The best restaurants in Marylebone
Marylebone is something of a lovely village, surrounded by more boisterous areas of London. It is genteel, delightful and full of intriguing shops to pop into. There are not an overwhelming amount of good places to eat in the area either but when it comes to the best restaurants in Marylebone, there's certainly enough to choose from. Whether it's Marylebone's new Michelin-starred contenders that take your fancy, or two of the best Mexican restaurants in London, this is where to eat.
The best restaurants in Marylebone
Patricia Niven1/11Kudu, Marylebone
From its successful roots in Peckham to its sophisticated new home in Marylebone, Kudu has evolved into something extraordinary. The restaurant, helmed by Amy Corbin (daughter of legendary restaurateur Chris Corbin) and her chef husband Patrick Williams, brings contemporary South African cuisine to life in an atmosphere that balances luxury and warmth.
Well spaced tables are topped with Terratine marble with cosy bouclee covered seating, strategic low lighting; wicker and earthy colours give a subtle nod to South African heritage. There’s an open kitchen where chefs cook over a Braii, infusing the room with a sense of energy and theatre.
Must try dishes include signature Kudu brioche and flavoured butters (the shrimp with dulse and almonds is standout) which arrive melted in a pan for you to scoop up with the bread. Miso lends a salty umami to smoked prawns in a crisp pastry cup; shiso leaves bring herbal freshness to cured sea trout, and mushroom XO makes a creamy stuffing for grilled hispi cabbage. Unmissable is the pork chop with a sweet and sour sauce - succulent, rich and meaty. The show stopping kit cat meringue dessert is torched table side.
Come hungry, the menu has 6 sections worth exploring, or consider bar seating for solo dining but don’t skip the bread course! Kudu is exactly where I’ll gravitate to this autumn, but I’ll have to book ahead - it’s gaining popularity fast. - Blanche Vaughan
Neighbourhood: Marylebone
Cuisine: South African
Address: 7 Moxon St, London W1U 4EP
What to order: Pork chop with a sweet and sour sauce
Ben Broomfield2/11AngloThai
After a popular summer-long residency at Outcrop, husband and wife duo John and Desiree Chantarasak finally went permanent with their elegant and creative Thai-inspired restaurant AngloThai – which within less than six months has already got its first Michelin star. Hidden away on a charming road on Marylebone's Seymour Place, the highly anticipated restaurant more than delivers with its creative dishes and unique cocktails using Thai flavours with British ingredients. On our visit in January for example, the Margarita was made using the English tart berry, Sea Buckthorn, instead of limes. It's not the in-your-face fiery flavours you can expect to find at some other new Thai eateries in the capital like Speedboat Bar and Kohlae, but rather a more elegant and pared-back take on Thai cuisine. We Hebridean hogget, massaman curry & quince. Another standout dish was beautifully intricate Brixham crab, Exmoor caviar & coconut ash cracker. The interiors feel like a luxury British beach shack with white wood cladding and beautiful Thai-made ceramic artwork and textiles.
– Tal Dekel-Daks
Address: 22-24 Seymour Pl, London W1H 7NL
What to order: The bright orange Carlingford oysters, sea buckthorn & fermented chilli and grilled wild-farmed bread are a must (or opt for one of the tasting menus)
3/11Lita
‘Produce driven’, ‘fire grill’, ‘open kitchen’ ‘sharing concept’, you might be mistaken for thinking Lita, short for ‘abuelita’ is just another trendy London restaurant but this Mediterranean modern bistro is anything but. Chef Luke Ahearne (previously Corrigan's and Luca) and the team behind The Wild Tavern in Chelsea have created an incredible special-occasion space that's also managed to retain a charming and warm neighbourhood restaurant feel. The rustic dining room with wooden ceiling beams and reclaimed terracotta tile herringbone floor is split into various cosy zones. On the mid-week evening that we visited, we opted for the bar stools in front of the open kitchen where we saw chefs making possibly hundreds of one of the star dishes of the evening: a tiny but mighty pan con tomate drizzled with oil and topped with two chunky Cantabrian anchovies and chives. The starters on the menu are a pescatarian's dream: hand-dived Orkney scallops, Smoked Basque sardines, caviar and a delightful Fuentes Bluefin tuna carpaccio.
Lita restaurant prides itself on local produce and that can be seen on its meat dishes too: a comforting Aylesbury duck ragu strozzapreti, Peak District T-Bone, Norfolk quail and Yorkshire pork chop. It's also one of the few places that serves Cull Yaw mutton which comes served with carrots, turnips and Swiss chard. A fennel-crumbed lemon meringue and blood-orange sorbet later, my diner and I knew we had to plan our return here immediately.
– Tal Dekel-Daks
Address: 7-9 Paddington St, W1U 5QH
What to order: the Pan con Tomate with Cantabrian Anchovies and the Amalfi Lemon Meringue Pie
litamarylebone.com
4/11St John
Long term devotees of St John rejoice when the team opened another branch in Marylebone, offering an excuse to wander past the tempting shops on charming back street, Marylebone Lane. With a simpler menu than their original Smithfield restaurant, this still serves the superb and deceptively simple dishes that made it the holy grail of good English food. There’s devilled crab, game birds (in season), braised rabbit and a new version of anchovies on toast – fillets of salted anchovy served in a tangle of parsley and shallot on crisp croutons. Chopped beetroot salad is dressed with pickled walnuts, a seldom used great British accompaniment and their new deep fried Welsh Rarebit has sent restaurant critics into paroxysms of pleasure. Desserts are hearty or light, depending on your appetite, rice pudding comes with rum soaked raisins, Madeleines are cooked to order or have their famous combination of Eccles cakes with a wedge of crumbly Lancashire cheese. The ground floor dining room is perfect for tables of two, or downstairs there’s room for larger groups. But book in advance, this place is already attracting a crowd.
Address: 98 Marylebone Lane, W1U 2QA
What to order: deep fried Welsh Rarebit and madeleines
5/11Cavita
Terracotta tiles, crumbling exposed brick and plenty of pathos plants dangling overhead, you'd hardly remember you're in Marylebone after stepping into the charming and relaxed space that's now Mexican restaurant Cavita. That's exactly how chef Adriana Cavita wants you to feel, taking diners on a journey to her two hometowns; Mexico City and the village of San Felipe Ixtacuixtla. Luckily for us, the finished result is an incredibly ambitious yet relaxed, colourful and memorable culinary journey with home at the heart of the experience.
Address: 56-60 Wigmore Street, London W1U 2RZ
What to order: smoked beef shin quesabirria
6/11KOL & KOL Mezcaleria
Santiago Lastra's KOL is a vibrant expression of his Mexican heritage. Every aspect of the restaurant is infused with warmth; the terracotta, wood and ceramic interiors, the incredibly elegant open kitchen and the sunny disposition of the staff. The menu is a tasting one; choose seis or nueve for either a six or nine course spin around the complex cooking that Santiago and his team so deftly put together in the open kitchen. Every plate is so alive with flavour, texture and levels of heat that work together in a kind of alchemy. It's a restaurant you won't forget in a hurry.
If you can’t get a table, try the buzzy Mezcaleria downstairs for antojitos, or small plates and superb cocktails. The ‘no avo’ creamy pistachio guacamole served with salty fresh tortilla chips and the pork belly empanada with achiote and rhubarb salsa are must-orders. A range of mezcals are mixed into cocktails you could drink all night, including a sour made with tangy sorrel and hops.
Address: 9 Seymour St, London W1H 7BA
What to order: the tasting menu
7/11Trishna
Since 2012, Trishna has held a Michelin star for its elegant take on Indian coastal cuisine, focusing on the southwest region and flavours of Goa and Kerala. Think seafood, coconut and Malabar tamarind all bringing a sunny skew to the dishes that diners flock here for. The restaurant feels glamorous and in summer, the doors are all flung open onto Blandford Street where the warm spices from the kitchen tempt passersby. Its USP against others on this list? The menu is expertly paired with glasses of wine from their menu, so you need not agonise over what to drink.
Address: 15-17 Blandford St, London W1U 3DG
What to order: Dorset brown crab, nandu varaval, coconut and curry leaf scallops
8/11Jikoni
Ravinder Bhogal's Jikoni is a favourite haunt of pretty much everyone in the food industry – and many more people beyond that. She operates it as ‘a kitchen without borders’, bringing in flavours, ingredients and spices from every corner and the globe and blending them together into something truly magical. From South East Asia to the Middle East, via Britain, East Africa and beyond, the menu at Jikoni offers an ever-changing array of delights that enliven the palette. Such fusions as prawn toast scotch egg with banana ketchup and hand-dived scallop with congee and a turmeric-infused broth set the tone, while bigger plates include things such a pressed shoulder of Cornish lamb with ras el hanout or crispy aubergine with a Sichuan caramel. It truly offers something no other London restaurant does and is well worth a visit or two, or three.
Address: 19-21 Blandford Street, Marylebone, London W1U 3DJ
What to order: go with a big group so you can order it all
9/11Mayha
On a quiet street in Marylebone without obvious signage, this Japanese restaurant apparently feels no need to shout about its arrival. Inside, the all-black walls and striking light installation place the focus firmly on a sleek, curved wooden counter (with only 11 seats) and the stainless-steel surfaces of the open kitchen behind it. A seasonally changing omakase dinner is served in two sittings – at 6.30pm and 9pm – and will set you back a cool £220. With all the dishes prepared in front of the diners, there’s an element of performance and watching the carefully choreographed assembly process that precedes each dish being served is a key part of the experience.
Of course, there’s much more to Japanese cuisine than sushi and Mayha’s inventive menu reflects its diversity. Among the more conventional dishes, chawanmushi (steamed egg custard) packed an umami punch thanks to the addition of mushrooms and seafood, and the liberal dusting of truffle. Sashimi mackerel, while always delicious with just a hint of wasabi, combined surprisingly harmoniously with a slice of fig and grated Gouda cheese.
Address: 43 Chiltern Street, London W1U 6LS
What to order: the omakase dinner
10/11Fischer's
For a Viennese whirl of sorts, head to Fischer's on Marylebone High Street, where the Austrian menu of schnitzel, bratwurst, herring and more will provide a nice change to your usual fare. For a real taste of mittel Europe in the heart of London, Fischer's can't be beaten. Of course, the service here is impeccable and the interiors as lovely as any Viennese café. There are wurst, pickled herrings, Black Forest ham and all sorts of gateaus to tempt your palette at all times of day, and it's simply a lovely relaxed place to enjoy the finer things in life.
Address: 50 Marylebone High St, London W1U 5HN
What to order: selection of herring, schnitzel holstein and chocolate and salted caramel pot
11/11Royal China Club
Known for its daily classic Cantonese dim sum and extensive menu, be prepared to join the long (but patient) lunchtime queues on weekends. Some advice: go with a group to sample more dishes. Here, you can savour exemplary dishes with high-quality ingredients and tick off all the different textures, such as fluffy barbecued char siu pork buns, silky cheung fun rice noodle dishes, gelatinous black bean pork ribs and crispy sesame prawn rolls. Don't miss the made-to-order black sesame dumplings for dessert, a house specialty. Aside from playing steamed basket Jenga for brunch, there are plenty of private dining rooms available for evening dining. From a hot and sour soup with a healthy spicy chilli vinegar kick to a glossy, crunchy gai lan choi with garlic, this is a special occasion type of place that runs a slick and luxurious operation.
Address: 24-26 Baker Street, London W1U 3BZ
What to order: Roast pork char siu buns so light and fluffy guaranteed you’ll hear angels singing.
