Café in the Crypt @ St.Martin-in-the-Fields: dining on gravestones

ired of the same ole? Why not try dining on gravestones in Central London then? Quite revealingly named Café in the Crypt at St.Martin-in-the-Fields Church offers unpretentious English classics in a basement cafeteria. This site has been a burial ground since at least 410 but the dining tables here stand on gravestones from more recent times. Weirdly enough, not a single punter seems to mind.

Olga and yours truly had there their pre-theatre dinner. Olga is fasting so she barely nibbled on some couscous. I recommend everyone to take her out: won't cost you the earth and she's delightful company! I had a ball with Today's Special: beef and turnip stew, baked rosemary potatoes and boiled red cabbage (£8.50). There is no going about the fact that traditional English food tends to be rather mucky but here good quality ingredients have redeemed it. The presentation may not have been top notch but the beef was tender, the turnips - flavourful, the potatoes - as tasty as they look on the picture and the cabbage was, well, boiled cabbage.

My starter, bean, potato and thyme soup was just the right degree of peppery and quite aromatic considered that it came from a pot that is kept warm the whole day. For the afters, I had a princely dollop of apple pudding with a ladleful of custard. The pudding crust was delightfully crunchy, the puréed apples - with just a hint of cinnamon and the custard - exactly the right degree of sweetness. Despite the volume it did not end up lying heavy on my stomach. The pudding and soup combo is priced at £5.65.

To wash it all down, we had Victorian Lemonade (a zesty concoction of ginger and lemon) and Apple and Beet Drink (an innocently bland light crimson water). Great thing about this place is that great classical music is just two flights of stairs away. I am very picky and hard to please when it comes to music but tonight's Vivaldi seemed highly conducive of good digestion!

Pro's: Great location, freaky design twist (memento the gravestones!).
Con's: The smell of boiled cabbage pervades EVERYTHING.
Summary: Simple and honest food but expect nothing fancy.

Café in the Crypt, St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Duncannon Street, London WC2N 4JJ