Simpson's-in-the-Strand is one of London's oldest traditional English restaurants. Situated in the Strand, it is part of the Savoy Buildings, which also contain one of the world's most famous hotels, the Savoy.
After a modest start in 1828 as a smoking room and soon afterwards as a coffee house, Simpson's achieved a dual fame, around 1850, for its traditional English food, particularly roast meats, and also as the most important venue in Britain for chess in the nineteenth century. Chess ceased to be a feature after Simpson's was bought by the Savoy Hotel group of companies at the end of the century, but as a purveyor of traditional English food, Simpson's has remained a celebrated dining venue throughout the twentieth century and into the twenty-first. P.G. Wodehouse called it "a restful temple of food".
Guests put on their best attire and head down to Simpsons-in-the-Strand, an iconic London venue which also boasts chess history.
The evening starts off with a champagne reception and a bit of light-hearted blitz amongst the players…at least that’s how it starts out! But, when you put 50,000 ELO points in one room, it can only mean trouble!
The Classic players are all relaxed after their long event is over and they often please some of their fans by facing them in a game or two. Some retired English GMs come out of the woodwork especially for this event, as playing against the world elite over a glass or two is something they just don’t want to miss!
Levon Aronian welcomes a familiar face… Grandmaster Dave Norwood
The dinner is always of high quality at Simpsons and the wine is always free-flowing, which definitely helps! However, the main attraction of the evening, is the tandem simul given by the Classic 10. There are usually 17-20 tables of guests, all with a chess board and a chess “expert” on their table. The Classic 10 take it in turn to make a move on each board, mixing up their styles of play and having fun on each table. Of course, some Grandmasters take it a lot more seriously than others and do not give the guests any chances whatsoever.
Simpson’s still focuses on British ingredients with Scottish beef a specialty. Meats are carved at the tableside from antique silver-domed trolleys – a practice that started in the mid 19th Century to avoid disturbing the chess games and allowing food to be taken directly to the chess tables. This style of service continues today. In 1974 it was one of only 9 London restaurants to be the first recipients of a Michelin Star in London. The restaurant is open for breakfast, lunch or dinner. The Knights Bar is open for drinks and small bites from 11 onwards.
Kayden Peterson
i like your thread user.
Joshua Nelson
Viral marketing shill faggot
Daniel Clark
I wish you'd at least put in some effort.
Isaac Moore
kys namefag
Parker Morris
Go fuck yourself
Jonathan Gutierrez
But do they serve steamed hams?
Brody Carter
No, just Sneed hams.
-this has been a post by the chop project
Owen Rogers
i suck old men cock
Jace Brown
This is the oldest known Staunton Chess set in the world, "Old No. 8". It was the 8th set of the original production run by Jaques of London. It was made in 1849 and brought out to Simpsons a few years ago for an exhibition game with Gary Kasparov.
Landon Russell
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Justin Adams
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Easton Green
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Aiden Thomas
The place looks nice. Is it very expensive?
Alexander Adams
Sneed hams (formerly chuck roast)
Owen Rogers
£35 for the roast beef + sides. pic related is roast grouse, £16.
Pretty inexpensive considering the kind of place it is.
Asher Taylor
Yeah, that's not unreasonable. I thought it might be way out of my league but I could afford that. Might go next time I visit London. I'll make a note of it anyway.
Xavier Green
Nah, $50 a plate is pretty standard for old fashioned upscale steakhouses, and you're going to be spending at least as much on drinks as you do food if you have at least two glasses of anything halfway decent.
"Your mother always told you it was rude to draw attention to the fact that old people smell funny, even if they do, and it is tempting to suggest the same should be true for grand old buildings. But when the smell is unmissable, as it is at Simpsons-in-the-Strand, something has to be said, doesn’t it?
The smell is so terribly English, so much the very essence of country house and faded aristocracy. It is the smell of school dinners and wet tweed and damp dog. It is the smell of a century’s worth of boiled cabbage. "
Nathan Diaz
Wow, those are insanely reasonable prices. I jelly. Over here places like that would quickly congeal into hipsters/nu-males jacking up prices and taking a flamethrower to traditional aesthetics.
"Simpson's in the Strand, is unique. Here, if he wishes, the Briton may, for the small sum of half a dollar, stupefy himself with food. The God of Fatted Plenty has the place under his protection. Its keynote is solid comfort. It is a pleasant, soothing, hearty place – a restful temple of food. No strident orchestra forces the diner to bolt beef in ragtime. No long central aisle distracts his attention with its stream of new arrivals. There he sits, alone with his food, while white-robed priests, wheeling their smoking trucks, move to and fro, ever ready with fresh supplies"
>In 1984 Simpson's dropped its rule forbidding women from using the panelled street-level dining-room at lunchtime.
Julian Price
You're fucking retarded, my man. In every city in America there are at least a couple long-standing steakhouses with upscale atmospheres and good service that have similar prices.
John Rogers
Kek, eat shit faggot
Lucas Morales
Being this new
Sebastian Miller
This must be one of the nice bits of London. When I was there it was like a modern day remake of 'Zulu'.
Caleb Harris
Pork cheek to start, Scottish beef for a main, and tracle sponge for afters. Probs a macallan 12 whilst waiting for food, then water, then a nice port and a pipe full of Danish Gold after the meal.
Colton White
>traditional English restaurant >Pajeet servers
Of course.
>getting dressed up and paying premium prices to eat at a glorified Toby Carvery
Absolute state of this country.
Camden Stewart
>traditional English restaurants sounds disgusting
Aaron Rodriguez
>A service charge of 12.5% has been included
Fuck the fuck off
Ryan Jones
looks depressing and boring
Noah Nelson
Not diverse enough, fuck white people and fuck donald drumpf
Jace White
It's got coloured staff in the videos, so it's quite diverse. Food looks garbage though.
Lincoln Perry
Isn't that what nontippers want? Instead of paying a tip you pay the price listed and the restaurant pays the staff a living wage?
Ryder Butler
I wish it was true. My city is over 200 years old and the most upscale place here serves mediocre food for really high prices. The interior is straight out of 1975 too.
Jacob Collins
Is it Halal? I would like to bring my harem and if it doesn't accept my culture by Allah I will shut this place down.
Nicholas Cook
I think a Mr. Bean movie was filmed in that restaurant.
Christopher Stewart
why is that chicken so overcooked
Justin Mitchell
the british cant cook for shit, this is a meme restaurant.
Connor Kelly
And that is a meme comment
Luis Peterson
>Reddit memeing with an attention whore namefag The state of you
Anthony Morgan
>pretends he’ll ever get to come to England Why would you worry, Cletus?
Bentley Morales
Don't confuse traditional British cuisine, with the British ability to cook.
They can cook fine, but their traditional food is garbage. Thankfully it's not 1940 any more so it doesn't matter.
Jason Lee
Nontippers just want to snub waitstaff
Brayden Gutierrez
35 quid for a couple of slices of beef, a yorkshire pudding and a couple of roasties. An extra fiver for some peas on the side. Then add your service charge on and you're looking at forty five quid.
That's before you've paid for three pints of Tetleys before Sunday Lunch, two pints with your dinner, and a Bells to finish.
fuck that.
Elijah Mitchell
You seem like you're english, are there still good local places to go for food like this that isn't this expensive?
Luke Long
Yes - find yourself a Sunday Carvery that isn't part of a chain (Toby and Crown are the big players that I would avoid if you're looking for something like Simpsons)
Golf clubs are often a good bet for a decent independent Sunday Carvery, as are Country Pubs.
The format is slightly different - rather than the roast beef coming to you on a trolley, you go to the Carving table, where any decent carvery will have a minimum of Beef, Turkey, Gammon and Lamb waiting. Tell the chef what you would like (choosing a combination of meats is totally fine) and he will carve for you and offer you a freshly baked Yorkshire Pudding, after which you can add a wide variety of vegetables, gravies and condiment sauces to your plate before returning to your table to enjoy your Sunday Lunch.
Prices range from around eight to 12 pounds per person depending on where you are in England.
Liam Garcia
Is this what britbong shilling is like?
Isaac Gonzalez
cheeky artists drew the room to be higher and more impressive
Ryan Kelly
back then, people were shorter tbf
Lucas Taylor
>manlet-o-vision nah I mean the whole room proportions are different too.
Christopher Fisher
True. Comparing the two images closely it looks like they shortened the wood panels in the refit - I guess it was cheaper to use less wood and more paint.
Luke Moore
>beef >English
I'm pretty sure beef is French.
Caleb Reyes
Sounds comfy as hell user.
Ethan Hall
Boeuf. I can't stand english pour être honnête. A language so simple and stupid, even a monkey could learn it in two weeks.
>International language, wondering why.
Leo Ramirez
I count myself lucky to be English every Sunday Lunch user.
Jonathan Bell
It's American actually. British "cuisine" is just a poor man's American cuisine.
Aaron Ortiz
>I'm pretty sure beef is French. Believe it or not beef is the flesh of a dead cow.
Bentley Fisher
Spokane checking in.
James Richardson
tl;dr but >naming your "fancy" restaurant after a shitty cartoon Why? Talk about obsessed.
Jack Robinson
Where and what the fuck is this?
I'm in Spokane for work next month, I want to eat here.
Juan Foster
Toby varies a lot. Some of them are genuinely top nosh and pretty cheap
Xavier Barnes
The Davenport... there are many great restaurants around town.
Jordan Campbell
Thanks, I'll check it out.
When I'm in Spokane (every few months) it's usually just Mexican joints and Zips.
I miss the surprising amount of good restaurants in Pullman/Moscow.
Sebastian Ward
>there are many great restaurants around town. This is a troll. We are nowhere near the level of Branson or Chicago when it comes to fine dining. If you think Denny's or the Davenport are fine dining you need to kill yourself. Sounds like you'll love this little place called Red Lobster on Division St.
Elijah Howard
>Sounds like you'll love this little place called Red Lobster on Division St. That was shit.
More like I fly in to town, work a full 10 hour day, have like 2 hours to eat before I have to go to sleep to be up to work another 10 hour day before flying out.
I prefer Seattle for food but I don't go there near as often .
Levi Phillips
I agree, the Red Lobster in Seattle is to die for.
Andrew Evans
Have you been to the Steam Plant? Kinda cool to have a beer there. Chirchill’s has better food, but if you never stepped foot in the Davenport, it’s worth having lunch there.
There is a serious amount of one-off little places that have some very nice fare.
Aiden Powell
I did step foot in the Davenport and they turned me away for wearing a Pokemon shirt.
