London Mortlake Restaurant Guide

A “brilliant location on the Thames” near Barnes Bridge can’t mask the reality that this venue from the high-profile TV chef “doesn’t live up to his reputation”. Some reporters do hail it as a “go-to” for “imaginative” fish cooking, but for far too many diners it’s “living on the Stein name” with “overpriced” food that “lacks edge” and whose “relatively high score for ambience only truly applies if you get one of the tables by the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the river (fabulous on a nice day)”. In summer 2024, it was announced that the family are seeking a central London site for the brand – to cut the mustard in the West End it will need to be a step up from this one.

Some “all-round superb” meals thanks to chef Leonard Kola win praise from fans of this “lovely” neighbourhood venue in East Sheen, a couple of whom had their best meal of the year here. The menu is quite eclectic, with some focus on steak and seafood grills, plus seafood and vegetarian curries. Top Tip – early evenings and daytimes at weekends there are set deals from £22 per person.

“Top-class cooking” has earned a strong reputation for this three-year-old Indian in East Sheen – a spinoff from the brilliant Dastaan in Ewell, and similarly belying its “pedestrian” interior. A few reports this year, though, suggest success risks going to their heads a little (“a return visit and still worth the trip, but bills have risen – please don’t price yourself out of the game!”). Top Tip – “the pork cheek vindaloo and the soft-shell crab remain things of beauty”.