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Best British restaurants
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| Harwood Arms |
Harwood Arms
There
are many pubs laying claim to serving ‘seasonal, local and natural
produce’, but Mike Robinson’s Fulham venture actually transcends it. A
well-known game specialist, Robinson himself actually hunts for all the
deer that will form the base of dishes such as roast venison T-bone
with cavolo nero and mushroom ketchup. Much of the menu uses wild
ingredients sourced from land in and around the woods near Robinson’s
first gastropub, The Pot Kiln in Berkshire. Everything we tried was
superb, and washed down nicely with the well-kept ales (including Black
Sheep bitter, or the current guest ale, Good Old Boy from the West
Berkshire Brewery).
When to go For a bone-warming, conscience-free game meal.
What to have Pigeon, venison, rabbit – all good. With warm Bramley apple doughnuts to end.
Harwood Arms, 27 Walham Grove, SW6 1QP (7386 1847). Fulham Broadway tube.
Hereford Road
Tom
Pemberton really has come into his own since his days as chef at St
John and St John Bread & Wine – if pressed, it would be hard to
regard St John over Hereford Road. The strength here, like at St John,
is honest, bold British cooking; signature dishes such as cockles with
cider, whole braised oxtail and devilled kidneys on toast are simple
and consistently brilliant. Naturally, Pemberton’s team is confident
with the offal – trust them with the more challenging dishes such as
deep-fried calves’ brains with black butter, a textural delight and
flavoured effortlessly.
When to go If you ever find yourself in the company of a visitor who still laughs at the notion of ‘British cuisine’.
What to have Simple goes a long way – crabs on toast is a winner, as is calf’s liver with onion and mash.
Hereford Road, 3 Hereford Rd, W2 4AB (7727 1144/www.herefordroad.org). Notting Hill Gate tube.
Feature continues
St John
Simple
is best, and there is no better champion of simplicity than Fergus
Henderson’s original ‘nose to tail’ eatery. Food lovers still wax
lyrical about the signature roast bone marrow with parsley salad (the
marrow a wow-factor ingredient now widely copied by other
establishments); and there is much else to be enjoyed from the
daily-changing menu of seasonal British dishes. Ox cheek and bacon pie,
for example, is meaty proper, or try the classic Eccles cake with
Lancashire cheese as a dessert. It would seem that even the Michelin
men, known for their love of classic French cuisine, have finally
deemed it worthy of a star – only confirming what we all knew from the
beginning.
When to go Earlier in the week, where dinner service is less hectic.
What to have The reputation rests on offal – you’d do well to order accordingly.
St John, 26 St John St, EC1M 4AY (7251 0848/www.stjohnrestaurant.com). Barbican tube.
Fish Club
A
more apt name might be the Seafood Society, as this esteemed restaurant
does more than just fish. This chirpy chippy offers even more – prawns,
razor clams, oysters and squid among pickings, all either still
swimming in the massive fish tank that greets you at the door, or
looking shimmeringly fresh on ice behind the counter. Ethically sourced
and expertly battered, the traditional fish and chip is every bit as
good as you’d expect; we do have a soft spot for their more exotic
treats though, such as prawn and chorizo kebabs, or anything served
with the saffron aïoli.
When to go When you’re in serious need of some Omega-3.
What to have Pick your poison from the counter, or ask the friendly staff for the recommended catch of the day.
Fish Club, 189 St John’s Hill, SW11 1TH (7978 7115/www.thefishclub.com). Clapham Junction rail.
Launceston Place
Head
chef Tristan Welch, formerly of Petrus (now called Marcus Wareing at
the Berkeley), has swapped French-style elegance for playful Modern
British cooking at this reinvented Kensington stalwart. Now part of
D&D London, Launceston Place has ditched the dowdiness for pristine
chic – yet, despite the upgrade (style, food and otherwise), you can
eat well here without remortgaging the house. The three-course set
lunch, priced at £18, is tremendous value. While the infinitely more
luxurious dishes (Tamworth suckling pig, scallop in the shell) are
reserved for the à la carte, tasting or set dinner menus, we never felt
at all compromised. Spider crab risotto was served in gorgeous
crockery, the crustacean’s empty shell (used as a lid) removed with a
flourish; a venison casserole with creamy pumpkin purée and trompettes
was sublime, earthy. We left pampered, but not as paupers.
When to go During lunch; you’ll still get all the bells and whistles (amuse bouch, pre-dessert, petits fours) for a neat price.
What to have
The Cornish cream tea pudding is a witty rendition, with tea ice-cream
and raspberry foam to accompany the trad scone and clotted cream.
Launceston Place, 1A Launceston Place, W8 5RL (7937 6912/www.danddlondon.com). Gloucester Rd or High St Kensington tube.
Albion
Terence
Conran still has the magic touch, it would seem. His latest endeavour
‘The Boundary Project’ includes a caff (Albion), food shop and bakery,
smart dining room (The Boundary) – and a hotel and rooftop bar ’n’
grill to open later in the year. It’s Team GB all the way at Albion,
with well-priced, straightforward and nostalgia-tinged British food.
The menu covers the expected fry-ups and nostalgia puds (apple crumble
and custard), yet the cooking is surprisingly refined. The setting is as
comforting as the food, with perky service to match.
When to go When you need some something soothing to line your stomach.
What to have Whatever calls to you – pies, puddings, a massive bacon sarnie.
Albion, 2-4 Boundary St, E2 7JE (7729 1051/www.albioncaff.co.uk). Liverpool St tube/rail or bus 8, 26, 48.
Indian | Oriental | Italian | Cheap eats | British | Vegetarian | Gastropubs | Best service | Best to impress | Best for grazing
38 comments
this website rocks
Tommo you tool read the comments propper next time before making an arse of yourself - dope
It is one thing to debate about suitability of omnivorous critics reviewing vegetarian cuisine. I do feel that one may find such a standpoint to be a 'slippery slope' argument – surely such logic would conclude that only vegetarians would be competent to review veg meals, and one might similarly go on to argue that as the subtle differences between different Moroccan herbs may be lost to those unaccustomed (i.e. foreign), only native Moroccan food eating people (note: this is irrelevant of their race/colour, such a category only concerns that one's 'home food' is Moroccan) should be deemed truly competent to review Moroccan food, and so on. What I believe (and correct me if I’m wrong) to be the fallacy here is that the herbivores amongst us must remember that the meat eaters go vegetarian quite often (porcini risotto with truffle shavings anyone?) and it is only suitable that critics represent the mainstream. Like it or not, even for dishes which do not contain meat, the omnivorous palette IS the mainstream and therefore justifies an omnivorous critic. In any case, I accept that this itself is a contentious line of reasoning and do believe debate on this topic may not necessarily be unhealthy.
It is, however, a completely different animal (pardon the pun - I couldn’t resist) to talk about ‘the harmful effects to the environment’ eating meat indirectly causes, and I suspect I am not alone in being quite irritated by the veggies’ pretentiousness in the matter. Sure, cattle may consume part of the Earth’s resources. But are you suggesting that we cull all cattle and livestock in order to ensure that there are more resources left for humankind? Or is your proposed solution to let them all go back into the wilderness? For surely, they will consume as much resources in the wild. Why stop at livestock anyway? Why not start terminating humans whom you deem unfit and a waste of Earth’s resources? For surely, humankind as a species uses up the Earth’s resources the most – makes more sense to address the real issue at hand. Yes, I am being sarcastic. All I’m trying to say is- since when did preferring broccoli to beef suddenly make you guys rulers of the universe?
Let’s also not forget that there are a million ways in which veggies themselves can help reduce the burden to mother nature that they themselves are causing. Recycle more. Invest and donate into research for renewable resources. Cycle around, don’t drive. Watch your carbon footprint. Instead of acting like you are the saints of this world simply because of your dietary preferences, get off your high horse, and if you care about the environment so much, go do something about it. Otherwise, the L.s and S.s, and Tommos – you really are just full of organic fertiliser.
Michael,
Buy the Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide. There is a section on Haute Cuisine. Just be aware in London that there are some expensive restaurants that don't have very good food and some cheap ones that have very good food. Also try the red star recommendations in each section, you can tell by the average pricing which are the more expensive/ "exclusive". (Note Hakkasan is expensive & has very good food) but is far from exclusive (as it is basically a canteen style restaurant with a beautiful interior).
Could someone out there please tell me where I could get a copy of a guide/brochure of the best restaurants in London eg Simpson the Strand, Rules, La Gavote, Connaught Hotel,Gay Hussar etc.
In a nut shell - expensive, exclusive, up market!
Vegetarian/Vegans out there do not seem to understand that the majority of people in London are not vegetarian. Hence restaurant numbers in the review are weighted towards those catering to omnivorous diets.
tommo you idiot mmo coldn't agree with you more: he was villifying the meat industry not the wheat one, dummy
We recently went to Amaya during our first visit to London and had an unforgettable meal. It was one of the highlights of our trip.
M.moss - your argument falls over at the first hurdle!!! If you object so much to the resources it takes to produce wheat, you'll be comforted to know that 70% of grain and cereals grown in the US are fed to animals reared for the meat industry. It takes 16 pounds of grain to produce 1 pound of meat. According to Compassion in World Farming, about 20% of the world's population could be fed with the grain and soybeans fed to US cattle alone!! On top of this, a 2006 United Nations report summarised the devastation caused by the meat industry by calling it "one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global." Need I say more?!
i used to live in Snaresbrook, England and The Carvery was a great resturaunt!
Taylor - Is that a joke? I hope for your sake it is. Otherwise it means that you have more money than sense or taste with no intelligence to recognise it. Do you live in Fulham?
it really bothers me the way that ciprianni, zuma, nobu, jaks ( the most amazing well priced food i have ever had in my life on walton street) are not mentioned. I should be a bloody critic
Hey, i think the following places are worth a shout for ultra cheap eats...all up the west end
Bodean's, best burgers in town from 5quid with chips.....
Indian YMCA...unfussy authentic indian food, curries from 3quid...
Rasa,,,,South Indian food....there lunch box menu is really amazin
Icco....pizza from 3.50.and they are actually really nice...much better than pizzahut....though that wouldnt be hard
Italia Uno(charlotte st)amazin meatballs with rice for
Make sure it's a single ticket down to Brighton though 'ey..
Don't know who the idiot is going on about 50billion cattle?!
but he has no idea of what it takes to produce a ton of wheat.
Start with the water;the pesticides loaded with chemicals,the fertilizers which require a ratio of 10 kilos of oil to produce 1 kilo of fertilizer;and so on.Producing 1 ton of wheat eats up tons of oil that has to be transported and refined and then turned into fertilizer as well as the pesticides.The machines that gather the wheat;chafe it and grind the seeds also need to be made requiring tons of steel and they have engines that run on oil.Then the wheat needs to be packed by more machines and shipped by other machines all using steel and oil.
So there is no "holier" food source in terms of the environment between meat and vegetable/grain.And if you think "natural" fertilisers are the answer,then you are talking about using excrement-human or animal.Thus proving once and for all that organic vegetarians are full of s***.