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Amber list this, green list that… going on holiday is possible right now, but it’s mainly just a massive faff.
So instead of crossing your fingers and booking a flight that might not happen, why not have a holiday experience a little closer to home with these London restaurants that give you all of the holiday vibes, with none of the holiday bother?
CUBA
Bar La Rampa
Celebrating 1950s Cuba, but with a touch less armed revolution, Bar La Rampa is a little bit of Havana in Fitzrovia, complete with live music. Decadent, steamy and with a dash of Hemingway-esque debauchery, the food menu comes from TĀTĀ Eatery’s Ana Gonçalves and Zijun Meng and there’s a bountiful cocktail menu too. Daiquiris all round. It opens in August.
8 Market Place, W1W 8AG.
HOLLAND
The Seafood Bar
Amsterdam’s Seafood Bar opened in 2012 and has been a city highlight ever since. On August 19 the de Visscher family are bringing their sustainable seafood and fish parlour to a 1730 Grade II-listed Georgian townhouse in Soho in what’ll be their first opening outside of Holland.
77 Dean St, W1D 3SH.
COLOMBIA
Morena
Opened by two Colombian sisters who wanted to bring a taste of home to London, Morena is an all-day Latin American dining spot where you can get everything from a cup of freshly roasted Colombian coffee to weekend brunch. Whatever you order though, don’t forget to add some indulgent tres leches cake.
10-11 Eccleston Yards, SW1W 9AZ.
TEL AVIV
Chameleon
A Tel Avivian-style sharing menu from chef Elior Balbul isn’t the only thing the brand new Chameleon – it opened in April 2021 – has got going for it. It’s also got alfresco dining options in an area known casually as God’s Garden, as well as nine bespoke greenhouses. Weekend brunch includes fattoush salad, shakshuka, slow-cooked lamb spare ribs and pan-fried squid.
1 Marylebone Rd, NW1 4AQ.
PARIS
Brasserie Zédel
Tres, tres iconique, it’s Piccadilly’s grand dame, Brasserie Zédel. No rowdy night in Soho is better than one that starts off with its bargain prix fixe menu featuring steak frites accompanied by a big ol’ jug of house red. Descend the stairs into the glorious art deco ballroom and imagine you’re in Paris, bumming a Gauloises (you’re allowed one, you’re on holiday!) off a stranger who looks at a bit like Serge Gainsbourg.
20 Sherwood St, W1F 7ED.
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