Museum food is often an afterthought. The new London Museum in Smithfield is taking a different line, with food that is meant to tell the story of the city as much as the exhibits do. Green & Fortune has now revealed the opening menus for Clerk’s House and Bartholomew’s, the restaurant and bar that open with the museum on 28 November. Reservations are open for both.
Clerk’s House: London’s Dining Table
The 140-cover Clerk’s House sits beneath the restored dome of the Victorian General Market, inside Our Time, the museum’s social hub. Food Curator Robin Gill and Green & Fortune Chef Director Dan Rampat have built a menu around London’s food traditions, served from an open kitchen.
Breakfast includes Ginger Pig sausage and bacon butties, smoked trout on sourdough and the Billingsgate Bap: hand-dived scallop, crispy bacon and roe butter, a modern take on the market trader’s breakfast sandwich. Later dishes include Brick Lane Croquettes, Chelsea Bun Rarebit, Beef and Oyster Pie, Devilled Kidneys and a Spiced Fishmonger’s Stew. The Smithfield Chop pairs Tamworth pork with Bramley apple cider-braised kraut, a direct link to the meat trade that shaped the area.
Seafood is a focus too, with oysters, cockles, mussels, whelks, potted brown shrimp and dressed Devon crab, followed by British cheeses and desserts such as Treacle Tart and ice-cream-van soft serve.
“Sitting at the centre of the museum, we want it to feel alive throughout the day and into the evening; somewhere that reflects the energy, diversity and constant evolution of the city around it,” Gill said.
Bartholomew’s: London stories by the glass
Opening onto Farringdon Street, Bartholomew’s is pitched as a neighbourhood bar for after-work pints and cocktails. Mr Lyan Studio and Green & Fortune Head of Beverage Joe Boxall have created drinks inspired by the city’s food culture. The Mirinda Daiquiri draws on London’s chicken-shop culture, and the Nine Elms Beetroot Margarita references its market heritage. Bar food runs from sausage rolls and Scotch eggs by day to Morley’s fried oysters with Bossman sauce in the evening.
Ryan Chetiyawardana, founder of Mr Lyan Studio, said: “London Museum is one of the most exciting new things to join the city’s cultural landscapes, and given the brilliance of the food scene here, we wanted to create a space within the museum that complements this landscape and delves into the stories and rich history that are part of Smithfield, and the museum itself.”
More to come
Temperance Cocoa Rooms, a café, will open around the clock from Thursday to Sunday, and The Roost, a platform for emerging London cooks, is set to follow in early 2027. The museum’s London Tastes programme, co-curated by Ruby Tandoh and Jonathan Nunn, will inspire an afternoon tea, and Friday and Saturday lates bring DJ sets and a fried chicken martini.
For visitors, it means a museum day out where lunch is part of the point. It will slot neatly into any list of free things to do in London or indoor ideas for a rainy day. Details and image via Green & Fortune.
