London St John's Wood Restaurant Guide

2022 Review: Wholesome family fare with an eco-friendly twist is the promise of this new all-day arrival on St John’s Wood High Street – open from breakfast onwards and incorporating a child-friendly cookery school. The menu leans heavily on its plant-based associations.

“Trading on a once-great name but disappointing in every category (except perhaps breakfasts)” – this brasserie brand themed around the Theatreland classic feels “very ‘chain restaurant’ now”. Some reporters do suggest their “comfort food staples” and “buzzy interiors” make them useful destinations, but too many suggest they are “haphazard” and “not a place to return to”.

“Safe food and lovely decor” help maintain fans for this “beautifully decorated” and “quintessentially French” brasserie – part of the Wolseley Group, and – according to such supporters – “everything you could want from a neighbourhood restaurant”. However, even those who say it’s “one of the only decent options for a meal in St John’s Wood”, can feel that “it’s really gone downhill since the departure of the Corbin & King founders”; and a slip in ratings can be ascribed to “inconsistent” standards here this year. Top Tip – popular for breakfast.

“For a birthday there’s nowhere better to come, whether you’re 80, 90… or older!” – this “fun trip down memory lane” at the foot of a Regent’s Park apartment block just goes on and on. A perfectly preserved time capsule from the 1970s (“from the salmon tablecloths and napkins to the recently departed ruched curtains”), you “sit down to crudités with a garlic dip and Melba toast then move onto a three-course meal from an extensive Italian-biassed English menu”: “it’s the most comforting of comfort food” (“Steak Diane as a main… wonderful!”). Service-wise, it’s “a well-oiled machine”: “all ages are well looked after, especially the oldest and youngest” and it’s a “go-to venue for family celebrations” for a large slice of north London. “Portions are huge” (“even the teenagers in the party struggle with the quantities”), but you must leave space for pud, delivered by Neil “the fabulous dessert waiter, who always ‘saves his favourite just for you’!”

This “consistently fabulous restaurant” in St John’s Wood has a “special and romantic atmosphere” thanks to its “charming” French owner Catherine Parisot, who has run it for 42 years and ensures the “service is so good and personal” that “you can’t fail to feel boosted by a visit”. The classic ‘cuisine bourgeoise’ hits the spot every time, too.

“Outstanding, really tasty Lebanese food” can be a surprise find at this “very ornate pub” – a beautifully restored, late-Victorian, Renaissance-style gin palace in St John’s Wood, whose dazzling interior was originally supposed to act as that of a major railway hotel (due to the ‘folly’ of the owner, as the tracks ultimately ended up terminating in Marylebone). In its current guise, it’s “one of the few Maroush group restaurants that survived post-Covid”.

2023 Review: This tiny Japanese near Little Venice is “well worth seeking out”. “The food is served in a friendly manner and the sushi and sashimi is always very fresh”.

This “superb, cosy local” in Belsize Park now also has an offshoot that’s proving “a great addition to St John’s Wood”. The focus is on “interesting food cooked with fire” from chef-owner Jake Finn (ex-LPM and The Ritz), who takes inspiration from Mediterranean, Peru and Japan: “a sharing concept from a menu that’s not huge but with good variety and lots of veggie options”. Both sites provide “wonderful combinations, simply done”, with meat, fish and veggies that are “both charred and succulent”. “It’s not inexpensive, but great value given the quality of ingredients and cleverness of the cuisine”. Top Menu Tip – “whole sea bream, fennel, radish and fresh herbs is a standout”.