London’s not short on world-class restaurants and with the release of the MICHELIN Guide Great Britain & Ireland 2022, a few more have earned a prized Michelin star or two. The resident takes a look at the fine London restaurants to make this year’s cut…
Photo: Wild Honey St James
New two Michelin-star restaurants
Five restaurants across the UK earned two Michelin stars – two in London, two in Ireland and one in Wales.
A joint is awarded two stars “when the personality and talent of the chef are really evident in their dishes; their food is refined and inspired”.
1 The Clove Club Shoreditch
The east London restaurant with Isaac McHale at the helm was upgraded from one to two stars this year. Relaxed fine-dining and housed in the Grade II-listed Shoreditch Town Hall, McHale has created a seasonal, modern British tasting menu where the finest ingredients sing.
Address: Shoreditch Town Hall, 380 Old Street EC1V 9LT
Website: thecloveclub.com
two Ikoyi, St James’s
Chef and founder Jeremy Chan mixes British produce, with a focus on fish and shellfish with West African spices, and his restaurant is also upgrading from one to two stars. Try a tasting menu for either lunch or dinner which uses organic, British sourced meat, fish and produce with flavors found further afield in dishes such as 120 day aged angus rib and saffron soubise; plantain-smoked kelp and blackberry; and turbot with artichoke miso and caramelised chicken
Address: ikoyilondon.com
website: 1 St James’s Market, St. James’s SW1Y 4AH
New one Michelin-star restaurants
Awarded for outstanding cooking, here are the newest cook injecting flavor and personality in their dishes, night in, night out.
1 Evelyn’s Table, Soho
An intimate chef’s table dining experience, Evelyn’s Table has Head Chef Luke Selby at the helm, working along side his two brothers Nat and Theo. The trio serve a melting pot five-course menu of British produce, Japanese techniques and classic French training.
Address: The Blue Posts, Cellar, 28 Rupert Street W1D 6DJ
Website: theblueposts.co.uk
two Frog by Adam Handling, Covent Garden
Scot Adam Handling’s flagship restaurant offers up seasonal five or seven-course tasting menus which all dishes prepared in the open kitchen. Alongside the main menu, there’s a plant-based tasting menu too, which offers up dishes every bit as creative and moorish as the meaty ones.
Address: 34-35 Southampton Street, Covent Garden, WC2E 7HF
Website: frogbyadamhandling.com
3 JamavarMayfair, London – Surender Mohan
An Indian restaurant with colonial flourishes, and Executive Chef Surender Mohan in charge of the kitchen. Order a la carte or try a tasting menu, and get stuck into dishes that draw on the rich expanse of India’s culinary traditions.
Address: 8 Mount Street W1K 3NF
Website: www.jamavarrestaurants.com
4 KOLMarylebone, London
Santiago Lastra’s Mexican kitchen champions bright fresh flavours, seasonality and wild food, and the menu features the likes of Cheltenham beetroot tostada and whole grilled octopus with bone marrow, potato and seaweed macha. The restaurant has recently launched a chef’s table experience, featuring a nine-course menu and a front row views of KOL’s development kitchen.
Address: 9 Seymour Street W1H 7BA
Website: www.kolrestaurant.com
5 Trivet, Bermondsey
Ex-Fat Duck Group Executive Head Chef Jonny Lake heads kitchen where the marriage of food and drink leads the creative process informing flavor and texture combinations. The breezy restaurant was also winner of the Sommelier Award, thanks to sommelier Isa Bal, fellow ex-Fat Duck and Best Sommelier of Europe in 2008.
Address: 36 Snowsfields SE1 3SU
Website: www.trivetrestaurant.co.uk
6 Wild Honey St James, St James’s
Led by Chef patron Anthony Demetre who already has as Michelin-star under his belt from his time helming Putney Bridge, the restaurant is housed in the opulent Sofitel London St James and plates up modern European dishes fitting for such a location. Signature dishes include crisp chicken with hand cut macaroni and winter black truffles; and fallow venison with slow cooked celeriac with walnut and cocoa, kumquat marmalade and grand veneur sauce.
Address: 8 Pall Mall, St. James’s SW1Y 5NG
Website: wildhoneystjames.co.uk
London’s new Bib Gourmand restaurants
Five new London have been awarded with a Bib Gourmand for serving up tasty bang for your buck restaurants – good food, priced well. Here they are.
1 Brutto, Clerkenwell
A convivial, relaxed Florentine trattoria by restaurateur Russell Norman plating up authentic Tuscan faves and all-day £5 negronis. Try the signaute deep-fried dough ball cuddles with prosciutto and stracchino, to start, followed by penne with tomato and vodka, and Tuscan beef shin and peppercorn stew.
Address: 35-37 Greenhill Rents, EC1M 6BN
Website: msha.ke/brutto
two Pahli Hill, Marylebone
A cheerful restaurant named after a Bombay old city neighbourhood, Pahli Hill serves regional Indian small plates with home cooking flavours. Tuck into tandoori Cornish monkfish, Pondicherry fried squid and stir-fried okra and try a zingy cocktail in the basement bar.
Address: 79-81 Mortimer St, London W1W 7SJ
Website: pahlihill.co.uk
3 lard, shoreditch
Following a series of successful residences, manteca found a permanent home in Shoreditch. The modern Italian kitchen focuses on nose to tail cooking, hand-rolled pastas and fire-cooked cuts to share, and creative ways to prepare uncommon meat cuts.
Address: 49-51 Curtain Road, EC2A 3PT
Website: mantecarestaurant.co.uk
4 Humble Chicken, Soho
Another buzzy, cheery place, and this one’s by Japanese chef Angelo Sato and it serves up every part of the slow-reared, free-range chicken. To go with your soft knee cartilage Yakitori skewer with spice miso and chives, try a sparkling sake or go for a cocktail or too, like the lychee martini.
Address: 54 Frith Street W1D 4SL
Website: www.humblechickenuk.com
5 Imad’s Syrian Kitchen, Soho
A successful restaurateur in Damascus until the war destroyed his three restaurants, Imad Alarnab, fled Syria and made his way through Europe to arrive in London with his passion for food still intact, and in fact fortified from the experience of cooking for fellow refugees. His first London restaurant offers authentic Middle Eastern flavors designed to be shared and enjoyed.
Address: Top Floor, Kingly Court, Carnaby Street, W1B 5PW
Website: imadssyriankitchen.co.uk
To see the full list of new Michelin-starred restaurants across the UK and Ireland visit guide.michelin.com