The South Bank’s now vast dining metropolis started with just one. The Archduke has catered to visitors, commuters and residents in this historic area of London for the past three decades.

The Venue
The Archduke is one of the South Bank’s old stalwarts. A jazz, wine bar and restaurant it’s been nestled under the vast arches of Waterloo Station since 1979. With the London Eye, Royal Festival Hall and South Bank all nearby The Archduke is truly blessed by its location. With exposed brick arches and a huge glass frontage it has the potential to be a nice, modern brasserie in a unique location. However, the current decor is dark and dated and crammed with typical bistro trappings, a sticky carpet flooring and dim lighting.

The dining and drinking areas are stretched out over four floors each with plenty of snug-like hidey holes. Inside, retro advertising posters decorate the odd wall and for the jazz element there’s a baby grand piano and a double bass loitering on the middle floor.

The Atmosphere
Whatever it is The Archduke must be doing something right for it’s packed to the rafters. The main clientele is businessmen of a certain age, ladies who like a white wine spritzer before getting the train home to Woking and large groups of business boys in for a few pints and a quick burger. Despite its distinct lack of romantic charm it also seems a popular place for a dinner a deux. The staff are efficient enough but a short stint at charm school wouldn’t do them any harm.

The Food
The (laminated) menu is rather limited with some unmemorable starters, a handful of main dishes, three steak options and a wholly uninspiring mozzarella stack for the vegetarians. The asparagus spears with parmesan, rocket and a poached egg (£6) is disappointing. It looks pretty enough, however the asparagus and hollandaise sauce are completely flavourless. On the plus side, the hen’s egg is cooked perfectly. The crayfish and avocado salad tower with creme fraiche (£6) is again rather flavourless and lacking in any sort of seasoning and the diced avocado base could be fresher.

From the grill there’s a choice of three steaks, ribeye (£18) fillet (£23) and cote de boeuf which at 600g is plenty for two to share (£28). The fillet is cooked rare as desired and comes with a small tin of crisp fries, although these seem more like the frozen variety rather than the promised hand-cut. The steak, despite being “prime aged Scottish beef” is bland and lacks a depth of flavour. A handful of limp salad leaves and disappointing gelatinous bearnaise sauce completes this overpriced dish. The Beef Wellington (£20) comes with a tasty but slightly greasy potato gratin and watery wilted spinach. The small fillet steak is cooked to medium and topped with a melange of chopped mushroom before being placed under a lattice pastry lid. Back in 1979 when The Archduke first opened, this dish would have been a tasty rare treat, but in 2010 it just seems dated and over-indulgent.

For dessert, the kitchen again takes inspiration from the early years. The New York cheesecake (£6) is firm, creamy and pleasant enough but doesn’t taste homemade. The chocolate ice cream sundae (£6) is yet another nod to the Eighties complete with a tower of squirty cream and a chocolate straw.

The Drink
The regular bar has all the usual suspects on board and with a couple of decent ales thrown in including Black Sheep Bitter (£4) and Bishops Finger (£4). The wine list is not overly extensive but quite varied in both style and price. The house red wine is Casa Do Lago, a fruity Ribatejo from Portugal. Although smooth and easy to drink, at £18 a bottle it’s a little overpriced for a house wine even in SE1. For a couple of quid more you can get a nice organic Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon (£20). The white wines are of similar value with a Pinot Grigio coming in at £18 a bottle or a nice Chablis at £30. For those celebrating a rare City bonus, the fizz is priced around £40 for a bottle of Mumm NV.

The Last Word
Despite being established for more than three decades, The Archduke is a sad example of dated, overpriced London dining. It has relied on its fantastic location and regular commuter-ville clientele for far too long. However, if it smartened itself up and brought the menu into the 21st century The Archduke could be one of the South Bank’s gems.

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