Eat, drink, sleep, repeat: The best London restaurants
I feel privileged to have dined in the finest restaurants across the globe, from three star Michelin to ‘50 Best in the world’. My life has been a culinary odyssey which has taken my wife and I from Tokyo to San Francisco, Kuala Lumpur to Peru and everywhere in between.
Mirazur, by Mauro Colagrecco in Menton was number one in the world when I visited and was pretty disappointing, while his restaurant in the Maybourne Riviera, Ceto, was sublime. My two favourite experiences of all time were Geranium in Copenhagen and Alinea in Chicago, both of which are worth booking a flight to dine there and return the next day, blissful in the knowledge that you have had one of the finest feasts of your life.
Last week I was invited to dine with friends at Jason Atherton’s newest and most ambitious project and it almost joined my top three meals ever. Here are, in my opinion, three of the best restaurants in London.
ROW ON 5
Based on food, wine and service alone; Row on 5 makes it on my all-time gastronomic podium and is worth a visit – and the price – for its ambition and imagination, a carefully choreographed and curated experience, with added personality and warmth, combined with stylish vinous decadence: drinks trolleys, foot long decanters, an encyclopaedia of a wine list. I could go on.
The fourteen-course menu is not for those who Wegovy in the morning, a four hour experience that leaves one more than suitably sated. There are oysters, pearls, langoustine, scallop, turbot, venison, all spectacular. Each is a piece of edible art to savour, served by chefs with a passion for the ingredients and knowledge imparted in a way that cleverly leaves you wanting more, rather than entering into the sphere of the self indulgent.
So why not the greatest meal ever? The music. I am not a fan of restaurants that resemble libraries, nor do I desire Enya spa sounds as I dine. However, a curated ambient soundtrack has the power to move a meal into an inspiring, uplifting, memorable moment. Row on 5’s road-trip racket did not land accordingly. I honestly think Jason got pissed one night and downloaded his favourite dad rock tunes onto a playlist. It starts loudly downstairs, with your welcome champagne and amuse bouches accompanied by the sounds of Britpop. It’s so disruptive you imagine it must be an insider joke and the chefs’ music is blaring out of the kitchen.
Next the experience takes you to a first floor, Japanese-inspired dining room. In the lift upwards London Calling was playing, Come on Eilene played as I tucked into caviar, Gloria Gloria was bellowed by Van Morrison as I dipped into delightful cashel blue. It goes on. And on. And on. I will now stop. You get the point.
Crispin at Studio Voltaire
Back in Balham, a less budget-busting option – and dog friendly! – in the earnest surrounding of an art gallery sits Crispin, sister restaurant to Shoreditch’s Bistro Freddy. Kick off with the excellently executed cocktails and some perfect comte croquettes with walnut ketchup.
To start in earnest, select from seasonal British produce: charred leeks in herb yogurt and salsa verde or smoked mackerel. Last week, as per my last three visits, the main course was a Wiltshire pork chop with pear ketchup – divine. Warm brown butter cake is recommended if you, like me, are feeling a little ‘Wiltshire’ (read ‘piggy’), as is a bottle of highly polished, utterly exquisite Teso La Monja ‘Alabaster’ Toro 2021 (£160).
BLUEBIRD CITY
South Place hotel was a hotspot on Tuesday night. Sir Donald Campbell’s favourite ‘Bluebird’ has multiplied and driven east to add some swinging sixties glamour to Canada. Housed in South Place Hotel, also home to the Michelin starred Angler, Bluebird opened this week, bustling for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Simon “Shawsey” Shaw showed up (looking jaded from his Hong Kong rugby sevens trip) in time to inhale a signature duck salad and strut to the DJ’s sounds with a dirty martini in his giant paw, as did the great and the good of the Square Mile. The bluebird has landed.
Four amazing cocktail bars picked by OpenTable
1. Three Sheets
Three Sheets in Soho is one of the hippest cocktail bars in London. Expect elegant, seasonal drinks in a slick and trendy venue. They also have an outpost in Dalston, should you want to visit the original.
2. Coupette
This French cocktail bar named in ode to the coupe glass serves punchy, imaginative drinks in the sort of environment where you could linger all day. Another emblem of East London’s always-exciting cocktail scene.
3. Hausu
This Peckham restaurant is so on trend right now. Offering a themed musical playlist as the accompaniment to moreish drinks and a seasonally-changing food menu, it is one of the capital’s new ‘listening bars’.
4. Blind Spot London
Spin the globe in this St Martin’s Lane cocktail bar and order a cocktail from a destination you love: drinks are made as homages to everywhere from New Orleans to Sydney, through Venice, Kobe, Oaxaca and further afield, and the paired snacks are delightful too.
Whatever the occasion, find your perfect restaurant on OpenTable. Explore real-time availability across London, and filter your results by cuisine, location, and rating. Book today.