Le Pont de la Tour

Bermondsy

Chef Julien Imbert adds a contemporary sheen without detracting from Le Pont’s je ne sais quoi

The Gherkin, The Shard and of course the eponymous Tower Bridge... the view from this giant among French restaurants reads like a roll call of London’s most famous landmarks, yet inside the atmosphere is as glamorous as the Left Bank in the 1930s. A renovation to mark its 25th anniversary in 2015 has left it bathed in golden uplighting and furnished with nautical gems that give a nod to the SS Normandie, an art deco liner famed for its decadent interiors.

Start with a pre-dinner drink on the riverside terrace. Cloud-like sheepskins ward off any lingering chill in the air, although we find one of their expertly balanced negronis equally effective. Inside the main restaurant, the champagne-fuelled, caviar-sprinkled power dinners of the early Nineties remain in full swing, while suits who have migrated from the City keep staff scampering back and forth from the kitchen with plates of Jersey rock oysters and velvety ham terrine.

However, while this is still a restaurant in which to indulge in elegant French dishes, all is not as traditional as it first appears. Julien Imbert took the helm in December last year following a stint at Jason Atherton’s City Social and has since banished Gallic clichés such as the legendary crêpe Suzette trolley. While the execution is still classically French, his menus have a distinctly contemporary focus on quality British ingredients such as line-caught cod from Cornwall and salt marsh lamb, served blushing with zingy lemon yoghurt.

Traditionalists will be relieved to hear that the cheese remains stridently French and is displayed to superb effect in a tangy Gruyère crust that crowns an incredibly fresh piece of halibut. The addition of curry veloute may raise eyebrows, but it proves an excellent accompaniment, fragrant without being domineering. Succulent chicken breast bolstered by crispy pancetta is equally successful.

Nowhere is Imbert’s artistic presentation more obvious than in the desserts. The list is concise, which makes sense once the intricacy of each becomes clear. Lemon curd with teardrop meringues, crumbly shortbread infused with thyme and bubbles of liquorice ice cream is a plate so beautifully conceived it puts our old ambéd friend the crêpe Suzette to shame.