The River Cafe

tessaderry

13th June 2007

5 found this helpful

unfortunately this restaurant is next door to my office - so it is sheer torture to watch everyone sitting out in the sun enjoying all the amazingly delicious food!! on the upside, working for the husband of the owner we get a substantial discount, but i would be prepared to pay the full prices any day of the week. Spectacular italin food and the desserts are to die for!

Lemonpie

11th June 2007

3 found this helpful

Beautiful food! and a relaxed and informal atmosphere, which might surprise you given the prices. Service was friendly but not unctuous.

Don't be caught out with a late reservation though - it's a residential street so licensing laws mean they will kick you out before 11.30 on a Saturday.

Great for a stroll down the river to walk off a beautiful lunch; don't forget to peer in the window at Richard Rogers next door to look at the architectural models.

psychovamp

10th June 2007

2 found this helpful

the river cafe never fails,i have been to many restaurants but this is definetley one of the best,
extremely beautiful food,but expensive.

Niamheen

River Café, Hammersmith 17th May 2007

3 found this helpful

Wonderful restaurant! We were there over a year ago so please forgive my lack of detail when it comes to the meal.

It does attract the wealthier portion of London society and I am not surprised with the prices. However, we have all the cookbooks and wanted to try it for a while so we treated ourselves and went for Sunday lunch.

I liked the layout, it's quite relaxed and bright and airy. Service was friendly and efficient. The food was very good. Solid Italian cooking with top quality ingredients. I started the meal with an aperetif of prosecco with blood orange juice. I can only remember one of our starters, it really was the dish of the meal - Dartmouth crab with salad was spectacular. The crab was so light and fluffy, I haven't had it like that since. We still talk about it! For mains we had the lamb and (I think) Dover Sole with winter greens and capers. Both very good. The fish was delicately cooked and the greens complimented it perfectly. For dessert we shared the panacotta with valrhona chocolate sauce. We had a bottle of prosecco with the meal which was very reasonably priced.

I would highly recommend River Café but it is expensive. We will definitely go back.

sue

Celebrity spotting in Hammersmith of all places! 7th March 2007

5 found this helpful

Located by the Thames in an unlikely location in Hammersmith, the River Cafe has been around since 1987 and has been a spawning ground for some great chefs, such as Jamie Oliver. I went there for lunch in summer, and we opted to sit in the pretty terrace area at the front of the restaurant as it was such a lovely day.

It was a great afternoon - fabulous company, good food and a beautiful setting. The only thing that let it down was the service - it was a bit aloof....perhaps if I had worn my giant 'celebrity look' sunglasses we would have been treated better!

To start, we had the Risotto nero di Sepia (squid ink risotto with cuttlefish) and the Agnoli di Coniglio (pasta parcels stuffed with roast rabbit). Both were pretty tasty, though very rich in flavour.

Main courses were the Aragosta al Forno (wood roasted whole Dorset Blue Lobster) and the Cape sante in Padella (Scottish Scallops). The lobster was really excellent - the best lobster I have ever eaten, and was also great value. The scallops were also good, but the serve was a bit stingy for the price.

For dessert we had the Lemon Tart and the Pannacotta with Grappa & Raspberries. A coffee rounded off the meal. Needless to say we were full by the end of the meal, so a leisurely stroll along the river was the perfect end to a lovely afternoon.

herrylaw

My favourite restaurant 26th September 2006

1 found this helpful

The River Cafe never fails - superb atmosphere - the 'mise en scene' is perfect, wonderful lighting - making women look beautiful and the men ok too.. the freshest of fresh ingredients used in deceptively simple dishes, charming and attractive staff (I tried to get my son to ask one of the waitresses out) and the constant presence of one of the founders (see pic) to ensure its standards never drop. The tables are bit close together and the hubub almost engulfs the room in the late evening (it's never less than totally full), and if you are seated too close to the open fire in the wall under the clock, it can be a bit warm....but these are quibbles. Take your fullest wallet, your prettiest friends and a taxi (because you won't find it if you drive there and you want those additional glasses of Pinot Bianco and a grappa to finish off with)