Agree with all of the above but the food is stylistically too heavy for me. I’m a dainty lad!
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Agree, it’s heavy.
Anyone coming to London needs to try Cocochine. The best meal of my life there this evening. Simply remarkable cooking with an unmatched (in my experience) combination of quality of ingredients and layers of flavour. Absolutely stunning.
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Looks beautiful, too!
Will be on my expense account list 
Mountain and Kiln are musts for me in London. Blacklock Sunday roast is excellent as well
Will be there in early April with the family… any recommendations for great dining with young (12 and 7 year old) but well behaved kids? Older one is an adventurous eater, younger one getting there but not quite ready for fine dining.
Had a generally good 3 days eating and drinking through London and will write up the various experiences when I have a real keyboard.
Now, due to a storm at home, I’m stuck here for a other 2 days!
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Thanks so much for recommending The Parakeet. As I mentioned above, we are stuck in London due to the storm back home. Jonathan, who ended up crashing my solo trip (no complaints!), wasn’t feeling well yesterday, and I was able to get a last minute table for one. I enjoyed a very good Sunday roast and a nice bottle for a reasonable price. Staff couldn’t have been nicer. The smoke hit on the beef from the wood oven was delicious.
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Sarah, really glad it hit the spot, and that you were able to make the most out of being stuck!
Our London trip ended up going a little off the rails what with getting stuck for two days due to the storms back home, and then first Jonathan and then me getting a stomach virus. We did manage to have a mixed bag of meals while we were there.
Noble Rot Lamb’s Conduit was our first stop and it was very good. The food this time was pure pleasure, delicious and perfectly prepared, exactly the kind of fresh, fun and simple we like the most. The wines by the glass were impressive, but a little punchy and nothing we felt we needed, so we had a glass each of excellent sherry, followed by a dynamite bottle of 1988 Mas de Daumas Gassac. The wine service there is possibly my favorite anywhere - friendly, knowledgeable, honest, curious, professional and excited.
Planque for dinner was good enough, but annoying and ultimately would not go back. Maybe they are just way too hipster for us, and the food isn’t good enough to overcome that. First we were seated at a communal table (about ¾ of the seating is communal, which I do not mind) near the front, but right in front of a speaker which was hung low on the wall so basically shooting music right in our ears. The music was not too loud in general, but the location of the speaker made it too loud, if that makes sense. So we asked to be moved. They moved us to a center communal table where it was so dark, we had to set up one of our phones with a light on through most of the meal. Weirdly, they turned the lights UP at some point during the evening, which made it much better, so maybe a few people complained? As for the food, it was… good. Except the bread, which was horrible. No tang, not enough salt, and the texture of a marshmallow crossed with a thick kitchen sponge. Despite having a terrine which demanded bread, we each only had a couple of bites. The terrine was also problematic, with a few chunks of fat so solid we could not cut them with a knife, much less chew them. Overall, though, the food was tasty, balanced, and well-seasoned. But more or less B+ across the board. And tame. Safe. No real personality or intensity, nothing exciting. Execution was spot on, except as noted already, no complaints, but it seemed the chef lacked confidence to make his food that extra bit of special, which would have taken it to the next level. I don’t need food to be innovative, but I don’t like it when it seems the chef is playing everything safe. It makes the food forgettable. And when the restaurant takes itself as seriously as Planque did, the chef should be able to deliver something with an opinion. I used my lunch at The Parakeet as a good contrast – the food there was also solid B+, but it didn’t need to be more than that. It was delicious, honest, executed well and with a intensity of flavor right in line with what it should be. Two restaurants with B+ food, one disappointing, the other not at all. Maybe Planque is better for lunch, perhaps when you have a big dinner planned the same night and only want a dish or two.
Last meal before Jonathan got sick (or sort of before, he had to leave partway through) was at Core by Clare Smyth. Also ultimately disappointing. They are dated in the way that 3* places so often are. I just don’t ever need to see hors d’oeuvres served on rocks, moss, and little branches ever again. I’ve been seeing that for 20 years. And don’t put ice on my food, ever, especially on an oyster or a scallop – that was bad when chefs first started doing it, and most have figured that out by now. I don’t want to eat ice on a savory dish, and only occasionally on a sweet. The worst dated thing, though, is the adulation of the chef, who isn’t even there most of the time. For heaven sake, don’t tell me all about how “Chef Clare” grew up in such-and-such a place, or what her philosophy is, or what foods her father grew on their farm, over and over. I don’t care at all about Chef Clare. I get it that all fancy restaurants want to explain each dish and its ingredients, but here the explanations of the dishes went on and on to the point where I almost told the poor server to skip Jonathan’s altogether once mine had gone on long enough for the food to get cold. One unforgiveable service error was that they delivered the next course while Jonathan was in the bathroom. I saw them do it at another table, too, so I know that’s their policy. It shouldn’t happen. I actually burst of “seriously?” when they started to put the food down in his absence. “Oh, should I get a cloche and cover it?” No, it shouldn’t sit there steaming under a cloche while I sit staring at it. I am guessing it’s a mostly driven by the fact they turn the tables and want to make sure nothing gets too slow. In any case, it shouldn’t happen. Finally, the room was just packed with servers. It’s a small, intimate room, quite pretty, but there were so many staff members on the floor it made it feel I was having lunch in the middle of Paddington Station. Impossible to relax since everywhere I looked someone was rushing about. That’s fine in a bistro, not in fine dining.
As for the food, it’s tough to pin it down. A few of the dishes were terrific. A few were not great. Most were in between. It was absolutely beautiful to look at. But it all needed to be better. Service, other than the complaints above, was very good. They were extremely nice when Jonathan had to leave before the end, and let me adjust the rest of menu if there was anything off of his that I had wanted to try (they have two different tasting menus and you can each do a different one), as well as replace a chocolate dessert I didn’t want. I think I am making it sound worse than it was. It was a lovely meal in some ways, and I’m sure most people who go there love it. These days, though, you basically have to overcome the trappings of 3* for us to like it, and this had way too many trappings.
The wine list at Core is actually admirable. Some things, most probably, are way overpriced. But at least it is broad, deep, classic, and has plenty of nicely aged examples. If I am going to pay up, I at least want to pay up for wine that is ready to drink and goes well with my meal. We ended up with a bottle of Bollinger Special Cuvee, and a really good bottle of 1996 Prieure Lichine, at a decent price. I took most of the latter back to the room and drank it over the evening while Jonathan was ill. Fortunately we had a suite, lol.
Best meal of the trip was St. John, which was excellent as ever, except for one dumb snafu with service which was, we think, the result of our server being not very experienced. It was actually funny, so I’ll share. There had been a mistake with one of my dishes, and I was afraid they would try to give us a free dessert, which I didn’t want. So when the server came to see if I wanted dessert, I made a point of saying “No, I don’t like sweets.” Then I went to the bathroom. While I was gone, she came back:
Server: I am going to bring her the pear sorbet, it’s not very sweet.
Jonathan: She won’t eat that.
Server: Would you eat it?
Jonathan: Maybe. I’d rather have the bread pudding if you have to bring something.
Server: I am going to bring the sorbet.
(A few moments later he called her back over)
Jonathan: Look, we’re not interested in sorbet, could you change it to the bread pudding? I’d like that.
Server: Sorry, I"ve already put the order in.
(After I came back)
Server: Here is our pear sorbet, it’s lovely and I really think you should both try it.
Me: Oh. Thank you, but I’m sorry - I really don’t want to eat ice.
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Thanks for the candor. I appreciate variant perspectives. Would certainly like to try Planque and see how it shakes out!
By all means. It’s a place people like. We didn’t have a bad meal. Just felt it could have, and should have, been better.
Planque is maybe in the same “neo-bistro” category as a septime or four horsemen imo (not sure what else to call it), but are there similar restaurants that you’ve found to be more inventive or risk-taking?
I don’t think it’s about risk, exactly, though I suppose that could be part of it. It’s about confidence and conviction. I said above that I don’t need innovation, and I certainly don’t want odd for novelty’s sake. I love the food at both 4H and Septime. Most of the dishes there just seem full of personality, and have something you can’t always quite put your finger on that makes me go “wow, nice. I love that.” The food at Planque just seemed…premium generic. All boxes checked, but nothing left me thinking about it. Premium Generic is a term I use for wine a lot - good, well made, obviously care has been taken, but there’s nothing that makes it special.
Maybe this helps - on the way back to the hotel, Jonathan and I asked the key question of would we go back. At first I said yes, then he asked “okay, in what circumstance would you ever choose Planque over one of the other places we love, if time was limited?” I couldn’t think of one.
Recommendations for something in/around Mayfair for day of arrival into London. Will be jet-lagged and dragging two teenagers to dinner, so something mid-range casual near our hotel (Sheraton Grand Park Lane - near Buckingham Palace and Hyde Park).
Already have Scott’s Mayfair teed up for another night of the trip (thanks to this thread).
If your crew likes meat, I recommend Goodman. Especially the Scottish breeds. Big steaks to share are on the blackboard (not on the website). This one is 900 grams.
The Grenadier is fun/casual pub, good for Sunday roast too and about a 10min walk.
Noble Rot Mayfair is casual enough and a five min walk.
A walk up S Audley towards Grosvenor sq has several casual options as well.
I stayed at the Sheraton Park Lane last week for work. The breakfast in the restaurant onsite is pretty solid, free for elites.
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On my trip to London last fall, my first jet-lagged meal was at Chourangi, Indian/Calcutta cuisine near Marble Arch. It was perfect for my occasion and could fit your criteria as well, especially if you’re looking for flavor.
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I am Bonvoy Platinum so this is good to hear. Did you get breakfast in the restaurant (buffet or menu?) or eat in the lounge?
Lounge access is standard but as your welcome gift, you can select points or breakfast in the restaurant. Very expansive buffet offering with a made to order eggs station, espresso based drinks, etc. I think you can order items off the menu in lieu of the buffet but not entirely sure.
Lounge also has a decent high tea offering, snacks/canapés in the evening with a cocktail hour. Several wines which were meh but a self serve cocktail bar.