Near Liverpool Street, a large new bar/brasserie in the Devonshire Square (re-)development, whose only real distinguishing feature appears to be that it has a large number of tables, many of them semi-al fresco.
Once upon a time – 20 years ago, say – it was almost impossible to find a decent meal in the City. It may not be a hotbed of excellence nowadays, but it’s certainly not the dismal territory it once was. There are many perfectly acceptable (if usually quite pricey) options within the Square Mile itself, and – for those prepared for a five-minute cab ride – there are the restaurant frontiers of Farringdon and, more recently, Shoreditch.
Quite where this general improvement in standards leaves this Devonshire Square newcomer, we’re not so sure. It’s a perfectly bog-standard bar/brasserie, remarkable only for the attraction of its semi-al fresco tables. Unfortunately, most of these are shoe-horned in to an atrium space that’s in unfortunate proximity to a large air vent. Not an especially relaxing setting, and not a particularly attractive one either.
The food is fine, in the sense that it’s quite difficult to remember any of it ten minutes after you’ve eaten it. On our three-course lunch for one, only a lemon posset rose to any extent above the totally mundane. Service was perfectly pleasant, but – if all those outside tables fill up – it’s going to be the devil’s own job to keep standards up.
Perhaps there’s a market for all this, in the the same way that there’s clearly a market for All Bar Ones. Perhaps, come to think of it, there is a dearth of obviously comparable places in the absolutely immediate locality, and perhaps the corporate boys and girls locally will therefore adopt this place as Devonshire Square’s answer to Central Perk.
But, if you’re not such a person, we’re blessed if we can think of a single reason you should seek the place out.
