Meals from last week. Had our two young kids with us, tried to stick with outdoor when we could.
BiBi - Excellent modern Indian. Very pleasant patio. Good cocktails, limited btg list. I think it’s backed by the Gymkhana team.
Harwood Arms - Sunday roast - so good but we ate so much it was painful! Such a different flavor than any steak I’ve had here, incredible depth of flavor but I don’t think it was aged much (or maybe it was wet aged?). Very casual and friendly service, accommodating to our kids.
La Goccia covent garden - lovely flowery courtyard seating (petersham nursery location). Small plates Italian, we loved it. Wood roasted scallops were insane, great fried chicken as well.
Brat - Food was excellent though not the most comfortable setting for it (hot) and took a while for the food to come out. As good as the turbot was, the rice with duck is the best thing I had in London.
Also some surprisingly decent Korean fried chicken and japchae in the alleyway with a bunch of restaurants near Hamleys.
Nice to try the Charles Lachaux wines at decent prices at a few places…
At Medlar now. Terrific and very nice list.
Edit - and a Berserker lurker sat down next to me and ordered some Burgs to celebrate his marathon finish. What are the odds? Carnage ensued.
Noizé is always our go-to for BYO when I get together with the London winos. During grouse season, ask ahead and then order it. Thank me later.
Scott’s was disappointing. Food ok, but rushed, and weak service. J Sheekey (same ownership) much better.
Good to hear. We loved our meal at Medlar in March. One of the best meals we had. Great staff and service as well.
This? A paella of the best sort. Crispy, crunchy duck offal rice with grilled breast, heart, and confit thigh.
Pretty pretty pretty good. 
Bumping this as I’m headed to London at the end of the year. It will be my wife’s first time in the UK, and my first visit in 6 years. Would love recommendations for restaurants and bars (both cocktail-focused and wine-focused).
We both care a lot about food, but generally prefer to avoid ultra high-end pre-fixe menus. We definitely want to visit one of Ottolenghi’s restaurants, as well as have at least one Indian meal, but otherwise don’t have anything in mind. Open to both the new & exciting, as well as the classics. We’re staying near Westminster.
Would greatly appreciate any recommendations. Thank you!
Gymkhana is the best if many good Indian restaurants in my opinion. Lunch is an incredible bargain.
I like Nopi (Ottolenghi) but haven’t been recently.
J Sheekey (fish) is a must for me every visit. In Covent garden.
with the caveat that i havent been to london since 2017, i always have lunch at rochelle canteen. i try to sneak in trishna for dinner (sister restaurant to gymkhana). noble rot at lamb’s conduit has a crazy good lunch special. i usually go to brawn as well which always impresses.
next time im in town, i plan to try p franco for small plates and wine. not sure whats the latest but id check with the usual websites for ideas.
i like ottolenghi as well. we tend to go to the spitalfields location for lunch.
I’m a huge fan of Palomar. I enjoyed it more than Nopi, but really enjoyed Nopi as well. The Barbary is also excellent and a sister restaurant to Palomar.
I have heard really good things about Planque. I met the owner in NYC this past weekend and he is extremely passionate and knowledgeable about wine. I look forward to going on my next London trip.
Another recommendation for Noble Rot, J Sheekey , St. John (Smithfield), and St. John Bread and Wine (Spitalfields). Game season is on, so St. John would be a must for me, were I there today.
Across the street from Noble Rot, is the relocated Honey & Co. (discovered years ago when they were new in their original location). A couple of blocks away down a pedestrian passageway is the family-run, casual Malaysian restaurant Dapur. My go-to near the Royal Opera House is 10 Cases. Around the corner from the London Coliseum is the excellent Lao Cafe, though I still deeply lament the loss of Green Man & French Horn.
Bumping this, any recommendations for wine shops in London?
Thanks again for all the recs. We’ve booked Trishna, Nopi, J Shelley, and Smoking Goat. Very excited.
You did not ask for restaurant recommendations but if you need any the wine oriented restaurants that I usually recommend are Planque, Noble Rot and Brawn.
Planque is new.
For wine stores I visit Hedonism which is tacky and sometimes absurdly priced but still worth a visit.
I buy from Howard Ripley but I have never visited and do not know if they have a store.
Howard Ripley does not have a retail store.
Interesting thought…are you likely to find any French or Italian wines in London that you wouldn’t find in the states? For less?
Smoking Goat is good. BRAT, same ownership and upstairs, is great.
Great question, and I have no idea! I would hope/assume so, but that could be totally misguided.
Thank you for the rec, just booked dinner there as well!
In the midst of a gloriously beautiful music filled weekend I managed to hit a few restaurants.
Straight off the plane went to Brawn. Fantastic food and great natural wine list. Owner Ed Wilson is a friend and also a big music fan so we always go here at least once and it never disappoints. The Quail was excellent.
On this trip I was most excited to go to Yuki Bar! I first met Yuki at Noma well over 10 years ago and have since seen him all over the world and for many years he has told me he was opening Yuki Bar! It finally happened. It is his own home Japanese style cooking with an excellent wine program. I called him at 7 on Friday night from the festival just after Madlib, Freddie Gibbs and El Michaels had finished their set and said what up Yuki…I am in London ok if I come over. He said of course I will save you a table how many people…pause…oh somewhere between 10-15…silence…I will figure it out! Little over an hour later we roll up and I don’t know how but he fit about 15 of us in around a table for 7 people. It is a small well designed minimalist spot with a great sound system. We were treated to a lovely evening of great Japanese comfort food and several bottles of rare wines from Yuki’s personal collection. We stayed late into the night and at some point I took over the music and had a blast.
The following day we hit Planque for lunch. Simple three course meal that was very good. The wine list is excellent and has many rare bottles at somewhat reasonable prices.
A quick interlude to stop by my friend Pete’s gathering with DJ Spinna at BBE records on a beautiful day. A who’s who of London DJ’s came out. It was wonderful to see so many old friends.
We then hit 40 Matlby which came highly recommended by a friend I trust but he forewarned us about the wine list. He was spot on about the food which was excellent. The wine list is sadly horrible. I don’t fuss too much about all natural lists I can usually find something. I let the somm choose two bottles for us and both were just god awful. I picked a Sparkling German wine that I know that was at least refreshing.
https://www.40maltbystreet.com
London is such a lovely city! Heading to an all day festival today with an insane line up so no dining out but we do head to Paris in the morning so watch for updates on the Paris thread!
Highly recommend lunch at Rochelle canteen if you can squeeze in one more. The redchurch shoreditch original.