Simpson's in the Strand is a step back in time of a hundred years or more, and that's exactly how they want it. For people who eat there, that's exactly how they want it too. As an authentic piece of Victorian England it is as far away from the Spuntinos of this world as can be and while Heston's Dinner lays claim to plundering the historical cookbooks of England for the menu, Simpson's need only plunder their own archive. Sit on one of their original divans and you will be sitting where the likes of William Gladstone, Benjamin Disraeli and Charles Dickens sat before you. Simpson's in the Strand then is the real deal, and it's never really changed for the fashion of the day so itself becoming timeless.
Originally founded in 1828 as a coffee and cigar house, Simpson's became the home of English chess, frequented by the likes of Howard Staunton, and as a venue, the home to the first international chess tournament, organised in 1851 as part of the Great Exhibition of Art and Industry of that year. Chess sets used in the 1853 tournaments are still on display.
And the chess is important because it is how the food tradition started also. Gentlemen playing chess (for women were back then excluded from the main room) wanting food without disturbance to the game had large trolleys of meat wheeled to the table where it would be carved in front of them and served up, a tradition continued to this day, still with the original trolleys and still a fabulous sight to see (indeed it recently featured in Michel Roux's Service on the BBC).
And while there was no evidence of chess games taking place while we were eating, Simpson's claim to have a board available for anyone who does wish to enjoy a game while enjoying their food. Women are now of course welcome throughout Simpson's though MrsCC feels the place retains the feel of a gentlemen's club and is less partial to the venue than I. Being MrCC, I find it hard not to revel in both the surroundings and its past and appreciate that while this might not exactly be the place for gastronomes (of a certain kind), it nevertheless nourishes in different ways and I have been an occasional visitor here for a decade or so, enjoying its unchanging ambience for all that time.
Finally, and what really helped to make our visit, was that looking after our aisle and the beef trolley was Giuseppe. I hope I don't offend him so by saying that if he wanted to retire, surely he could, but no doubt having been on Simpson's staff for decades himself, not only is he in character with the place but he is the character of the place and his pride in the trolley, the food and the institution offered a lesson in 'traditional values' that so many people talk of and dream of returning to. Well, it's here, at Simpson's, with Giuseppe, his trolley and his 'old school' service.
Originally founded in 1828 as a coffee and cigar house, Simpson's became the home of English chess, frequented by the likes of Howard Staunton, and as a venue, the home to the first international chess tournament, organised in 1851 as part of the Great Exhibition of Art and Industry of that year. Chess sets used in the 1853 tournaments are still on display.
And the chess is important because it is how the food tradition started also. Gentlemen playing chess (for women were back then excluded from the main room) wanting food without disturbance to the game had large trolleys of meat wheeled to the table where it would be carved in front of them and served up, a tradition continued to this day, still with the original trolleys and still a fabulous sight to see (indeed it recently featured in Michel Roux's Service on the BBC).
And while there was no evidence of chess games taking place while we were eating, Simpson's claim to have a board available for anyone who does wish to enjoy a game while enjoying their food. Women are now of course welcome throughout Simpson's though MrsCC feels the place retains the feel of a gentlemen's club and is less partial to the venue than I. Being MrCC, I find it hard not to revel in both the surroundings and its past and appreciate that while this might not exactly be the place for gastronomes (of a certain kind), it nevertheless nourishes in different ways and I have been an occasional visitor here for a decade or so, enjoying its unchanging ambience for all that time.
Finally, and what really helped to make our visit, was that looking after our aisle and the beef trolley was Giuseppe. I hope I don't offend him so by saying that if he wanted to retire, surely he could, but no doubt having been on Simpson's staff for decades himself, not only is he in character with the place but he is the character of the place and his pride in the trolley, the food and the institution offered a lesson in 'traditional values' that so many people talk of and dream of returning to. Well, it's here, at Simpson's, with Giuseppe, his trolley and his 'old school' service.
Starters are adequate though the stars at Simpson's will always be the main courses. I chose the smoked haddock omelette and while the omelette Arnold Bennett was invented next door at The Savoy, at a time when Simpson's was in fact owned by the hotel, the omelette was nice enough but failed to pack a real punch with its cheesiness or with the smoked haddock. My dining companion (not MrsCC today, rather a gentleman) chose the fishcake, poached egg and chive butter sauce which he assured me was very good.
Smoked haddock omelette
Fishcake, poached egg, chive butter sauce
On the main course, how could we come here and not have Giuseppe carving at the table? The trolley options are Roast Rib of Scottish beef (aged 28 days) with roast potatoes, Savoy cabbage, Yorkshire pudding and homemade horseradish, or Roast saddle of lamb. I chose the beef. The meat is brought to the table on the trolley, burners below keeping it warm, juices running around the edge and Yorkshires piled high. It's a huge, impressive piece of meat and a very generous portion is carved to the plate.
Giuseppe asks if I want my Yorkshire Pudding soaked in gravy? Why not I say after which the pudding takes a bath. Portions are generous and this is the original table theatre. There's beef seconds available too for £5.75 but you'd have to have a hell of an appetite to want and manage this. It's all beautifully done in beautiful surroundings and I'm delighted. The food too is excellent, exactly what you hope it will be, a roast to be savoured and I do admit loving it even if the beef for personal preference could have been somewhat more on the medium rare side.
Giuseppe asks if I want my Yorkshire Pudding soaked in gravy? Why not I say after which the pudding takes a bath. Portions are generous and this is the original table theatre. There's beef seconds available too for £5.75 but you'd have to have a hell of an appetite to want and manage this. It's all beautifully done in beautiful surroundings and I'm delighted. The food too is excellent, exactly what you hope it will be, a roast to be savoured and I do admit loving it even if the beef for personal preference could have been somewhat more on the medium rare side.
Giuseppe carving the beef at the table
Roast Beef & Yorkshire Pud
Roasties
Another Simpson's classic is the Beef Wellington ordered by my friend. A little challenge for them too, could they get the beef on the rare side and still crisp the pastry? They did a pretty damn good job and I got to try a piece, excellent, better than I remember from having tried it before. Both main courses were an absolute winner.
We're too full for old school desserts that include treacle sponge and jam roly poly.
We're too full for old school desserts that include treacle sponge and jam roly poly.
Beef Wellington
Simpson's will not appeal to everyone, but there again, what does? It is 183 years old and is not only proud of the fact, but invites you to be a part of that history and celebrate the tradition. In The Conan Doyle story The Adventure of the Dying Detective (1917), Sherlock Holmes, having fasted for three days as a ruse to ensnare a murderer, says to Watson following the successful completion of his scheme, 'when we have finished at the police station I think that something nutritious at Simpson's would not be out of place'; Watson, surely a meat and two veg man, would have ordered beef from the trolley I think even if we are denied the exact details of this particular culinary nugget. You'll find Simpson's too in the writings of WE Johns (Biggles) and EM Forster.
If I have a qualm, it's that it's pricey. Three courses will set you back the best part of £50 before service for essentially a roast dinner, and wine is generously marked up though there are one or two bargains if you press the wine list hard enough. Accordingly, it's not a place to go every week, or even every month, but an occasional visit borders on an almost patriotic duty, and for anyone who reads history books, or watches history programmes on TV and enjoys them, Simpson's on the Strand more directly places you at the centre of the adventure, as a participant, not a mere observer.
So, loving London, and loving history, in turn, I love Simpson's and will certainly return annually over the next decade, like I have for the past decade, find it unchanging over that time and love it all the more for it. And they say nostalgia isn't what it used to be?
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If I have a qualm, it's that it's pricey. Three courses will set you back the best part of £50 before service for essentially a roast dinner, and wine is generously marked up though there are one or two bargains if you press the wine list hard enough. Accordingly, it's not a place to go every week, or even every month, but an occasional visit borders on an almost patriotic duty, and for anyone who reads history books, or watches history programmes on TV and enjoys them, Simpson's on the Strand more directly places you at the centre of the adventure, as a participant, not a mere observer.
So, loving London, and loving history, in turn, I love Simpson's and will certainly return annually over the next decade, like I have for the past decade, find it unchanging over that time and love it all the more for it. And they say nostalgia isn't what it used to be?
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