18/8/26 - Updated with full details and the opening date
Back at the end of 2025, we reported that the restaurant that was once Simpson's Tavern (which had been going through a fight for survival) had been taken over. The team who are taking on the Grade II listed site is the one behind Cloth in Farrington (also in an 18th-century building). They planned to launch Cloth Cornhill.
After that, things went a little quiet, but now, almost a year later (and four years since Simpson's Tavern last opened its doors), Cloth Cornhill is getting ready to open in its place.
The space has been going through a big restoration in the meantime, keeping all the classic features intact, mind. Downstairs will be the pub. There you'll find Amy's Bar, which is standing room only, but there will be seating in what was the old grill room next door. That'll mainly be a drinking pub, but there will be a bar snacks list, featuring snacks like a coronation crab beignet, welsh rarebit and a pigs head brioche with apple mustard.
The main restaurant will be upstairs; up there you'll find a modern British menu that's not too far away from what you'd have at the original Cloth in Farringdon. Dishes include a Stuffed potato dumpling with Lincolnshire poacher, ceps & saffron, Venison, bacon & bone marrow pie, Barnsley chop for two with anchovy and rosemary butter, Grilled lemon sole with potted shrimp and sea beet and big sharing steaks.
There will be a few nods to Simpson's on the menu, like a Cornhill sausage with beer mustard (discovered in a 1940s Simpson's recipe book that was unearthed in the restoration). It'll also have a great value set lunch at £29 for three courses. They'll also have two new private dining rooms.
But there's no getting away from the fact that this is a bittersweet moment for the original Simpson's Tavern team, who lost their fight to continue in the space. And, as a result, the 18th-century spot will no longer bear the name Simpson's Tavern due to legal reasons.
"We’ve worked extremely hard over the past year, preserving all 269 years of this beloved institution’s history, whilst pouring new life into it - and we can’t wait to show everyone the restored space in all its glory", said the team on the launch.
More about Cloth Cornhill
Where is it? 38 1/2 Cornhill, London EC3V 9DR
When does it open? 1 October 2026
Find out more: Visit their website or follow them on Instagram @clothrestaurant
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