OXBO Bankside

International Restaurant in Southwark
OXBO Bankside image
Ad

8 / 10 from 1 review
Address
Hilton London Bankside
2-8 Great Suffolk Street
Southwark
London
SE1 0UG
Map
Telephone
020 3667 5600
Cuisine
International
Region
Southwark
Nearest Station
Waterloo East
0.13 miles

OXBO in the new Hilton hotel in London offers a predominantly grilled meat and seafood menu with an open kitchen, which centers on well-prepared, simple dishes, often sourced from nearby Borough market.

The team at OXBO is headed up by Executive Chef Paul Bates, formerly of The Beaumont and Intercontinental Park Lane. Located on the ground floor with 168 covers and direct access from Price’s street, OXBO Bankside is a relaxed space for guests and locals alike to meet in the heart of the Bankside area, any time of day. Bates’ menu will include Cox apple, cider marinated salmon, Cornish monkfish cheeks, pea shoots and English radish; Sirloin of Gloucestershire beef with sauce Bearnaise and New Haven Hake with squid, mussel and shrimp stew.

OXBO Bankside Picture Gallery

OXBO Bankside Picture

All In London Review

A great bottomless brunch... make sure you arrive hungry. And thirsty.

Review Image
In an area of London where weekends can feel empty to the point of desertion, the excuse of brunch is a good way to reel yourself into Southwark. And when that brunch happens to be in the basement restaurant of the Hilton Bankside hotel, then even more reason to go sample the wares of a culinary team serving guests of one of the world’s premier hotel brands.

OXBO Bankside is the modern, British dining room at the Hilton Bankside hotel and while the likes of calf’s liver, wagyu steak burgers and chicken and spiced shrimp Caesar salad all sound amazing, we’re here to eat and drink our way through the bottomless brunch. Adopting a fairly traditional hotel restaurant look, OXBO is a smart, sleek affair where the polished wood, industrial iron, parquet floor and carpet mix together to create a classy kind of cosiness.

Topping up on Prosecco while feasting on buffet food for two hours is a pretty good way to spend a Saturday morning, so before we even get down to the specifics, OXBO has us happy. Sandwiching main courses of the likes of rich ravioli and slow-cooked beef between pre and post trips to the buffet spread, this is the type of bottomless brunch that could make even the most diehard fan of the fizz forget about all that endless Prosecco.

Bowls of jumbo prawns, plates of pastrami, cured meats and broad beans meet further bowls of sliced salmon and swordfish sashimi, yuzu marinated tofu and barley couscous, with a whole lot more in between. To try everything before your main is almost impossible, and that’s without thinking about what you’re going to order from the egg ad waffle station – yes, there’s an egg and waffle station that encourages you to go and order anything from eggs Benedict to waffles and syrup. Is it crazy to say there’s almost too much choice at OXBO? Yes because by the time dessert comes around, following the buffet, the egg and waffle station and the mains, we’ve suddenly found space to sample mini crème brulee, cheese cakes and alcoholic ice cream at the dessert buffet, setting us up to leave with swollen stomachs, happy in the knowledge that we gave the OXBO Bottomless brunch our best shot.

The restaurant strikes a good balance between informal and refined, making it a good place to come for special occasions. However, if you do visit, come hungry or be prepared to leave without the room to sample the full range of what’s included for the excellent value of £40 a head.

Reviewed by T.A.O anonymously
Published on Sep 6, 2016


A great British restaurant at Bankside's Hilton Hotel

Review Image
Broadly speaking, hotel restaurants come in two groups. There are the very good ones, for example Hilton Park Lane's Galvin at Windows, and both The InterContinental's Cookbook Cafe and Theo Randall's eponymous restaurant. Then there are the very average, run-of-the-mill ones for hungry, out-town-guests who don't know where to go.

OXBO at the five star Hilton in Bankside has chef Paul Bates in charge, of the above-mentioned Cookbook Cafe. He also previously worked at Corbin & King's hotel The Beaumont (they of The Wolseley fame).

The menu here focuses on British dishes, but before we delve in there are the cocktails. There's a lot for lovers of gin, with six types of G&Ts alone. We try Dodd's, infused with Cox apple and celery, and the Portobello Road with rosemary, garnished with three very fat, quality olives. It's not hyperbole to say these may well be the best gin and tonics we've ever tasted. Over the hallway is the Distillery bar, who create the drinks and infuse the gin themselves. We later find out that once upon a time there was a Victorian distillery on the site, so the cocktail makers are honoring their heritage.

Onto the food. There's very tender smoked eel - if you're squeamish, think of it as smoky squid as it's worth a try - with a salad of Pink Fir potatoes, Braeburn apple and artichoke. The reason so much attention is paid to the origins of each ingredient is that they're sourced from the nearby Borough Market. OXBO beef tartar is peppery, bright red minced meat served in a jar, laced with sweet Nashi pear and topped with rocket. Both starters are delicious.

Sirloin of beef is a big, nicely marbled hunk of meat, with cherry tomatoes on the vine plus a side of crispy fries. Loin of Duart salmon is a tasty fillet topped with a dollop of Keta caviar, in other words salmon roe; it also boasts a perfectly crisp slice of skin on the top. It comes with spinach, and some very umami-tasting olive oil mash. There's also a good side dish of cabbage fried with bacon and onion.

The Valrhona dark chocolate terrine is a long thin slab of rich chocolate with a biscuit base, adorned with a gold leaf and served with mandarin sorbet. It's an ostentatious dessert but not as expensive as you might expect for £7. The same goes for the overall menu - the steak is £34 which is about average when you factor in that sauce and fries are included.

OXBO definitely fits into the very good category.

Reviewed by Leila anonymously
Published on May 9, 2016


Things to Try

Three Course Bottomless Brunch on the South Bank picture

Three Course Bottomless Brunch on the South Bank

Go bottomless
Read more

User Reviews

There are no user reviews
Have your say

Add a review or useful tip for this restaurant