Best bites: Medialunas from Mostrador and tuna tostadas at Santo Remedio

Club Mexicana, Kingly Court

Club Mexicana in Kingly Court is the ideal spot for a quick filling lunch break. It’s 50 per cent off food at lunch time on Sunday-Friday on the CODE app. Service is super friendly and the tunes give me that little wake up needed to get me through darkening afternoons. I had the BBQ ‘short rib’ bowl, with sticky glazed jackfruit ‘ribs’, hickory smoked BBQ sauce, pico de gallo, pink onions, pickled cabbage, pickled jalapeños, rice, lettuce, garlic mayo, and salsa verde. I also added beans and guacamole. The jackfruit is sweet and tangy and the pico de gallo fresh and tart. There are frozen margaritas and pina coladas if you need to cool down after adding too much Valentina. Mondays are particularly enjoyable: £5 margaritas from 5pm to close; oh and Taco Tuesdays, which bring all-you-can eat tacos from 5pm for just £15.
Alice Hale, production assistant
Club Mexicana is available on the CODE app

Zephyr, Notting Hill

Greek restaurants are hot right now. Zephyr is a strong mix of neighbourhood feels, cool crowds, and outstanding tzatziki. The restaurant works – warm friendly service, with bold hearty plates of Greek classics like red prawns and herby lamb chops. But start with a breadbasket alongside a few of their homemade dips before feasting on crispy potato terrine with metsovone custard. Also, truffle should be made illegal as my addiction is a disease.
Henry Southan, social media manager

Mostrador

If you want to be the most popular person in the CODE office, it’s easy: provide team snacks. Usually, it’s Mike with the custard creams, but last Wednesday I procured the title after bringing back bakes from Fernando Trocca’s new pop-up, Mostrador, a far cry from the Co-op biscuit aisle. The brown paper bag had barely landed on the communal desk before it was savaged by hungry hands. First to go was the sticky and sweet cinnamon bun followed swiftly by the alfrajores: tender crumbed shortbreads sandwiched with a thick layer of dulce de leche. There was also medialunas (Argentina brioche bun-meets-croissant), chocolate chip cookies, carrot cake, and a cheese scone.
Molly Wade, membership manager
CODE was a guest of Mostrador

Oak & Poppy

Hampstead is somewhere I often think about spending my weekends because it’s so tranquil. Unfortunately, it’s at the top of a rather long hill. Last weekend the promise of breakfast at Oak & Poppy got me up that hill. The space is bright and airy, and most importantly, the scrambled eggs perfect. No one likes rubbery eggs. It’s a perfect place to spend a sleep Sunday morning.
George Gill, Operations Co-ordinator
CODE was a guest of Oak & Poppy

Santo Remedio, Shoreditch

When you’ve got a group to please, great Mexican food always goes down well, and Santo Remedio is just that. We went to the bright and bouncy Shoreditch café, by chefs Edson and Natalie Dias-Funtes, which offers a more relaxed approach to its London Bridge sister. Luckily there was a few of us and soon a colour explosion of small plates, botanas, tacos, tostadas took over the table in pairs, ranging from £9 to £14. Both sides of the meat and veggie divide were kept happy thanks to pork belly chicharron and tomatillo salsa, and grilled cactus with smoky hibiscus flowers. For me, the tuna tostadas steal the show, wrapped up with fresh avocado, lime and chipotle mayo. I washed it all down with a spicy mezcal margherita. Even better, have a swig, then top it up with a chilled Mexican lager and go again. And again.
Maitland Murray, subscription sales

St John, Marylebone

Few restaurateurs are as venerated as Trevor Gulliver and Fergus Henderson. They created a landmark establishment from a vacant former industrial lot on St John Street in Clerkenwell which has gained a level of both critical and popular acclaim that is incredible rare to come by. Their credentials are unimpeachable and their hospitality legendary. After an aborted restaurant opening in LA came and went, they announced a new Marylebone site. It’s rare to see a restaurant open in quite a posh space on Marylebone Lane only to then rip out the tiles, remove any hint of original features, whitewash the walls and erect butcher-shop inspired frosted glass. The St John-ifying of the space aside, the food is every bit as delicious as the original. Deep fried rarebit, pleasingly ionic liver and roasted squash are all dishes of wonderful joy, but it’s the skate wing bite that delights most. A creamy mix with pungent herbs, capers and those tender hunks of stunning skate, all cupped within lettuce, make for a wonderous start to the meal.
Mike Daw, partnerships manager

Read more reviews from the CODE team here