Holborn, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

2022 Review: This independent fixture in legal-land (near the LSE) is a long-running staple of the area – welcoming, “always good value”, and with some interesting picks and bin-end deals on the wine list.

2024 Review: Robbie Lorraine has upped sticks from Brixton with his Del Boy-inspired pop-up – a witty, multi-course trip back in time to the cuisine of the 80s and 90s (duck-liver paté, prawn cocktail…). This new home is part of a Grade II listed pub just off the Strand: not to be confused with Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese on Fleet Street, which is about ten minutes’ stroll away (although both claim Dickens as a former patron). No survey feedback as yet – reports please!

2022 Review: The former HQ of the Baptist Church provides the gracious quarters for this swish Holborn hotel, converted by design guru Jacques Garcia. Since Tony Fleming left in December 2019, the main food operation (formerly known as The Baptist at L’Oscar hotel) has shifted to this all-day ground-floor operation offering a more accessible, Parisian-café-style menu from breakfast through to dinner. Allan Pickett (former head chef at Orrery, and briefly chef-patron of Piquet) is the new head chef.

“Exceptional food cooked by Cordon Bleu students” helps win high marks all-round for this culinary institute’s stylish, light-filled dining room: part of its HQ which shifted in 2022 to the Lutyens-designed building that was once the UK base for Reuters. In particular it’s often recommended as “a winner” for business entertaining: “set lunch offers good choices; portions are just right; dishes are prettily presented and taste delicious; and there’s a nice range of wines by the glass”.

James Dawson’s half-dozen wine bars are “super venues to try interesting new wines in”, with “informative service” – “food is something of an after-thought, but pretty good for all that”, and comes into its own with a “fantastic Sunday roast menu: lamb and beef are high-quality and cooked perfectly”. Top Tip – “great deals on a Monday when most others are closed”.

“If you love wine, come here!” – the original of Mark Andrew & Dan Keeling’s ten-year-old group “retains a particular (and distinctive) charm” and its “mammoth wine selection is an inspiration”, making it one of the Top-10 most commented-on venues in our annual diners’ poll. “The chalkboard of specials is always exciting… until you realise that the price is by the glass not the bottle! That said, even the cheapest options are worth drinking, the list is curated so lovingly” and there’s the “opportunity to experience some of those famous vintages” (if “at prices that climb to a level that can only be described as stratospheric”). The food also rates mention – “simple, classic dishes make up most of the menu” and are “fairly priced”; as does “the knowledge of the entire front of house team, which is exceptional”; and the “intimate” setting (a wine bar that was for decades ‘Vats’) is perfect for such a venue, if “a bit noisy and a bit cramped”. Top Menu Tip – “superb roast pheasant with trimmings: moist, tender flesh with a lovely gamey flavour”.

This “calm and very comfortable” hotel mezzanine on the edge of Covent Garden is a useful place to know about in a busy area – providing a “very soothing experience, with fairly traditional cooking, good-quality ingredients and generally good service”. It also serves an “amazing Charlie and the Chocolate Factory afternoon tea”, in which “both savoury and sweet elements are first class”. Top Tip – “fully gluten- and lactose-free menu available”.

2024 Review: “Very decent” French-influenced food helps elevate this fine old Clerkenwell pub restaurant into being a “good all-rounder”, as does its attractive, glazed dining area. That said, it doesn’t attract the attention it did a few years ago when Henry Harris was at the stoves.

2024 Review: “Amazing steak (though the rest of menu is good too)” and terrific views over the City and St Paul’s share top billing at the flagship restaurant at the top of a handsome Grade II-listed former Smithfield market warehouse. It can be “a bit noisy”, but it makes for a “solid dining experience” that’s “always good for business”.

“Quiet culinary bravura paired with both genuine respect for food and wonderful staff, and all served in one of prettiest rooms in London” maintains a very high level of popularity for renowned Aussie chef, Skye Gyngell’s “very elegant” chamber – a big, airy, light-filled space in the distinguished surroundings of Somerset House, that “always brings a sense of occasion”. Often tipped for romance, there’s just one complaint – “it was all fine… except for the prices!”. Top Tip – “their scratch supper menu is one of the great bargains of all time… as well as being delicious!”

“Deserving its hype for being terrifically romantic” – this “magical” Clerkenwell venue occupies part of a big, Grade II listed courthouse (which features in Dickens’s Oliver Twist) and a ride in the lift leads onto a superb space with “a stripped-back interior, giant windows, enormous fireplaces and dimly lit corners for canoodling” (and there’s also a gorgeous outside terrace). Abigail Hill (in post since February 2024) has made a good fist of replacing launch chef Florence Knight and her “clever” cooking adds to its appeal “for a foodie date”. “Fair prices” – “not outlandishly expensive for its quality” – mean it’s “popular for good reasons”.

2024 Review: This historic Holborn tavern – dating from 1549, if rebuilt a century ago – deploys its wood-panelled Dickensian atmosphere to good effect, with appetising bites served in the bar and a more involved menu in the upstairs Oak Room, complete with dining booths and an open fireplace.

2023 Review: “Recently revamped” with eight ‘boutique guestrooms’, this handsome Clerkenwell establishment is one of the oldest public houses in central London. There are too few reports for a rating as yet, but it looks promising and “the Sunday roast sharing board is pretty impressive”.

Two years into the former ‘Naked Chef’s comeback to the UK restaurant scene, reporters are split on the quality of his all-British menu – although the setting, inside the Theatre Royal in the heart of Covent Garden, is by general agreement a “welcoming” one. Its most ardent fans applaud the “really nice food cooked and presented perfectly” from a menu of undemanding classics (fish ’n’ chips, chicken & rabbit pie, burger, rib-eye, lemon sole…), but there are numerous critics who dismiss it as “expensive and poor quality… the venue’s nice, but that’s it”.

“A popular chain with an interesting and varied international menu” – “V.G. value too” – these Kiwi-run cafés are “still seeing off all of the competition” for their many fans. In particular, they do a “great brunch, and they’re right to boast about their filter coffee” – and given the volume of feedback they generate, there is remarkably little negative criticism. Depending on the venue and the time of day, they work equally well for a “working lunch meeting” or “families out for the day visiting the sights”. Top Menu Tip – “the cornbread is to die for”.

What a splash! – This big, throbbing, retro-futuristic Theatreland brasserie from chef Stevie Parle (Pistaio, Joy, Palatino, Sardine) opened too late for our annual diners’ poll, but was pronounced an easygoing West End hit by a chorus line of critics – “an instant classic”, Tom Parker Bowles of the Mail; “unmissable”, Grace Dent of the Guardian; “the new Wolseley”, David Ellis of the Standard; “I’ll go every day”, Giles Coren of The Times. The sleek decor, the beef from the organisation Wildfarmed and signature Kashmiri saffron risotto with marrow bones are all singled out for praise.

The ‘nose-to-tail’ British menu focused on organic, heritage-bred meat is “mouthwatering and the food lives up to its description” at this two-year-old in Smithfield – “within easy walking distance of legal London and the City”. The owners’ – the Landsberg family – estate in Argyll and fish farm in Loch Fyne supply many of the ingredients, while “the wine list includes vintages from their own property in France – at surprisingly good prices”, along with some “excellent and unconventional wines at under £30 a bottle”. Top Menu Tip – “the stout-braised Black Angus beef macaroni cheese side dish is worth the trip on its own”.