Restaurants

Transforming the old banking hall of the former Pearl Assurance HQ into a restaurant was quite a feat, and in its formative years Pearl the restaurant struggled to inhabit this cavernous, marble-sheathed room. Now, with bags more confidence, bags more customers and some canny wall-positioning to break up the vast space and introduce some intimacy, Pearl is doing very well, thank you. So it should. Jun Tanaka’s Japanese-American roots and classical French training have given him a fearless approach to pillaging the world’s larders. Practice in pleasing London diners over the past five years has streamlined this approach, honing Tanaka’s skill into a wonderful talent. A couple of pounds have been added to the lunch menu this year, but both lunch and dinner are superb value for a fine-dining experience with all the cutting-edge style and elegance you’d expect from a luxury hotel in London. Food is seasonal and simply stated, but beautifully, artistically presented (fabulous appetisers and petits fours included). A meal might begin with sardine tempura with an incisive caper, olive and tomato dressing. To follow, perhaps, there will be melt-in-the-mouth osso buco, shredded and sandwiched between silk-thin sheets of pasta to make a single bulging raviolo sitting on roasted artichokes and whole shallots – all surrounded by a rich pool of beefy consommé, vanilla foam and crispy wild mushrooms. Desserts are magical, oozing flavour, and almost gravity-defying in trembling, barely set lightness. A cracking restaurant.

Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide 2008