Why are so many people pacing briskly toward the riverside? This is what I wonder as I arrive at Luna, a dainty wine bar in an old alleyway at Shad Thames. Has someone fallen in? A cigarette later and I learn it’s down to Tower Bridge, its bascules outstretched to allow the passing of a large vessel. These grand mechanisms of our city never seem to get old.
I had taken a Lime bike to Luna, pedalling past old warehouses and their connecting bridges of steel, rolling bumpily on the jaunty cobblestones of Bermondsey dockland. My cousin lived in these parts 20 years ago, when dark alleys were filled with shady characters and working women. Though Le Pont de la Tour was there by then, serving scallops with bacon and Dover sole. But much has changed in these parts.
Today the area is old but new. Bricks haven’t been smogged for years and briny wharfs swirl below tourists eager for another look at the Tower of London and HMS Belfast. All the while, they would do well to visit Luna, with its small plates and orange wines, not to mention a resoundingly chirpy team of Italians and east Londoners. The place is a little sister to the criminally underrated Italian restaurant Legare, just over the road.
To begin, a white wine called Bodega Bodega, refreshing but full of salinity, perfect for a late summer afternoon. It comes from the limestone-rich, high-altitude vineyards of La Mancha in central Spain and proves to be excellent with a portion of hake with girolles, half of which we flake inside our warm dinner rolls with enough butter to upset a cardiologist. Then an orange wine from Naoussa, Greece, whistle-clean thanks to assyrtiko grapes but bouncy thanks to the roditis. This with fried poussin and Friday feels fabulous.
Butlers Wharf Building, 36 Shad Thames, SE1 2YE, lunawinebar.co.uk
Bar snacks
The Hope
48 West Street, Carshalton, hopecarshalton.co.uk
The Hope, in Carshalton, was once threatened with closure before being saved by locals. Yesterday the Campaign for Real Ale hailed the boozer the best pub in London for the seventh time in just 14 years. The Hope has a reputation for a fine selection of beers, affordable prices, simple pub food, and friendly service.
