I’m not a ‘City’ kind of guy: I don’t work in finance and I wear shorts to work every day because the DesignMyNight offices are hotter than the surface of the sun, so I don’t normally fit in with all the powerful business people. But I realised that I was missing out on a whole world of bars and restaurants, and if there’s one thing I resent, it’s missing out on great food. So I headed to 28-50 Fetter Lane, a European restaurant and wine shop – taking my city-working brother with me, for guidance – to see what I have been missing out on.
Venue and Atmosphere
28-50 is equally relaxed as it is refined. You enter through a room displaying dozens of bottles of wine and descend into the venue proper, where you are greeted with a contemporary restaurant complete with exposed brickwork and rich wooden furnishings. The slick bar with a polished black marble top curves round the corner of one side of the room and into an alcove seating area, with a long sofa attached to the wall where we made our home for the night.
The crowd was nearly exclusively middle-aged city workers – being a bit older probably gives you a finer taste for wine, more on that later – and the venue was filled with the soft hum of post-work drinkers and a few groups of women laughing and enjoying dinner. I may have been slightly under-dressed in my blue skinny jeans and (nice) t-shirt, so maybe spruce yourself up a bit more than me during your next visit. You live and learn...
28-50 manages to create a continental, relaxed atmosphere while sticking to a certain quality that you expect from this kind of venue.
Food & Drink
Looking around at both the clientele and the venue itself, one thing about the food menu surprised me: it wasn’t really expensive. Sure, it’s London prices, but it was affordable London prices and with the area being as professional-heavy as it is, this made me raise an eyebrow.
Curiosity piqued, my brother and I turned our attention away from the prices and onto the food. The wonderfully friendly and knowledgeable sommelier suggested we paired wine with our dishes, which was the best decision of the night: the wine here is fantastic. Use their knowledge to find the right taste for you and you'll be in for a treat.
For starters I chose the smoked ham hock terrine (£9), with cornichons and sourdough toast, while my brother chose the crab salad (£10.50), with mango avocado puree and coriander cress. The terrine was delicious and the sourdough toast a great companion, though the cornichons overpowered the slightly more delicate taste of the terrine a tad, whereas the crab salad was fresh and surprisingly sweet. My terrine was paired with a Les Petits Clement Merlot 2016 (£2.30), a smooth and gentle wine, which also happened to be my favourite of the night, whereas the crab was met with a Viognier Mas Bahourat 2015 white wine, which matched the crab in both sweetness and taste.
These guys know their wine and are happy to share their knowledge with you.
For mains, I opted for the pork cutlet (£16) and my brother picked the Scottish rib eye 220g (£21.50), medium rare. The pork was cooked perfectly, as succulent as it was moreish, and the glass of Mencia, Benito Santos 2015 (£3.80) red wine washed it down with ease. My brother is one of those guys who will order a steak whenever he's in a restaurant therefore he knows exactly how likes it done. Good for him that the rib eye was cooked equally well, arriving tender and just the right shade of pink - which I was shown and not allowed to taste because he is still my older brother, even if we are in a nice restaurant, so you have to take his word for it. A glass of Cahors, Malbec, Pigmentum accompanied it.
Both of these courses truly knocked it out of the park, rarely missing a step in both taste and technique, so when the option for desserts rolled around I had to say yes, despite being more meat and wine than man at that point. Luckily, these didn’t disappoint either, choosing a chocolate delice (£7.50) with salted caramel and raspberry sorbet and a poached peach tart fine (£7.50), with apricot and amaretto sorbet. The former is fit for anyone with a sweet tooth, whereas the peach tart’s pastry was flaky and delicious, and the sorbet on both was the perfect level of smooth. With the desserts being worth every bite, it was clear that 28-50 knew exactly what they were doing.
Fresh, delicious and cooked technically well, 28-50 is good enough to recommend to my parents.
Summary
28-50 Fetter Lane is a great restaurant and bar. They have a phenomenal wine list for the connoisseur and friendly, approachable staff for the layman, and the food manages to be both affordable and delicious. For anything from client meetings, to after-work drinks, to bites to eat with friends, refined but relaxed 28-50 Fetter Lane manages to impress.
