1 Lombard Street

1 Lombard Street Restaurant and Bar is one of the Square Mile’s most established restaurants and firm favourite with the City workers for its elegant setting, quality of cooking and its location next to Mansion House, the official residence of the Lord Mayor of London, and directly opposite the Bank of England. Housed in a former Grade II-listed bank, it was opened in 1998 by former banker Soren Jessen and comprises a 1776 restaurant, Brasserie, Bar, Private Dining and Events rooms.

The bar is stylish and perfect for a romantic date with a dramatic domed skylight, as well as a recommended London city bar for a quick morning expresso, a lunchtime bite, or drinks with colleagues and friends after work.

1 Lombard Street is where the City meets for breakfast, lunch and dinner, launches new businesses, signs deals and celebrates profits. And it’s even where the City gets married.

The neoclassical domed hall makes a grand, striking setting, all cream walls and marble, with a huge domed skylight above a circular bar, surrounded by high-backed stools for drinkers. The service is impressive too with keen, knowledgeable and friendly staff waiting to meet all your needs.

The haute cuisine 1776 restaurant is open for lunch and dinner with a menu designed by Head Chef, Juri Ravagli, formerly of The Drones Club, Harry’s Bar and George Club. You have the choice of ordering from the a la carte menu or, the silver service roast meat trolley which is carefully carved by the manager at your table. The a la carte menu has European influences and includes dishes such as: Mazara Del Vallo red prawn carpaccio and black pepper and mint crusted loin of lamb.  The impressive dessert trolley changes daily. For exceptional cuisine and first class service 1776 is most certainly the place to dine.

Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, five days a week, the bustling 200 seater Brasserie is suited to all tastes, budgets and occasions. The food here is comforting and classic, serving an eclectic Euro-accented menu which covers most bases, taking in anything from sautéed lamb’s kidneys on toast to roast monkfish fillet with mango salsa and coconut salad or bangers with mustard mash. Salads, pasta and steaks flesh out the repertoire, while desserts include the to-die-for dark chocolate and salted praline fondant with peanut butter ice cream.

Set menus and an impressive breakfast offers are worth noting, while the snappy, cosmopolitan wine list has something for everyone. 1 Lombard Street presides over a fine cellar, which evolves seasonally to perfectly match the new menus from the kitchen. They also offer an extensive list of champagnes, a carefully selected range of spirits and inventive cocktails which are unique to 1 Lombard Street. Alongside classics like the Martini and Whiskey Sour, the cocktail list features original creations such as the Saffron and Passion Fruit Martini and seasonal specialities. Cocktails demonstrate keen mixing skills and quality materials. You can order your vodka martini with countless types of vodka, all of them pretty serious: Grey Goose, Snow Leopard, Snow Queen, Belvedere, Smirnoff, Absolut Level and Wyborowa Single Estate, among others. A bellini, meanwhile, may be mixed with lychee juice, white peach or blackberry purée. It’s all about modern, luxury twists on classic tastes.

Rammed with power-suited business folk at lunchtime, 1 Lombard Street unwinds in the evening, when the lights are turned down low and the bar becomes a garrulous magnet for the glamorous crowd.