12 New Street Square,
The City,
London,
EC4A 3BF
(020) 7842 0750
The ViewLondon Review
You may find the atmosphere a bit dry and the food solid if unspectacular, but the wine list lifts Corney and Barrow up a few notches, with countless carefully selected bottles.
The Venue
City bars are often minimal, dry spaces, pretty void of all character, but this location of Corney and Barrow manages to, on the whole, avoid the stereotypes. The venue spreads over a spacious ground-floor which looks across the green and grey New Street Square.
The furnishing is reminiscent of an American diner, with cylindrical stools by the bar and 50s-inspired leather chairs that sit around square tables, forged from laminated dark wood. The white, grey, red and brown colour scheme adds to the
retro theme.
Along the glass-fronted side, you can grab one of the booths, made up of two small grey settees dotted with red and brown pillows. From here you have the best views of the square and its lunch hour bustle, although there are outdoors tables, which are
ideal for those rare days when the sun shines.
The Atmosphere
Suits and office attire is almost de rigueur at Corney and Barrow. The space is nevertheless filled with chatter and music, and Corney and Barrow is definitely a popular destination for those working in the area, with people of all ages enjoying the wine or
a bite.
The Food
The menu is structured around British favourites with a few concessions to world food. A range of appetisers and platters (£2.50-£16) includes a selection of breads with red pesto and oil, which is satisfying and tasty thanks to a very flavourful pesto and
seeded bread.
Alternatively, the Mediterranean platter has excellent tomatade, olives and balsamic baby onions, with additional pickled wild mushrooms, olive tapenade, sun-blushed peppers and red onions, feta cheese marinated with mint and orange and potato
wedges.
The mains (£10-£18) include shepherd’s pie, smoked haddock kedgeree, steak and kidney pudding and more. The braised lamb shank served in Irish stout, with colcannon and spring greens is tender yet lacks a bit in the flavour department.
The desserts (£4) is where it all comes together: the steamed sticky toffee sponge is warm, gooey and indulgently sweet while the Irish coffee chocolate mousse served in a Martini glass has a great chocolaty flavour with all the lightness of a mousse.
Served with shortbread, it is ideal before a strong coffee.
The Drink
The Corney and Barrow parent company has been a wine merchant since 1780 and the knowledge accumulated since then is outstanding. They stock over 70 quality bottles, leaving you spellbound for choice even when you are trying to opt for your
usual Sauvignon: they have an entire page of them! And the same goes for Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, with a dozen wines for each grape variety.
Price-wise, bottles are affordable at £18-£40 (you’ll pay £70 for their finest), small glasses are £5-£7.65 and large ones £6.25-£9.75. Almost all bottles are available by the glass so you cannot even rely on a restricted choice to finally make up your
mind on one or the other. However, if you are ordering food, you can go with their suggestion: they mention one wine for each dish they serve. Alternatively, you can escape the common grape varieties and choose the less seen Muscadet, Viognier,
Gewurztraminer and many others.
If you are here to celebrate the latest success of your team, go straight to the Champagne list, rather grand thanks to a large selection of regular, vintage, rose and magnums. Prices oscillate between £40 and £195 for regular bottles and escalate to
£95-£1200 for magnums. Four types of Champagne are also available by the glass (£9-£19), including the prestigious Laurent Perrier Rose.
Wine is definitely their forte, but at Corney And Barrow they are versatile enough to shake a few cocktails and stock quality beers (£3.70-£4.35) like Kirin Ichiban, Bitburger, Steinlager, Hahn Premium, Innis and Gunn, Ivanhoe, Pilsner Urquell, Hooky
Bitter and others.
The Last Word
The wine list provides the magnetic attraction for Corney and Barrow and paying a visit to sample the different varieties on offer is definitely one well spent.
Corney and Barrow at New Street Square has been reviewed by 2 users