Best bites: Cod cheeks at The French House and Kolkata fish chaap at Farzi Café

Farzi Café

Sometimes that sad sandwich you packed for a quick, desk-bound lunch just won’t cut the mustard. When you feel like this, I urge you to close your laptop, grab your coat and go for lunch. Subsequently you’ll be far more productive, I promise. For me on Tuesday it was Farzi Café for butter chicken bao, dal chawal arancini and lobster and coconut risotto. The dish that stole the show (and it was a show) was the Kolkata fish chaap fried in fermented charcoal batter and a light ash dusting, arriving to the table like three glittering lumps of coal. Infinitely more inspiring than the sarnie.
Molly Wade, memberships manager
CODE was a guest of Farzi Café

The French House

On Tuesday, I went to a preview screening of The Menu, a new film centred on a psychotic chef who likes to ‘harvest, ferment, gel’, and kill terrible customers. After, The French House, probably the anthesis of the restaurant in the movie, was our chosen place for dinner. Cod cheeks were perfectly cooked in crisp batter, pork was encircled by beans and rich next to a lightly dressed salad. Wine? Some sort of chilled red – all the rage, still – and then there was gooey aligot to bind everything together. After visiting the French I find it hard to pinpoint any restaurant I like better. There isn’t one, I don’t think.
Josh Barrie, editor

FIELD at Fortnum & Mason, Piccadilly

I must warn you, if Fortnum’s had a fan club, I would be the one to run it. For me, Fortnum & Mason represents London. Any out of towners or international tourists that neglect to visit the place miss out on an institution. Last week, I joined Fortnum’s CEO Tom Athron for dinner at its ground floor sustainability-focused restaurant FIELD, where I had the opportunity to chat to their suppliers while dining. First came scallops from The Sea, The Sea, served while we supped champagne. We then had a sharing feast of the likes of tempura mixed beans, courgette salads, roast lamb, wild sea bass and hispi cabbage. As the night came to an end, there was something magical about walking through an empty Fortnum’s – I resisted the temptation to raid the store’s supply of toffolossus biscuits.
Henry Southan, social media manager
CODE was a guest of FIELD at Fortnum & Mason, Piccadilly

Yatai

Formerly a fixture on Deliveroo, Yatai now occupies a cherry red site on Goodge Street, dishing out Japanese lunch time favourites. There’s a huge variety of toppings on offer for the build-your-own sushi bowls – from old classics like edamame, seaweed and avocado to pickled cucumbers, kimchi, and spicy bean sprouts. This would be a virtuous lunch but for the optional deluge of crispy shallots I request on top. We also have the chicken katsu, which is made-to-order and arrives bathing in a steaming, silken curry sauce. Fried until dark golden, its panko crumbed carapace stays crispy and holds succulent meat. Whether you’re in search of fresh and light or warm and comforting, this is the spot.
Claudia Cockerell, editorial
CODE was a guest of Yatai

Soho House 76 Dean Street

Mondays are always a mad rush: catching up on emails, meetings on top of meetings, copious coffee to try and keep up. Invariably, Mondays also mean a forgotten packed lunch lingers in my fridge at home, resulting in the need to nip out. But 50 per cent off at Soho House, Henry (the member) and me slide into 76 Dean Street for a little salad. Except this wasn’t a little salad. It was a monster – a towering jeroboam of a salad. Despite the laughably gargantuan scale, the whole thing was well-made, with tender hunks of freshly prepped chicken, a tang of anchovies in the dressing and crunchy little croutons to top it off. Whilst it wasn’t the light lunch we’d intended on; it was a deeply pleasing way to start the week.
Mike Daw – Partnerships Manager

Read more reviews from the CODE team here