The Best Meal Inthe UK
A great feed is worth far more than the sum of its macros, so we assembled the finest feast from the UK’S leading chefs, guaranteed to satisfy both your taste buds and your fitness goals. Get stuck into the Men’s Health superset menu
01 Away from the Craze Rumpus Room, London
The country’s top table deserves something rather more sophisticated than your usual spirit and mixer. Allow the experts at rooftop bar Rumpus Room in south-east London to shake up something special. The perfect palatecleanser, this cocktail is made with Jensen’s Old Tom Gin, sloe gin, lavender port wine (the scent assuages anxiety) and cacao. There’s just enough sharpness to prepare your taste buds for the flavours to follow, while also stimulating your digestive processes. £12.50 rumpusroomlondon.com
02 Bone Marrow with Onions Hawksmoor, London and Manchester
Not only do beef bones contain minerals such as calcium and magnesium, but marrow is also a source of the protein hormone adiponectin, which helps to break down fat.* This dish was created by Hawksmoor’s head chef, Richard H Turner, who slowroasts the femur until the marrow is soft enough to cut with a spoon and smear on toasted sourdough. As Hawksmoor uses only small-farm, grass-fed British cattle, you can expect even more heart-protective fats per scoopful, too. £8 thehawksmoor.com
03 Scorched Dunvegan Langoustines Three Chimneys, Isle of Skye
Ask any chef where the world’s best langoustines come from and they’ll tell you Scotland. The brackish water surrounding the UK’S northerly isles contains the ideal amount of plankton and phytonutrient-rich algae to nourish the shellfish that feed there. As a result, they’re plump and packed full antioxidant minerals such as selenium and zinc. At the family-run restaurant Three Chimneys, the shellfish served are harvested from the nearby Loch Dunvegan on the same day as serving. Set meal for £68 threechimneys.co.uk
04 Sesame Tuna Tostada El Pastór, London
This dish is inspired by the famous tuna tostada in Mexico City’s Contramar restaurant – but it offers a twist, swapping sliced avocado for guacamole, while also bringing extra heat to the plate. Cubes of sushigrade tuna are mixed with a salsa of dried árbol chillies, a potent source of vitamin C. By dicing, dressing and serving within minutes, the chefs ensure the texture of the fish isn’t compromised by air exposure, keeping it ultra-succulent. Consider it as marginal gains. £8 tacoselpastor.co.uk
05 Red Mullet with Porthilly Sauce Restaurant Nathan Outlaw, Port Isaac, Cornwall
Your fish course comes courtesy of the UK’S best seafood chef, Nathan Outlaw, whose eponymous restaurant occupies the top slot in The Good Food Guide 2018. But it is Outlaw’s commitment to provenance that earns him a spot on the Men’s Health menu. The local fishermen give him first refusal on their catch, while his Porthilly sauce uses Cornish crab shells to achieve its Tuscan-orange hue. The shells also imbue it with extra antioxidants. The amino acid-rich red mullet is in season during the warmer months, so now is the time to order it. £POA nathan-outlaw.com
06 Moroccan-style Smoked Goat Shoulder Sharing Plate The Coal Shed, Brighton
You’re about to start hearing a lot about goat. North African nomads may have been splicing and spicing the meat for millennia, but in the UK, the meat is gaining rather belated recognition for its gamey flavour, low calorie count (it’s comparable to chicken breast) and comprehensive nutrient profile (per calorie, it packs more testosterone-building zinc than beef). This Brighton-based smokery slowcooks the meat to tenderise the shoulder joint, giving it a texture similar to that of pulled pork, then serves it with polyphenol-rich sour pomegranate molasses. £50 coalshedrestaurant.co.uk
07 Cauliflower Shawarma Berber and Q, London
Thanks to the recent surge in Middle Eastern restaurant openings, the pale brassica has been freed from cheesesauce purgatory and given a new lease of life. By keeping your cauliflower out of the saucepan and instead thrusting it under a hot grill, chefs such as Josh Katz of Berber and Q ensure that it picks up a deeper, smokier, almost meaty flavour while retaining more of its nutrients (vitamins C and K and anti-inflammatory glucosinolates, to name a few). Katz serves his cauliflower lightly charred and drizzled with tahini. You won’t miss the cheddar. £5.50 berberandq.com
08 Kimchi Jinjuu, London
Sour, sweet, salty, umami… kimchi wrote the rule book on “acquired taste”. But it’s one worth acquiring: along with the well-reported weightloss benefits, studies in Psychiatry Research suggest that, by improving your gut microbiota, kimchi could even improve symptoms of anxiety. While there are more than 200 varieties of the fermented vegetable dish in its native Korea, the best in the UK comes from streetfood restaurant Jinjuu in Soho. Here, it’s made with the traditional combination of cabbage and radish. £4 jinjuu.com
09 Chocolate, Thyme, Piquillo Pepper & Raspberry Launceston Place, London
A little self-indulgence is good for the soul – though this dessert is certainly not without its virtues. Michelin-trained chef Ben Murphy extracts the oils from fresh thyme – which has antibiotic properties – to create a gelatine-rich panna cotta, then pairs it with a chocolate and olive oil crémeux and peppery sorbet. You can work it off tomorrow. Set meal from £55 launcestonplacerestaurant.co.uk