Lasdun
The Marksman team cooking modern British inside the National Theatre, in a room named for the man who designed the building.1
Why go
It opened in May 2023 as an all-day British brasserie run by the team behind The Marksman, and it takes its name from Sir Denys Lasdun, the National Theatre's architect.1
Most reports agree it is the best version this building's restaurant has had: This latest incarnation of the National Theatre restaurant is one of the best
, with one supporter saying it has broken the cultural complex jinx
and another calling it, albeit not cheap, now the go-to place to dine when visiting the theatre
.1
The dissent is loud enough to print. Sceptics in the same survey: everything here is mediocre and costs a (relative) fortune because of the captive audience
. The Brutalist room reads as cool
to some reporters and just plain grim
to others.1
Order this / avoid
- Order: off the British side of the menu, which is what this team is known for at The Marksman.1
- Avoid: booking it as a cheap pre-theatre stop. The complaint reporters make is about the price.1
What locals & experts say
- Harden's survey, for:
This latest incarnation of the National Theatre restaurant is one of the best.
1 - Harden's survey, against:
everything here is mediocre and costs a (relative) fortune because of the captive audience
.1 - On the view:
Good views of the Thames
, which both camps agree on.1
Good to know
- Where: inside the National Theatre, Upper Ground SE1 9PX, between Waterloo Bridge and the river.
- Open to anyone, not only ticket holders.
- Booking: recommended, walk-ins taken.
- Opened: May 2023.1
Verdict
could-visit — The team behind The Marksman cooking modern British inside Denys Lasdun's National Theatre, opened May 2023 and named for the architect. Harden's reporters mostly agree that this is the best version the building's restaurant has had, one of them saying it has 'broken the cultural complex jinx', and they like the Thames views. They also print the other side without softening it, that 'everything here is mediocre and costs a (relative) fortune because of the captive audience', and the Brutalism that reads as cool to some reads as grim to others. That split is why it sits mid-ladder rather than higher: a good kitchen in a hard room at theatre prices, and nobody in reach has named a plate worth crossing the river for.