Farringdon, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

“Amazing steak (though the rest of menu is good too)” and terrific views over the City and St Paul’s share top billing at the flagship restaurant at the top of a handsome Grade II-listed former Smithfield market warehouse. It can be “a bit noisy”, but it makes for a “solid dining experience” that’s “always good for business”.

“An exceptional list of wine with so many to choose by the glass that it’s always possible to try something a bit different” is the key selling point of this popular modern wine bar chain. Its culinary attractions are less reliable – the food can be “surprisingly good” but is too often “essentially average”; service can be “accommodating” or “rushed”; and the ambience can be “better if you can sit outside”. But its “excellent value” drinking and “lively” style carry the day. In particular, the “conveniently placed” King’s Cross branch has a “great location, which makes it a winner”. Top Tip – “creditable set lunch at a pretty restrained price”.

“An oasis of calm just outside the hustle of the City” (north of Smithfield Market): this “beautiful” bar and restaurant (linked – but you’d never know it – to The Clove Club) is increasingly recognised as “one of the top Italians in London”, and a “special” overall experience (“everyone seems so happy just to be there!”). Even fans acknowledge it as being “on the expensive side”, but there are no quibbles about its “elegant and refined” cuisine which “never fails to hit the spot”. And it’s “also a good place for business”. Top Tips – “the Parmesan fries are dreamy”; and “the bar has a great set lunch menu and wonderful booths”.

“A very special venue”; “hidden behind a nondescript door in Farringdon and accessed by an ancient brass lift, you pass beyond the heavy black curtain to a breathtaking dining room” at this “wonderfully atmospheric” two-year-old. “A historic setting” (mentioned in Dickens’s ‘Oliver Twist’) – its “high ceilings, distressed walls and candle light” come highly recommended for “an illicit date”. Fans of Florence Knight’s “inventive” cuisine say it “holds its own in the space” – is “magical” even – but to others it is “unspectacular” in comparison to the backdrop. “Booking a table requires military advance planning but it’s worth it”.

“Very decent” French-influenced food helps elevate this fine old Clerkenwell pub restaurant into being a “good all-rounder”, as does its attractive, glazed dining area. That said, it doesn’t attract the attention it did a few years ago when Henry Harris was at the stoves.

“Gastropub heaven!” – this basic boozer on the busy Farringdon Road is where the gastropub revolution started in 1991, and it’s “still fabulous after all these years” – “no fuss, no pretence, just wholehearted focus, as ever, on simple yet perfect flavour combinations. Unbeatable!”. Head chef Edward Mottershaw celebrates two decades as head chef this year, and still chalks up the daily changing menu of Mediterranean-influenced dishes a matter of minutes before service, ensuring “simplicity and perfection without scary prices”.

2021 Review: “Lush surroundings” set a stylish tone at this “trendy”, six-year-old venue on a “hard-to-find” Farringdon corner, not far from Exmouth Market. It’s a ‘multi-faceted’ venue – a jumble of bar, café, restaurant, club, and private dining space – from a design team whose portfolio includes Pizza East and Riding House Café. “Fab cocktails” are maybe its most reliable attraction, although the food is consistently well-rated too.

“The most original brunches” – with “a good selection of super-tasty, tapas-style dishes” fusing eclectic flavours from the Middle East to the Pacific – are the top feature of these “nicely vibey” haunts, which also boast “great coffee and pastries, plus interesting non-alcoholic drinks (like sodas and kombuchas)”. And they serve “lots for vegans and veggies too”. On the downside, they become “noisy”; staff can be “overstretched” and ratings are dragged down by those who find them “a convenient option, but, in truth, a slightly disappointing one”. Expansion is still on the cards, though, with 2023 seeing a big new opening in Covent Garden, in a workspace on Drury Lane, complete with outside terrace.

2021 Review: “Our local – we’re so lucky!” Near the foodie mecca of Exmouth Market, this “busy” Clerkenwell corner-boozer receives a consistent thumbs-up in reports: “the standard of the food is high”.

“Doing a grand job of showcasing the school” – “seemingly simple small dishes done with exemplary refinement” (“perfect pork belly and a delicate citrus tart slice”) impress diners at this year-old restaurant, where you can sample the work of the august Le Cordon Bleu culinary institute (founded in Paris in 1895). Set in an “well-spaced, light-filled” dining room in Fleet Street’s Grade II listed former Reuters building (designed by Lutyens), it also has a “clean lined and attractive” adjoining daytime café worth visiting for its “accurately toasted” sandwiches and cakes.

“Somewhere to go that isn’t fine dining but is above the ordinary” – this Clerkenwell site became well-known under chef Anna Hansen as The Modern Pantry (RIP), and was relaunched (under new ownership) as this all-day restaurant and deli in 2022. It does do brunch, but that’s no longer the top feature it was in its former guise. The menu includes some “retro” dishes such as prawn cocktail (“mains of Holstein chicken and mushroom ragu were excellent”) and has a something-for-everybody quality to it. What’s more, “service is a notch above the usual” helping to create “a relaxed feel to the place”. (In his November 2022 review, The Telegraph’s William Sitwell noted the venue’s “polite” qualities and thought it a place to “take my favourite aunt”.)

Johnnie Crowe, Luke Wasserman and Toby Neill – “the team from Nest and Fenn – have brought their A-game” to this “beautiful” Smithfield yearling, which opened in September 2022. “No expense can have been spared in the design and fit-out of this wonderful space, atmospherically situated with a floodlit view of St-Bartholomew-the-Great through the massive windows”. The “ambitious menu focuses on British ingredients” and each “adventurous” course is “cleverly delivered” and “with marvellous, personal service”. “It’s the finest of fine dining with some original and exceptional tastes from a fixed multi-course tasting menu”.

2023 Review: “Recently revamped” with eight ‘boutique guestrooms’, this handsome Clerkenwell establishment is one of the oldest public houses in central London. There are too few reports for a rating as yet, but it looks promising and “the Sunday roast sharing board is pretty impressive”.