Sauterelle

Lovely restaurant overlooking the Royal Exchange.
Booked the set menu meal, two courses with a glass of wine for £20.
The starter of grilled octopus with crushed Charlotte potatoes was quite chewy, and for the mains I had the chicken, which was quite salty, felt like it had been doubled salted. All beautifully presented though. My friend had the soup and the black fish, which she thought was slightly salty too, but not unbearable. We ordered a sides of potatoes which were very, very good.
The sides, coffee and herbal tea were extra, but bread was not. Although they overcharged on the coffee and tea, they did amend it by only charging for one.

Sauterelle.
European in nature and menu, overlooking the ground floor of the Royal Exchange.
I chose this place because I had a hankering for something European, something new and something good.
Allow me to set the scene:
You walk into the Royal Exchange and are greeted by luxurious and opulent jewellery, accessories, you name it, in the shops surrounding the ground floor. Is this is a bar, a restaurant, I didnt quite know, but I was heading to the top right corner where I spied a lovely looking lady by a lectern.
You walk around all the people downstairs and it feels a little loud and as I started to worry that my dinner was gonna be a shouting match as everyone else’s voice bounced off the marble walls and floor, Im relieved to notice that there are glass walls upstairs and actually my worries, as usual and just paranoia.
We sit down, we get our menus. Now, here is where I messed up. What I should have done, was to check the food menu out and then used that to pick a wine, but actually the sommelier came over and asked what wine I wanted, to which, given the above, I uttered ‘Hmm​.Im not sure, what do you recommend?’.
Across the road at a Lloyds Bank branch, my bank balance is saying, ‘You muppet’, and I realise that, though I am a fan of wine, I don’t think my palate is sophisticated enough to warrant drinking a very expensive vino. As the sweat starts to form on my forehead, it pauses to drop about 15 degrees, and my cheeks blush the colour of Unilocal’s red banner as I realise that a) if I say no to the expensive bottle I’ll look like a cheapskate who obviously doesn’t know what he’s doing, and b) if I say yes, then I’m gonna get stung on the price.
So, what happened next? Fortunately for me, the sommelier, though he did actually chose the most expensive bottle on that page, it wasn’t as expensive as I had thought it was going to be, and in fairness, as long as the wine was good, and sufficently good for whatever price I was going to pay for it, I didnt mind too much. This whole thing harks back to when I was in a restaurant in Dubai and a very silly friend of ours ordered, and tasted a wine that was…£300 and it wasnt even good! This also comes down to stupid macho male-​ness which doesnt allow me the ability to take a recommendation without politely declining in fear of looking silly.
Anyway, the meal itself was really good; I was surprised at how full I felt after as given the nouvelle feel, I was expecting my risotto to be 3 grains and one prawn but actually I left feeling pretty satiated, though the 4-​cheese cheeseboard may also have had something to do with that!
Service was very attentive without being ‘hanger-​on-​y’ (whats the word Im looking for here?), and generally I had a pretty good experience with the atmosphere being just what I was looking for :)

Absolutely love the salads here and you can even chose from the grand café menu whilst sitting in the comfort of the mezzanine seats. The staff are attentive and friendly. I lunch here both for business and pleasure and I’d thoroughly recommend.

For pics, see Greedy Diva @

Restaurant Sauterelle is quietly situated on the mezzanine level of the Royal Exchange building. I must have passed it squadillions of times on the number 8 bus, never knowing what lies behind the grand old façade. Enter the doors and you’ll find a reasonably glam little arcade with high ceilings, some upmarket retailers and, all importantly, the Royal Exchange Grand Café bar posited in the middle. It’s a lively spot to join the after 5 crowd for a pre-​dinner drink. So, I did just that.
Restaurant Sauterelle, overlooking the hoi poloi, is not a place I knew much about. But I’ve enjoyed having my eyes opened lately to some places, housing capable chefs, which seem to have fallen off the foodie radar. It turns out Sauterelle is worth keeping in mind, particularly for the city crowd.
Head Chef Robin Gill is Irish born, but has done in his time in French and Italian restaurants. The experience is evident in the technically skilled dishes coming out of the semi-​open kitchen.
The dining room itself has all the airs and graces of quiet, slightly corporate fine dining. The city clientele sit in reasonably hushed surrounds under soaring archways and frescos, enjoying interesting, elegant French/​Italian fare.
We tested out the summer menu — 4 courses for £28 including a glass of the fantastic English sparkling wine, Nyetimber.
To start, a San Marzano tomato gazpacho, dotted with fresh ricotta, slivers of courgette and basil. While nice enough, this wasn’t a blazing start with the tomato being quite rich and saucy, rather than light and delicate — I think tomato based soups are one of the hardest things to get right to avoid a touch of the dreaded «tinned Heinz» flavour.
But then the smoked Glenarm salmon confit with beetroot textures, horseradish cream, hazelnut and dill salad was gorgeous — top quality, luscious salmon with an interesting balance of contrasting flavours.
Stealing from the a la carte menu, the cornish crab raviolo with cucumber, samphire, lemongrass and coriander (£13.90) was well executed if of subtle flavours.
My warm salad of crisp, slow cooked Devonshire lamb (so tender, but again mild in flavour), nuggety sweetbread, peas, borlotti beans, creamy Ratte potatoes and a caper and parsley sauce was also accomplished.
A chilled watermelon soup with Muscat de Rivesaltes, fresh mint, and a honey and dew sorbet, was interesting and refreshing. It’s not something I would normally order (and I wasn’t won over enough to order it again) but I’m sure you’ll like this version if it’s your kind of thing.
The vanilla panna cotta with English summer berries, sugared pine nuts and basil was gloriously wobbly and the full, sweet, creamy vanilla flavours made this a perfect end to a long meal.
Each dish was accompanied by Nyetimber sparkling English wine. We started with the 2005 — a lovely fruity, appley fizz — and later moved on to the superb 2001 — having more yeasty, brioche flavours balancing with the crisp apple. Fantastic wines.
While a la carte prices are at the upper end of the scale (generally £18−24 for a main course), good value, lower cost options are available with the summer set menu (£28 for 4 courses and a glass of Nyetimer sparkling wine) and standard set menus (2 courses £19.50, 3 courses £22.50).
One to remember for accomplished food, in a city and suits atmosphere.

[Non-​photo Review] For full review, please see:
Restaurant Sauterelle The Dark Horse in D&D’s Stable Summary: Restaurant Sauterelle doesn’t seem to carry a high profile, even though it situated within the grand confines of The Royal Exchange and is part of the Conran empire. On our visit, I was continuously and pleasantly surprised by the technical skill of the kitchen and the flair of the chef, and was inspired by many of the dishes which combined the best of French and Italian cuisine through the advantageous purview of an outsider’s interpretation (Head Chef Robin Gill is Irish). While not every course was as good as the next, there is certainly much promise here and I can only imagine it going from strength to strength in the coming months and years, so long as the core team stays intact. Getting paid royalties at the Exchange An email popped up in my inbox a while back, inviting me to review a restaurant I’d never heard of before. This was unusual for two reasons: first, I like to think that I know about most restaurants of a certain calibre in London (well, I try my very best to), and second, once I did my research, it seemed like a place I’d actually enjoy trying out. Oddly enough, my foodie friend Mathilde had received the same offer. We therefore asked if we could do a meal together with our partners, and were eventually told that this would be fine. In the interests of fair disclosure, we paid for half of the meal. Banking in on grand surroundings The establishment in question, Restaurant Sauterelle, must have one of the grandest backdrops of any restaurant in London. Situated on the mezzanine level of The Royal Exchange, it is the fine dining arm of the catering operation which covers the ground and mezzanine levels of the building, all of which is run by D&D London, i.e. the Conran collection. The large and open ground floor is essentially a bar (though they serve some food too) which is called the Royal Exchange Grand Café, and it overflows onto two opposite sides of the mezzanine level to make for quite a lively after-​work drinks spot for the local City clientele. Restaurant Sauterelle takes up another quarter of the mezzanine level, and is actually not that big of a restaurant within the context of the catering operation as a whole. A slice of the kitchen is visible from most of the tables in the restaurant, and it has airs of a fine dining room, with crisp white linens and accents of blue throughout. It is a pleasant dining space that is kept rather quiet by virtue of glass plates which have been fitted in the arches on the mezzanine ledge, cosseting diners from the riffraff down below. A French, Italian & Irish Tour de Force The Head Chef is Robin Gill, a young Irishman whose cuisine I guess I would characterize as mostly French, but with his own flair for invention and innovation. Most of the dishes on the menu sounded very appetizing with a number having notably interesting combinations of flavors and ingredients and we eventually decided to go for a tasting menu of sorts, where Chef Gill would determine what we got. We were excited and hoped our carte blanche experience would be a memorable one. In what I thought was a nice touch, the kitchen provided us with 2 – 4 different dishes for each course (instead of everyone having the same thing) I think they knew this was a table that would be happy sharing the dishes (and we were, at least to a certain extent). The very pleasant Slovenian sommelier eventually convinced us to go for a wine pairing with small tasting glasses (roughly 100ml) for most of the courses, although a few wines covered two courses. While we were anticipating what was to come, we busied ourselves with champagne and some very good bread and butter. One of the butters contained seaweed and was excellent. Amuse Bouche: Jerusalem artichoke velouté, soft poached quail egg rolled in celery salt bread crumbs, wild mushroom & truffle puréeThe palate teaser arrived in a beautiful little turquoise glass bowl that bowed towards you so you could peer inside without having to bend down too far. A velouté of Jerusalem artichoke was then poured on top of the medley of ingredients and brought forth a very pleasing aroma. The waiter reminded us that a Jerusalem artichoke is not really an artichoke at all in fact, it is a type of sunflower, of which the tubers are used, and has nothing at all to do with Jerusalem. In any case, it was a little explosion of flavor, with the rather sweet flavor of the Jerusalem artichoke poking its head out first, and then a second layer of flavor added by the subtle aroma and taste of truffle, followed by the wild mushrooms. The quail egg was cooked perfectly, ever so soft and oozing with a brilliant orange interior when broken. Everything worked together and not a note was out of place in this little opening number. ⁹⁄₁₀. Mathilde seemed to agree, noting that This first dish was an in-​depth introduction to Robin’s cuisine: an

This is the first time i am reviewing a restaurant without actually eating there. But i tried … i really tried.
Scene 1 … The Royal Exchange. I had gone there for a drink and i see this nice little restaurant overlooking the promenade. I checked out the menu. Seems nice, with a good deal of £22 for 3 courses. I made a mental note to try it out.
Scene 2 … Home. I check out Sauterelle’s website. Its closed on weekends. Thats too bad, but most places in the city that cater primarily to business customers are like that. Weekday close is at 10 PM. Will try it out next Friday.
Scene 3 … Sauterelle. Its 9:40 PM when i reach. Just made it, i thought. But alas, i was wrong. Last orders at 9:30, i was told. Should have mentioned it on the website then, i grumbled, and left.
Scene 4 … Sauterelle, the next friday. I reached well before 9:30 this time. But i didn’t get the set menu again. Actually it was very quiet today, and so we closed the kitchen early … they said this time.
The recession surely has ended, if a restaurant can afford to turn away a «willing to pay» customer twice in a row.

Inside the lovely Royal Exchange building and overlooking the teeming shoppers as they rummage through zillions of pounds worth of Rolexes and what-​have-​you, Sauterelle is a bit of an oasis, albeit it’s probably one of those restaurants most often frequented for business purposes. Nonetheless the French cuisine is impeccable, simple, with very carefully sourced ingredients that really shine.
The service is perfect, of course.

A pleasant place with a large convivial bar area and a nice dining area overlooking the floor of the Royal Exchange.
The food was European nouvelle, interesting and quite good, especially the lamb. Worth every penny, though the prices are not the cheapest in town. Service was great, the wine list tolerable, and the only gripe is the long walk to the toilets.

Restaurant Sauterelle is one of the younger in the stable of London Conran restaurants opening in only November 2005. Promising simple classic French food and a constantly changing menu depending on the season it was opened at The Royal Exchange in Bank to compliment stable mate, and the very popular, Grand Café and Bar.
The location of the restaurant is superb offering views into the courtyard or alternatively on to the hustle and bustle of the streets of Bank.
Fine dining can get quite expensive but tonight we were taking advantage of a
tasting menu offer which our friendly waitress informed us was actually fairly new.
The food was very high quality but not actually all that adventurous but I guess with simplicity you can’t go too crazy. Portions weren’t gigantic but the three courses were definitely enough to leave you feeling satisfied. And I was especially glad to see that the salmon appeared to be of a very high quality.
The service was very good from the maitre d’ to the waitress to our drink waiter. It was all very responsive and friendly without being overbearing. Hard to say how it would cope when the restaurant becomes a little busier.