Best bites: Baklava at Zahter and paella at Arros QD

Arros QD 

Arros QD is the Spanish chef Quique Dacosta’s only restaurant in the UK and it specialises in wood-fired paella. We started with a glass of sherry, wild mushroom ragout, aubergine, truffle purée, pea shoots and confit artichoke with ash vinaigrette before the main event. We had the paella Valenciana, with rabbit, chicken, Garrofó beans, rosemary and a punch, herby veal stock. The paella is prepared using the traditional Valencian method and the best part, naturally, is the crispy base, or ‘socarrat’. We finished with orange sorbet, served in an orange and topped with blood orange pearls. I thought the restaurant was beautiful, especially the open kitchen, which brings bold smells of wood fires and is very theatrical.  

Alice Hale, production assistant
CODE was a guest of Arros QD

Zahter

Excuse the product placement here, but I first discovered Zahter on The Good Food Guide app. A great restaurant, in Soho, that I hadn’t heard of? Not a common occurrence. I’m now bugging my nearest and dearest to visit at their earliest convenience because the restaurant contains some of the best food I’ve eaten this year. Everything we ordered was packed full of flavour. Highlights? The citrus marinated sea bass, and the lamb skewers, which arrived tender and juicy and with a piece of pita straight from the oven. The chimichurri sea bream – served whole, but completely boneless – was also tremendous. We finished with a sensational selection of baklava. 

Henry Southan, social media manager 
CODE was a guest of Zahter 

Bottle and Rye, Brixton

For some unfathomable, borderline offensive reason, desserts are usually overlooked in best bites. We have a duty of care to shine as much of a light onto the sweet touches at the end of a meal as we do the savoury morsels at its start. It is then, with the weight of the nation upon my shoulders, that I submit for your consideration this: a sticky, sweet, chewy, date-y, creamy hunk of sheer unbridled pleasure from Bottle and Rye. B&R in Brixton has already won my heart but this love letter to sticky toffee pudding – made with more restraint and dexterity than the oft found, overly sweet versions – is a dessert-lover’s wet dream. A pillowy loaf, made well with dates and swimming in a delicate toffee sauce, resides next to a soft peak of crème fraiche. Served with love from a team who remember me from about three months ago, who remember my friends that weren’t even there that lunch time. This is hospitality. This is sweet, sweet heaven.

Mike Daw, partnerships manager
Bottle and Rye is available on the CODE app

Cavita

Brunch is a contentious topic in the office. Some love it, some hate it. I’m in the love camp, mainly because I’m a late riser and so I see it as a way to postpone breakfast. That said, even the haters would struggle not like brunch at Cavita. Mimosas are switched out for margaritas – very, very good margaritas – and eggs come in the form of huevos rancheros or chilaquiles. I highly recommend the tacos de chochinita pibil: spiced, slow cooked pork shoulder with guacamole and pink, pickled onions piled into velvety soft, corn tortillas with a squeeze of lime. I mean, I’d be happy to have this for breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner.

Molly Wade, memberships manager
CODE was a guest of Cavita

The Winter Garden at Corinthia 

In my opinion, great hospitality is where you are made to feel special. Corinthia executes this across the hotel – and in particular – in its restaurants and bars. First up, Velvet, a sexy and sophisticated bar that is draped in softness. A wonderful team makes wonderful drinks, and after a martini (or two), it was to The Garden, the outside space in the central courtyard of the hotel. And yes, it’s a garden, in December, but don’t fret, because it’s suitably heated and there are plenty of blankets and hot water bottles. Melted raclette cheese, freshly baked pretzels, beef bourguignon and baked Alaska awaited us. Alpine excellence. 

Henry Southan, social media manager
CODE was a guest of The Winter Garden at Corinthia

Read more reviews from the CODE team here