LONDON: Top 5 Personal Favourite Restaurants

I graduate on the 22nd of July. With the onslaught of parents drawing ever nearer, I've been asked by friends for recommendations on where to take them. So, I decided to compile, in no particular order, a list of my personal favourites. As you can see, I have a predilection for japanese food, but for a Chinese fine dining experience, you can't go wrong with Hakkasan. I'm sure there are plenty more restaurants that belong on this list, but these are the ones that I've actually tried (though not all were reviewed on Cafe Creatures) and come away inexplicably happy from. 

1. Dinner by Heston Blumenthal 

Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park

66 Knightsbridge

London SW1X 7LA 

You can see my review here! 

2. Yashin Sushi

1A Argyll Road

High Street Kensington

W8 7DB

See my blog review here!

3. Roka 

37 Charlotte Street

London W1T 1RR

See my blog review here! 

4. Tetsu 

Fatty tuna handroll [taken from my instagram]

It took 3 months of waiting to get a reservation here, but it was entirely worth it. With only about 10 seats in the whole restaurant, each person is personally served by the chef. I don't usually like tuna sashimi, but the one prepared for me at Tetsu slid down my throat like a luxurious clotted cream. 

12 Jerusalem Passage 

London

EC1V 4JP

5. La Petite Maison

I haven't reviewed this restaurant even though I've been brought here thrice, but La Petite Maison has never failed to deliver an immensely satisfying meal. It's unpretentious, yet the food is exquisitely prepared; passion flows through the food and onto your tastebuds as smooth as a hot knife slicing through butter. 

I even bought an autographed copy of Gwyneth Paltrow's cookbook (Notes from my Kitchen Table) after one lunch here. 

54 Brook's Mews

London W1K 4EG

LONDON: Dinner by Heston Blumenthal

soda bread with wild organic butter

When Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, Heston being chef behind three michelin starred restaurant The Fat Duck, first opened last year, it received 6000 calls a day for reservations. Significantly more substantial and down-to-earth than its quirky counterpart The Fat Duck, lunching at Dinner is a revelation in itself. Securing a lunch reservation on a monday afternoon meant two things: first, we had the opportunity to take advantage of the set menu of 3 courses for £36 and second, giving up a 2 hour lecture. Needless to say, I did not regret the latter.

Lemon Salad: smoked artichoke, goats curd & candy beetroot

The delicately crunchy salad leaves, the sweet tang of beetroot and velvety smoothness of goats curd melded seamlessly with zesty lemon dressing in my Lemon Salad starter. One forkful of this dish and the concert of flavours that played on my tongue cured all doubt that Heston's new restaurant would be a disappointment.

Dressed Snails: Beetroot, salty fingers, sea fennel & red wine juice

Snails are chewy, slimy things. I've always been impartial to escargot but the ones in the Dressed Snails starter were deliciously warm, smooth and soft all the way to the centre, releasing a burst of unadulterated flavour of something I can't quite describe but loved nonetheless.

Roast Ray Wing: Parsnip & butter milk puree, sea aster, brown butter & capers

Ray wing is a seemingly exotic but actually rather popular British dish. The depth of flavour of this succulent, flaky fish was brought out by the brown butter sauce. Unfortunately, the accompanying capers had a sharp flavour almost too sour to complement the texture of the ray wing. Capers aside however, ray wing seems like a light yet satisfying dish that I would love to attempt to make at home.

Sambocade: Goats milk cheese cake, elderflower & fig

Prune & Tamarind Tart

There is an optimum temperature at which food should be served to ensure pristine flavour and texture. This is a crucial, yet often overlooked, merit that distinguishes the good restaurants from the exceptional ones and a point not lost on the chefs and service staff at Dinner. The prune & tamarind tart was neither oven hot nor pre-refridgeration cold, but lukewarm, enriching the subtlety of a custard intensified by a daringly tangy prune layer. 

Every diner gets a complimentary chocolate ganache at the end of their meal. This was divinely creamy and bittersweet; striking a stark contrast to the crumbly caraway seed biscuit it came with. Passion and care runs through every dish right to the very end - nothing is done in haste and nothing is too pretentious. Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, be it set lunch on a weekday or full-fledged a la carte dinner, is a must try for any Londoner serious about their food. 

Chocolate ganache infused with earl grey tea and a caraway seed biscuit

Dinner by Heston Blumenthal
Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park

66 Knightsbridge

London SW1X 7LA

Tel: +44(0)20 7201 3833