Restaurant Review: The Folly, London, England

The Folly - lunch on December 27, 2013

The Folly
41 Gracechurch St
London EC3V OBT
0845 468 0102

Lunch was at a restaurant called The Folly which we discovered just by walking around far enough from the Tower of London so it wasn't a complete tourist trap. I liked the street address because it was on Gracechurch St which, as any Jane Austen fan knows from Pride & Prejudice is where the Gardiners lived when Jane went to stay with her aunt and uncle in London (yes, I'm having a geek moment). It was an address the Bingley sisters felt were beneath them but in modern day London (and outside of Austen's fictional world), it was fine.

Inside The Folly

We arrived a little after noon but the place was empty which at first was surprising because it was the lunch hour but it turns out that by London standards, that was a bit early for lunch and by the time we left after 1 pm, the place was quite packed.

My nieces split the special of the day which didn't have a fancy name but was simply a spicy Asian noodle dish with seafood. I got the bangers and mash (we were in the UK, after all, but  the translation for anyone not familiar with the term is sausages and mashed potatoes) and we also ordered a side of potato and sweet potato wedges. The sausages in my order were pretty tasty and the gravy accompanying the mashed potatoes was delicious. My order was in a silver bowl with sides just a trifle too high and served on a wooden trencher which I thought was a cute way to serve and reminiscent of an earlier era when food really was eaten from trenchers.

Bangers and Mash

The wait staff at The Folly were very nice although we seemed to be waited on by several different people so I was never quite sure who was our server. One striking difference between London and US restaurants is they never hurry you along. Even though the restaurant was filling up and there were people standing waiting for a table, no one was pushing us out of there and it actually took us a few minutes to find someone to bring us our bill when we were ready to leave. I always feel bad lingering at a table when other people are waiting but no one who worked at the restaurant seemed too concerned about it. Nevertheless, we settled up and went on our way.

The potato wedges were rather large; the sweet potato wedges were better and smaller

I enjoyed the food and ambiance at the Folly and would definitely recommend it for anyone in the area.