The first time I had a Louisiana Po’Boy was in rather memorable circumstances. On vacation in New Orleans, I had wandered into a bar where a buffet of Southern home-cooked delights had appeared and was told, upon inquiring, that ‘of course, it was free!’ Happily if confusedly tucking in, a few minutes later, I would learn that the buffet was part of a funeral wake for a blues singer nicknamed ‘The King’. Which I had just crashed.  Looking back it makes me cringe, but I did get to sample a variety of Louisiana delicacies of which a Po’Boy (a submarine sandwich traditionally filled with shrimp or other meats) was one.

I’ve longed to have this meal again but have never found anywhere that’s even come close to serving something similar over here, until I headed to The Anthologist at Bank last week. The Anthologist is an all-day bar and kitchen centred in the middle of Bank, yet promises to be an antidote to the traditional city environment. This instantly appealed to me as – being a city worker by day – there are times when I desperately want my evening to be the opposite of the day I’ve just experienced. The bar was busy and thriving for a Tuesday evening (always a good sign) but never felt over populated or crowded and the restaurant is conveniently separate from the main bar, allowing for a peaceful dining atmosphere. I also got excited on venturing to the restrooms to discover the utilisation of hardback books as part of the décor and a quirky wall full of hand mirrors. My excitement then morphed into concern that I had reached an age where I was ‘excited about restrooms’.

The menu itself ranges from traditional American burgers to Italian antipasto boards to the aforementioned Louisiana cuisine, so there is plenty of choice for the discerning diner. My po-boy in question was filled with a mouth-watering cut of lobster (does lobster come in ‘cuts’? One to add to the great philosophical questions list) and a medley of salad vegetables. At £20 it is certainly not cheap and you might find yourself wishing for more lobster (Just generally. In life.) but I could not fault the quality or freshness of the food. My dining companion opted for the Anti-pasto board at a reasonable £9.55, although her vegetarian starter was particularly intriguing in that it was served in a jam jar. This made it seem rather like a Blue Peter ‘Grow your own Garden’ experiment but I’m reliably informed it was gastronomically very satisfying.

Despite being very full by this stage, we could not resist the siren’s call of dessert and opted for the Mini Pudding Shots, comprised of tasters of a chocolate brownie (à la mode), knickerbocker glory and crème brulèe. Continuing the theme of novelty serving, these were served in three tea cups which made for a unique presentation. I tell you, if when someone said ‘Do you want a cup of tea?’, they meant a brownie in a tea-cup, I’d have a lot more enthusiasm for ‘tea’ (It’s not that I don’t like tea. I do. I just don’t fully share the British public’s life altering obsession with it. See also: Downton Abbey). One word of caution: if you have had both a starter and a main, you may want to consider sharing the dessert as it will quickly shift you from ‘comfortably full’ to ‘needing to lie on the floor’.  The latter, a state in which I find myself far too much for a respectable woman of 26 years.

In case you needed any more reasons to venture on down to The Anthologist, be assured that the good team behind the venue are a philanthropic bunch as well. They support a number of local and national charities including Kids Company, London Bees and Breast Cancer Care and are keen to promote sustainability and environmental causes.

To learn more about this, the restaurant and/or bar or hiring the venue for events, please go to their website here