Where to Eat

1 Lombard Street Bank London EC3V 9AA Tel: 0207 929 6611 Click here for their website 1 Lombard Street Brasserie, EC3V – Modern European (Nrst Station/Tube Bank) There could be few better uses for a big old banking hall than this showy, stylish and rather noisy City brasserie, less formal than its sister restaurant and [...]

Hard on the heels of Hotel du Vin’s first standalone restaurant in London comes this new 120-seater in the heart of hip Soho. Like all branches in the HDV chain it has its own character style, although the French moniker is rather deceptive: the food is a seasonal/local/eclectic hybrid the wines are from all over [...]

5 Threadneedle Street London EC2R 8AY Tel: 020 7657 8088 Click here for their website Bonds, EC2R – Modern French (Nrst Station/Tube Bank) Soaring classical columns betray the banking hall origins of this handsome dining room, where the splendid architecture creates an entirely appropriate setting for power lunches. Fans praise chef Barry Tonks’s inventive cooking, [...]

The original Midland Grand hotel, a fantasy gothic château imagined by architect George Gilbert Scott, has been restored to its enchanting former glory – thanks to the Marriott Renaissance chain. Its vast main bar occupies the cathedral-like, former booking hall, a truly dramatic space whose ornate wooden ticket office survives intact. The drinks list was [...]

 1 Bank End, London SE1 9BU Tel: 020 7940 8333 Click here for their website   Cantina Vinopolis, SE1 – Mediterranean (Nrst Station/Tube London Bridge) Cantina can be found under the massive Victorian arches in the beautiful cobbled streets of Borough Market.  Cantina is the public restaurant in the wine attraction “Vinopolis” – hence the [...]

This former boozer bears the tell-tale signs of a Tom Ed Martin upgrade – its clean lines, neutral colours, smart upholstery shiny, packed bar put it in the same bracket as Chelsea sibling The Botanist. An all-day eatery, CSDR takes up the ground floor of the listed Whitbread Brewery building, which has been transformed into [...]

1 Lovat Lane London EC3R 8DT Tel: 020 7283 5181 Click here for their website  Clause, EC3R – Restaurant & Bar (Nrst Station/Tube Monument) Clause opened in July 2005 and specializes in quality food and drinks served by friendly and knowledgeable staff.  The layout at Clause provides several areas suitable for private groups with a [...]

 No1. Poultry London EC2R 8EJ    Tel: 020 7395 5000 Click here for their website. Coq d’Argent, EC2R – Regional French (Nrst Station/Tube Bank) With its spectacular roof garden and understated ocean-liner decor, Coq d’Argent excels as a venue for power lunches, special occasions and possesses a buzzy urbanity few other City venues can match. [...]

15 Westland Place London N1 7LP Tel: 087 2148 0574 Click here for their website Fifteen, N1 – Mediterranean (Nrst Station/Tube Old Street) Outstanding chef and pioneer for healthier school dinners, Jamie Oliver, is the inspirational founder and trustee of the Fifteen Foundation, set up to give disadvantaged young people a chance to develop a [...]

The owners of the prestigious Château de Galoupet vineyard in Provence have launched a bespoke restaurant-cum-wine emporium in a Georgian terraced building on swanky Beauchamp Place, with the intention of raising Galoupet’s profile while offering the Knightsbridge set a new foodie playground. The all-day menu eschews ‘charcuterie cheese’ wine-bar clichés in favour of nutritionally balanced, [...]

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9 Cutler Street City London E1 7DJ Tel: 020 7929 7923 Click here for their website  Haz, E1 – Middle Eastern (Nrst Station/Tube Liverpool Street) The mouth-watering smell of chargrilling which wafts through the streets around this smart, glassy modern Turk has proven irresistible to many City folk, and the praise for its consistently good [...]

Haz St Paul’s Haz is located on Foster Lane and serves authentic Turkish cuisine. The restaurant menu offers a selection of hot and cold meze, soups, salads, pasta, grills, vegetarian dishes and casseroles. Take away service is available. A separate cafe section offers a range of salads, breads, pies and sandwiches. A range of beers, [...]

133 Brick Lane London E1 6SB Tel: 020 7033 9072  Hookah Lounge , E1 – Middle Eastern (Nrst Station/Tube Bethnal Green) Awaiting Review

10 Devonshire Square City London EC2M 4YP Tel: 020 7929 5533 Click here for their website  Kenza, EC2M – Moroccan & Lebanese (Nrst Station/Tube Liverpool Street) Tucked away in a basement venue in Devonshire Square, Kenza is a bit hard to find and from the outside, doesn’t look like much. Once you carefully make your [...]

Perched atop of One New Change, seven storeys up, this informal, stylish restaurant bar designed by Jean Nouvel enjoys a lofty setting with unbeatable views of St Paul’s Cathedral the capital from its private terrace – part of one of the largest terraces in Europe. The menu lends itself to all-day eating: snacks including crisp [...]

The final instalment of this year’s Square Meal Martell Amateur Critic of the Year competition is fast approaching, and the top prize – an all-inclusive two-night trip to Cognac for the winner and three friends, plus a tour of the Martell vineyards and distillery (pictured below) – is still there for the taking. Three reviewers [...]

Andaz Liverpool Street London EC2M 7QN Tel: 020 7618 7100 Click here for their website Miyako, EC2M – Japanese (Nrst Station/Tube Liverpool Street) There’s a new name and some stylish new graphic motifs for this esteemed City Japanese, the most diminutive of the restaurants at the Andaz (née Great Eastern Hotel). Happily, little else has [...]

Good time girl (a mix of mango vodka, passion fruit vanilla ice cream) is par for the course a typically tropical treat at this Sloane-meets-tiki playground for the famous the wannabes. A mix of models, OK! faces, Chelsea hoorays, flash Ferraris the occasional Windsor congregate in the atmospheric Polynesian Lanai bar, perhaps sharing mini Mahiki [...]

58-60 Carter Lane London EC4V 5EA Tel: 0207 489 7777 Click here for their website  Patch, EC4V – Restaurant & Bar (nrst Station/Tube Cannon Street/Blackfriars) Patch is a stylish and contemporary cocktail bar situated over ground floor and basement in Carter Lane, near St. Paul’s in the City.  The basement has seven different segments to [...]

Warwick Court Paternoster Square London EC4M 7DX Tel: 020 7029 9400  Click here  for their website. Paternoster Chop House, EC4M – British (Nrst Station/Tube Preston BR) Winckley Square Chophouse restaurant in the heart of Preston’s legal and financial district also happens to be near some great shopping, so it’s perfect for everyone. The smart décor [...]

80-84 Leadenhall Street London, EC3A 3DH   Tel: 020 7621 0850 Click here for their website  Pause, EC3A – Restaurant & Bar (nrst Station/Tube Bank) Pause is an intimate basement cocktail bar located in the heart of the City’s insurance district close to Bank station and the Lloyds Building.  Pause is privately owned by Gina [...]

 147 Leadenhall Street London EC3V 4QT Tel: 020 7256 3875 Click here for their website  Prism, EC3V – Modern Eclectic (Nrst Station/Tube Fenchurch Street) Tucked into the basement beneath its showier restaurant sibling, Prism Bar may not have the profile of the glossy former banking hall upstairs but it has a considerable charm of its [...]

The May Fair Hotel’s revamped dining room is the first solo-helmed restaurant from Silvena Rowe, a Bulgarian-born chef who has done much to raise awareness of the cooking of the eastern Mediterranean through two well-received cookbooks her appearances on Saturday Kitchen. On our visit three weeks after opening, Rowe was already away screen-testing for a [...]

Hopping on the all-American barbecue bandwagon is this East End effort serving a slice of the Wild West. The dining room sets the scene, with cracked-leather banquettes, overhead fans turning lazily hunting rodeo paraphernalia on the walls. Slabs of quality cuts are rubbed with barbecue spices then cooked slowly in the kitchen’s hickory–mesquite-burning smoker imported [...]

Level24 Tower 42 25 Old Broad Street Broadgate London EC2N 1HQ Tel: 0872 148 4210 Click here for their website  Rhodes Twenty Four, EC2N – British (Nrst Station/Tube Liverpool Street) You will be simply amazed by the breathtaking birds-eye views across London at some of its greatest monuments – St Pauls Cathedral, the London Eye, [...]

L’Enclume owner Simon Rogan has returned to his London roots with the launch of Roganic, an ‘extended pop-up’ in Marylebone run by his head chef Ben Spalding. Despite the pokey dining room minimalist layout, the 25-cover space is surprisingly comfortable, with tables spread out to eliminate the risk of elbow battles eavesdropping. L’Enclume, in Cumbria, [...]

48 Brushfield Street Broadgate London E1 6AG Tel: 0872 148 0482 Click here for their website S and M Cafe, E1, British (Nrst Station/Tube Liverpool Street) S and M Cafe is one of a chain of traditional British cafes serving hearty portions of your favourite food ‘just like Grandma used to make’ at very affordable [...]

Everything about this mini-chain specialising in all-day brunches for hungover hipsters is sunny-side up, from the yellow-and-blue walls and pun-laden menu of ‘egg-ulars’ to the mufti-ed staff and jingly-jangly music. The decor is a mixture of Eighties’ Americana seemingly snapped up at a garage sale (think Snoopy lamps and novelty licence plates) and tongue-in-cheek neon [...]

Housed in the newly developed Heron Tower on Bishopsgate, The Drift marks Drake Morgan’s fifth foray into the capital’s bar scene. Spread over two levels, the vast space encompasses all manner of eating drinking possibilities, from the backlit display of wines fully loaded deli/antipasti area on the ground floor to the upper-level bar, restaurant open-plan [...]

41 Gracechurch Street, London EC3V 0BT, T: 084 5468 0102, Nearest Tube: Monument Station / Bank Station. Northern, Central, District, Circle, Lines plus DLR Trains.

The owners of the Westbury have launched an all-day brasserie in the premises previously occupied by Connolly’s world-renowned leather shop, right next to the hotel itself. The Gallery’s kitchen is fronted by head chef Brian Fantoni, formerly of Claridge’s, the menu offers an accessible run through informal European dishes in the modern vein, such as [...]

  1 Bell Inn Yard London EC3V 0BL Tel: 020 7626 5180 Click here for their website. The Gaucho Grill, EC3V – Argentinean (Nrst Station/Tube Monument) Gaucho Grill restaurants pride themselves on the basic philosophy of provenance. To Gaucho Grill this means authenticity, assurance and rigorous attention to obtain the finest quality ingredients at source. [...]

The restaurant with a social heart… Located in the buzzing heart of Shoreditch, the Hoxton Apprentice is a restaurant with a difference.  Not only is it the perfect alternative meeting place for an informal staff catch-up over a cup of coffee, a formal presentation, working lunch/dinner or a canapé reception, the Hoxton Apprentice trains long-term unemployed with on-the-job skills so they [...]

Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen With a daily specials board complementing the contemporary European fare, Hoxton Square Bar and Kitchen boasts quality food to go with their relaxed and friendly atmosphere. Regular club nights and live music ups the ante, making this the venue of choice for the trendy fashionistas of the area. 2-4 Hoxton [...]

The Mercer Situated in the heart of London’s financial district, The Mercer Restaurant and Bar has an assured and impressive feel, yet also retains an intimate and relaxed ambience. The menu features highlights of British classic and contemporary cuisine. 34 Threadneedle Street, London, EC2R 8AY T: 020 7628 0001 Nearest tube/rail: Fenchurch Street Station

With sherry bar Pepito next door, this similarly diminutive hangout is further reason to visit redeveloped Varnishers Yard. VOC is short for Vereenigde Oo-Indische Compagnie (aka the Dutch East India Company) and the cute candlelit cocktail bar takes its inspiration from the Far East for sensational sakés, stirs, barrel-aged infusions and punch. Beautifully presented in [...]

Spanish cuisine has never been as popular as it is now, and there is a beer out there that is a great accompaniment: Estrella Damm, imported direct from Barcelona. Because of its suitability to tapas and Spanish food, Estrella Damm is offering 10 lucky Square Meal readers the chance to win a pair of Taste [...]