Fitzrovia, Mediterranean Restaurant Guide

This “slick operation” in Fitzrovia was created by restaurateurs Peter and Arjun Waney – of Zuma and Roka fame. It’s not dissimilar to its pan-Asian stablemates: “buzzing, fun and loud, but with food that’s very imaginative and well executed” – this time in a modern Greek idiom. They must be doing something right, as there are now branches in Mykonos, Riyadh and Porto Cervo on Sardinia’s Costa Smeralda.

2021 Review: A “wealth of wines by the glass” and “tasty nibbles”, help make this growing group of self-service wine bars a “fun way to try a selection of vintages from a multitude of small producers”. At the Battersea Power Station branch’s school you can educate your palate towards Wine & Spirit Education Trust certification and watch wine being made from grapes grown in Oxfordshire and Surrey.

Influenced by the modern wine-focused restaurants of Athens – photographer Jenny Pagnoni’s Fitzrovia two-year-old specialises in Greek and Eastern Mediterranean dishes (many seared in the Josper oven). Feedback remains limited but is upbeat: “delicious food, marvellous service and a beautiful venue”.

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.

“Brilliant brekkie” has always been a star turn at this Fitzrovia haunt, whose attractions are heightened by its stylish setting and “friendly” staff. For more substantial meals, it can seem “competent, but not worth a detour”. It celebrated 10 years in business by opening a sibling in a former branch of Carluccio’s in Spring 2022 (no reports as yet). It’s set within Bloomsbury’s love-it-or-hate-it Brunswick Centre: a fine example of late-1960s modernist (brutalist?) architecture.

“I could become a vegetarian if I could cook like this!” – star chef Yotam Ottolenghi’s Fitzrovia fixture is posher than his delis, and “while not a vegetarian restaurant, vegetables take centre stage”. Set around a central bar, the clean-lined design of this 90-seater creates a “fresh and airy” atmosphere. Foodwise there’s an emphasis on cooking over fire, but while most reports hail his “interesting and delectable dishes”, ratings are dented by those who “wanted to love it, but while it was fine, didn’t really feel the vibe, especially at the prices charged”. Top Menu Tip – “the vegetarian shawarma with celeriac is next level”.

“Good food, but not great value” is a common verdict on this Spanish venture north of Oxford Street – the London outpost of chef Quique Dacosta, whose Alicante restaurant has three Michelin stars. It certainly looks impressive, with an open kitchen dominated by a six-metre woodfired stove, at which choice cuts of meat and fish are grilled alongside a dozen rice dishes cooked in the pan. But while it is praised for its “perfect paella”, it is also often cited as diners’ “most overpriced meal of the year”.