Foodess' review of The River Café

We keep returning just to check whether lady luck has evaded us on our previous visits. I was led here this time by comments from a regular diner who thinks River Cafe is a place that “always delivers”.
Not having visited since the fire, I never did quite get this place in terms of food standards –v- price/enjoyment, preferring places such as Zafferano and Locanda Locatelli where consistency is pretty much guaranteed.
Together with the riverside setting and buzzy atmosphere, the industrial look to this property has always appealed to me. It reminded me of an aircraft hangar with character and warmth, and still does; little seems to have changed with décor except for the enormous, white, wood burning stove.

Food………
Being wary of previous pasta experiences I concentrated on fish and seafood which was not a difficult choice given the array of offerings for the day. Fabulous huge plate of crabmeat atop seakale, all lifted by finely grated bortaga (price tag justified) – I’d defy anywhere to better this. A shared, delicately gamey ‘primi ‘of papardelle with rabbit, pigeon and pheasant scored high for both of us – it would be so easy to overindulge on such a moreish dish. A superb specimen of dover sole laced with anchovy, served with lentils and greens was very satisfying and ‘king of the sea’ in my opinion. (Meat dishes I was told were good, though uninspiring).

Wine…….
Always good, and should be for the mark-ups.

Service…….
Eager and boastful of the cuisine they are serving.

Nothing fancy here and one can’t object to the rustic style of presentation because all the pleasure is intended to be in the eating, and tonight for me it certainly was. But, one can object to the turnaround times and the unforgivably naff paper table cloths.

Was it worth one more whirl? Most definitely – purity and quality of ingredients almost justify the lofty figures.