Chigwell, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

2024 Review: “If you are not planning a return to the office, the largest selection of whisky ever seen” helps round off a business lunch at this Canary Wharf branch of Ranald Macdonald’s Caledonian group. “The restaurant prides itself on good Scottish ingredients… shellfish in season… excellent fillet steak” and “tables are sufficiently spaced for private conversation”. Top Tip – “regular visitors may join a club which gives discounts on wines and they host musical events in the evenings”.

“They know what they are doing” at this comfortable hotel brasserie, well-located with a covered terrace on Marylebone Lane. Even its harshest critic – who finds the menu “pretty standard if uninteresting” – says that it suits “a functional business lunch”. But most reports are more upbeat – “there’s nothing to ‘frighten the horses’ but what they do, they do well. A place to come and please everyone and be able to have a proper conversation. Hooray!”

‘Good in parts’ is perhaps the fairest description of this comfy dining room in a five-star hotel near St James’s Park tube, which continues to put in a ‘Curate’s Egg’ performance. Recruiting ace chef, Sally Abé, a couple of years ago helped boost the profile of what was hitherto seen merely as a business venue convenient for parliamentarians from nearby Westminster. Nowadays, she presents “an interesting menu” championing British produce and recipes, resulting in “fabulous food, beautifully presented”. On the downside, service can be “variable” and “while the decor is nice, the ambience is rather soulless as the restaurant is situated in the rather cavernous bowels of a hotel”.

“If it was good enough for Queen Elizabeth II, it’s good enough for the rest of us!” – Gavin Rankin’s “very civilised, old school” brasserie in a cute Mayfair mews has a “lovely old-fashioned vibe” (and was one of the few restaurants in the UK in which the late Queen ever ate out). “Peaceful and very enjoyable”, it’s one of those rare dining rooms where jacket and tie are still the norm (although the dress code is an unwritten one). Staff are “utterly professional” and “predictably discreet”. “Start an evening with cocktails at the bar (next to the restaurant)” and then move next door for “classic French cuisine” that’s “lovely” but won‘t scare the horses. Top Tip – “the counter bar is also a great spot in which to have a posh fish finger sandwich!”

This Essex institution, founded almost 70 years ago, is still “the best fish restaurant in the area”, offering “consistently great food with even better service”. It’s relatively “formal”, which befits its status as a venue which attracts generations of the county’s notables, from Rod Stewart, Denise Van Outen and Victoria & David Beckham to the TOWIE crowd.

“Sally has triumphed in maintaining stands and a smile across the decades” and the “super-civilised institution” she opened in 1984, south of Notting Hill Gate, has shown rare staying power. That “there is always a really warm welcome” from the “effective and nurturing” staff goes down well, as does the way she has “maintained excellence with the finest seasonal produce perfectly cooked” (inspired by Alice Waters of Chez Panisse in California, her friend and mentor since the late 1970s). “Simple but elegant decor” and a strong wine list focused on North America complete a picture which still inspires practically zero criticism.

“Richard Corrigan’s grown-up Mayfair flagship”, just off Park Lane, is a favourite spot for enjoying top-quality British Isles cuisine, where the emphasis is on the best produce be it ‘furred, foraged, finned or feathered’. Typical feedback applauds dishes such as “brilliant ox cheek” or “a great fish selection prepared with aplomb”… “mouth-watering”. There’s a “great value set menu”, but “beware of straying too far from it, as otherwise racking up a hefty bill is very, very, very easy”.

“Good all-round” feedback continues to win a thumbs-up for Guy Awford’s Georgian tavern in Greenwich, where much of the menu comes from the robata grill. Summer is the best time to visit to enjoy the fab garden.

“Well worth a visit” – this “sympathetically restored” Mayfair hotel is originally Victorian (from the 1850s), although the wood panelling and square cornices of this basement dining room owe their looks to the 1930s. It continues to perform extremely consistently under chef Sofian Mstefi, who provides a seven-course menu for £122 per person (and there’s also a five-course option for £85 per person served Tuesday-Friday). We received nothing but all-round praise this year, with it winning nominations as both a business and romantic venue; and with many reporters enjoying their best meals of the year here.

“A great summer spot with friends”: this 120-year-old barge is permanently moored in Hackney Wick – near the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park – and provides a “fabulous experience on the water that makes for a great fun night out”. One reporter did quibble about the prices, but still said: “I loved our meal here – the concept is brilliant, with the interior of the barge turned into a cheerful dining room, and unusual dishes based on fish and foods grown in a kitchen garden by the mooring”.

In the underprovided area around Oval, it’s well worth discovering this “nice neighbourhood spot near the cricket ground”. Steak is a speciality (it’s a sibling to Clapham’s Knife, see also), but meat doesn’t over-dominate the wide menu, and results remain consistently well-rated. Top Tip – ‘secret’ outdoor garden out back.

Ties festooned from the ceiling is the signature look of this veteran St James’s location, which makes a civilised launch-pad for an evening in the West End. With help from the menu – well-rated in reports – offering light US-inspired bites (ribs, jambalaya prawns, mac ’n’ cheese).

2024 Review: A very appealing looking spot, in one of Chelsea’s more chichi little enclaves – this café bar is part of nearby boutique hotel, 100 Cadogan Gardens. It’s not the cheapest venue, and service can lag, but for a breakfast or light shopping lunch it’s praised (albeit in limited feedback) as “a good all-rounder”.

“The stories behind the dishes are so lovely” at Adam Handling’s Covent Garden HQ, where diners face the open kitchen to enjoy an eight-course menu presented by the chef and his team for £195 per person. “The wow-factor of the beautiful presentation really adds to the overall pleasure of the meal” and “you will seldom see such intricately and delicately plated dishes”. For most diners, “there’s substance to match all the theatrics” too, with the resulting tastes on the plate being “absolutely superb”. But there are also those who – while acknowledging “flashes of brilliance” – still feel that “‘we’re-trying-so-hard’ screams from every dish” to the extent of seeming “pointless” or “pretentious”. “And then there’s the bill…” which even fans concede is “daftly expensive”. The main verdict though? “can’t wait to return!”. Top Tip – corkage free lunchtimes: BYO at no extra cost!

2024 Review: A “real favourite” of well-heeled foodies, this classy if relatively unsung Mayfair hotel dining room boasts in “William Drabble, the most underrated of chefs – and one of great longevity” after 15 years at the helm. There is an eight-course ‘Menu Gourmand’ (for £125), but also à la carte options (starting in the evening with a two-course meal for £82 – lunchtimes are cheaper).

Tom Aikens’s “intimate townhouse restaurant in Belgravia” has a “pleasant location away from the busy streets” where you eat on two floors, with some of the seating perched counter-style and with other diners sat at tables. “The concept of the menu is that it is based on Tom’s upbringing” and the result of the multi-course offering is “truly world-class cuisine” with “amazing depth of flavour” all provided with “exceptional service”. There is a trade-off that was more evident in feedback this year, however: it’s “great… but very expensive!”