Serpentine Road,
Hyde Park,
London,
W2 2UH
(020) 7706 8114
The ViewLondon Review
With great views and fair prices, Serpentine Bar and Kitchen is one alfresco dining experience that won’t break the bank.
The Venue
Alfresco dining in London can be fantastic – when the weather holds out, anyway – but more often than not, you get what you pay for, leaving the truly beautiful outdoor spaces confined to mostly pricey restaurants. Luckily, there’s Serpentine Bar and Kitchen in Hyde Park. Although it’s owned by benugo, a chain of restaurants and coffee shops, it has a lovingly unique feel. The inside is a large, circular space, with a bar and open kitchen placed in one half and tables in the other, with a more enclosed, purple-walled space in the centre.
The decor is simple but old fashioned, a rustic mix of plain and ornate wooden tables and chairs scattered evenly across the floor, ensuring that nearly everywhere gets a view through the floor to ceiling windows of the glittering Serpentine with rows of lush green trees lining its edges. A cutesy cakes and desserts table, a wooden grand piano and a few board games are also nice to look at, but the real winner is the view.
Seating outside consists of patterned deck chairs, white tables with more conventional seating and metallic picnic tables. Large cushions are also available to sit on on the grassy area. The seats and tables spread all the way across the eastern edge of the Serpentine, making it a perfect spot to relax along the edge of the water, watching people feed the ducks, geese and occasional ambitious pigeon. Future plans include an outside bar and an ice cream van at the far end of the outdoor area.
The Atmosphere
Serpentine Bar and Kitchen is self service, meaning that you grab a seat, note the table number and, like in a pub, head up to the bar to order. If you’d rather not wait for the food to be brought to your table, pre-packaged sandwiches and drinks are available from a cold counter. Although there’s not really table service as such, there are enough staff criss-crossing through the room, bringing food and clearing empty tables, that should you need to catch someone’s eye it shouldn’t take more than a minute. The lack of having to order from a waiter or waitress and ask for the bill at the end makes it even more relaxing – if you want something, you just go and get it, and you can spend as little or as long as you want here without feeling rushed.
And not feeling rushed seems to be exactly what everyone’s doing, from single diners with laptops and notebooks to small lunchtime meetings to families stopping for a bite after wandering around Hyde Park. The restaurant is open until 8pm, making it ideal for an early – but inexpensive – romantic dinner on the water.
The Food
The menu here is much more casual than your traditional three course a la carte offerings. There’s a selection of mains, salads, sandwiches and pizzas, all priced under £10, plus sides between about £2 and £3. Portions are more than adequate if not large – a pizza could easily feed two for lunch for less than £8. Aside from their pizzas and calzone, made in their wood-fire pizza oven, dishes are predominantly English, such as potted brown shrimps and a roast meat sandwich. A kids’ menu is also available from about £3 to £5 for dishes like salmon fishcake, courgette and feta croquettes and the ever-popular beans on toast, whilst an opening time of 8am sees breakfast on offer, from toast, butter and jam (£1.75) to a full English breakfast (£8.25).
From the main menu, roast chicken (£9) is one of the heartier portions, more suited for dinner than for lunch, with half a roasted chicken, softly cooked shallots, crisp roast potatoes and a delicate, orange-flavoured sauce that you can taste in the juicy chicken. A side of spring greens smells incredibly buttery but actually tastes quite light, the tender leaves a good accompaniment to the chicken. Pizza with courgette, pine nuts, pesto and Cashel Blue cheese (£8.50) is more than enough for one and is well made, with a good balance of toppings and a thick, chewy crust – the cheese is slightly sharper than you might expect but it’s a good balance with the mild courgettes.
Salads include a fresh and light English garden salad (£7.25) with peas, beans, new potatoes, baby carrots and a soft boiled egg amidst a pile of crisp leaves. The warm fennel, courgette and baby leek salad (£7) is another filling dish, with a large amount of roasted veg (including red peppers and aubergines as well as the advertised fennel, courgettes and leeks) in a tangy vinaigrette.
Although there’s no pudding menu at the moment, a table filled with cakes, biscuits, muffins and brownies (about £2 - £3 each) should suffice if you have a sweet tooth, or want something to accompany your coffee. There's also the soon to be introduced ice cream van, which is scheduled to serve cold desserts including ice cream and frozen custard.
The Drink
There’s a vast variety of drinks on offer, including Amstel and Heineken plus Cornish ales like Doom Bar from £3.70 a pint. Fresh and bottled juices include a sweet, refreshing pomegranate juice, pineapple juice and Chegworth Valley apple juice, plus soft drinks, smoothies, coffees and pots of tea.
Wines range from a well priced £14.50 to £28 a bottle, with many available by the glass (£3.75 to £7.50 for 175ml, £7.25 to £14.50 for 375ml). Choices are mixed between countries, with France, Argentina, Australia, Spain, Italy and New Zealand all making an appearance. Champagne is £9.95 a glass and £47.50 a bottle, but cheaper fizzy options are available from £5.50 a glass and £25 a bottle.
The Last Word
With a location that will no doubt pull in lots of traffic, Serpentine Bar and Kitchen could have easily hiked up the prices and people still would have been more than willing to pay for its relaxing and beautiful waterside view. Thankfully, though, the menu is more than affordable and the food is more than worth it, making this a quality alfresco dining spot that everyone can enjoy.
Serpentine Bar and Kitchen has been reviewed by 2 users