Slug & Lettuce America Square

I wasn’t so impressed by Slug last time I visited, however, promise of a free tasting of the new summer menu lulled me back, and I have changed my opinion of them.

Food

Since they weren’t getting my business, I felt that I had better order some drinks, so the Guiness (£1.99 for ½ pint) was my contribution. We were served two platters which consisted of :

• Olives (£2.45) -Green and black olives, in an onion, garlic & pepper oil mix - nice and juicy, but otherwise…just olives
• Ciabatta Bread Strips and Dip (£3.25) - A selection of red pepper tapenade, pine nut & basil pesto and olive-oil-topped ciabatta strips, served with balsamic dipping oil - the sauce was not too strong, but the bread was soft.
• Tempura Prawns (£4.25) - Large king prawns, in a light tempura batter, served with a sweet chilli sauce, seasonal salad leaves and an orange & poppy seed dressing - beautiful batter, which surprised me. Nice and crunchy, but not too much. In fact, it was quite light and offset the prawns nicely.
• Chicken and Dips (£4.50) - Southern-fried-style chicken breast pieces, served with spicy Reggae Reggae Sauce® and sour cream - has a bit more taste than your frozen food variety, but that’s about it.
• Roasted Veg and Brie (£5.25) - Warm roasted peppers and red onion with melted Brie, in crunchy baguette, served with chutney - delicious flavour, but didn’t really work in the bread as it made the bread extremely soggy.
• Chicken Caesar Wrap (£5.95) - Warm flour tortilla with chicken breast, Parmesan and cos lettuce, in a Caesar dressing - I really like this one, moist chicken, excellent dressing
• BBQ Chicken and Bacon (£6.95) - Chicken breast, with crispy bacon, Cheddar cheese and a BBQ sauce, in crunchy baguette - another winner, the bread had depth and the saltiness of the bacon was offset by some nice BBQ sauce.
• Bruschetta (£4.25) - With pine nut & basil pesto, roasted vine tomatoes and melted fresh Italian mozzarella - a bit cold when I had it, but the tomato was sweet and the mozzarella had flavour … so it should’ve been good right?
• Cumberland Sausages (£8.25) -British pork sausages - ummm, pretty unremarkable.

Rating - 6

Atmosphere

This Slug at Tower Hill is definitely better situated than the one at <>. It’s an old converted factory, with high ceiling and bits of exposed beams from the old factory. The space is large and tables spaced out. There are areas with coaches, tables, niches, all spread out around the place, so you never felt it was too noisy. There’s another area for groups to use, and indeed there was a group there having their trivia night. So, great space, but there weren’t that many people there on this Wednesday night, so things could feel a bit quiet, but Slug County Hall can definitely learn a thing or two from this Slug.

Rating - 1.5

Service

Surprisingly warm. We found it a bit difficult to get any attention, but once we went to the bar to ask, they gave us plenty of attention. We were shown our table, made to feel comfortable, reassured that our food would be served soon, and when we asked for water, they were more than willing to oblige. This was surprising, for such a casual place and the fact that we were eating for free.

Rating - 3.5

C-factor

Well, it was FREE, so I can’t complain, can I? Having said that, the quality was good enough that I actually would pay the price they stated on the menu for them…but nothing more. I thought we might have to do some sort of evaluation at the end of the night, but we weren’t asked for anything, so effectively, we just got a free meal and a nice night out.

Rating - 2

Brownie Points - 13

Info

1 America Square
London
EC3N 2LS
Phone +44 (0) 20 7702 2381
Website