Restaurants

This super eaterie, tucked between Farringdon and Clerkenwell Roads, serves delicious, fresh, seasonal food at fair prices. The furnishings are simple: plenty of wood, windows and white walls with architectural seating and lighting. In the warmer months, the outdoor decked terrace comes into play. Before opening the Kitchen, its two owners, Helen Gray and Emma Miles, worked at the Eyre Brothers restaurant in Shoreditch and for Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall at River Cottage in Dorset, respectively. The open kitchen serves breakfast (anything from a bowl of muesli to big bacon and egg constructions) through to afternoon tea (own-made brownies, muffins, pastries, delicious lemon tarts). At lunchtime you can pick up a takeaway (freshly made soup, perhaps, or a luxuriously creamy courgette and parmesan tart with a lentil, mint and beetroot salad) or sit down for the works. Each day there are six dishes offered, such as honey-roasted gammon, roasted carrots and parsley sauce, or fish stew with squid, mussels, chorizo and croûtons. A decent glass of red or white will cost an additional £3.75. Your fellow diners will likely be as sleek and stylish as the surroundings; many of them hail from nearby architectural practices and workshops.

Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide 2009