, the service was polite but slightly erratic – perhaps not good enough for the mandatory 12 1/2% added to your bill.
We had the pre-theatre menu at £24.50 which was quite good value except for the cheese. Do not under any circumstances opt for this instead of a pudding! There were 5 small biscuits and one tiny triangular sliver of cheese only, about 1/4 inch thick – yes, only one. The food was OK apart from that but I wouldn't rush back unless I was showing someone the view.

I'm giving this restaurant 8/10 because it was fab. They had treated my mother to a most beautiful 80th birthday until we tried to settle the bill. I had arranged a set menu of £27 person. When the final bill came it was not clear what the charges where. Anyway, the ‘charming’ hostess inistead that the cost was more than £30pp. She then insisted that I go through more than 16 pages of emails to prove that I had been quoted £27 – when i couldnt find that email, she called over my sister, and asked her to do the same., Anyway, that charming ‘hostess’ eventually waved her arms in the air and said ‘ ok , we will do it for £27’. Like she was doing me a favour. Charmless, and of course, during this time, my family had left and I have no idea how they feel about that kind of treatment.

Great service, bad communication and I dont need to be treated some some kind of criminal who is ‘ getting away with something’

Shame on you, you have a beautiful location, beautiful food, and up until the final part of the day was fabulous.
…

We wandered in just after noon on a Sunday, due to the great look of the place from the outside.
The 1st floor restaurant is for serious food, we were just after a
drink & maybe some bar food.
What a Find!!!
We entered the ground floor bar & were seated with a great view of the Thames. The interior is great, plenty of sharing tables & a very relaxed, chilled out vibe. The bar staff / waitresses all wear quirky black dresses.
We chose the hot salt beef sandwich & a croque monsieur (brunch is served until 3pm on Sundays) I cannot rave about the food enough…fresh, tasty & plenty of it…served with the largest chips ever seen! The price of the food is so reasonable, it beggars belief…especially when you know, a further walk along the Thames & the pubs that serve this sort of fare, cannot compare!
Drinks are more pricey, a jug of Pimms was £22.00…but was delicious & not just overfilled with lemonade. Plenty of strawberries, mint & cucumber.
I can't wait to return & can't recommend enough, that if you're after a brief stop off along the Thames Path…this is the place to be. Don't even think of going into the other soulless pubs along this route.

On a stretch of river in our capital city filled with world famous buildings and iconic views, there can only be two sureties; loud, jostling hungry tourists, and overpriced, substandard restaurants to feed them.

One of the jewels along the waterside is the Globe Theatre. Only a teenager (started by Sam Wannamaker in 1970, opening after his death in 1997), it fits in perfectly with its older neighbours and has rightly become a real destination along the bank.

For the last year or so they've also been blessed with the Swan. A lovely little bar and brasserie adjoining the theatre ‘directed’ by ex Ramsay cohort Mark Sargeant, there's a sense of real purpose about the menu. They shout loud and proud about their reliance on foragers, farmers and local markets (they are just up the road from Borough Market after all) and the menu reflects this seasonality. Sadly that season has just passed. On a gorgeous spring night it's a shame that most of the food on offer has a distinctly wintery note. Don't get me wrong, I love the sound of the Cashel Blue macaroni cheese and spiced Elizabethan mutton casserole is just what you'd expect to eat before outdoor Shakespeare, but not when the weather outside is so warm.

I went for the one seasonal starter. Trimmed asparagus with hollandaise. Sometimes kitchens have to realise that you don't mess with perfection and that was certainly the case. Cooked for a couple of minutes, lightly drizzled with a zingy sauce, it was heaven. Nicco Polo was slightly less lucky. His scallop and spring onion gratin was average at best, with an excess of herbed breadcrumbs and a strong gratin sauce overwhelming the more delicate scallops.

The confit pork belly was a big homely portion. Again, not necessarily suited to a spring night, but I'm a big fan of the pig and won't let a little thing like seasonality get in my way. The large slab came with a sweet honey and dill glazed crackling, sweetly tender fat and a creamy, mustardy celeriac remoulade that set it off perfectly.

Finishing off with the summer pudding, I was struck by just how conducive the restaurant was to having a good time. It was so friendly and comfortable with some excellent food, that and the very central location mean I'll certainly be coming back. For a very reasonable price, we had three strong courses, an aperitif and a Chilean Pinot Noir from a tasty little list that struggled to top £40 a bottle. Looking out at the tourists crossing the Millennium Bridge as the light gradually faded behind St Paul's dome we wondered how many of them would look up and check out the Swan, or given the sad state of occupancy would they all end up flooding into the overpriced ‘ye olde pubbe’ or one of the chain restaurants that infest the area. More fool them if they do.