Bridge over pleasant waters

This review was first published in May 2000

Although Anthony Caro's Millennium Footbridge can be seem from the Tate Modern Restaurant, currently the best view from a restaurant is at The Bridge, which opened on the north bank at the beginning of this month. The "sculpture", as light and graceful as a fishing rod casting a line across the water, lies to the right of the bar and brasserie and can be admired from its start to as far as it has reached from the tables on the terrace.

Although quiet on the evening we visited, The Bridge is poised to do bustling business. Through its plate-glass windows the view of Tate Modern at night, with its illuminated glazed strip and the tip of its chimney glowing like a giant's cigar, is magical. Executive head chef Peter Gladwin has moved away from the formal, somewhat fussy food served at Gladwin's in the City to a more casual style of global favourites. An oriental influence, which provides a selection of dim sum as a first course or snack meal, was a lot better than the deep-fried-from-frozen I was, perhaps meanly, anticipating. A Chinesey starter of crispy smoked chicken with fried seaweed was also likeable.

Pieces of calves liver, sliced thin as playing cards and quickly seared, served with bacon and mash, flavoured with sage butter, were unassailable and the chef had achieved a remarkably good result with a special of the day; a jambalaya of prawns, chicken and Cajun sausage, not an easy dish to fashion into more than a sum of its parts.

The only disappointing dish of those we tried was the dessert of chocolate and Grand Marnier truffle slice which had a gluey, sump-like texture. The wine list kicks off with an English bottle, Nutbourne Sussex Reserve '96 at £12 and, for the most part, stays below the £25 mark. A bottle of Taittinger Brut Reserve NV at £32 sipped on the terrace would be one fine way of celebrating the transformation of the London eyeful.