Hi! Guys welcome back to London look at that that there is Goldsmiths hall all that lighting
there will ensure when they are filming inside sunlight the lengths they go to to make a
movie right I'am in the city of London right now AKA the square mile actually just visiting
The Goldsmiths hall one of the cities old livery companies I use their assay office
which is just just here often used as film sets for those of you that don't know new
to the channel just not aware I manufacture things here in London ladies jewellery gentleman's
accessories traditional style accoutrements because of the materials I use there is a
whole additional tier a whole level of legislation that I have to adhere to the hallmarking act
the Goldsmiths company are responsible for I guess enforcing and making sure that we
all adhere to the the hallmarking act the legislation but anyway my business and livery
companies the hallmarking act is a whole another story and a very long one but while I'am here
today I'am going to get some lunch in the city its a Friday today and the city is very
much a Monday to Friday it peaks Monday to Friday at weekends its like a ghost town there
is a lot of international visitors but I would say primarily there here because its the business
district there is a lot of tourists stuff on the I guess on the perimeter of it you've
got the tower of London within a stones throw from here the monument to the great fire of
London which is 350 years I think this year St Paul's there is a lot going on but it compared
to week days it feels like a ghost town at the weekends so today while some of the best
spots are open I'll take you to at least one of the cities hidden gems for lunch so a short
walk down the road lets go just across the road from Goldsmiths hall here on Cheapside
right in front of us is St Mary le bow church there has been a church on the site for hundreds
of years it was traditionally used to ring out the curfew bell which was around 8 or
9 O'clock at night to remind people when to put out there fires and go to bed that then
became a tradition before watches and clocks were common place so people knew what time
of evening it was its had to be rebuilt a couple of times it burnt down in the great
fire of London in 1666 but was considered so important it was one of the first to be
rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren and it was bombed during the blitz and had to be rebuilt
after the second world war it is also home to the bow bells they are here in the city
and not as some people believe in bow yeah that is the St Mary Le Bow church and those
are the church bells you need to be born within ear shot of to be considered a cockney or
so so the story goes
that is the the Royal Exchange traditionally a place for merchants here in the city to
do business apparently they had quite high expectations in terms of conduct and originally
you could only trade goods in there the stock brokers were weren't allowed in because of
their bad manners and they had to trade in the local coffee shops we will go and check
one out in a little while and that is a situation that has effectively reversed city wide its
now the whole city is dominated by financial services and yeah there is not a lot of trading
goods going on here any more or not visibly and I guess unless your supplying the kind
of thing the people who work in the financial services want anyway we are nearly we are
nearly at our lunch spot its a short walk today the Royal Exchange is actually open
to the public you can pop in there is a small champagne bar in the middle and its surrounded
both on the inside and the outside by boutique stores selling luxury goods you can buy jewellery
watches cuff links ties designer handbags its definitely worth popping in even just
to check out the amazing architecture OK as I was saying earlier a lot of these huge grand
buildings in between them there are little alley ways door ways because this is an old
part of the city there is a lot of a lot of old alleys leading to yards and yeah a lot
of the hidden gems are behind these buildings so we are headed down ball court which is
just there to a place called Simpsons the Royal Exchange building is just there but
yeah this leads to a whole a whole network of alley ways I have no idea where half of
the little alleyways and court yards lead to lets go Thomas Simpson established his
first restaurant here in London in 1723 he moved to this site in 1757 its next door to
the site of London's first coffee shop which was established in a church yard next door
later moved to a store next door back in the 1650's there is a bar coffee shop there today
we can go and check that out after lunch table for one its communal style dining kind of
like Wagamamas OK lets take a look at the menu and see what we can have for lunch today
as it says on the front established back in 1757 makes this the oldest chop house in London
there is a whole page on the history of the restaurant the breakfast menu you can come
here for breakfast today I've come here for lunch its Friday every day they have changing
daily specials so you can come here everyday and have something different there is basically
a daily roast and then a handful of British classics there is then a whole page of dishes
which don't change on a daily basis so you can come here for the same thing every day
and also the sides that accompany the daily specials I'am going to go for roast of the
day with Yorkshire puddings which today is roast beef and I'am going to have it with
a side of roast potatoes and cauliflower cheese the brass rails that look like luggage racks
above the seating where actually installed for gentleman's top hats later used for bowler
hats they don't get a lot of use these days because city dress codes and attire evolve
pretty busy spot at lunch times considering how how hidden down a little alley way we
are but its been here a long time OK we've got all the condiments you'll ever need Worcestershire
sauce Tabasco ground black pepper salt pepper cayenne pepper I think there English mustard
tomato ketchup they come around with the horseradish its communal style dining so you can squeeze
quite a few people in here its quite rowdy in this room the grill room but there are
other rooms if you want a quieter time and yeah imagine over the past 250 years quite
a few deals would have been done in here and many acquaintances made Friday lunch time
a pint of London pride good stuff OK I've gone for roast beef Yorkshire pudding roast
potatoes cauliflower cheese it looks amazing like school diners its kind of exactly how
I would describe the style of food the style of service school diners served by dinner
ladies and I don't mean that in a bad way it is fantastic its kind of like the cities
answer to the Ivy much less pretentious though believe it or not and Simpsons being established
a lot longer it is lunch time so the clock is ticking for a lot of people you give some
of these guys and its mainly guys in here to be honest woman have been allowed in since
1916 I think and most of the staff are female today how modern but yeah guys come in here
they are let out of the office you give them a sniff of alcohol and they turn into little
boys and the woman are know how to handle so the service is swift and sharp but it is
efficient the clock is ticking most people are here for lunch so that is exactly what
you need you can't be hanging about unless your on a long city lunch but yeah I'd definitely
recommend it some of the other rooms are a bit more relaxed that the grill room its really
good lets try a bit of the horseradish Yorkshire pudding cauliflower cheese its all pretty
good great value for money for the city as well as you can hear behind me its pretty
lively here in the grill room everyone is enjoying their lunch its Friday after all
but like I was saying if you want a slightly quieter lunch if your having a meeting maybe
there is a restaurant upstairs there is a wine bar downstairs and a bar next door but
I love the atmosphere in here definitely recommend it right I'am going to tuck into this and
then we will go to one of the old the old the old coffee shops down these alleys and
lanes if your visiting Simpsons remember its only open Monday to Friday that entrance there
is the entrance to the grill room you'll also find the stairwell down to the wine bar and
up to the restaurant dining room that end is the pub and bar you can come here and simply
enjoy a drink OK that was Simpsons Simpsons tavern not to be confused with Simpsons on
the Strand definitely recommend that place however that's if you can find it down all
these alleyways right I'am going to try and find one of the the old coffee shops there
is the back of the grill room there yeah what I recommend there is different it depends
what your looking for the grill room I was in if your from the city its like school diners
I definitely recommend that the grill room if you want a bit of banter with your work
colleagues there is a pub section of it in the room next to it if you just want a drink
you can just go for a a drink on the other side of the grill room its just a pub downstairs
is a wine bar which you can get food you can get food in each of these bars so yeah the
one I was in the grill room is like the traditional one school diners communal seating you can
have a good laugh make a lot of noise that's good fun and wrong way yeah there is a whole
labyrinth of these alleyways I've got no phone service in here either so you've got to know
your way around what was I saying yeah there is the pub there is the grill room upstairs
is a restaurant if you want something if you want to have a quiet chat I guess and table
service the diner ladies in there will take care of the boisterous city workers in the
grill room where I was downstairs is a wine bar again a little bit more relaxed and yeah
definitely recommend it so ah right here we go right next door this is the Jamaica Inn
its on the site of London's first coffee store this was once a church yard there is still
a church behind there St Michael's but yeah there has been a church or records of a church
here since the year 179 there is records of St Michael's that date back to the 10th century
the first coffee shop was built here in the church yard in 1652 however everything burnt
to the ground including the church in the great fire of London in 1666 and had to be
rebuilt this building was built in the 1860's OK welcome to the jam pot that coffee machine
looks awesome again this pub like Simpson's tavern has various different sections I'am
in like an end booth pretty quiet stair way down to a wine bar below each section towards
as we get to the front here gets a little busier right at the front its a quarter past
2 in the afternoon the front is full of city workers who have had a few of these anyone
who tells you the long city lunch is dead its alive and well I'll show you this is the
cellar of the Jamaica inn down here more rooms a wine bar and restaurant little bit more
of a relaxed a quiet atmosphere than upstairs wine bar underneath the underneath the pub
even the hidden bars down dark alleyways have hidden underground bars within them in this
part of town its great OK you don't need me to tell you that there is definitely a drinking
culture here in the city of London you walk down these back alleyways these medieval looking
labyrinths of courtyards and your tripping over bars and pubs and they are full of punters
then you go beneath the surface literally into the cellars they are full of punters
yet more every now and again someone does something someone from a firm does something
at best embarrassing worst ways illegal ends up in court and then the firm is cracking
down on it zero tolerance then slowly but surely it slips out of control again and that
seems to be a cycle that repeats itself but yeah its been going on for hundreds of years
and shows no sign of stopping another pub one pub there pub in that door way there right
I'am going to try and find my way back to work I did call one of my mates on the way
here to see if he wanted lunch hes normally up for a long lunch especially on a Friday
he said no no no not today I want to do some work this afternoon and my missus will kill
me if I fall asleep on the sofa again this week when I get home I think that's an occupational
hazard working in this city don't go down the dark alleyways there is a whole labyrinth
there is a whole labyrinth of them down there who knows whats down there but yeah I would
definitely recommend lunch at Simpsons Simpsons tavern is definitely an institution here in
the in the city the Jamaica inn is a great spot for a beer as well after work obviously
don't drink during the day it will make you less than productive I don't think that roast
diner will help but yeah I hope you enjoyed this video this vlog a little tour of behind
the scenes in the city of London back at the Royal Exchange building here so yeah thanks
for watching thumbs up if you liked this video subscribe if you want to see more and see
you in the next one Toodles! its proof up there The Royal Exchange buildings clock its
half two in the afternoon and yeah as I was saying anyone who tells you the the long city
lunch especially on Fridays is a thing of the past died in the 80's don't believe a
word they say for some its still the dream but for many it still seems to be happening
half two the pubs and bars are full maybe people just think it think it finished because
the ostentation of the 80's with people doing it in clear sight is they are are back in
the dark alleyways its still happening