temper — Restaurant in London

This was my second time visiting Temper Covent Garden and as soon as I started eating I asked myself why I had only been twice in a number of years! The food is amazing, perhaps it was the dishes this time round that made it even more memorable or perhaps they've upped their game since my last visit. I'd enjoyed my previous visit but found I couldn't remember much about the food, this time I found myself dreaming about the dishes the next day!

We had a few different dishes this time however the Cheeseburger Taco's are a must. There were a few items unavailable but that's to be expected in a "nose to tail" and I don't mind it at all as there are many other options. We went for the Cornbread which was absolutely delicious, dense but not overly so and fried in beef fat to give it that beautiful flavour. Along with the Cheeseburger Tacos we also tried the Burnt End Tacos which may actually be better than the Cheeseburger ones, although a little messier to eat they oozed flavour with beef that melted in your mouth.

This time around we tried the Lamb Carnitas which were beautiful and, for the first time here we ordered a steak. I don't know why but last time we didn't try the steak, based on the quality of the meat we ate this was a mistake. I've had steak at all the usual well-known places and our on-the-bone Ribeye was one of the best steaks I've ever eaten. I had to restrain myself from ordering a second!

Desert was the Brigadeiro Cookie and oh my was it special. Warm, soft, melting chocolate inside and amazing ice cream. To die for.

The cocktails were also brilliant and very in keeping with the overall theme, despite being very busy the service remained outstanding throughout, attentive but not overbearing and I couldn't fault our waiter (the receipt said Martha but I don't think that was his name). From the lady at reception to everyone we interacted with, they were all lovely.

Will absolutely be coming back a lot...

Relaxed vibe. Good food. Tables are arranged around a big bar/grill, making it quite narrow to navigate. We had a booth which wasn't overly big but we fit without knocking each other too much.

Based on the menu, the kids chose Tempur over other contenders, so we were obliged to try a good portion of the menu.

We ordered:

Aged beef nachos - OH declared this his favourite dish of the evening!

Caramelised spicy corn - I wasn't keen on this, but kids and OH liked it, and OH doesn't even like corn!

Taco cheeseburger - the LO absolutely loved this.

Taco burnt ends - as you only get 2 tacos per portion, I had a small sample, and even from that little morsal, I could taste all the flavours. Again, OH loved this and the richness of it.

Beef fat potatos - now I don't do so well with cheese, so smelly cheeses test my limit, and the raclette tested me here! I managed 2 potatoes spread over the course of the meal, but the taste of the smell got me. Besides that, the potatoes were super rich and very tasty.

Burrata lime - for someone who isn't keen on cheese, there's always a cheese that's an exception, for me that's burrata. And this burrata with lime and jalapeño, oh my, this delivered!!

Tempur chips - this is different from the bog standard chips. This had the perfect crunch, rich, fluffy, and yummy flavours.

Ribeye, rump, and sirloin steaks on the bone and off - the cuts were nice and thick, but they were all let down by being over what we liked.

Green sauce - my favourite of the sauces we ordered.

Chipotle sour cream - everyone else's favourite.

Beef fat bearnaise - nice, but we just preferred the others.

Cookie dessert - gooey, rich, with a good ratio of cookie and chocolate chunks. I was stuffed, so I only managed 2 mouthfuls, so the OO happily demolished it!

Overall, the food quality is quality!! Everything is rich and...

Great for cocktails but AVOID eating here if you have food intolerances. Head chef does not take them seriously. We visited on Saturday late afternoon for drinks and some small plates. After explaining that I had a food intolerance to onion and garlic the waitress was very helpful and spoke to the chef and gave me a modified menu of all the dishes that could be accommodated which was great. I ordered the aged beef skewer, the grilled hispi cabbage and some fries (FYI - no mention of the items in the dish on the menu). The beef skewer came with sriracha sauce in it that clearly had garlic. I sent it back to the kitchen as I thought they had missed the notes on my order for food intolerances. I saw the waitress had a conversation with the head chef in the open kitchen and the same dish was returned to me without any modifications. She explained the head chef said there was no onion or garlic in the dish it had sriracha. I protested as I could see the sriracha bottle in the kitchen which I know has garlic in it. It was the same brand as my boyfriend has at home that has garlic in it! She said the chef was adamant there was no garlic or onion in the dish. I was totally shocked. I didn’t argue any further as I couldn’t take them seriously and my boyfriend ended up eating the beef dish. I was left with the cabbage dish which was on a tiny place and the crispy kale went everywhere (grotesque)and the chips. Extremely disappointed by the whole experience and shocked that the chef couldn’t be bothered to check the ingredients of the sauces in my order. If you have any food intolerances and especially allergies, I would definitely AVOID this place as it could have dangerous consequences for you! Only come for the cocktails and all the friendly bar staff...