I feel I should, in the sake of fairness, declare my interest up front: I like Gary Rhodes; perhaps I'm 'unwell'. I should also point out that this is a personal view and MrsCC doesn't share the sentiment. The fact that Rhodes 24 has been alive and kicking for the best part of seven years now but there's not a single blog review posted to Urbanspoon suggests that it is me, rather than MrsCC who is off kilter here and in the minority but so be it; let me explain why.

First of all, City Rhodes (since closed but for those with a good memory) was one of the very first, if not the first 'good' restaurant that I ever ate at and that remains imprinted in my memory, and second, his 'Step by Step Cooking' was also my first real cookbook that allowed me to cook dishes for dinner parties that had people exclaim 'wow' when presented at the table (I follow instructions well). For those two reasons alone, he doesn't deserve my betrayal merely because he was too early to the scene (with crazy spikey hair that has since been shaved off) to be a new social media darling. That said, I come to Rhodes 24 with an open mind yet some history.

For those not familiar with the terrain, Tower 42, in which the restaurant is located, is at the very heart of The City, middle ground between Bank and Liverpool Street. Formerly The NatWest Tower, its basic design is based on the old NatWest logo (three chevrons in a hexagonal arrangement) and between 1980 and 1990 (until Canary Wharf was built), it was the tallest building in the UK. Following an IRA bomb in 1993, NaWest moved their headquarters and the building was, after an extensive and expensive rebuild put to new use. On the top floor, Vertigo offers a champagne bar to accompany some of the best views in London while for fine dining, Gary Rhodes, on level 24, does the cooking.

For note, Rhodes 24 holds a Michelin star and is one of the few restaurants in The City to do so. As intimated, I've been here before several times (pre blog) but my memories of the place from those visits are broadly neutral. On those occasions, my motive for choosing Rhodes 24 was the same as many a diner here today I suspect, it was convenient and reliable. To be honest, I'm not expecting a great deal today as I wonder how relevant Gary Rhodes still is to modern cooking and I know that Rhodes 24 is a 'suit special' where corporate Amex cards rule.  

With MrsCC both indifferent to Mr Rhodes and suffering the flu, I'm dining today with a good friend and a wine expert who has written for our blog previously under the pseudonym Very Top Shoulder (read his article on tasting wine here). The result is a closer examination than normal of the wine list where we (read he) spots some amazing value (for those with deep pockets). The highlight of this value is a white Burgundy, Meursault 1er Cru Perrieres JF Coche-Dury 2002, on the wine list at £270. You're thinking hardly a bargain I know. Wine-Searcher.com shows Fine + Rare wines selling the same bottle for £1,056. The wine list then is happy hunting grounds that pays dividends for careful study and there are bargains to be had, no doubt courtesy of the fact that City eating rarely now involves lunch time vino. We say a silent prayer of thanks. What though of the food?

We both start with the Glazed lobster omelette thermidor. The Duck faggot with onion duck gravy is also tempting but the omelette just sounds perfect and we both moved in that direction. In short, it was perfect. It wasn't just lobster in the omelette giving the essence, but the whole omelette itself was infused with rich lobster flavour, and both the lobster and omelette were beautifully cooked. No doubts for either of us, this was a brilliant starter.

For mains, we chose Pork (crispy belly, roasted loin, braised cheek) and Turbot (roasted with seared foie gras and wild mushroom noodles). Both mains were considered to pack flavour and both were enjoyed. On the Pork, the belly was absolutely superb, a real delight though the loin was overly salty. Overall though, it was a really well delivered pork plate. Earlier in the week we had seen Pierre Gagnaire's Sketch deliver foie gras and skate so perhaps Gary is not so far behind the times delivering turbot with foie gras. Presentation was at best basic in our view but more importantly, the dish delivered on taste. We were, we have to say, both pretty satisfied with the mains.

The classic Rhodes dessert is the bread and butter pudding which we duly ordered and we also took the 'signature pudding plate' which contained a small pot of the bread and butter pudding, a date-toffee pudding and a Jaffa cake. Again, full credit, the bread and butter pudding was delectable. Caramelised on top but otherwise mouthwateringly moist. Admittedly Gary has been serving this for more than a decade (so time enough to get it right) but he does and it is just brilliant. The date-toffee pudding is good while the Jaffa cake seemed surprisingly a little heavy, but it is the bread and butter pudding that really takes all honours here. 

We must, before we conclude on the food overall, comment on the view. We said that Barbecoa overlooking St Paul's was good, we delighted in the view from Galvin at Windows, but this must surely be the winner for restaurant with the best views in London. Every landmark building is right there. The Gherkin we've already seen above, The Shard (below) is seen emerging from the ground, you're eye to eye with workers at The Heron Tower while Lloyds and the Willis building in the insurance sector are both visible in their full glory. The wow factor is omnipresent and many tables at Rhodes 24 will give you a window seat to the panorama as does the bar; it is special.    

Rhodes 24 is not cheap for food (though we've shown you can get it back on the wine) but overall, I was totally and delightfully surprised at the quality. If Ramsay is synonymous with traditional French cooking, so Rhodes is now associated (rightly or wrongly) with old school British cooking. It's true that there's nothing cutting edge going on here (but nor is there at Ramsay to be fair), but what they serve is actually pretty good. Challenging, no. Satisfying, yes. For sure, I entered the restaurant with a full pot of goodwill toward Gary's offering but it was a lot better than I honestly imagined it would be because the flavours were there.

Gary Rhodes, both here and at W1 has an audience it seems and today, at Rhodes 24, all tables were busy: that was still the case come 3 o'clock when you might think the suits should have long been back at their desks. Everybody is happy it seems but Rhodes still appears (we surmise) a place that is considered to feed people rather than a place to eat. On the strength of today's showing, that really is a shame. Yes, it is a solid British menu but it's a solid British menu that's done well and one that left us fully satisfied. I too had till now put Rhodes in the corner and now feel a little guilty because of that. So here I am coming out: I like Gary Rhodes and I like his food. Rhodes 24 has a Michelin star and deserves it and I really enjoyed my meal there. So there.

PS, the views expressed here are mine and mine only and are not shared by MrsCC. I can only suggest you try it yourself.


Return to homepage