“D&D? What, like that role-playing game?” - Diner next to me at Blueprint Café.
Jeremy Lee is a clever chap. Behind the stove at Blueprint Café since 1989, Head Chef since 1995, he quietly and confidently sends food out from the kitchen that is comfortably the pick of any of the D&D offerings around London, formerly Conran Restaurants, and sits prettily above the Design Museum in Shad Thames.
Glance out the window and there is The Thames. Slate grey, brooding. Pick up the mini-binoculars on the table and check out the bricks on Tower Bridge – it’s a cute touch.
Look at the menu and blink slowly – it looks like you’ve been whisked across the river to Farringdon and plonked in a seat at St John: Sardines on Toast, Smoked Eel, Crab Mayonnaise….comforting briskness to the menu, zero faff.
A fly-by early evening visit delivers the following:
Chilled Spinach and Courgette Soup - A bit blah. Chilling turns the volume down, this needed bolder seasoning. No matter, as Maldon and pepper grinder on the table nestled next to the binoculars, allows ad-hoc adjustment. Pleasant enough, chilled soup still feels cool on both levels.
Crab Mayonnaise - Spankingly bright, freshly picked crab, and a devastating mayo that blasts most other imposters away. Unctuous, confident, no olive oil in sight, allowing the crab flavours to sing. I can feel the iodine slap of the sea with each mouthful – texture added by thin croutons to mound your crab/mayo combo onto. Bloody good.
Grilled Middlewhite, Borlotti beans, green sauce - Three strips of decadent pork, crisp layer of crackling, fiendishly layered with tasty fat, a punchy green sauce charged with parsley, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, artichoke.
Lemon Posset - A slap in the face of zingy lemon, a creamy, chilled shot glass of a dessert that encapsulates summer.
Service is perky and enthusiastic, the charming Nathan gliding around the room and enthusing diners with his recommendations. He takes it in his stride when one of the diners gently enquires, “Is Middlewhite a fish?” No patronising, no St John-esque scariness for the unitiated, just soothing words and an arm round the shoulder.
It may be D&D London, it may be part of the sometimes hum-drum machine of London’s biggest restaurant group, but Blueprint just feels like its Jeremy’s gig, no concessions, no compromise. Other dishes sound grand, Lamb’s sweetbreads, Razor clams, Onglet steak, Cured sea trout, Skate. Seasonal British with a flourish.
The Dungeon remains in the Tower of London, and there’s not even a Dragon in the kitchen – all I can hear is the gentle cooing coming from the kitchen, “daahling” this and “daahling” that, from Jeremy through the door. They’re having a good time in there. It shows in the food – I’m having a good time sitting here.
Design Museum
28 Shad Thames
London SE1 2YD
£££? Starters £5-£8. Mains £12-18.00. Decent value for cooking at this level.
