Before starting to write this review, I checked the Silver Travel Advisor website to see what I’d said in the past about “Walkers of Whitehall”:http://walkersofwhitehall.co.uk/. Having attended so many leaving events there when working in the area, I couldn’t believe I’d not reviewed it before.
However, even if I had, unless it was in the last couple of months, my comments could have been completely different as both the decor and menu have been refurbished.
At noon on a Monday, we were the first in. Whilst there is a ‘pub’ at street level, we headed for the restaurant on the lower ground (there is also another larger bar on the floor below and the scene of many raucous, noisy and dare I say, drunken events prior to my retirement).
After a very friendly greeting, we were seated at one of the tables for two which have replaced the booths and presumably provide more seating. Having carefully perused the new “lunch menu”:http://walkersofwhitehall.co.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Lunch-menu-w-logo.pdf and made positive comments to each other about the merits of N’duja croquettes or aioli and calamari with chemoula mayonnaise, it boiled down to our regulars: cheeseburger and fish and chips.
Whilst waiting for the food, we admired the new décor: dark wooden tables and chairs, all laid for lunch with flowers and good quality, albeit paper serviettes. A French viognier (£19) arrived in a classy beaten copper ice bucket and was placed on the adjacent table. Now whilst I normally hate not being in charge of pouring, the ‘topping up’ service was so good, I couldn’t complain.
My fish and chips were excellent (and much better than last week’s “Cafe Rouge”:http://www.silvertraveladvisor.com/review/restaurant/166047-review-cafe-rouge-greenwich). The thick piece of white fish, encased in crispy batter, sat on a pile of fab chips with small dishes of minted pea puree and tartare sauce along with what is obviously becoming fashionable, a grilled lemon half. We didn’t discuss the burger, but bearing in mind there was an empty plate, actions spoke louder than words.
Pudding was an obvious choice: a shared ‘little chocolate pot with ginger biscuit’ although we were slightly concerned over the word ‘little’. However, when two dessert spoons arrived, it was a good sign: at least the pot must be big enough to cater for the spoon. The pot was delicious, especially the thin layer of caramel on top, and I would defy anyone to eat a whole one: once again the helpful waitress came up trumps and provided two biscuits.
Whether you want lunch or dinner, it’s worth escaping the usual tourist traps and finding Walkers down a little alley off Whitehall and a few steps away from Trafalgar Square.
