Sargeant’s Mess Restaurant Review: Great Views, but It’s a Bit of a Mess

If there was one thing I really don’t like doing – its writing bad reviews. They’re probably the easiest of reviews to write, but putting a chef or a restaurant on the line is always very hard. Yet, there are exceptions to that rule. When food is being churned out which is consistently not good, or perhaps when a menu has been created by a higher power such as a celebrity chef or catering business – there really isn’t an excuse for bad food. I don’t know the exact workings of Sargeant’s Mess, or who’s cooking behind the scenes – but there are lots of issues here which need immediate attention.

Sargeant’s Mess is a brand new restaurant in an awe-inspiring location, sitting at the foot of Tower Bridge. A terrace outside for people watching and cool modern decor inside – but then cracks start to reveal. The bathrooms (one of the most important things EVER in a restaurant) have not had any time spent on them. There was no hand wash or wash towels, except a stack of them pouring out onto the floor. I looked online at reviews after visiting and interestingly the above wasn’t just echoed by me.

We decided to sit outside in the terrace, full of big benches which as a group could be quite nice. We quickly discovered the terrace is more of a place to drink, which is fine – but its sticky residue tables and rather dirty floor meant it wasn’t somewhere we wanted to eat. On the flip side the cocktails were absolutely delicious – the negroni being my favourite. We also ordered some wine, but it was so warm we had to add ice cubes – the first time I’ve done that to red wine and a shame as it was really rather tasty.

One thing Sargeant’s Mess do have spot on is the presentation. Regardless of how the food was, it all visually looked very good. First dish out to the table was of course that good old British favourite – prawn cocktail. The Atlantic prawns weren’t quite as good as I’d hope for (watery and lacking in flavour), while the Marie rose sauce was weak and again rather watery. It wasn’t particularly big either, which I wouldn’t have minded if it was of quality for the £9.75 price tag.

Better was the hot smoked pork belly with cos lettuce and whole grain mustard. It wasn’t exactly how I expected and not the most exciting, but the meat was nice and smoky, the lettuce was fresh and the dressing had a nice tang to it.

The dish we were both looking forward to the most was the lamb curry with rice and a paratha. I’ve been to British restaurants or gastropubs in the past who’ve really surprised me with a lamb curry and so I had my heart set on this dish. Comparing this version to a something from Waitrose is probably generous, except for the quality of the meat which here was far superior. The sauce was weak, watery and had absolutely no depth, even the rice was so stodgy you could pick the whole thing up in your hand and it wouldn’t have moved. The paratha, my favourite Indian bread had no flavour.

My medium-rare requested sirloin steak came served with a grilled mushroom, tomato and cress, but the meat was very well-done. Texture wise it was actually quite tender and still juicy, but that overcooked metallic flavour made for a not so enjoyable sirloin. The béarnaise sauce on the other hand was excellent and I can only assume is homemade.

Dessert on comparison to everything we just ate was spectacular. Quite honestly one of the best treacle tarts I’ve ever had the pleasure of eating. The pastry was stunning, the treacle filling was so luscious & rich and the texture – sublime. If you find yourself at Sargeant’s Mess, order this and if they need a signature dish – this is it.

We didn’t have the best meal here at Sargean’ts Mess and it was a real shame being back by the very well-known Mark Sargeant, but I can only hope this review can be seen as constrictive criticism and that something good comes from it. This restaurant is already in such an amazing location, that all it needs to do is just serve quality dishes of the food they already have on the menu and keep the place clean. We wouldn’t come back, but if it’s still open two years down the line I’d be interested to see if and how it develops.

NB: Our meal was complimentary. All views are as always, my own. My views are not influenced by anyone other than my own palate and slightly poor eyesight.