Gordon Ramsay takes the river room at Sea Containers

From the terrace at Sea Containers London, the view runs east across Blackfriars Bridge to the dome of St Paul’s. Since September the tables on it have belonged to Gordon Ramsay. His group has taken over the hotel’s riverside dining room and serves it every day, from breakfast to dinner.

British produce from the grill

Gordon Ramsay at Sea Containers is the group’s second dining room on the Thames, after The River Restaurant at The Savoy on the opposite bank. The menu is built on British produce: grass-fed beef, Suffolk pork, Shetland mussels, Cornish cod and Devon crab.

Seafood comes first. There are Maldon oysters by the piece, a pint of Atlantic prawns to share and a whole native lobster with garlic butter. The crab tagliolini uses white South Devon crab from Brixham, with brown crab cream, confit garlic and lemon.

The grill does a 45-day-aged rib-eye, a rack of lamb with chimichurri and a côte de boeuf for two with bone marrow butter. Ramsay’s classics sit beside them: a slice of Beef Wellington with red wine jus, fish and chips made with plaice, and the Idiot Sandwich Flight of mini beef, fish and vegetable sandwiches. On Sundays the kitchen adds a roast of dry-aged sirloin or chicken, with Yorkshire pudding, beef-fat potatoes and cauliflower cheese.

Interiors by Jacu Strauss

Sea Containers London was designed to recall a 1920s transatlantic liner, and Jacu Strauss took the dining room from there. He also drew on the colours of the Thames and the South Bank around it. The room is walnut and mohair, with furniture made for it and original artwork on the walls.

A central bar faces the open kitchen. Its cocktails include Bottle O’Smoke, of Teeling Irish whiskey and Laphroaig 10 Year Old with ginger and lemon, served smoked. A sommelier runs the wine list, which has a long run of bottles by the glass.

The river terrace

The terrace runs along the edge of the Thames. To the east the tables face Blackfriars Bridge with St Paul’s Cathedral behind it, and to the west the river curves along the South Bank. Breakfast is served out there as well as lunch and dinner, so the view is there from the first coffee.

The restaurant has two doors: one straight off the riverside walk, the other through the hotel on Upper Ground. Bankside Pier is a short walk away for anyone who arrives by boat.

This is the restaurant’s first Christmas. On Christmas Day the kitchen serves butter-poached Norfolk turkey, Hereford beef fillet with Madeira and black truffle, and halibut with Oscietra caviar, then Christmas pudding. Children have a festive menu of their own.

The private dining room seats 20 and opens onto its own south-facing terrace. For a larger party, the whole restaurant takes 180 seated or 450 standing.

Open daily for breakfast, lunch and dinner, until 22:00 on Friday and Saturday. Sunday roast £34 to £39; Christmas Day £155 per person, £50 for children. A discretionary 15 per cent service charge is added.

Gordon Ramsay at Sea Containers, Sea Containers London, 20 Upper Ground, London SE1 9PD.