Restaurant Reviews and Food Musings

Restaurant

Shepherd’s
Marsham Court
Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4LA

Phone:- 0207 834 9552

Website www.langansrestaurants.co.uk

Overview

Shepherd’s serves traditional English food and is owned by Richard Shepherd who, recognising that some of his clientele are MP’s, has installed a division bell so that they can enjoy a good meal and can then rush back to the House of Commons to vote.

Eva and I, together with our good friends David and Gabi, went there on Tuesday evening.

Ambience

The restaurant is pleasantly set out with good sized tables, laid with white linen cloths, and discrete comfortable booths. The walls are decorated with wood panelling and oil paintings. The genteel ambience is enhanced by faux gas lighting. The background music was provided by a CD of “old blue eyes”.

I would venture one criticism, relating to the air conditioning which was turned on full blast towards the end of the evening; presumably to hasten the departure of the guests. I find this trick, employed by some restaurants, to be quite annoying.

Menu

The menu offers a good selection of traditional British dishes including; carrot and coriander soup, crab salad, veal chop, steak and kidney pie, liver and Eton Mess.

Service

The service was exceptionally efficient, and the staff were polite but not intrusive.

Food

I started with half a dozen plump Irish oysters. These were served with the traditional accompaniments of brown bread and Tabasco sauce, and were delicious. I opted for the roast beef as my main course. The menu claimed that it was carved from the trolley. However, this was not done at the table so I cannot confirm the existence of said trolley. That being said, the meat was tender, of good quality and had a good layer of fat; it had been cooked medium rare. It was accompanied by roast and boiled potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, mashed Swede and string beans.

I eschewed the dessert in favour of a Welsh rarebit savoury. This was a well balanced combination of cheese, Worcestershire sauce and mustard served on toasted bread.

Eva and Gabi started with scallops and bacon, which they both professed to be tasty and tender. David kicked off with a stilton and onion tart, which was a rich caramel brown colour; this showed that the onions had been well cooked to maximise their flavour and sweetness.

Eva had venison in a red wine sauce for her main course, whilst she enjoyed the flavour she felt that it could have been a little more tender. Gabi had pork in a rich, dark chestnut sauce which she was delighted with. David opted for the rib eye steak and chunky chips. He was satisfied with the portion, but felt the steak was a little dry.

Eva had the Eton Mess, a combination of raspberries, cream and meringue, for dessert; whilst David and Gabi had sticky toffee pudding. All received top marks.

The overall meal, which included two bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon Club cocktails and liqueurs, came to £219 including tip.

Overall Opinion

An enjoyable evening was had by all, I would go there again.