Tamesa@oxo, Bar & Brasserie
our comments
Tamesa is a cool, contemporary restaurant, which has a minimalist, functional feel about it, with simple, but comfortable seating. On the second floor of the Oxo Tower this new restaurant has great views across the Thames of some of London’s iconic buildings. It has a sizeable bar that forms an island to one end of this huge space at which you can sample numerous interesting looking cocktails.
For our first course we were drawn to the antipasto platter, advised that this was a dish large enough for two or more to share, we decided not to choose another starter. We were not disappointed at all when our waitress brought to our table a large board absolutely covered with various cured meats and sausage together with small pile of char grilled vegetables and salad and finished off with a drizzling of olive oil. It was indeed a vast dish, but we worked our way through every tasty mouthful.
Onto mains, the rib eye steak rib eye steak was nicely tender, served medium rare, as ordered, with a good flavoured red wine jus. The rump of lamb also served medium rare, served with a piece of breast nicely crispy, and was accompanied by morcilla, an individual black pudding, which initially I had some doubts about, but complemented the lamb particularly well. With sides of lightly seasoned thick cut and crispy chips and al dente green beans, these were two excellent main courses.
Moving on to desserts the rich, fudgy, chocolate brownie, was a generous portion incredibly decadent, accompanied well by a good sized ball of vanilla ice cream, a must for chocolate lovers. The quince crumble had a light, buttery, crumble blanket over the tangy fresh tasting hunks of quince paired with a good creme fraish ice cream, this was another huge dish. Both were amazingly good.
Service at Tamesa was attentive, with helpful and courteous staff. The wine list started at a little over £14 for each the house red and white. We tried both, the white nicely fruity, with some acidity, the red beautifully soft and smooth. Tamesa is a great place to eat, combining, as it does great food and service with amazing uninterrupted river views of some of London’s best known buildings, it is well worth a visit.
akandpa - October 2007
your comments review this restaurant and win a bottle of champagne
I ate at this restaurant roughly a year ago and enjoyed a good meal and a great view at a reasonable price. I returned here on Friday to discover that not only had the prices had increased but the quality of the food had declined considerably.
All the courses were small and poorly cooked. We were charged extra for bread and when it arrived it was mostly stale. The pollock main was overcooked, tired and sat on a very bland bed of pureed peas. Two out of four creme brulees arrived thick and stodgy (as though they had been sitting on the counter for hours). The only redeeming features were friendly service and the view of the Thames.
In its current state, this restaurant is a waste of a great location. There are much better places to eat in London in this price range.
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Joe
Overall rating 
Food 1 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 0
Monday, July 14, 2008
We wandered in after looking for a somewhere to refresh our tired feet after the long walk round Southbank. Its pleasant enough decor wise, fresh with modern art splashes here and there. We were seated by the window which has a great view over the Thames. All good so far...
The menu was great looking, its what enticed us in after all. My barnsley lamb chop smothered in sweet mint sauce and well toasted pine nuts was a delight. I couldn' fault it. My boyfriends pork belly and sage mash was a nice comfortable piece of good cooking.
We did however have a good looking smiley waiter who clearly couldn't read or understand English which became a frustration. Our buttered greens didnt arrive nor did our Pernoi's. My menu was handed to me upside down twice and we had to repeat and point to everything to get anything ordered. I nearly grabbed his note pad in order to write it down myself.
The poor flustered waiter had a table leave on him without paying and then he smashed a few wine glasses. I felt so utterly sorry for him I couldnt wait to leave as it was becoming uncomfortable viewing.
So, the food was good. Service not so great. I wonder if our waiter ever did make it for another day of employment at Tamesa. I fear he probably is still there.
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Emma
Overall rating 
Food 8 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 6
Monday, June 16, 2008
Really one to avoid. We wwent in for cocktails and wish we had left it at that.
Food is overpriced, poorly cooked and meagre portions. The prawn starter was frazzled to within an inch of its life and the pollock main was drowned in a sickly pea 'crush' - awful.
Staff were only intersted when it came to paying the bill and got quite aggressive in their manner when I asked for our 12% service charge to be removed.
Don't waste your time or money
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Overall rating 
Food 1 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 0
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Highly recommended - especially the good value set menu (lunch & 5-7 p.m.) at £14.50 for 2 courses / £17.50 for 3 courses - excellent cooking, friendly wait staff.
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Thomas Stewart
Overall rating 
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Thursday, January 24, 2008
I went again to Tamesa after a few months and I have to say the food is still to very good standards, possibly even a little better than last time.
Service was well attentive and our waitress lovely.
The lunch menu is still great value, we had a nice tuna seared tuna salad to start followed by a melting pork belly.
The brownie for dessert was delicious, super rich and indulgent.
One place I definitely keep in my books for lunch with the best view ever!
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Stewie
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
The views from this restaurant are great. Thats about the only redeeming feature though.
On first appearance it seems like a reasonably priced restaurant, although the fixed price menu is withdrawn in December "because the restauarant is so busy", yet I was there on a Saturday in December between 6:30 and 9pm and at most the restaurant was half full.
My main issue is over priced and small portioned food. £7.50 for Onion Soup is what you pay at Mon Plaisir yet Tamesa's version is a quarter of the size, with a little bit of bread with cheese welded on the top of it, rather than the glory which should be a proper French Onion Soup. My 4 co-diners opted for mixed breads, which at £1.50 sounded reasonable, but in reality was two small slices of french loaf each. Thats 75p a slice.
My blue cheese and curly kale rissotto was small, and tasted of boiled rice and just a whiff of cheese. My dining partners 3 bits of tortolini, was apparently tasty, but so very small, especially at £14.50. The one value meal seemed to be the children's menu, which at £5.50 comprised a huge bowel of penne which was larger than the adults main courses, and came with free ice cream afterwards. Our 2 year old ate it all, which suggests the adult meals were not even adequate children's sizes.
The biggest shock was the drinks bill. £18 for a bottle of Rioja is fine, but a vodka and coke was £6.75!
I skipped desert as at £6 each, I knew it wouldnt satisfy my hunger, and I longed to get back to Paddington for the train home, where I knew at least something would be open. Sadly my dining friends chose to have desert, which led to a 40 minute wait for a couple of crumbles to surface from the kitchen. I guess they were busy, at least the waiting staff were, all standing around chatting by the kitchen entrance.
I dont mind paying £40 a head for a good satisfying meal. This was not a good meal, and I wouldn't go back.
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Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 0
Sunday, December 09, 2007
We went to Tamesa with my husband to celebrate my birthday. Due to some circumstances we were about 40 min late, but were still given a good table and later changed to the table near the window (it was the Mayor’s fireworks night). The service was prompt even though the place was packed with people. Food was very delicious. Views - fantastic. Atmosphere is a bit mixed with some people dressed for the occasion and some just stopping to “casser la croûte”, but in general we had very good impression of the place.
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Nathalie
Overall rating 
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Friday, November 23, 2007
If this place was on a back street it would close in weeks. Hopelessly amateurish service, Ok but not great food, filthy toilets, general air of just taking the tourist pound.
View is wonderful and I daresay you could enjoy a cocktail here.
Avoid
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Daniel Pollick
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 4
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Been here a number of times for lunch. They do a great 2 course set meal for £12. Food is good quality and the wine list very reasonable. With a seat at the window overlooking the Thames, you can't beat for value. Would recommend.
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Mark Jones
Overall rating 
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10
Friday, September 14, 2007
Had a handful of excellent meals here on a recent short stay in London, it was my local. It's fun, relaxed, the staff are friendly and helpful, brilliant value for money and the cooking was way above my expectations. Across 3 or 4 visits I had a brilliant salt beef with dumplings and beetroot cream and excellent fish including sea trout with pickled cucumber and bream with octopus (delicious). Bread and side orders are well worth it too and the bar snacks are as good as you'll find anywhere. Wine tip - the Lugana Bianca kept me coming back, fantastic
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Simon P
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
