Best bites: Pork tonkatsu at “mu” and lobster bearnaise at Dorian

Brutto

A lot of people have already talked generously about Brutto, the Smithfield’s Italian with chequered tablecloths and £5 negroni. All I really want to do is jump in late on with a little burst of appreciation for the place. I found it agreeable and I don’t know why it took me so long to pop in. For lunch, tortelloni in brodo, peasanty but deluxe – everyone’s favourite vibe in food these days – and may I also take a moment to trumpet the bacon-tickled peas.
Josh Barrie, editor

Kebab Queen

I can’t stop blabbering on about Kebab Queen to anyone and everyone. It is a frighteningly unique dining experience. There are 10 seats and there are no plates and no cutlery. Diners must eat from a heated counter. This might be considered gimmicky, but it’s pulled off masterfully. Manu Canales serves up a tasting menu like no other, taking the concept of kebabs to uncharted territory. Everything I ate was exciting and full of flavour. I loved the monkfish course, where the hunk of fish was served inside a scorched cabbage leaf, with a puffed-up chicken skin and small slice of monkfish liver. Sensational.
Henry Southan, social media manager
CODE was a guest of Kebab Queen

Dorian

On my way to Dorian, the Notting Hill newcomer from restaurateur Chris D’Sylva, I walked past The Ledbury. As you turn the corner off Ledbury Road onto Talbot Road, you can see into the dining room of Brett Graham’s famous restaurant. A couple of doors down, the evolution of the London dining scene is laid out in a matter of yards: Dorian – with its long-dining counter, open kitchen and cosy bistro-style dining room – is very ‘2022’. The basement serves as a production unit for the Notting Hill Fish + Meat Shop, which in turn created this sort of accidental restaurant, for which we should be grateful. Front of house are young, pretty and very west London (perhaps a nod to the restaurant being named after Oscar Wilde’s famous novel). Snacks include crab rösti and liver parfait on toast. Small plates include a beef tartare, veal sweetbread with gribiche, and pigeon and quince. John Dory & Riesling, pork chop and lobster bearnaise make up the larger dishes. A fig leaf negroni is a nod to the man in charge of cocktails having previously worked around the corner at Core by Clare Smyth.
Adam Hyman, founder
CODE was a guest of Dorian

“mu”

On a dark, rainy Friday evening, I went for an early dinner at “mu” in Dalston, the new restaurant and bar from the team behind Brilliant Corners and Giant Steps. We had jasmine old fashioneds, then fried aubergine with white miso, yellowtail with pomegranate, and scallop skewers with yuzu koscho. All were excellent. To follow, a warming dish of pork tonkatsu and dry aged dexter beef striploin with caviar, and oyster mushrooms and nori fries. Dessert was a hōjicha crème brûlée, where the roasted green tea was the perfect cosy ending on a drizzly evening. We sat in the restaurant right in front of the stage and watched the Phil Dawson Brazilian jazz trio – dreamy. A perfect date night spot.
Alice Hale, production assistant
CODE was a guest of “mu“
“mu” is available on the CODE app

HRiSHi at Gilpin Hotel & Lake House

Heavy tablecloths, wainscoted rooms and grandfather clocks set a tone of traditional country house hotel fine dining, but Hrishikesh Desai’s eponymous restaurant is anything but. Three separate dining rooms create a homely feel, and should you not already be excited by the engaging personal service, then certainly the cooking wakes up the senses. The chef found his way to the family-run Gilpin Hotel via a TV show (Alex Polizzi: Chefs on Trial) and his presence is invigorating, bringing a creative, modern elegance to the hospitality. Dinner kicks off with meaty hen of the wood brioche fired with Kashmiri chilli, then moves onto Isle of Skye scallop served a la plancha and as a tartare, with brightness from calamansi lime gel and a cucumber, cumin and curry leaf sauce. This note-perfect saucing continues to bring dishes into satisfying harmony throughout the seven-course menu. Wine pairings can be taken as a flight or dipped into, with standout value from a fragrant Alsatian Gewürztraminer at £6.25 for 125ml.
Chloe Hamilton, content manager
CODE was a guest of HRiSHi at Gilpin Hotel & Lake House

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