Restaurants

Fergus Henderson’s St John has become a world-class, world-famous restaurant while managing to remain an extremely congenial venue where you can still get a table. It looks the same as ever: a beautifully white airy dining room with a semi-open kitchen, reached through a spacious bar with an even loftier ceiling. The menu changes daily, but there are recurring treats – roast bone marrow and parsley salad being the most renowned. Typical starters might be langoustines and mayonnaise, or bacon with eggs and beans (not a campfire supper but a robust salad), while mains might be chitterlings and dandelion, or brill with cucumber and dill. St John’s reputation may derive from its meat offerings, but vegetables are treated with equal reverence: peas in the pod made a perfectly self-sufficient appetiser; Bugs Bunny-esque sprouting carrots came with a creamy, punchy aïoli. Down in the bar, welsh rarebit is enough to answer most hunger pangs. In the course of several recent meals we’ve only had one duff dish (summer vegetables in a bland broth). The majority had us scraping our plates – most memorably a peach jelly with shortbread and cream, and (from the summer feasting menu, which has to be booked in advance) grilled squid with fennel and green sauce. An inspirational, admirable restaurant.

Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide 2008