Mediterranean Restaurants in St James's
1. Chucs Dover Street
Italian restaurant in Mayfair
31 Dover St - W1
Inspired by La Dolce Vita lifestyle (indeed, there used to be an accompanying apparel resort-wear brand), this small Italian group strives to evoke the retro glamour of the 1960s ‘jet set’. There’s some enthusiasm for them amongst reporters, but a recognition that the food is “nice but not exceptional”: “I had an excellent martini. But the dishes were either overly seasoned or (the salad) not dressed at all”.
2. Estiatorio Milos
Fish & seafood restaurant in St James's
1 Regent Street - SW1
“One of the best fish restaurants anywhere” – Costas Spiladis’s London outpost of his luxurious international chain channels the brilliance of the Mediterranean, with its bright, white walls and high ceiling. “The fish is displayed beautifully on ice at one end of the venue and hosed down every 20 mins or so” – “a fantastic selection that always delivers a fabulous meal”. Sadly, though, you have to be a Greek shipping magnate to afford it nowadays (“just reading the menu is a shock”), and even those who think it’s “worth the hype” can find it “so eye-wateringly expensive, I think it might be one visit per year from now on”. Those less well disposed to it, say “if you like being served a smidgen of food and being charged a fortune, this restaurant is for you!”
3. Isabel
Mediterranean restaurant in Mayfair
26 Albemarle Street - W1S
A late-night haunt in Mayfair’s Albermarle Street, inspired by Bertolucci’s film The Last Emperor and ocean liners of the 20s and 30s. Celebs and civilians dine under 300 brass lamps on sharing plates of Latin American and Mediterranean-derived cuisine, before heading down to the after-hours bar with dancefloor in the basement.
4. Nopi
Mediterranean restaurant in Soho
21-22 Warwick St - W1
The Soho flagship of Israeli writer/chef Yotam Ottolenghi is conceived as a step up from his deli-diners, and the food is generally considered “wonderful”. But a note of disappointment has crept in with complaints along the lines of “bad service” or “overpriced vegetables and wine” – “I really don’t know what all the fuss is about”.
5. Whitcomb's at The Londoner
Mediterranean restaurant in Leicester Square
The Londoner, 38 Leicester Square - WC2H
2022 Review: This 300-room landmark hotel – from the Edwardian Group – just off Leicester Square had been set to open in 2020 as the pandemic hit, and finally launched in September 2021. As well as incorporating two Odeon luxe cinemas and a rooftop bar with fire pits, it offers six concept eateries, bars and a tavern. The main event is Whitcomb’s, an all-day bar/brasserie. Other possibilities include The Stage (for breakfast, tea and caviar, with Champagne a-go-go); and 8 at The Londoner (on the rooftop, serving Japanese dishes and cocktails).
6. Murano
Italian restaurant in Mayfair
20-22 Queen St - W1
“One of the best value top-end restaurants in London” – Angela Hartnett’s London flagship (celebrating its fifteenth anniversary) scored consistently highly in this year’s annual diners’ poll and is the rare kind of fancy Mayfair destination where folks like spending their own money rather than needing corporate plastic. The Italian-inspired cuisine is “very accomplished”, with “flavours seemingly so simply presented, you know the effort that must have gone into each elegant dish”. Staff are “helpful but unobtrusive” and contribute to an overall experience that “never fails to hit the spot”. In August 2023, the establishment announced a total refurb (complete with glass chandelier from Venice), and the appointment of George Ormond as Head Chef, who takes over from Emily Brightman.
7. Onima
Fusion restaurant in Westminster
1-3 Avery Row - W1K
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.
8. Cork & Bottle
British, Traditional restaurant in Covent Garden
44-46 Cranbourn St - WC2
“A secret, below-ground escape from the mayhem of Leicester Square” for more than half a century – this “well-hidden”, “old-school” wine bar has “only got better” over the years, first under founder Don Hewitson and latterly under Will Clayton. Top Menu Tip – “share the ham and cheese pie (it is absolutely enormous)”, and has sold around a million portions since 1971.
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