AN APPETITE FOR DESIGN

Our favourite new restaurants are either small but perfectly formed, or grand in both scale and style

MINIATURE

Ben Chapman, the owner of Kiln ( 2)– a new Soho gem serving fragrant ‘side-of-the-road’ dishes from Thai villages – built the restaurant’s interior himself with the help of friend and woodwork craftsman Dan Preston. Out of the oven, dishes such as smoky cumin Cornish lamb and turmeric curry of wild mussels appear, served in terracotta pots ( kilnsoho.com). Down in south London, Plot ( 3) – a British kitchen in Tooting Market – has just opened, serving modern brasserie-style dishes: think old-fashioned ham hock terrine with delicate pickled cucumber (plotkitchen.co.uk). Meanwhile, in Spitalfields, Madame D’s ( 1) has opened in the room above a bar with just nine tables and a copper counter. Try the Himalayan-inspired plates, such as steamed Tibetan duck dumplings followed by date pancakes (madame-d.com).

MONUMENTAL

The Midland Bank in the City of London has been repurposed into The Ned, Soho House’s latest project, with a whopping nine restaurants – the best for a special lunch is Millie’s Lounge ( 6), where Dorset crab and English sparkling wines are served under the high ceilings of the Edwin Lutyens-designed building (thened.com). Opening this month at the Langham Hotel, new tavern The Wigmore ( 4), designed by Martin Brudnizki, is also housed in a former bank, offering old-school dishes (the-wigmore.com). Meanwhile, London designer Robert Angell has refurbished historic restaurant Simpsons in the Strand ( 5), but Charles Dickens’ former haunt will still serve the rib of roast beef on a trolley that it has dished up since opening in 1828 (simpsonsinthestrand.co.uk).