You think eating and drinking in London is a capital idea. The city may not rate quite as highly for architecture as Bath, or Liverpool for friendly people, but when it comes to dining out and sipping cocktails you just can’t get enough of it.
The city which got the vote in the Readers’ Travel Awards 2015 according to
is … LONDON
Let’s see the TOP 5 FAVOURITE RESTAURANTS IN LONDON
KASPAR’S
Behind the scenes
In 1926 The Savoy introduced a novel policy to allay the fears of superstitious guests dining in a group of 13: it would set an additional place to round the unlucky number up to 14. That place was occupied by a cat named Kaspar, three-foot tall and made of wood. Winston Churchill, a lifelong Savoy freak, adored him.
Food
Executive chef Holger Jackisch recently took over from James Pare, but the seafood side of the menu remains much the same – the most conspicuous change is the addition of Weiner schnitzel, a nod to Holger’s Teutonic roots. Keep it simple (and sibilant): scallops, sole, citrus syllabub…
Drink
… and champagne. The wine list is terrific, and practically everything on it is available by the glass, half-bottle or carafe. Ask the sommelier to pair your wine with each course – this works just as well with Champagne as with any other wine.
Highlight
The drama of the Art Deco design? The smiling, unstuffy service? Or the fact that they put a cat in charge of a seafood restaurant?
Aperitif?
Make that ‘aperitifs’, plural. The Savoy is blessed with two of the loveliest bars in London, The American and The Beaufort. So don’t even try to make it an ‘either/or’ proposition – make it an ‘and’. By Steve King
Address: The Savoy, Strand, London WC2
Telephone: +44 20 7420 2111
Website: www.kaspars.co.uk
.LOBOS MEAT & TAPAS
Behind the scenes
Borough Market’s always-rammed Tapas Brindisa has a new rival – a tiny tapas joint run by Brindisa’s former chef, no less. While Brindisa is on the touristic thoroughfare, Lobos is tucked away in the railway arches towards the back of the market and, for now, is full of locals. Some may call the restaurant cosy, others may think ‘air-raid shelter’ – but somehow the clanging sound of trains passing overhead only adds to the jovial atmosphere.
Food
Meat, meat, meat! ‘Lobos’ means ‘wolves’ in Spanish; the menu is all about bright-red cuts of Iberico pork, milk-fed lamb and Ginger Pig steak served on the bone. Order a couple of lighter tapas dishes such as the lemony asparagus and courgette salad to offset the meat-fest.
Drink
Red meat, red (mostly Spanish) wine. Order by the glass as each round of tapas arrives.
Highlight
The Iberico platter offers the opportunity to sample three different cuts of pork: pan-fried shoulder, fatty secreto, marinated fillet.
Aperitif?
The area is surprisingly short on cocktail bars so just get stuck straight into some sherry and padron peppers at the downstairs bar. By Hazel Lubbock
Address: 14 Borough High Street, London SE1
Telephone: +44 20 7407 5361
Website: lobostapas.co.uk
BENTLEY’S OYSTER BAR & GRILL
Behind the scenes
September hails the start of the UK’s native-oyster season, and there really is nowhere more iconic to get your first slurp than at the marble-topped oyster bar at Bentley’s. The restaurant has been a Piccadilly institution since it opened in 1916, but Irish chef Richard Corrigan gave it a new lease of life when he bought the place in 2005. His no-fuss approach and emphasis on quality ingredients is the reason you won’t find natives on the menu until they’re properly ready (best to call ahead) and why you’ll be actively discouraged not to mask their natural taste with Tobasco sauce – shame on you if you do.
Food
Three waiters independently recommended the lobster spaghetti, but the sizeable specials menu is unmissable, if a little overwhelming; it’s as though the little piggy sent to market picked up twice what was needed in the kitchen. Seasonal dishes might include spicy avocado baked with an egg in
the middle and crispy squid on the side, wild sea trout with beetroot and radishes, and a creamy raspberry-and-white-chocolate dessert.
Drink
There’s a reason everyone drinks Champagne with oysters, but with the clams, try a glass of manzanilla.
Highlight
Right now, it has to be the natives – far too good to simply swallow whole.By Hazel Lubbock
Address: 11-15 Swallow Street, London W1
Telephone: +44 20 7734 4756
Website: www.bentleys.org
PIDGIN
Behind the scenes
James Ramsden and Sam Herlihy have upped the ante from their successful supper club, the Secret Larder, to open Pidgin, their first restaurant, in a tiny, buzzy, white-walled Scandi space on Hackney’s neighbourhoody Wilton Way. Although James trained at Ballymaloe Cookery School, he doesn’t claim to be a chef so in the kitchen is super-talented Elizabeth Allen, ex the Smokehouse in Islington.
Food
Continuing the intimate, no-fuss idea of a supper club, the format here is a four-course set menu that changes every week. And it’s a joy to have all decision making taken away and simply be delivered artfully arranged dishes of the most delicious food: grilled corn on the cob with red-pepper powder that’s dripping in juices and has you gnawing down to the last bite; palate-cleansing sashimi-style mackerel with shiso granita; the tenderest lamb neck in a sauce speckled with fiery nduja.
Drink
The short cocktail list also changes weekly (apart from the house special G+T with pink grapefruit and black pepper and the very refreshing T no G with elderflower and mint). The brief wine list still packs a punch with a mix of new and old world. And a lovely touch at the end of the meal is when James leaves a chilled bottle of Pidgincello (just the right side of medicinal) on the table. No one seemed to get carried away doing shots when we visited.
Highlight
The dessert of roast-cocoa gelato with crunchy, salty rye crumbs is a knock-out.
Aperitif?
This space is so cosy and convivial, with white-painted branches gathered from the forest on the walls and a neat little bar peeking into the kitchen, that you might as well have your pre-dinner drink right here. By Grainne McBride
Address: 52 Wilton Way E8
Website: www.pidginlondon.com
SALT & HONEY
Behind the scenes
The follow-up restaurant to Fulham’s popular bistro Manuka Kitchen (AA Gill’s a fan) is a more elegant, mature affair – despite its far shabbier home in Bayswater. With Salt & Honey’s different location comes a very different feel, with smart bottle-green leather benches and matching glass pendant lights, and a private dining room upstairs. This place is more for special suppers than weekend brunch (although they do eggs Benedict well, too).
Food
The menu appears simple, with strings of ingredients listed – mussels, white beans, paprika stock, parsley – but each dish is much more than the sum of its parts. The presentation (pansies, artful brushstrokes of jus) is more fussy than the menu makes it sound. And it goes without saying that the ingredients are all top-notch: even the bolognaise is made with Wagyu beef.
Drink
The wine list is straight forward enough, as are cocktails such as the elderflower and mint bellini.
Highlight
Pudding! The rich chocolate tart has a salty pretzel base and is topped with a dollop of ice cream that tastes like the inside of a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup – in a good way. Lighter but no less delicious is the manuka honey and saffron brûlée.
Aperitif?
Bayswater is a bit of a no man’s land bar-wise, so for something stiff before dinner, take a quick detour via the Grazing Goat, a refurbished old boozer just off Hyde Park. By Tabitha Joyce
Address: 28 Sussex Place, London W2
Telephone: + 44 20 7706 7900
Website: www.saltandhoneybistro.com
source:
No Comments