Rivington Shoreditch

British Restaurant in The City
Rivington Shoreditch image
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7 / 10 from 3 reviews
Address
28-30 Rivington Street
The City
London
EC2A 3DZ
Map
Telephone
020 7729 7053
Cuisine
British
Other Branches
Rivington Grill Bar
Region
The City
Nearest Station
Old Street
0.25 miles
Opening Summary
Lunch
12pm - 5pm (Mon-Fri)
Express Lunch (12pm-3pm Mon -Thur)

Dinner
5pm - 11pm (Mon-Sat), 5pm-10pm (Sun)

Weekend Brunch
11am - 4pm (Sat&Bank Holidays), 11am - 1pm (Sun)

Sunday Roast
11am - 4pm (Sun)

With an elegant setting, the Rivington Grill Bar serves an array of modern British dishes including devilled kidneys, bangers 'n' mash, ribeye steaks, salads, smoked haddock and braised beef in guinness to name but a few meals. They also have a deli on the premises.

All In London Review

Peaceful elegance and excellent, virtuous food

I don’t often get the chance to visit Shoreditch and Hoxton so I was delighted when a friend asked me to meet her after work there so we could join her work colleagues for a while for one of those warm summer evening, someone’s leaving celebrations. The George and the Vulture provided an excellent jug of Pimm’s to start the evening.

So then we wanted something to eat. Not too heavy but not too fast foody. She knows I like good quality food and suggested the Rivington – which just happens to be on the same street as one of my publishers.

The restaurant is smart, modern and airy with a touch of Continental style. I adored the great neon sign over one wall which proclaimed “Life without you – never!” but was less keen on the tasteful photo near our table showing a bare chested young woman. Not when I’m eating, please!

A jug of water arrived promptly on request and then I sipped a large glass of South African Chenin Blanc (£6.75 and well worth it) while my friend indulged her sweet tooth with a glass of Pieno rose (£5.25). There were plenty of staff who managed to remain out of our way most of the time but there just at the exact moment you wanted something. That takes some doing.

Whilst the starters looked rather appealing – my eye was caught by the Cornish crab (£14.75) and the grilled sardines with shallots, chilli and garlic (£5.75) and, surprisingly, the nettle soup (£5.50) and marinated salmon with pea shoots, radish, cucumber and pickled walnuts (£6.75 or £10.75 as a main) we decided just to have a main course.

My slip soles with spiced shrimps (£18.75) comprised two on the bone fish and a small cluster of tiny shrimps. The sole was delicious and plentiful but I would have dearly liked a few more of those shrimps. My friend had the whole roasted Anglesey seabass with caper butter (£16.75) and she didn’t stop talking about how good it was for the rest of the evening. Her side salad (£3.75) was eaten without comment, my purple sprouting broccoli (£3.75) was certainly sprouting but not very purple but the chips (£3.75) were a triumph of crispy on the outside and feathery light in the middle. I suggest you order more than one portion if you are dining with a fry-bird.

Although we opted for fish, there were plenty of meat dishes on the menu – port fillet with Aspall cyder, Barnsley lamb chop and Devon Red Chicken. They also feature a 32 day aged Suffolk Red rump (£26.50) and Bannockshire rin £28.50). Amongst their daily specials (£13.50) I noted London roast on Tuesday, Blythburgh pork cutlet on Thursday and Rivington fish pie on Fridays.

When we had arrived relatively early in the evening it was quiet, but a steady stream of people – couples both young and old, small groups of business people and other groups of slightly older folk – meant the place was full as we left about nine o clock – so I suspect that you need to make a reservation to be sure of being able to eat there when you want.

As we waited for the bill (£66.09 including service) we watched several police cars arrive most dramatically in the road behind the restaurant to swoop on a couple of lads sitting in a car parked there. An interesting twist to the live entertainment.

As we strolled out into the warm evening air, feeling virtuous for our healthy and British eating, I couldn’t help thinking that the peaceful elegance and excellent food was in sharp contrast to the rather more earthy and gritty melee of the surrounding area.

Reviewed by KimT
Published on Apr 28, 2011


Best For

Restaurants that serve a great brunch picture

Restaurants that serve a great brunch

Sit back, loosen your belt and tuck into about the best thing our US cousins have ever given us.

Rivington Grill Bar comes with great credentials; it’s owned by the same people as J. Sheekey, The Ivy and Le Caprice. Food is faithfully British, from drop scones with honey and sweet cure back bacon to buttered kippers.

London's best restaurants with art picture

London's best restaurants with art

Pretty walls and pretty plates

Rivington Grill is one of the more affordable restaurants by the Caprice Holdings group, others being Le Caprice, Scott's, J Sheekey and The Ivy. This Shoreditch eatery has a piece by Tracey Emin - a neon light installation spelling out the words "Life Without You, Never".

User Reviews

ricardo18

Jun 24, 2007

Nice place. Excellent mains - best chips ever, efficient service, good ambience. Only downside - very poor deserts. Far too expensive for what we got. That aside, an enjoyable, if rather pricey, meal.
dirk vile

Mar 17, 2006

We recently enjoyed my wife's 30th birthday dinner at The Rivington. There were fouteen of us and we were all looked after extremely well. The food was delightful. The service was perfect. Michael made us feel very welcome as soon as we got into the bar by mixing us some excellent drinks. And we arranged for a lemon polenta birthday cake to be made in the deli too...which turned out to be very delicious indeed. A perfect evening and a very happy birthday girl. Thanks to the super staff!
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