In the shadow of the Old Bailey, Firefly is a modern bar serving decent food and drink to an appreciative City audience.

The Venue
With two other venues in the Firefly group based south of the river in Balham and Clapham, the launch of the City branch (a couple of years ago) was an ambitious move and you can bet their landmark address costs a small fortune in rent and rates. Fortunately, it also means they’re right in the thick of it when it comes to office parties, corporate events and expense accounts.

Design-wise it’s a fairly standard mix of exposed brick and varnished woods set over two floors. The ground level is where the day-to-day trade takes place, with the basement offering an additional space for private events. The venue’s biggest selling point is the view afforded by its glass windows which allow you to glimpse through at one of capital’s most famous buildings.

The Atmosphere
Like many venues in this part of town, it’s all about lunchtime and early evening at Firefly. At these times, you can expect it to be jostling with a smart City crowd, with professional attire the order of the day, although this is not a gaff where more casual attire is frowned on, by any means. The conversation flows thick and fast and, particularly on Thursday evenings, it’s almost as if the weekend has arrived early for many of those present.

The Food
A familiar bar menu comprehensively covers the bases of the likes of burgers, salads, pie and mash and steaks. Sharing platters are also popular with groups of work colleagues looking to eat without the formality of sitting down over 3 courses.

Starters have an international feel – deep-fried prawn butterfly or chicken teriyaki skewers – and cost £3-£6.50. Mains are reasonably priced too; the most expensive option, a sirloin steak and chips, is only £11.50. Crowd-pleasing options continue to push the pub-grub envelope, a fish (pollack) and chips (£10.95) has a caper-tastic homemade tartar sauce, a nicely dressed salad, clean fish and light batter but stumpy fries with their skin left on end up tasting dry and tired.

Another classic, the sausage and mash, is plentiful and has onion rings thrown on top of buttery mash and plump Cumberland sausages. The pool of gravy it is served with is incredibly salty, to the point that you are left parched and gasping for water.

Desserts (all £4.25) are the highlight of the sitting. Not one but two round chocolate fondants are presented on a large white plate with swishes of chocolate sauce decorating the plate and a scoop of vanilla ice cream to provide the cold to the hot sticky pudding. Alternatively, a slice of stodgy chocolate fudge cake has a whipped cream layer like a gateau as well as sticky toffee sauce and chocolate sponge. All in all it’s a pleasurable end to the meal.

The Drink
Cocktails are very much a forte of Firefly and their Mojito (£6.95) is densely packed with fresh mint, chopped limes and crushed ice creating a refreshing drink that’s especially good on sultry evenings. A salt-encrusted Margarita is also enjoyable – the sourness is finely balanced with sugar so as not to leave your eyes watering and it is also available in strawberry and raspberry flavours if you want to sweeten it further.

Plenty of people are happy to drink the City’s after work drink of choice – vino and beer – at Firefly. Warsteiner on draught is a rare sight, so a pint of that is well worth sampling if you’re a more adventurous lager drinker, whilst house wine starts from £4.10 a glass and £14 a bottle. A good shout out of the reds is the Roccalanna Vincola from Sicily, a lovely brambly red with plenty of spice to give it extra character.

The Last Word
With its iconic address opposite the Old Bailey, Firefly has a business district address that practically guarantees a brisk trade. Thankfully, it doesn’t just rely on its location and a visit here is a safe bet to satisfy your thirst in this part of The City.

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