The view from outside the Design Museum
For those who think that London is a horrendously expensive city, you’re right. But there are some great meals to be had at a reasonable price here too. Case in point is the Blue Print cafe at London’s Design Museum. Something that you’d assume that because of the view and the fact that it’s in a Design Museum, would cost you an arm and a leg but gladly not. If you just show up prices are higher but if you book through a site like www.london-eating.com you can take advantage of their special offers that get you 3 courses for £20 and 2 courses for £15, something you wouldn’t even find in Sydney.
The Blue Print Cafe, upstairs at the Design Museum
This booking system also lets them know that my sister is a repeat customer so snagging a window table with a view is not a problem. Of course being London, the sunshine is replaced shortly by rain but it’s still a lovely view nevertheless. The service from our waitress doesn’t quite match up to the lovely view and the surroundings. The offer allows us to order anything from the menu below £7 for the starter and £17 from the mains and anything higher is a supplement of £2.50 for the entrees or £4 for the mains.
Binoculars, should you feel like seeing what everyone else is up to
We order our entrees and mains, but no dessert for us as we’re stuffed from an overload of food today. While we wait, there are blue binoculars on the table so that we can make the most of the view.
Beetroot salad, a soft boiled egg, mustard & horseradish £6.00
Our entrees arrive, the Beetroot salad, a soft boiled egg, mustard & horseradish with sweet beetroot and with a strong horseradish flavour which rules this out for me but my husband likes this dish very much indeed.
Chicken liver pâté pickles & toast £6.50
My Chicken liver pâté, pickles & toast looks large and impressive with an ice cream scoop size of chicken liver pâté, lovely and mild. The long slice of toasted Poilâne miche is deliciously crunchy with the pâté and I enjoy every bite.
Sardines on toast & a fried egg £6.50
My sister opts not to share the sardines but says that the bread is nice and oily but finds that the sardines are too dry.
The mains arrive shortly later along with a side serve of wilted, buttered spinach and lightly roasted potatoes.
Lamb’s sweetbreads, capers & black butter £14.00
My lamb sweetbreads, yes pancreas, are the definite winner, lightly dredged in flour and then fried crisply they are lovely and soft inside with a light crunch on the outside with just the right amount of capers and browned butter (or black butter as they call it although I believe this is different to brown butter) to add flavour.
Whole grilled bream £15.00
The whole grilled bream is certainly impressive looking, my husband’s eyes light up at the sight of a whole fish. There’s something about the sight of a whole grilled fish that makes me think of being stranded on a deserted island and catching a whole fish. It’s good although perhaps in need of some seasoning.
The lamb is an interesting dish, deliciously soft and fall apart lamb, it’s intensely flavoured and seasoned with herbs like coriander and rosemary as well as salty olives. It’s heady and reminiscent of the food that we ate in Paris.
Funnily enough we ask for our bill and they bring us a bill for £3.50 for one drink. We could skip out and pay for this but my sister knows, and we understand, that she’ll be back for this scenic, valuable gem.
Blue Print Cafe at the Design Museum
Shad Thames
London SE1 2YD
Vegetarian options: 1 entree and 1 main option plus desserts
Tel: 020 7378 7031
Nearest Tube:
Tower Hill (District, Circle)
London Bridge (Jubliee, Northern)
Lunch: Monday-Saturday 12noon-3pm
Sunday 12noon-4pm
Dinner: Monday-Saturday 6pm-11pm
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14 Comments | Add your own
Belu-tiful (sic) photos! Love your ‘eye’ – your composition is de-light-ful.
Thanks for sharing this gem! I loved the photo of the Tower of London – so if this is the view you get, then it should be on all tourists itineraries. Though the food has to be at least “a little” good! Which it sounds like it was.
I wanted to bookmark the eating in London website, but it kept coming up with a 404 error. Is that the number?
The only thing I didn’t like was the parsley snipped with kitchen scissors over the top of the lamb. I did a commercial cookery/hospitality course once (6 months full time.. I know, that’s superfluous
) and many were abused ‘Ramsay-style’ if they used parsley as a garnish. Better hide it in a gremolata or something.. But I do parsley on top of things myself at home.. Because I like the flavour (gasp)!!
I want to come back and see that website you linked to because that’s a really good tip for anyone ever planning to go to the UK, thanks Lorraine!
p.s. Also curious, what is that sprinkled on top of your pate?
this was such a good deal that i went back on a sunday for lunch to order my own sweetbreads. miam. good thing we paid the bill.
The Chicken liver pâté pickles & toast looks awesome, one of my favourite ‘comfort’ foods for lack of a better term.
Love that first photo of the view outside. Those binoculars are a nice touch also. I’m not sure I understand what you meant about the bill at the end. Did you prepay for your meal?
Yum! The pate looks divine! I’m disappointed that when I was in Europe I was young and broke and didn’t have a proper appreciation of good food or wine. I suppose it’s a good excuse to go back!
What a find! It’s always good to come across cheap(ish) places in London. It’s not quite the same, but I frequented Pizza Express (near the Globe Theatre) a bit when I was there!
Wow, you take really beautiful photos! The view from outside the designing museum is superb!
What a fantastic view! The view alone is worth 20 pounds. I love the look the beetroot salad – I am not sure how I’d go with the horseradish, but I am a fan of beetroot, especially its gorgeous royal purple colour.
I have awarded you the Great Blogging Buddy award:
http://kitchenlaw.blogspot.com/2008/11/home-made-christmas-gifts-panforte.html
Hi kyle-Thankyou so much!
The setting was so nice it was easy to photograph 
Hi Maria-Thanks! I’m surprised it’s not more popular-the view and the food were spectacular!
Sorry I’ve fixed the link
Haha oh really? I didn’t think parsley was too bad-it didn’t taste out of place?
Hmm It was crunchy from what I can recall, although I can’t remember the flavour!
Hi blythe-Yeah if we hadn’t, no more sweetbreads. Those sweetbreads were really good…
Hi Howard-I don’t know if I can go back to regular toast after the miche
Might have to get some from Sonoma 
Hi Y-I loved having the binoculars-very useful when there’s a view. No we didn’t prepay, they just gave us a bill for £3.50 total for the three of us so they’d given us someone else’s bill. We could’ve just paid it but that’s a bit mean and it also meant that we couldn’t come back as they’d soon figure out they’d charged us incorrectly.
Hi Annie-Europe can be so expensive, I remember when all you had to watch out for was the pound! Definitely a good reason to go back
Hi belle-I wish there was something like that here, but I think that would be hoping for the impossible
What were their pizzas like?
Hi Hungry Hamster-Thanks so much! The outdoor ones were by my husband (he has a steadier hand than me
). Lovely view indeed!
Hi Cakelaw-I agree, let’s not tell them in case they raise their prices heehee
I’m the same, it was nice until the horseradish.
Oooh thankyou so much! That’s so lovely of you!
It looks so fabulous! You always go to the neatest places!
Hi Blond Duck-Thankyou so much! I try-we haven’t had a really bad meal in a long time *crosses fingers*
Congratulations on winning a ‘Great Blogging Buddy Award’.. you will need a bigger mantlepiece at this rate
Hi Maria-Hehe a virtual mantlepiece that is!
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