GRACE’S FAVOURITES

Our restaurant critic Grace Dent picks her top new dining spots of 2015 It is impossible to swing by Rudie’s without partaking in its glorious cocktail menu

For restaurant critics, Christmas is a welcome relief. We’re excused from the pressures of eating. Not that we shun the 10am slices of marzipan fruit loaf, Lord no — but we can eat privately, on our sofas, without a maître d’ staring anxiously at us. I can enjoy leftover turkey curry at home without any chance that a chef has heard I’m in the building and begun water-boarding the commis as a form of stress management. I also love Christmas as it’s a chance to take stock of my favourite new openings of 2015. Here are ten, in no specific order: Sexy Fish — a £15m fine dining project where mega-aquariums, Damien Hirst art and robota small plates collide — is enormously grandiose, hugely silly and I love it very much. The fact that several rival restaurateurs had to be placed in the recovery position over its name adds to my glee; the enormous waiting list, and the likelihood of seeing Joan Collins and Tracey Emin inside, makes it even better. Sexy Fish is possibly everything that is wrong with London to some people, which is why you’ll find me at the back drinking a Fish House Punch and eating prawn tempura. One aquarium even has simulated lightning storms and a ‘moonlight’ phase to make the tropical fish feel jollier. Those fish live better than me. (sexyfish.com) This is an elegant, imaginative Turkish-Cypriot restaurant about five minutes from Liverpool Street. For years I’ve thought of Turkish food as largely meat and more meat with occasional greenery. Then chef Selin Kiazim appears with her pearl barley with chilli butter, pecorino, sour cherries and kale, or her baked lamb fat potatoes with fried duck egg and sherry vinegar caramel. A seat at the counter with a large glass of Arcadia Cabernet Franc, a plate of grilled hellim and the courgette, feta and mint fritters has all the makings of what, right now, is one of London’s best nights out. (oklava.co.uk)