A culinary performance at the National Theatre – Glass plays audience to an applause-worthy dining debut on the South Bank, London
In recent months, the South Bank’s National Theatre has opened the curtains to a menagerie of new social spaces, including The Understudy – a warm, homely craft beer bar with a rustic, pub-like feel. Our visit is swift, but we still get to sample some of the new bar snacks; they’re the sort of thing you’d get in a traditional, countryside pub only slightly more refined. There are beer sticks, smoky olives from Salamanca, pork cracklings and potatoes, all of which complement the selection of local beers wonderfully.
The Understudy has an impressive selection, including draught beers from Greenwich’s Meantime Brewery plus drinks from Pressure Drop in Hackney and Beer By Numbers in Bermondsey. The bar’s in good company, with some incredible food stalls frequenting the surrounding area, and it’s not hard to envisage it becoming a stopping point in many an impromptu, riverside food tour – especially since it has outside seating.
We’re ushered into a connecting room, The Kitchen. It’s new too – a space more conducive to light, pre-show dinners or afternoon slices of cake. The food here is varied, certainly akin to the type of thing you’d get at your parent’s house, and therefore extremely comforting. We sample fish and chips, a light and refreshing pad Thai, and a pasta e fagioli that wouldn’t fail to take the bite out of a brisk winter’s day. It has an impressive dessert chef too, and we’re treated to soft, dark-chocolate brownies and homemade gin & tonic truffles. A more substantial menu is served at the, also new, House Brasserie, which has pretty river views and is more suited to long, lingering evening dinners.
Finally there’s the refreshed and revitalised Bookshop, which is open and airy enough to play welcome host to book signings and family events. It stocks an impressive array of theatre-based goods, including pieces inspired by the props used in some of its most celebrated shows.
by Becky Zanker