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1. CHELGATE
Tube stations
London Bridge
Bermondsey
Car Parks
2. Crucifix Lane
3. Snowfields
Hotels
4. London Bridge Hotel
8 - 18 London Bridge Street
London
SE1 9SG
t: 020 7855 2200
http://www.london-bridge-hotel.co.uk/
A convenient 4-star spot right beside the tube station. During London's ten hot days a year, you'll appreciate the air-con. The charmless bar seems popular, but not with the Chelgate team.
5. Tower Hotel
St Katherine's Way
London
E1W 1LD
t: 0870 333 9106
http://www.guoman.com
One of Thistle hotel's "luxury" Guoman brand pads. Great location, close to Chelgate, on the river, right next to Tower Bridge. All the rooms have river views. Go for a high floor and a bridge view. Big (800 plus rooms), impersonal, shiny, but the Guoman branding hasn't prevented some areas looking like tired old Thistles.
6. Travel Inn
159 Tower Bridge Road
London
SE1 3LP
t: 020 7940 3700
http://www.travelinn.co.uk/
For central London, this is cheap. It's also clean and comfortable , with ensuite bathrooms and surprisingly large bedrooms. The restaurant and bar are pretty grim, but nobody says you have to use them. Downstairs road-facing rooms can be noisy. Has its own carpark.
Shop, gallery, bar and restaurant complexes
5. St Katharine's Dock
The old wharves and warehouses have given way to seriously expensive apartments, restaurants and bars. The Chelgate team have eaten and drunk our way round all of them (surprise surprise) but there's none we'd recommend as either great food or great value. Attractive and fun for a visit, though.
7. Butlers Wharf
Wander over Tower Bridge from the North, and scramble down the little staircase on your left just as you reach the South bank. This will deposit you on the threshold of Butlers Wharf. Once a sinister maze of rat-infested wharves and warehouses, this has now been transformed into a delightful riverside complex of restaurants, shops, galleries, offices and wandering Chelgate staffers.
8. Hay's Galleria
A great conversion of the old Hays Wharf dock. Sit at the "outdoor" cafes and scoff at the London weather - You're protected by a glass roof way up above you. Shops, restaurants, a wonderful, crazy, 60 foot high paddleship sculpture by David Kemp that occasionally lurches into action. Stroll from here along the riverside walk to Tower Bridge and Butlers Wharf.
Markets
9. Borough market
One of London’s great food experiences. Leap up at dawn and buy your fruit and veg at this ancient market. Better still, come back on Saturday and explore a little bit of food heaven. The Borough area is now becoming "desirable" which means that developers are on the prowl. Watch this space.
Pubs and bars
8. Horniman at Hays
In Hays Galleria, right beside the Thames. Lunchtime can be busy, and drinks are not cheap. But not a bad spot to end the day clutching a glass and running a nautical eye over the HMS Belfast moored next door.
8. Balls Brothers, Hays Galleria
That noisy group in the corner may well be Chelgate execs. We like this subterranean dive for a drink after work. Good snacks and a great selection of wines in the bar. At lunchtime, wander through to the restaurant (see separate heading).
11. The Barrow Boy and Banker
Used to be a branch of Dear old NatWest Bank. Now a pretty decent and very popular pub. The food's not too bad, it's fairly comfortable (when you can move for the crowds) and they do real ales. From overdraft to draft.
12. The Dickens Inn
Not the reason to visit St Katherine's Dock. But if you're there and parched, this has a great location and it will do for a re-fuelling stop.
13. The George Inn
We like to take out of town visitors here. No question, the George is one of London's great historic pubs, dating back to the 17th century, and dripping character from every beam. Haunted by tour groups in the Summer. By certain Chelgate execs in the Winter.
Restaurants
7. Le Pont de la Tour
Butlers Wharf Building
36D Shad Thames
London
SE1 2YE
t: 020 7403 4030
We'll go there if you're paying. Yes, the food is pretty special, but not always. The service too often falls into the "not always" category. The prices will send you scurrying to your mortgage broker. And what do they do to the wine to justify the mark up? (We all like the 1980 Grange. A snip at £1,250 on their wine list. Again, if you're paying please). Outdoor tables facing the Thames are pretty popular. People walk past and admire how rich you must be.
7. Butler's Wharf Chop House
Butlers Wharf Building
36e Shad Thames
London
SE1 2YE
t: 020 7403 3403
http://www.conran.com/
Another outlet for the Conran empire, cheek by wobbly jowl with Le Pont de la Tour. The name really sums it up. Good, straightforward dishes, "not mucked about with". The prices may give you nose bleeds, though. Another place to sit outside and watch poor folk (probably Chelgate execs) shuffling past, eyeing your groaning platter hungrily.
7. Cantina del Ponte
Butlers Wharf Building
36c Shad Thames
London
SE1 2YE
t: 020 7403 5403
http://www.conran.com/
Another Conran creation, just along the waterfront from the Chop House and the dear old Pont. Now we can afford this one, and the food's not bad either. But the service can appear to be provided by escapees from the London dungeon (just down the road).
7. ASK
Spicy Quay Shad
Thames
London
SE1 2YE
t: 020 7403 4545
Right there on the waterfront in Butlers Wharf, just along from the Conran cluster. Perfectly adequate pizzas and pastas at affordable prices. Chicken caesar salad popular with fat chaps who think they are dieting. Sit outside and watch Tower Bridge going up and down.
7. Blue Print Café
Butlers Wharf Building
Shad Thames
London
SE1 2YD
t: 020 7378 7031
http://www.conran.com/
Attached to the Design Museum in Butlers Wharf, and our favourite of the Conran bunch. Excellent food and stunning views (Try to get a window table). Service can be slow, but amiable and professional, and the prices seem less wounding. May call itself a Café, but don't expect a caff.
7. Bengal Clipper
31 Shad Thames
Cardamorn Building
Butlers Wharf
London
SE1 2YR
t: 020 7357 9001
Elegant, first-class Indian restaurant in Butlers Wharf (though not on the waterfront). The special set lunch is good value, even with the "cover charge" added to the advertised price. Mostly charming service, though they tend to forget to offer the set lunch menu, once they have you inside, offering instead the much pricier a la carte. Wonder why? Just pound the table and demand the budget option. Lunchtimes are very quiet; evenings much busier, and sometimes there’s live piano.
8. Balls Brothers, Hays Galleria
Hay's Galleria
Tooley Street
London
SE1 2HD
t: 020 7407 4301
http://www.ballsbrothers.co.uk/
You've tried the bar, now wander through to the restaurant. Subterranean in the Davies wine bar tradition, but further up-market, with broader menu and worthy wine list. Nothing too nouvelle, and nothing too exciting, but reliable business lunch spot, with scope for self-indulgence. Friendly and helpful service takes the sting out of prices that are probably 25% too high.
9. Fish!
Cathedral Street
Borough Market
London
SE1 9AL
t: 020 7234 3333
http://www.fishdiner.co.uk/
Fish . And more fish. Or you could have fish.
Decent value, sound cooking. Try the fish.
14. Delfina Studio Café
50 Bermondsey Street
London
SE1 3UD
t: 020 7357 0244
http://www.delfina.org.uk/
This is one of our favourites. But why is a great restaurant like this closed most evening? (It does open for dinner on Fridays, though). Still, they cater for long and late lunches. Bare floors and high ceilings make for lousy acoustics, though. So tables for more than four can be a bit of a strain. Another SE1 conversion. We're told it used to be a chocolate factory. It's now an airy, elegant restaurant serving original and delicious, "modern-Brit" style food; well, modern Aussie, perhaps.Chef Maria Elia's Australian fish of the day is always worth trying. Have been known to serve kangaroo.
15. Garrison Public House
99-101 Bermondsey Street
London
SE1 3XB
t: 020 7089 9355
On the site of the old Honest Cabbage Restaurant, and in truth feels more like a restaurant than a pub. Informal and fun, and cheaper than its sister restaurant, Village East. In the evenings it’s almost impossibly popular, with summer drinkers spilling out onto the pavement outside. Informal, relaxed atmosphere, though service can be lethargic. Food in the modern, straightforward style. Opens for breakfast at 8.00, though it can take the staff a while to crank up.
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16. Magdalen
150-152 Tooley Street
London
SE1 2PU
t: 020 7403 1342
An attractive addition to the area, on the site of the old Fina Estampa Peruvian restaurant. This is seriously British cooking for carnivores. The menu changes daily, but spins through treats like Sliced pig's head, braised hare leg, shoulder of lamb, cuttlefish with chick peas and mussels. The snails (no slimy foreign escargots here) are all the way from Hereford. The chefs/ owners have blue chip pedigrees and have created a charming, cosy, even romantic ambience. Some complaints about the size of the portions and Bombay Saphire was unavailable on our first visit. But the food's well above average, the wines well chosen and the prices fair enough, though far from cheap.
17. Tentazioni
Lloyds Wharf
2 Mill Street
London
SE1 2BB
t: 020 7237 1100
Excellent and attractive Italian, with original and exciting menu bearing no relationship whatsoever to the Trat at the end of your street. Halve the prices, and we'd be there twice as much, though it's not that easy to get there. Great spot for that romantic and discreet lunch "a deux" (no-one in your office has any idea where Lloyd's Wharf is), but pretty good for a business lunch, if the client doesn't get lost.
21. Champor Champor
62 Weston Street
London
SE1 3QJ
t: 020 74034600
http://www.champor-champor.com/
This really is a treasure. Loosely speaking South East Asian, with influences stretching across to Japan and down to Australia. Truly original, elegant and delicious food (though perhaps a little cautious with the spices. If you like it hot, tell them so), at attractive prices in this ornate little restaurant, hidden away down Weston Street behind Guy's and St Thomas's hospital. Sadly no longer open for lunch. Evenings are popular, so book ahead."
36. The Hartley
64 Tower Bridge Road
London SE1
Tel: 020 7394 7023
A welcome addition to the part of Tower Bridge Road where tourists don't dare tread. For a while was winning rave reviews as one of the top gastro pubs in London. With the departure of talented Chef, dreadlocked Kirwin Browne, the menu has become less interesting. But still worth a visit if you are local.
37. Pizzeria La Lanterna
6 Mill Street, Lantern Buildings,
SE1 2BA
Tel : 020 7252 2420
http://www.millstreetcafe.co.uk/
A delightful standard Italian, tucked behind the Mill Street Café. A big welcome and friendly service. On hot summer days there’s a courtyard with huge umbrellas to shelter beneath. “Specials” can be pricey. But the seafood pizza is worth a long trip and won’t need a mortgage. The usual mouthwatering Italian puddings.
38. Village East
171 – 173 Bermondsey Street,
SE1 3UW
Tel : 020 7357 6082
A stylish newcomer from the people responsible for the Garrison further up the street. Becoming the favoured hangout for the Street’s “beautiful people” (which of course includes us). European eclectic cooking, with the chefs labouring in an open kitchen before your very eyes. Cool Scandinavian style décor and above average food – though dishes like soft shell crab can vary day to day depending who does the cooking. Not cheap, but a great set lunch deal. There’s also a very welcoming cocktail bar. The aircon is a blessing, too, in tropical London.
39. The Bermondsey Kitchen
194 Bermondsey Street,
London SE1
Tel : 020 7407 5719
Here’s another relaxing bar/restaurant. Informal, but more than good enough for lunching that VIP client. Big sofas near the entrance for you to slump for a glass and a gossip. A ragbag of chairs and tables scattered around a large L shaped room which works its way round another open kitchen where flames jump and things go hiss. Usually above average food at fair prices. Good grilled fish, Yorkshire farm meat, exciting puddings that we don’t dare order. Friendly service. Tends to be quiet at lunchtimes and deserves to be busier.
40. Georgetown
10 London Bridge Street,
London
SE1 9SG
Tel : 0870 755 7752
Occasionally our Chairman gets misty eyed for the old E&O in Penang, or the Raffles in Singapore (“before they ruined it”), and then he totters down to Georgetown, behind London Bridge station. Elegant and colonial Malaysian restaurant, with Malay, Tamil and Mandarin food. Chairman grumps that they have toned down the spices for Brit-wimp tastes. But you can always ask for spice. A loyalty scheme offers attractive discounts.
Churches
18. St Paul's
What more to say? The spiritual fulcrum of the nation. Remember the photographs of the Blitz, St Paul's rising defiantly over the smoke of burning London? Of course, a major toiurist attraction, but still very much a place of worship.
19. Southwark Cathedral
There has been a church on the spot for over a thousand years. The main structure of this one was built between `1220 and 1420.
20. All Hallows by the Tower
Dating back to 675 and badly damaged in the Blitz, a splendid mix of Saxon, Norman, Crusader, Mediaeval, seventeenth, nineteenth and twentieth century building.
21. Our Lady of La Salette & St Joseph
Opened in 1861.
Culture
23. Tate Modern
Some argue that the Tate has forgotten its original mission, but this is a wonderful, visionary initiative. Maybe the world's best modern art museum?
24. Bramah Tea & Coffee Museum
We Brits still love our "cuppa" and it's celebrated here. Not London's most exciting museum, but worth popping in if you're in the area, and yes, they do sell the stuff.
25. Britain at War Museum
For an insight into life in London during the Second World War.
26. The Clink
The original prison known as "The Clink" was owned by successive Bishops of London until its destruction in 1780, housing a clientele ranging from priests to prostitutes. This museum in Clink Street celebrates the charm of the place with reconstructions of cell interiors and displays of torture equipment. Well, if that's your thing...
27. Design Museum
Hosts regular and impressive exhibitions of cutting edge design. Also houses one of our favourite restaurants (the Blue Print Café).
28. London Dungeon
Draws huge queues during school holidays and half-term breaks, all keen to experience the horrors of London's macabre and gruesome past. We can think of at least three PR firms just as scary.
29. Old Operating Theatre & Herb Garrett
This odd little museum is one of our favourites. Climb up the rickety spiral staircase to explore the charming old Herb Garrett of St Thomas's Hospital. Then inspect the operating Theatre to see the grim realities of life before modern science, technology and painkillers.
30. The Globe
A stunning achievement, this painstaking reconstruction of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre runs a season of plays from May to September, rather at the mercy of the weather.
31. Southwark Playhouse
A former tea and coffee warehouse, now established as one of London's leading studio theatres.
41. Unicorn Theatre for Children
Actually two slick new theatres - the 300 seater Weston Theatre plus the cosy Clore theatre seating just 120. On Tooley Street, just behind City Hall and a few yards from the Hilton. This is professional theatre for kids, with the quality production values you'd expect from a West End show.
Other attractions
32. Golden Hinde
Inspired by the Golden Hinde in which Sir Francis Drake circumnavigated the globe, this is a meticulous reconstruction of a fully operational Elizabethan galleon.
33. HMS Belfast
A cruiser, launched in 1939, and active during the Second World War, playing a leading role in the destruction of the German battle cruiser Scharnhorst at the Battle of North Cape and in the Normandy landings.
34. Monument
This 202 foot high Roman Doric column, designed by Christopher Wren was erected between 1671-1677 to commemorate the Great Fire of London of 1666.
35. Tower of London
The big one. A thousand years of history. Chat to the Beefeaters, gasp at the Crown Jewels, inspect the state rooms and the prison cells, listen to the "characters" telling their tales. Allow the best part of a day.
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