Any business that has been operating for almost 200 years and in the same location for over a century must be doing something right. John Sweetings opened the original “very superior oyster rooms” in 1830. Your reviewer can report from his first visit in well more than a decade that Sweetings is still going strong. The oysters were indeed very superior, but the whole experience merits another visit before not too long.
Sweetings occupies a strategic corner location on Queen Victoria Street, close to Mansion House. Both its exterior and interior were – unsurprisingly – unchanged relative to my prior visit. In fact, pretty much everything was unchanged. Based on the average age of the staff, many had probably been there for decades too. In a world where many are constantly looking for the novel, there is something reassuring about this venue’s constancy. At Sweetings, the servers wear white coats. There is brown sliced bread placed at the side of each table setting, whether you want it or not. Diners get to admire photos of the late Queen eating here.
It seemed befitting then, that my dining comrade and I were not presented with menus. At Sweetings, they are called “bills of fare.” The options are reassuringly old school. Forget sushi, let alone miso, yuzu or anything that’s from far afield. Just as many regulars probably like it, there’s a choice of the likes of potted shrimps or scallops and bacon with which to begin. Turbot in a mustard sauce or a fish pie could follow.
Whatever you choose will – at least based on our small sample set – be very good. An oyster was obligatory and damn fine it was too, with a perfect level of salty viscosity. A shared potted shrimp followed. It was fatty and fishy in an artery-clogging way, but your reviewer’s guilt was assuaged in the knowledge that he had run 10km in the morning. It’s also not every day you visit Sweetings. The restaurant’s daily special – sea bass with a black squid ink sauce – was a perfect choice for a main. While presented simply as the picture attests, the execution was first class. No faults either for the alcoholic offerings. A cleansing Crémant de Limoux served as a wonderful palate cleanser and punched comfortably above its weight for the price point. A solid Sancerre followed. Word to the wise: forget coffee at Sweetings. The venue does not serve it (and probably never will). We didn’t mind. Somehow it felt like part of the package.