The London restaurant scene has never been hotter, and restaurant tourism to London is on the rise.
From famous Chefs to food trends, no reservation restaurants to intimate 11 seater table top dining, whether enthrallingly new or happily familiar, London’s restaurants are currently enjoying a boom time. Marylebone is a new central hotspot and has been on the rise over the past 5 years, now becoming a part of London where the hottest restaurants are setting up shop. Fitzrovia is the grown up brother to Soho with loads of excellent places to eat and drink, and sometimes more sensibly on a school night. Here are our hottest openings for Marylebone and Fitzrovia.
Kettner’s Townhouse
Nearly 150 years ago, Auguste Kettner opened Kettner’s, which was one of the first restaurants in London to serve French food. Now, a Soho-house owned restaurant with even more French food, a champagne bar (and a hotel). The establishment is called Kettner’s Townhouse (inkeeping with its adjacent Dean Street Townhouse).
The menu oysters, caviar, sweetbreads and truffles. Or go for lighter options like salads, sandwich selections (not regular egg mayo, more like croquet Monsieur and avocado on toast with poached eggs). Wash it down with an impressive wine and champagne menu in the champmagne bar, as you are surrounded by early-deco 1920s design. French glass lights, a walnut bar with a marble top, sofas, armchairs, and original art decorate the space.
Mere
From senior sous chef at Le Gavroche to judging MasterChef the Professionals, to her own restaurant, Monica Galletti opens Mere with sommelier husband David. How much we love a female Chef venturing out and successfully striking out alone! And Galetti is doing just that. The menu is entirely seasonal just six options for each course, dictated by seasonality, as well as a seasonal cocktail list. Classicly creative dishes with her own stamp. Combining Samoan and Kiwi heritage, with a seamless haute cuisine implementation, Mere executes a contemporary take on high-end dining that’s harmonious, yet simple and as has been described, ““understated excellence”.
Roganic
From Simon Rogan, its hot stuff this 2018. The original restaurant was open back in 2011 and closed in 2013. Now it’s reopened, and its permanent. Rogan’s food has always been very vegetable-driven and he really can transform them into something extraordinary. He also cooks meat and fish, though, so don’t go expecting a vegetarian experience. Roganic first opened in 2011 in Marylebone as a two-year pop-up. Now, five years later Roganic has returned to London, bringing elements of L’Enclume, his two Michelin star restaurant in the Lake District.
Roganic runs alongside Aulis London, a development kitchen and eight seat chef’s table which opened in Soho on 14th October 2017. Its bound to be the hotspot for foodies, chefs, bloggers and instagram lovers.
On the Dak
Linda Lee is keeping busy. First, she opened Korean barbecue joint Koba. Then, On The Bab which, since opening in Shoreditch, now offers Korean street food, bibimbap and fluffy bao in four different parts of the city. Then last year, we heard her plans for the giant Mee Market in Soho. And now she’s bringing all manner of gochujang-laden goodness to Covent Garden with a new chicken restaurant. ‘Dak’ is Korean for chicken so no surprise that there will a menu full of chicken options – with four types of Korean fried chicken, chicken soup noodles, BBQ chicken with cabbage, plus plenty of kimchis, salads and rice on the side. If you’re a veggie, being brought along to a chicken restaurant might not be your idea of a perfect night out. But rest assured, you’ve not been totally forgotten thanks to the inclusion of their meat-free mushroom and soy Chibab. Plus, you’ll be able to load up on their many sides, including spicy kimchi, salads and rice.
By Chloe.
New York’s hippest plant-based, fast casual restaurant has arrived. In New York, it was ‘the best vegan restaurant in town’. This is the ninth outlet, and first outside of the USA. And it screams trendy NY! Not only the full stop at the end of its name, but the menu which will drawn in carnivores as much as the plant-based lovey. The chef-driven plant based menu features locally-sourced ingredients in their most natural form to create inspired dishes, made 100% by the team daily.by CHLOE. is all about about feeding their hearty, nourishing meals made from whole ingredients to positively impact mind, body and health. From matcha kelp noodles and vegan mac and cheese, to class fish n’ chips to shepherd’s pie. Sit in or take out, but definitely try it.
Evelyn’s Table
From the same people behind The Palomar and The Barbary comes Evelyn’s Table as the ground floor of their big new Soho pub, The Blue Posts. Named after (you guessed it) Faye Dunaway’s character in Chinatown, this is an intimate chef’s table space, with only 11 seats surrounding a small kitchen space, where dishes are passed from the range straight to the guest. The menu is Modern European, changing frequently, and rustled up by the same head chef as at The Barbary. Lead by Head Chef Nacho Pinilla, the menu has about 10 dishes to pick from. A separate wine list with lesser known gems from small scale winemakers, with a Bin-Ends section showcasing rarer wines available in tiny allocations. Half the seats are set aside for walk-ins, so even if it is fully booked online, make sure you walk in, have a drink in the small cocktail bar waiting area while you wait.
Sabor
The former chefs of Barrafina, Nieves Barragan and Joseph Etura, are opening a thrilling new restaurant inspired by Spanish regional cuisine. Chef Barragan from Bilbao, and Etura from Castile, they bring to us ‘Sabor’, which means Savour in Spanish. Guests will journey from the tapas bar of Andalacuia through to the asadors of Castile to the seafood restaurants of Galicia.
The restaurant features Spanish counter top dining and an open kitchen experience. Spread over two floors, the ground floor features the main dining area surround the kitchen with a no reservation dining counter experience. Upstairs, a large atrium lets you see the action of the diners below with a focus on Galicia and Castile with octopus and suckling pig as specialities. A separate bar area and light snacking menu featuring cocktails with a southern Spanish influence.
Delamina
Husband and wife team Amir and Limor Chen open Delamina in Marylebone later this month, their second outlet after Strut & Cluck in Shoreditch. A Levantine restaurant celebrating a combination of dishes from Arabic Mediterranean, combining Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Israel. The menu draws its influence from Limor’s origins, being the daughter of parents from Russian and Iran and born in Tel Aviv.
There’s good news for vegans and vegetarians as lots of the menu will be focused on simple healthy dishes using spices, herbs and vegetables. Look out for the likes of charcoaled leeks with crumbled manouri, dried apricots, roasted hazelnuts and crispy capers, and baby aubergines smothered with black sesame, crumbled rosary goats cheese, roasted almonds and tamarind & honey dressing. When the veg dishes sound that good, who really needs meat? But carnivores will be satisfied with a carnivorous evening filled with dishes of grilled poussin with ras-el-hanout and Angus beef with venison koftas.
Meraki
The man behind Roka, Zuma, Oblix, Coya and The Arts Club has turned his hand at Greek cuisine. Meraki is a real magnet for the cool crowd with great looking interiors, an open kitchen with a bar top display of seafood. In the summer months, the potential of Greek sunshine can pour in through the floor-to-ceiling glass windows and over the two al fresco terraces. The menu showcases quality ingredients from Greece with mezze and salads, pasta, chargrilled meats and fish served in their entirety. It’s a real tour of Greek cuisine that is worth the visit.
31 Below
This newcomer brings a little Mediterranean sunshine to Marylebone – a café by day set amongst their ‘indoor garden’ with all the Grind coffee pastries and Med/Spanish-inspired cuisine to see you through the day. When night falls, the party leads down to the buzzy basement bar. Brunch sees favourites including a chorizo hash and smashed avo on toast alongside cold-pressed juices, detox shots and ‘Leches’, like their Vanilla with almonds, rice, dates, vanilla bean, sunflower oil and pink Himalayan salt.
The menu includes patatas bravas and fritto misto with lemon chilli and aioli, along with meaty sharing plates and a list of nibbles.
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