WHERE TO FIND THE BEST SQUARE MEALS IN THE SQUARE MILE
LA DAME DE PIC
Opened January 2017 WHAT’S THE DEAL?: Chef Anne-Sophie Pic’s new restaurant focuses strongly on British produce (Hereford beef, Scottish scallops, Cornish turbot, even Jensen’s Gin from nearby Bermondsey). Haute cuisine is given unexpected flavours, like coffee butter served with bread. Weekdays it’s just £39 for a three-course lunch.
WHAT TO ORDER: Berlingots, little pyramid pasta parcels filled with smoked goat’s cheese with a tonka bean and wild pepper sauce — inspired by a French boiled sweet.
WHERE: Four Seasons Hotel London at Ten Trinity Square, EC3N; ladamedepiclondon.co.uk
HAWKSMOOR GUILDHALL
Opened November 2011 WHAT’S THE DEAL?: The third branch of the steak restaurant which woos diners with Ginger Pig steaks and moody interiors.
Despite not opening at weekends, Guildhall is the only Hawksmoor to serve breakfast.
WHAT TO ORDER: The Hawksmoor breakfast with bone-in bacon chops, pork-beef-and-mutton sausages, black pudding, bubble and squeak, bone marrow, spicy pulled pork baked beans, eggs, tomatoes, HP gravy and limitless toast.
WHERE: 10 Basinghall Street, EC2N; thehawksmoor.com
FENCHURCH
Opened January 2015 WHAT’S THE DEAL?: This rooftop restaurant is on the highest of three floors of the “Walkie Talkie” building, which looks out onto the Thames. Food is modern European and smart, with much sourced from the Goodwood Estate, accompanied by organic and biodynamic wines.
WHAT TO ORDER: Goodwood Estate beef tartare, beetroots, smoked cream and watercress.
WHERE: Sky Garden, 1 Sky Garden Walk, EC3M; skygarden.london
CABOTTE
Opened September 2016
WHAT’S THE DEAL?: A wine bar/ bistro with a flair for Burgundy and a quality menu, Cabotte is the brainchild of two master sommeliers who have 12 Burgundian producers onboard. The wine list is a tome, with many fine wines offered by the glass thanks to the specialist storage technologies for bottles once they’re opened. It also offers an abridged list for those overwhelmed by too much choice.
WHAT TO ORDER: Beef cheek bourguignon and (obvs) a big glass of punchy red.
WHERE: 48 Gresham Street, EC2V;
cabotte.co.uk
BOB BOB EXCHANGE
Opening late summer 2017
WHAT’S THE DEAL?: Known for its “Press for Champagne” buttons at every table, the art deco opulence of Soho’s Bob Bob Ricard will be transported to the bottom of “The Cheesegrater” building later this year. Owner Leonid
Shutov says the restaurant will cover 14,000sq ft with no doors
(only doorways), and a kitchen “more beautiful than Rothschild’s offices” will serve a similar Russian-European fusion to his original. “It’s going to make the old restaurant look plain,” Shutov says. “It’s so over the top.”
WHERE: The Leadenhall Building,
122 Leadenhall Street, EC3V;
bobbobexchange.com
BLACKLOCK
Opened March 2017
WHAT’S THE DEAL?: Few unmarked joints could garner as much excitement as Blacklock did when it opened first in Soho. Its Sunday roast was named best in the nation by Observer Food Monthly last year; cocktails are a fiver. Its newest restaurant is on the site of London’s first meat market.
WHAT TO ORDER: The “All-in” is a stack of chops to share; order charred baby gem and 10-hour ash-roasted sweet potato on the side.
WHERE: 13 Philpot Lane, Eastcheap, EC3M;
theblacklock.com
THE NED
Opening 1 May 2017
WHAT’S THE DEAL?: A collaboration between Soho House and Sydell Group in the old Midland Bank site, expect “old fashioned comfort yanked up to the modern day,” according to founder Nick Jones. “I want everyone to feel they can go to The Ned,” he says. And with “Crashpad” rooms from £150 a night, that’s not unrealistic.
WHAT TO ORDER: The bank’s old welcome desk is now a central stage between eight restaurants (including a Cecconi’s and new brasserie Millie’s), and there will be music and acts late into the night.
WHERE: 27 Poultry, EC2R;
thened.com
DUCK & WAFFLE
Opened July 2012
WHAT’S THE DEAL?: Shoot up in the Willy Wonka-style glass lift to the 40th floor of the Salesforce Tower and enjoy a cocktail at the bar, with crispy pigs’ ear snacks. The dining room is relaxed and buzzing, with an open kitchen and wooden tables placed right on a mezzaninecum-precipice overlooking the streets far below.
WHAT TO ORDER: The signature dish of a confit duck leg on a hearty waffle, fried egg on top and a jug of mustard maple syrup. Weirdly appropriate anytime day or night.
WHERE: 40th Floor, 110 Bishopsgate,
EC2N; duckandwaffle.com
CITY SOCIAL
Opened May 2014
WHAT’S THE DEAL? Jason Atherton’s Michelin-starred high-rise restaurant serves British food in his creative, unfussy style. Business diners can be whisked in and out (“They’re asking for the bill before the main course hits the table,” Atherton says). Others make the most of the cocktail bar before settling down to the full three courses with a view.
WHAT TO ORDER: The apple tarte Tatin with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce is made for two
(but who’s counting?).
WHERE: 24th Floor, Tower 42,
25 Old Broad Street, EC2N;
citysociallondon.com
ORIOLE
Opened November 2015
WHAT’S THE DEAL?: This multiaward-winning cocktail bar is in a basement beneath Smithfield meat market, with a menu split into Old World, New World and
The Orient sections. Quirky but stopping short of tacky. Its fêted bar bites are a Peruvian-Japanese fusion called Nikkei.
WHAT TO ORDER: A “Skyefall” blends Talisker 10-year-old whisky with wild birch-sap syrup, coffee leaf vermouth and clarified octopus milk (relax, it’s milk cooked with octopus, not expressed from).
WHERE: East Poultry Avenue, Smithfield Markets, EC1A;
oriolebar.com
THE IVY CITY GARDEN
Opening June 2017
WHAT’S THE DEAL?: Sprouting from the famed Covent Garden institution, it joins a slew of Ivy cafés and brasseries peppering the southeast of England, but is the first in London east of the West End. The restaurant will open onto its own private garden with retractable roof (it was the first public garden opened in the City and was named a public space in 1863). Open from breakfast to dinner, its menu of classics will be served in a stylish, informal atmosphere; there’s a smart onyx cocktail bar to boot.
WHERE: Dashwood House, 69
Old Broad Street, EC2M;
theivycitygarden.com
COLD BAR
Opened December 2012
WHAT’S THE DEAL?: A pair of distillers brought gin back to the core of the City, with a full distillery producing a range of notable bottles, as well as a bar where you can drop in for a G&T while admiring the very stills from which your “G” came.
WHAT TO ORDER: Christopher Wren Gin, a small-batch spirit with five botanicals and served from a bottle inspired by the architect’s nearby St Paul’s Cathedral.
WHERE: 22–24 Bride Lane, EC4Y;
cityoflondondistillery.com
MAC & WILD
Opened November 2016
WHAT’S THE DEAL?: This second venue — the first is in Great Titchfield Street, Fitzrovia — has a shooting range with virtual screens. Its veni-moo was named the UK’s best signature burger. Meanwhile, venison steak and chips is just £13.
WHAT TO ORDER: A round of haggis pops before a venison chateaubriand, with an Irn Bru daiquiri on the side.
WHERE: 92 Devonshire Square,
EC2M; macandwild.com
PITT CUE
Opened March 2016
WHAT’S THE DEAL?: The former food truck kings who hooked Londoners on pulled pork and brisket traded in their teensy Soho corner for more space, allowing them a huge wood-burning grill and on-site brewery. Top quality meat from happy animals are their priorities, translating into simple, delicious food.
WHAT TO ORDER: Cured, smoked pork jowl (with a big wad of fat on top), and bone marrow mash.
WHERE: 1 The Avenue, Devonshire Square, EC2M; pittcue.co.uk