London Holborn Restaurant Guide

“Exceptional Provençal cuisine” – “light and full of fresh flavours” – ensures that dining is “always a real pleasure” here, in what is itself a “lovely, light and airy” glass-roofed venue (once an auction room for books) on Chancery Lane, whose “well-spaced tables” make it a good choice for a business lunch in legal-land. Part of Pascal Aussignac’s Club Gascon group, it has its own cocktail bar, Baranis, downstairs.

A former HQ of the Baptist Church provides the gracious quarters for this swish, new Holborn hotel, whose luxurious dining room’s cuisine is produced by Tony Fleming (who held a Michelin star at his former gaff, The Angler). Thin feedback supports the view that this late-2018 opening remains somewhat off-the-radar for many Londoners, but such as we have suggests it’s worth discovering: “I used to go to Baptist Council meetings in the building so was intrigued to see how it had worked out: the answer is well! I also worried from some of the hotel’s descriptions that it would all be a bit up-itself, but it was better than I expected: the cooking was very good indeed – not too fussy and full of flavour – and there’s a very good wine list too. Service was OK: I could have just done without the waiters’ psychedelic jackets…”

Stuck looking for a comfortable bite near the LSE? – try this staple of legal-land, typically packed with barristers from Lincoln’s Inn. It’s unlikely to knock your socks off with culinary fireworks, but regulars say a meal here is “always a pleasure, with a great choice of dishes at good-value prices”, and applaud the “professional” staff who “go the extra mile”.

Actually in Holborn not Hoxton – “an all-pleasing place, with a cool bar area” that’s part of the Soho House group, tipped for its “excellent breakfasts” and “simple, classic burgers”.

“Savoury pastry heaven” – “outstanding pies, steak puddings and beef Wellington” are the orders of the day at this “fabulous” dining room on the edge of the City, where Chef Calum Franklin oversees a “great menu” also featuring British charcuterie and grills. The setting is “a little hotel-like” but “tables are nicely spaced” helping to make it a big hit with business types. Top Tip – “pick up a takeaway pie from the Pie Room”; and there’s “an excellent breakfast, to boot”.

“Genuine”, “pleasingly quirky” and “unflashy” – these “humble”, extremely popular cafés offer “excellent-value Japanese food” from decent ingredients in “large portions” and are “always full” of “Japanese students and other Asian locals”. The “brusque” service is “a little haphazard, as is the seating”.