This Week CF Loves: 01.06.26

 

When news broke that two Michelin Star winner Aktar Islam was opening his first restaurant in London, entitled Oudh 1722, buzz soon mounted among foodies across the capital. His Birmingham outpost Opheem was the first Indian restaurant to secure double Michelin stars, so anticipation was understandably high. Once again, the focus is Indian fine dining, but centred on Awadhi cuisine – a style shaped in the 18th-century royal courts of Lucknow, and what a feast you’ll find in this characterful four-floor townhouse in Bermondsey. Blink and you’ll miss it; there’s no signage, just white curtains discreetly hiding diners inside. Oudh 1722 looks very different to traditional Indian restaurants; contemporary and restrained without being stark, it’s all mid-century furniture, thoughtful art and dim lighting. Let’s get to the food, which is easily among the best Indian dining in London right now, impeccably presented and full of rich flavours. If we were to offer one piece of advice it’s to go steady – given how good each dish tastes, it’s difficult not to eat too heartily too soon. But those who pace themselves will be handsomely rewarded. Even the poppadoms feel like a revelation, accompanied with four chutneys that feels deliciously far from anything you’ve tried before. The gilawat lamb kebab is flavoured with aromatic spices and served with a fluffy roti, and the dum biryani made with oxtail and sweet carrot. The pricing isn’t cheap, but nor should it be – this is the sort of restaurant that makes you feel very smug indeed to live in London. – Ella Alexander.

Mayfair’s most quietly glamorous address turns into an open-air cultural quarter this June, as the Mount Street Neighbourhood Summer Festival returns from 4–20 June, and timed to coincide with London Gallery Weekend and the wider summer-season swirl of the RA Summer Exhibition and the Serpentine party. The heart of it is a new cultural hub at 62 South Audley Street, home to a Thames & Hudson pop-up bookshop of rare, signed and limited editions, where painter Kathryn Maple takes up residence, working live on collages and drawings inspired by Mount Street Gardens. Expect fashion with provenance too, Le Monde Béryl launches exclusive styles from 4–13 June, before By Walid presents extraordinary salvage-crafted objects and clothing from 15–20 June, plus a talk by Alexander Fury on Vivienne Westwood and children’s workshops led by author Joséphine Seblon. Pick up the festival map at the hub, then let the afternoon unspool across the neighbourhood, where restaurants and boutiques lay on summer menus, alfresco tables and outdoor carts serving special treats. It’s the most civilised way to spend a long June day in W1.