Marylebone, Mediterranean Restaurant Guide

“Stunning salads, amazing pastries” and a “lovely variety of interesting prepared dishes” have stood the test of time at Yotam Ottolenghi’s “vibrant” deli-cafés – still hugely popular 22 years on from the launch of the first in Notting HIll. The Israeli-born chef and writer has had an enormous influence on the way people shop, eat and cook, helping to create a whole category of modern Middle Eastern cookery and “totally living up to his reputation as a leading expert in vegetarian cuisine” – even though his premises serve meat and fish. An occasional quibble – “the prices? Too high for a few stalks of broccoli even taking into account the undoubtedly skills of the Chef!”

Sommelier Xavier Rousset is behind this “wonderful and quiet little restaurant” and wine bar in Marylebone, “serving delicious, serious food” – mostly inspired by Italy – and “an outstanding Rhône-specialist wine list”. Service is notably “friendly, with a relaxed vibe”.

“Posh Greek food” – “very nice sharing plates” from a “well-designed menu” where “delicious moussaka” rubs shoulders with “caviar” and top steaks – wins praise for this Marylebone venture, as does its “great wine list”. It’s a sibling to INO (see also), and likewise run by an Athens-based team who hold a Michelin star for that city’s ‘Funky Gourmet’.

2022 Review: “Wonderfully fresh, tasty and simple flavours” stand out at this health-conscious Marylebone two-year-old, which has a decidedly pretty interior in the upstairs restaurant (there’s a bakery below). Dietary requirements are celebrated rather than being grudgingly catered for, so there are no refined sugars in the cooking, along with limited dairy and gluten. The owner, Kelly Landesberg, is the daughter of Gary, chairman of the Arts Club in Mayfair.

The “good-looking decor” and “varied menu with an enticing range of small plates, bowls and skewers” bring customers back to this well-established Fitzrovia haunt, now with a popular sibling in Bloomsbury’s modernist Brunswick Centre (“nice place with lots of plants, like a conservatory”). They’re a big hit for “a long lazy brekkie”; at other times the cooking can seem rather “uninspiring”.

London… Mykonos… er, Riyadh… – that’s the lineup for this small international group of luxe Greek restaurants owned by Peter Waney (who, with brother Arjun, has created hits such as Zuma and Roka). It flies slightly under the radar compared with its more famous stablemates, but shares the same virtues: the vibe is buoyant and the food (a Greek-inflected mix of the raw seafood, fish, grills and pasta popular with globetrotting types) “is great… so fresh!”

2021 Review: “Fun” and fashionable yearling – a glamorous, grown-up, all-day restaurant complete with bar, on the ground floor of ‘private workspace and wellbeing destination’, Mortimer House in Fitzrovia. Its open kitchen is headed by Antonio ‘Lello’ Favuzzi (formerly of leading City Italian, L’Anima) who joined as head chef in February 2019. A versatile choice for many occasions, it is particularly tipped for business. Foodwise, one or two reporters consider the Mediterranean-via-the-Middle-East cuisine a little “average”, but overall it’s consistently decently rated.

“I don’t know how Ottolenghi comes up with those flavour combinations but the result is genius!”, say fans of Yotam O’s Fitzrovia flagship, which lives up to his renown for “exceptionally varied and delicious food with a focus on the Middle East (but also with some oriental influences)”. “Served mostly as small plates so great for sharing”, they’re “particularly talented at vegetable dishes, but overall everything tastes good”. There’s also a “short but interesting wine list”. It would score even higher but for the odd niggle: be it about “erratic, if charming” service; or toppish prices. Top Menu Tip – “in a high-quality field, the celeriac shawarma really stands out”.

2021 Review: Swish, Greek-owned, late-2018 yearling, which occupies two floors of a five-storey Mayfair townhouse (the remainder being dedicated to a bar, club, roof terrace, etc) which aims to ‘brings the spirit of Mykonos to London’ on a site that once housed the HQ of Cartier’s watch-making empire. Ex-Novikov chef, Sicilian Carmelo Carnevale, oversees a Mediterranean/Asian mash-up of a menu, which earned solid ratings in early feedback, alongside perhaps predictable concerns about the slightly scary pricing.