Marylebone, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

“The venues are wonderful to look at, but the food is almost always below average, over-priced from an uninspiring menu, with service that can be pushy and inflexible” – a fair summary of the pros and cons of the sub-sub brand of the famous Theatreland classic, which more generous fans claim provides “reliable comfort food without the hassle of the original”. Many diners have their eyes wide open when it comes to the trade-offs of choosing to dine here: “you likely have a good time; it’s just that, in London, there is always somewhere more interesting round the corner”.

2022 Review: Winston Churchill was, it is said, once partial to the odd jar at this Marylebone hostelry, reopened in October 2019 by well-known sommelier Xavier Rousset (in charge of the vino) and Anglo-chef Mark Jarvis, who oversees the basement steakhouse. Early social media feedback says results are high quality but can seem pricey.

There’s a “great wine list to explore” at this upmarket wine bar, which is also “reliable” for “decent food and service” (if by some accounts “wow! Pricey”). Formerly a group, its numbers have dwindled down to one in recent years: this surviving flagship in Marylebone also hosts the late-opening ‘28-50 by Night’, with live jazz.

2022 Review: ‘Exciting concept changes’ are promised at this elegant Roux-branded dining room, within the luxurious five-star opposite Broadcasting House. Democratised in style in 2018, then closed for much of the pandemic and beyond, the presumption is that it will take another move to a less formal (perhaps brasserie?) style when it reopens in 2022. Just the other side of the wall is The Wigmore – a pub created from spare space at the hotel and launched with its own entrance and Roux input in 2017. A hint at what’s to come?

“Went for their bargain 10th birthday menu in Jan 2025, and the food was exceptional!” – Will Lander and Daniel Morgenthau’s “very classy” Fitzrovian continues to thrive on its extremely consistent and un-forced formula and attracts barely a word of criticism amongst the many reports it inspires. Service is notably “charming and graceful”, delivering thoughtful cuisine that’s “really impressive” without attempting pyrotechnics; and matched with a “terrific” wine list that’s “full of interest, full of content”. “Yes, people moan that the room is a little pedestrian, but if you’re having dinner spending most of your time looking at the decor maybe you should change your dining companion”. Top Tip – “lunch is the value play” and popular with local expense-accounters.

“A popular chain with an interesting and varied international menu” – “V.G. value too” – these Kiwi-run cafés are “still seeing off all of the competition” for their many fans. In particular, they do a “great brunch, and they’re right to boast about their filter coffee” – and given the volume of feedback they generate, there is remarkably little negative criticism. Depending on the venue and the time of day, they work equally well for a “working lunch meeting” or “families out for the day visiting the sights”. Top Menu Tip – “the cornbread is to die for”.

“I’d move to the area to make this my local!” – Will Lander and Daniel Morgenthau’s urbane Fitzrovia corner site is a “casual sister restaurant to Portland just round the corner” and provides “a delightful welcome” alongside “a very high standard of dishes”. And to wash down the food, there’s “a wine list that seems to go out of its way to be interesting, including the chalkboard of options by the glass”. But while it’s “consistently a favourite” for most who report on it, the ratings they award are quite middling amidst a general acknowledgement that – “with prices not that far off its Michelin star sibling” – “the saving is insufficient given the disparity in food, experience and space”.

“It just works!”, agree fans of this spectacular brasserie on the second floor of Selfridges from Richard Caring – one of his better inspirations. “Service is efficient and the food not bad, but it’s the buzzy surroundings that make it such an oasis away from the shop floor” – so “take time out from serious shopping to relax over a quick lunch in a stunning room complete with a flying Pegasus” (the latter a 24ft, crystal-encrusted statue by Damien Hirst). The Art Deco interior is flooded with natural light during the day from the large picture windows.

“Expect the unexpected!” at Rishim Sachdeva’s ‘mostly vegan’ (dairy making an occasional appearance) outfit in Mayfair, where “every dish is a jewel” – you’ll find “stunning food that really celebrates vegetables, not the meat substitutes which can put you off vegan restaurants”. “Lovely staff” are another tick in its favour; but the “very noisy room makes it hard to have a conversation”. Top Menu Tip – “I’m not a fan of aubergine, but their charred dish is excellent”.

True to the Cubitt Group’s “comfortable” standards, this is a “lovely and above-average gastropub not far from Marble Arch” (with eight boutique hotel bedrooms). Foodwise, it’s a “reliable” bet, with the group’s menu ranging from small plates to poshed-up gastropub staples via oysters and steaks.

Film director Guy Richie’s Fitzrovia pub is one of the capital’s hottest tickets for Sunday lunch, with bookings for its “top roast” selling out a full year in advance, according to a February 2025 report in The Times that cited its success with the ‘TikTok generation’ in addition to its more obvious celeb links. A vintage-feel revamp of a three-storey Georgian-era boozer, it offers an appealing menu of ‘contemporary English’ cooking supplemented by upmarket bar snacks like Maldon rock oysters and Creedy Carver duck scotch eggs (but no longer beer from the owner’s Gritchie brewery in Dorset, which has ceased production).

Jason Atherton’s small Mayfair venue does still have a fan base, who promote its “great atmosphere” and some “fantastic” posh bistro food; and it remains a central London link to his original ‘Social’ empire (Pollen Street Social, RIP, used to be opposite). The view gained currency this year, though, that while it’s “not a bad small restaurant, it’s nothing outstanding” these days – perhaps inevitably now that his prime focus has shifted to newer London projects including Sael and Row on 5.

Taking over the ex-Chotto Matte (RIP) site in Paddington Street in Marylebone: veteran kosher caterer Tony Page has transferred his flagship venture – formerly called the Island Grill at the Royal Lancaster hotel – to this new location. A much bigger kitchen gives his brigade more opportunity to excel and early feedback, if too limited for a rating, applauds it as a “discreet and well managed” operation. Overseen by the London Beth Din – the menu includes no dairy, shellfish or pork – but otherwise it’s posh brasserie menu is fairly conventional if with nods to kosher classics: amongst starters, traditional Chicken Soup with Lokshen and Matzo balls rubs shoulders with Seabass Ceviche; mains include Veal Chop, Chicken Vol-au-vent, and Duck à l’Orange alongside more ‘with it’ options as Miso Glazed Fillet of Salmon and the Vegan Burger.

With its “posh pub grub” (courtesy of Kitchen Table chef, James Knappett, although many diners are oblivious to this fact), this genteel 18th-century tavern near Oxford Circus from the JKS group is a welcome refuge from the hurly burly of the West End’s retail heartland. You can eat in the upstairs dining room, or stay “downstairs at the bar for some well-kept ale with spice-forward bhajis and a scotch egg – both excellent versions of themselves and served with homemade condiments”.

“Lovely little restaurant that champions veg without excluding carnivores, and focuses on sustainability without being preachy” – chef Chantelle Nicholson’s “forward thinking” venue in Mayfair earns nothing but praise this year for its “exceptionally creative food, thoughtful presentation and knowledgeable staff” – and a “fantastic less-waste” ethos. Top Menu Tip – “ooh, the mushrooms”.

With its parquet floors and white Edwardian-style tiling behind the bar, this Mayfair boozer has undergone a fine restoration by the Cubitt House group. For a civilised pub meal in a pricey bit of town it’s worth remembering – “the ground floor bar is fine for beer and pub snacks, but it is the more cosy upstairs dining room where the menu showcases seasonal British dishes” with a ‘decadent French’ twist from chef Chris Fordham-Smith.

Joey Ghazal’s Mayfair extravaganza – a 1720 Hanover Square mansion converted into a 350-cover American-style brasserie, complete with live jazz and burlesque performers – remains a bit of a puzzle, with surprisingly little feedback from our reporters for somewhere so big, prominent and central. “Very high prices” for the straightforward menu of East Coast classics (Maine lobster; NYC-Italian fare) seem to be a stumbling point, with Happy Hour’s “very plump and fresh oysters at £1 a pop” the only noteworthy bargain.

This wine bar/restaurant group has a steady fanbase on the strength of its vinous offerings, although its “bistro fare” is perhaps not much better than “acceptable”. The best of its four venues is probably the “cosy” Marylebone flagship with live jazz and late opening at ’28-50 By Night’, and there’s a “very convenient” branch a minute’s walk from Oxford Circus.

There is so much right about the Art Deco dining room of this famous hotel, which reopened in late 2023 once again as an in-house operation (not under a celeb chef as it had been for the previous two decades): “service is never cringingly servile but smooth, warm and friendly” and the atmosphere provides “opulence but also relaxation”. But while some do also acclaim its “superb” luxe-brasserie cooking (fruits de mer platters, steak au poivre, Dover sole, Scottish lobster) too many meals here are reported as being merely “adequate”, so precluding a better rating: “a delightful place to be, service is professional, but we’ve found the food surprisingly poor given the status of the hotel and the cost of a meal”.