London's new chef-led gastro pubs
There's a bevy of new pubs offering food a cut above the often underwhelming gastro-style menus. At these public houses, the ingredients are the finest and most seasonal on offer, and the chefs are mighty impressive. And, they still serve a pint and a decent Sunday lunch.
Here are five of the best recent openings.
The Palomar/Barbary crew continue to have the Midas touch with their beautiful restoration of Soho classic The Blue Posts. It is always packed.
On the ground floor there’s a concise lunch menu and bar snacks like posh sausage rolls alongside a craft beer menu. The Mulwray upstairs bar is all velvet banquettes and potent cocktails.
Discreetly hidden in the basement behind a curtained door: Evelyn’s Table is an 11-seater bijou restaurant where four chefs work from an open kitchen, serving diners perched at a marble bar. Head chef Luke Robinson has a passion for fish (he joins from seafood specialist Bonnie Gull) and talks through the day’s catch from Cornwall, offering tips on how to cook fish at home too. There may be hake with a buttery cauliflower sauce, or there's often a spectacular bouillaibasse like fish soup and Lindisfarne oysters with gooseberries and chive oil. Booking well ahead is essential.
Dinner in the pub: £40 including drinks