by Benjamin Parker and Telegraph Travel, The Telegraph, March 4, 2020
The person who can dominate a London dining table can dominate the world, or so said Oscar Wilde. And boy, does this city have a lot of tables to choose from. Here is our round-up of the best bars and restaurants that emerged on the food scene in February.
Instead of simply previewing every one of the capital's new dining spots, each has been tried and tested by Telegraph experts to make sure they're up to scratch, including a residency from Gizzi Erskine, modern British eating in an East London gallery, and a 'treehouse' from Dominique Ansel.
Dominique Ansel Treehouse
It’s easy to write off Dominique Ansel’s first sit-down restaurant concept as another tourist attraction: the treehouse exterior looks blatantly constructed for Instagram – it’s in Covent Garden, aka social media snapping central – and you’ll almost always find a long queue at the ground-floor bakery. But venture upstairs to the bistro, and you’ll be wowed by the whimsical, intimate setup, with rope lights, flowing drapes and comfy seating nooks. Don't expect a Cronut here; instead staff members welcome you with a warm basket of fresh-baked focaccia, brioches, sourdoughs and flatbreads.
The theme of baking, of course, extends to the rest of the menu. Pastry forms the backbone, from a flaky chicken liver mousse mille feuille, its gamey taste offset by strands of candied mandarin, to a steamy brioche pudding concealing lamb that has been slow-cooked in red wine for up to 10 hours – the ultimate winter comfort dish. The gnocchi deserves a special mention: it’s dusted with baking soda before being lightly crisped on the pan, resulting in feather-light pasta pillows that make a heavenly foundation for a snowfall of mimolette and Comté cheese. The roast chicken is executed flawlessly, with a perfectly crisped skin, thyme and chicken sausage stuffing and a side of burnt lemon. With small plates starting at £7 and mains from £10.50, the quality you get is well worth the price (and inevitable queuing time).
Highlight: Ansel’s rendition of tiramisu, which is designed for sharing, will leave a lasting impression. The plastic film surrounding the dessert is delicately removed, allowing an explosion of gooey mascarpone cream and cacao powder to pour down the sides of the cake; dessert theatrics at its best. The delicious almond sponge base, soaked with coffee syrup instead of mocha, tastes less caffeinated than your usual tiramisu.
Details: 24 Floral Street, Covent Garden, London WC2E 9DP (020 3883 4710; dominiqueanseltreehouse.com)
Reviewed by Venus Wong
Townsend
Charles Harrison Townsend, the architect behind Whitechapel Gallery, is known for his fiercely original interpretation of Art Nouveau style and the Arts and Crafts movement, infusing buildings with idiosyncratic, classical British themes. More than a century later, his approach manifests itself in a namesake dining room inside the gallery. Head chef Joe Fox, previously at Petersham Nurseries, plays up to the oft-overused 'modern British' tag, using seasonality to navigate the cliché with proficiency.
Soft braised shallots add a sweetness to slow-cooked pork belly resting on butter beans and wild garlic, and for the full pig-out start with pressed pig head, where the rich meat is cut through by a dollop of apple sauce and pickled radish. There are gestures to the eclectic East London food scene, such as a the roasted chicken thigh for two, which comes with curried veal sweetbreads. The vibe is promising – light coming in through tall windows or, when the sun sets, subtly lit by glass pendant lights – but at present (beyond the plates) the only real fervour comes from restaurant manager Alex Miller. Time will likely improve the atmosphere, but for now dishes such as dark chocolate tart, light as though it longs to be mousse, in its thin pastry case and with rum-soaked raisins cowped across, will certainly soothe the feeling.
Highlight: "Lamb mince and onions" doesn't really scream excitement but is exactly what Townsend does best: take something wholly British and bring it up to date without losing any of the familiarity. In this case, the humble cottage pie gets served upside down. Chunks of lamb free fall over creamed Mayan gold mash (the ratio is 1:1 butter to potato, I'm jokingly told), crowned with salsa verde. Supreme comfort food.
Details: 77-82 Whitechapel High Street, Shadwell, London E1 7QX (020 7522 7896; whitechapelgallery.org)
Reviewed by Benjamin Parker
The Nitery by Gizzi Erskine
Acclaimed chef and cookbook author Gizzi Erskine has taken over St Martins Lane Hotel’s restaurant space for a residency until the end of April. The concept takes its name from a nitery, a type of lively, bohemian bistro popular in Paris at the turn of the century. The menu is heavily French-influenced, but there are British, American and Spanish-inspired dishes as well. Seafood is the highlight: fresh oysters caught in the English Channel and dressed in an invigorating yuzu pepper vinaigrette, hand-dived scallops swimming in fragrant parsley garlic butter, juicy grilled lobster doused in the same butter sauce. Paella lovers will also be impressed by the ‘bisque’, a Calasparra rice dish soaked in a broth of vegetables and prawn heads, garnished with wood-fired shellfish and two massive red prawns.
Carnivores won’t be disappointed either. Steak tartare – slicked on a thick, crunchy brioche toast – is all the more satisfying thanks to Marmite, beef dripping and a runny cured egg yolk. Other meat options include Toulouse sausage or onglette steak with brandy and red wine sauce. Desserts range between the classics (think apple tarte tartin and a deliciously biting lemon meringue pie) to the more inventive, such as negroni crêpes or a rhubarb and blood orange Queen of Puddings. Cocktails are heavy on gin but all thoughtfully created, and there’s a theatre menu, making this an all-around solid choice if you’re catching a show in the area.
Highlight: The flageolet dauphinoise – a dish that Erskine is famous for – is really quite something. The creamy, delicate flageolet beans (known as the ‘caviar of beans’ to the French) are baked with loads of guyard cheese, and made even more unreal by a generous helping of juicy, salt-aged lamb cutlets with rosemary.
Details: 45 St Martin's Lane, Charing Cross, London WC2N 4HX (020 7300 5588; stmartinslanelondon.com)
Reviewed by Venus Wong
Padella, Shoreditch
When the original Padella opened in Borough Market in 2016, it sparked something of a pasta revolution. Thanks to its simple menu and accessible pricing, Londoners flocked to get their fill of the fresh stuff. The hype never stopped, to the extent that these days it’s nigh on impossible to even get a space in the queue. So news of a second venue opening in Shoreditch was welcome.
There will always be those who argue that second (or more) openings fail to create the buzz of the original, but these days said buzz in Padella’s case is arguably more exhausting, cramped and touristy than anything else. The new venue, just round the corner from The Curtain hotel, is a bigger space, stylish and simple, with lots of standing room where people can drink while waiting for tables. Think low lighting, exposed concrete, dark wood and sultry maroon leather benches, with maroon and gold-rimmed tables. Wooden-handled cutlery sits in ceramic pots.
The menu is the same as the original, with the exception of a mussel fritti starter, and a martini with gorgonzola-stuffed olive. Mussels do not benefit aesthetically from being removed from their shells, battered and fried, it transpires, but these crispy little bullets are indeed tasty, served with a moreish, garlicky aioli. Westcombe ricotta ravioli with butter and sage is dreamily al dente, and kept light with a lemony kick. It’s beautifully beige food that keeps you warm for hours after eating. Desserts could have benefited from a reboot; salted caramel ice cream feels a little dated these days, but that’s not what you come here for after all.
Highlight: The pici cacio e pepe is still the one; a viral sensation for a reason. Richly cheesy, chewy, intensely peppery, and so creamy you’ll wish you had a spoon for the sauce.
Details: 1 Phipp Street, Hackney, London EC2A 4PS (padella.co)
Reviewed by Rachel Cranshaw
Bar Douro City
Bar Douro has brought its blue-tile décor and modern take on Portuguese classics to a second location. Those familiar with Portuguese cuisine will be delighted by the comforting staples on the sharing plates menu: the suckling pig sandwich is divine, with juices from the slow-roasted pork dripping onto the buttery bun; clams are cooked in olive oil, garlic and vinho verde (instead of cooking wine) to bring in flavour and depth; a hearty rabbit dish, from the farming region of Alentejo, is fittingly braised in Super Bock beer. A sparkling Portuguese wine from Folias de Baco is the right way to kick off the meal, and you should treat yourself to a Churchill’s port flight with dessert.
But a Portuguese meal wouldn’t be complete without salted cod, and Bar Douro City delivers this beautifully. Their version of bacalhau à brás (salted cod hash) sees strips of the fish pan-fried with rich and creamy egg yolk, caramelised onions and crispy potato strips – a combo that will keep you wanting more. The presa Ibérica is similarly addictive, with the nutty, marbled pork shoulder cooked robata-style, swathed in kale leaves and miga (leftover breadcrumbs fried with herbs).
Highlight: The arroz de sapateira (crab rice), cooked in a claypot, is a delicious take on traditional Portuguese shellfish rice. A fistful of Carolina rice (Portugal’s equivalent of Arborio) is cooked in a rich tomato broth with buttery brown crab and eggs, and dressed with white crab meat and coriander. It encapsulates the intensely earthy, fishy flavours Portuguese cuisine is beloved for. The restaurant doesn’t make the dish on Mondays – since the seafood markets close on Sundays – so come any other day if you’re desperate to try it.
Details: 1 Finsbury Avenue, London EC2M 2PF (020 7378 0524; bardouro.co.uk)
Reviewed by Venus Wong
This article was written by Benjamin Parker and Telegraph Travel from The Telegraph and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to [email protected].
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