London’s Square Mile, its own separate county within the capital, carries with it a rich sense of history, the bulk of the United Kingdom’s trading and financial service industries and, perhaps surprisingly, a variety of excellent fine dining options. We sent our team of TRULY tastemakers to find where to dine in the City of London.
Club Gascon
57 West Smithfield, EC1A 9DS
Chef Pascal Aussignac hails from Toulouse, and his Gascony roots are evident in the creative and imaginative dishes he dreams up for the menus here. A stimulating gastronomic journey through the finest Gascon cuisine, dishes, such as ‘aromatic razor clams, hay infused parsnip emulsion’ and ‘glazed black cod, sweet artichokes, verjuice and crunchy grapes’, capture the sense of playfulness that permeates the Michelin star food.
The restaurant’s food and produce from Gascony is monitored by the strict French agency, Le Comité Rénaissance, so you can certainly be assured of the highest standards of freshness and authenticity.
1901 Restaurant
Andaz Liverpool Street, 40 Liverpool Street, EC2M 7QN
With an innovative take on classic British cuisine, 1901 Restaurant brings molecular gastronomy to the City. The menu takes guests on a journey through Britain, with all the ingredients freshly sourced from the UK. Crab from Devon, pigeon from Kent and beef from Aberdeenshire showcase the best of British.
The restaurant’s unique setting chimes perfectly with the cuisine. Located in what was the Great Eastern Hotel’s original ballroom, a dome-shaped stained glass window takes pride of place as the centrepiece of the ceiling, with Coliseum-like white pillars providing an awe-inspiring presence.
HIX
36-37 Greenhill Rents, Cowcross Street, EC1M 6BN
Presided over by Mark Hix, one of the capital’s best-known restaurateurs, cookbook authors and celebrity chefs – star of BBC television series Great British Menu – HIX is famed for some of the finest caviar and Champagne in London.
HIX’s caviar is exclusively provided by Mottra, brought to the UK direct from their pools in Riga, Latvia. With its mild and subtle taste, Mottra caviar has become highly valued by connoisseurs the world over. A combination of crystal clear waters and carefully controlled storage ensures there is no sharp aftertaste or taste of algae.
If the science doesn’t do it for you, the stylish surroundings will. A stone’s throw from Smithfield Market, the restaurant was previously a sausage factory and fish restaurant and many of its original features remain. The wooden floors, marble oyster bar, tiled walls and linen tablecloths go towards creating an elegant yet unfussy dining room.
Cinnamon Kitchen
9 Devonshire Square, EC2M 4YL
Headed up by the acclaimed Indian chef Vivek Singh, Cinnamon Kitchen challenges traditional perceptions of Indian cuisine by fusing the spice of the subcontinent with the finest British ingredients and culinary traditions. The result is delectable.
Singh has transformed the face of Indian cooking by drawing inspiration from age-old recipes and ideas and evolving them to create innovative dishes, such as ‘clay oven roasted red deer with chili potato fondant, pickling sauce’ and ‘ennel scented tandoori king prawns ‘bengali’ coconut & mustard curry’. Outside of the kitchen, Singh has authored three best-selling cookbooks and is a regular guest on the BBC’s Saturday Kitchen and Celebrity Masterchef.
Angler
South Place Hotel, 3 South Place, EC2M 2AF
One of the finest seafood restaurants in London, Angler presents accomplished pairings and picture-perfect plates atop the South Place Hotel in Moorgate. The Michelin-star restaurant showcases sustainable seafood from British waters, paired with the best seasonal and local produce.
If delicious, freshly caught British seafood doesn’t inspire you, the eye-catching dining room certainly will. Sparkling beneath a stunning mirrored ceiling, floor-to-ceiling windows look out across the City of London, providing superb views.
Sushisamba
Heron Tower, 110 Bishopsgate, EC2N 4AY
Set on the 38th and 39th floors of the Heron Tower, Sushisamba’s views go one better than Angler. The restaurant arrived in London in 2012, following its success stateside.
A unique blend of of Japanese, Brazilian and Peruvian cuisine, music and design, the restaurant channels the energy and spirit of these three distinct cultures. A tri-cultural coalition that may seem odd to British diners, its roots are in the early 1900s, when thousands of Japanese emigrants travelled to South America’s fertile soil in search of a better life.
The fusion of cultures creates faultless Latino-Asian cuisine, with fresh ingredients prepared over the traditional Japanese charcoal grill and served as anticuchos – Peruvian skewers.