Nice / fun lunch in London

[Icanttakethisanymore]

We need to choose a place to go for team Christmas lunch. We are all quite into food and eat everything. I guess budget for the food is about £100pp (extra for drinks is fine). We went to Fallow last year which was nice but a bit hectic. I'd prefer somewhere a bit smaller and understated.

Tapas style? I love dehesa and with 4 you get a good table booked in advance. Enoteca da luca in watling street.

Ooo - I have had good meals and the guinea Grill and the bleeding heart. Not been to the Berners Tavern though, thanks!

Nothing to add as I don’t get out loads, but will make an effort to now! Great thread! 🙏🏻

One of the big mammas group? There's a new one in canary wharf

What about one of Adam Byatt's places?

St Jacques on St James's St

Frog by Adam Handling is divine, think the lunch tasting menu is around £100 pp
Also love Clos Maggiore, both Covent Garden
Neither hectic, lovely atmosphere

The Wigmore is ok but can be v bustling atmosphere but nice to pop into the artesian for good drink after or beforehand

If you can commute your Xmas do till January, which many do now for better value and availability, Jeremy King is re-opening Simpsons. It will be grand and you'll be among the first to go, so quite special.

The Alchemist is great

I *love’ St John. For something a bit different, what about St Moritz in Soho, which does a brilliant fondue?

Have you been to Elliot’s in Borough Market? I’ve never had a bad meal, really knowledgable staff.

Dean Street Townhouse is always fun and gorgeus at Christmas.

Morning everyone!

It's our Christmas lunch today and we are booked in at BRAT I tried to get us a table at St John as per @StrawberryPi 's recommendation but is was booked up by the time I had stopped procrastinating. Thank you all for your recommendations - lots to go at for future meals out. I'll report back in the food at BRAT for those who are interested.

Sorry I missed this at the time - we have been a few times and it's always been fab.

I love this! How was it!?

The verdict on BRAT!

It’s quite a small place (I didn’t count but can’t be many more than 50 covers from memory) and the tables are very close together but since it’s fairly small it wasn’t too loud. There’s an open kitchen with charcoal grills where lots (maybe all) of the cooking happens.

We had - amazing sourdough bread which had been lightly toasted on the grill and rubbed with burned rosemary. It came with AMAZING smoked whipped butter (unusually and happily there was loads of butter). We had a scallop each which were nice but at £14 / scallop (WTF!!!) they were probably the worst value thing we ordered. If I went back and I was paying I wouldn’t order them. The beef tartar was amazing and we had squid with pil pil which was also delicious. Oh we had a squash and chestnut dish with cheese which was very nice.

For the mains we had sirloin steak, cooked on the bone and served cut into small strips to share. That was incredible and came with the most amazing salty jus. They didn’t have the whole turbot which is a bit of a signature dish. We had duck which was good but not as good as the sirloin. We had a couple of vegetable sides which were lovely. We shared a pudding between us because we wanted to try the cheesecake but we were basically full. It was delicious.

It was exactly what we were looking for which was really interesting cooking / unusual and well combined flavours but not too formal or ‘fine dining’. It felt rustic and down to earth but about 10x more delicious than it could have been at a ‘normal’ restaurant.

We had a cocktail each, a bottle of champagne and a bottle of wine and it was £500 for 3 of us. It was on the company but I’d gladly go back spending my own money (just not on the scallops 😂). The service was also very good.

100% recommended.

I went to 190 amsl lounge near Tower Bridge last month, lovely views and a really chilled vibe. Food was tasty without being fussy, and we didn’t feel rushed at all. We went midweek and it wasn’t too busy, which was perfect.

They have good veggie options too. Might be a nice spot if you’re looking for something a bit different but still relaxed and central.

Ooooo, sounds great...but wait are you sure you weren't at Mumbai Airport? 😂(that's where you've linked to)

Even if this is a long played PR piece for BRAT, I salute you. Well played and now on my list!

Haha - it’s not I promise 😂