Marylebone, Mediterranean Restaurant Guide

“You will want to lick the plate” if you brunch (the highpoint) at one of Yotam Ottolenghi’s inspired deli-cafés, whose creation in 2002 helped created the TV fame of the owner, and started to popularise the Middle Eastern-influenced cuisine that’s swept London and even now is seen as fashionable. The formula is little changed: “tasty, healthy and yummy dishes” that are “beautifully flavoured” but “a bit on the pricey side”. “Ottolenghi is the master of flavoursome veg (with more veg choices than at most non-veg restaurants)” and, in particular “the cakes are wonderful!”. (Also, “they’re great on allergens.”). On the downside, “space is tight” and the “ambience could be more relaxed”. There’s also a feeling in some quarters that “Yotam has become a brand and it shows”, with food that is “good but after a while same-y”.

With its “lovely authentic decor, excellent small plates and comprehensive wine list”, this “small wine bar and bistro” from Xavier Rousset – a former head sommelier at Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons – has established itself as a Marylebone fixture in the last 10 years. The Rhone-heavy list offers more than 30 wines by the glass. Top Tip – “exceptional value at lunchtime” (when sirloin steak with salsa verde, fries and salad costs £19.50).

“Excellent modern Greek food” is served in “an aesthetically pleasing space” at this well-established venue (est. 2014), from the team behind highly rated Funky Gourmet in Athens (its more casual Soho sibling INO closed in summer 2024). As may be expected of the address and smart styling, it’s “spendy in the Marylebone manner” (with a high entry level for wines per bottle). Top Menu Tip – “lamb shank to die for”.

Brunch is an institution at this “good stalwart” in Fitzrovia – Adam White’s upbeat all-day operation – and also at its attractive younger siblings in Bloomsbury’s Brunswick Centre and Nova Victoria. The attraction in each case is the “quirky decor” and “fun” style – even fans concede “the food is fine without being outstanding”… “nice enough for the price”.

“A thoroughly modern twist on Greek cuisine” wins a solid following for this “atypical” and vibey Fitzrovia venue, whose “intimate setting and candlelit interior” help create a “great ambience”. An early exponent of smart, upscale Aegean dining in London when it opened nine years ago, it has branches in Mykonos and Riyadh. Founder Peter Waney worked with his brother Arjun, the man behind Zuma and Roka.

Open to the public on the ground floor of Mortimer House membership club and workspace in Fitzrovia, an all-day Italian restaurant overseen by chef Tom Cenci. Breakfast includes twists such as Tuscan baked beans, while the well-appointed bar, conservatory and terrace form an attractive backdrop to family-style lunch and dinner. It has a small fan club in our annual diners’ poll, all of whom rate it highly.

“Ottolenghi at his best” is found, say fans, at this “lovely roomy restaurant” with a “buzzy ambience” in Fitzrovia, whose menu – “mainly vegetable-based but with some meat and fish options” – wins praise for its “wonderful imagination”. The only real complaint is that the experience is “likeable, but expensive for what you get”.

“Luke Ahearne is cooking up a storm” at this modern Mediterranean yearling in Marylebone, whose name is a contraction of ‘abuelita’ (meaning grandmother in Spanish) and where cooking over a dramatic open grill is a feature. But even if no reports fundamentally dispute its top quality, “the price can be eye-watering” – leaving a couple of diners feeling that “in spite of enjoying what we ate I would not return because of the feeling of being taken for a ride”.