In the hub of St Paul’s, Madison’s restaurant and bar is famed for electric atmosphere and spectacular views of London.
Situated at the top of One New Change shopping centre, Madison’s is a central London hotspot owned by D&D that boasts unobstructed skyline views for miles. Madison’s terrace bar allows patrons to enjoy cocktails in the breeze, mostly suitable in warmer weather, while the indoor area provides a second bar and restaurant accompanied by live music and DJ’s.
Madison’s décor is contemporary, with leather couches, dark tables and chairs, and the typical gentrified ‘hanging bulb’ lighting fixtures. You’ll mostly find city workers flocking to Madison’s for a post-work refreshment, but the Manhattan-style restaurant open from midday until late is often overlooked as a dining option. Serving lunch, dinner and Sunday brunch, the restaurant menu features ‘superb grills from the wood fired Josper oven, delicious salads, burgers and a comforting selection of slow cooked classics.’
Arriving 7pm sharp for my reservation (which couldn’t be found, but then was swiftly resolved regardless), we fought through busy crowds to our find our table. Although the famous view was obstructed by mingling around the lounge area, the smoked ham hock & pigs trotter fritter cooked with pickled carrots, smoked carrot puree and roasted oats (£11) was able to make up for it. Crunchy, zesty and correctly portioned, it was a fine introduction to the menu.
Between the salad, grill and main options, choosing was difficult. I settled on the corn-fed chicken breast marinated in miso (£23) served with baked polenta, turnips, crisped sage and onion puree. Service was undeniably slow, remedied only by an aromatic bottle of white wine. The chicken was tender, the sweet onions complimentary to otherwise bland block of polenta.
Dessert was able to salvage the day: passionfruit cheesecake with raspberries and almond biscuit (£7) was delightfully and indulgently sweet. A cocktail from the drinks menu never goes amiss at Madison’s, therefore a digestif rounded up the meal well.
If you have time to enjoy a longer sit down meal and perhaps spare an hour to lounge after, dinner at Madison’s worth the view alone. Otherwise, you might be better suited enjoying a Soul Sunday Brunch at Madison’s with less of the hustle bustle, and more delicious Sunday roast options.
Madison Restaurant can be found at Rooftop Terrace, One New Change, London, EC4M 9AF.
