Because London today is so cosmopolitan, the variety of the city’s dining options is incomparable. The two most talked-about new restaurants are both the creations of American hoteliers — Chiltern Firehouse (André Balazs) and Berners Tavern (Ian Schrager), but as it is virtually impossible to get a table at either, I have had no opportunity to review them. Fortunately, there is certainly no shortage of appealing alternatives.
The best Indian food outside of the subcontinent is generally reckoned to be in London. Once, the restaurants were mostly simple and the menus restricted. No longer. The latest upscale Indian place is Karam Sethi’s clubby establishment in Mayfair. The décor may be British Raj, but the menu is extremely imaginative. For example, delicious game dishes feature ingredients such as grouse, quail, pigeon, rabbit, roe deer and muntjac (wild Indian barking deer). The suckling pig vindaloo is outstanding.
42 Albemarle Street, London W1S 4JH. Tel. (44) 20-3011-5900.
This casually elegant French brasserie is a welcome addition close to Bond Street and London’s principal upscale shopping district. Look for dishes such as gravlax with potato salad, Jersey oysters served with hot caillette sausage, poussin with garlic herb sauce and preserved lemon, and grilled rump of lamb. There is a very good selection of wines by the glass, carafe and bottle.
41 Conduit Street, London W1S 2YF. Tel. (44) 20-7183-6425.
At chef Bruno Loubet’s new Mediterranean-accented bistro, half of the menu is comprised of dishes made from vegetables and grains, while the other half is “conventional,” i.e., includes fish and meat. However, all of the food is healthful and delicious, and this handsome dining room in a renovated grain warehouse has become popular with vegetarians and carnivores alike. Look for dishes such as smoked-corn-and-quinoa tamales with roasted pork belly, and roasted beets with pink grapefruit, gherkins, grated bottarga and mustard oil. Don’t miss the horseradish ice cream with strawberry balsamic jam for dessert. Located close to St. Pancras International train station, Grain Store is extremely convenient for a meal before or after a Eurostar rail journey to or from Paris or Brussels.
1-3 Stable Street, London N1C 4AB. Tel. (44) 20-7324-4466.
This article appeared in the October 2014 print edition of Andrew Harper’s Hideaway Report under the headline “Notable New Restaurants."
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