The Harwood Arms

 The peak of gastropub?

Berkswell Cheese Tart Celeriac and Thyme

Owned by Brett Graham who also runs the much celebrated The Ledbury, The Harwood Arms is the only Michelin starred pub in London, headed up by Jake who was the head chef at The Ledbury. The pub has taken full advantage of Brett's farm network and wild game experience, working with the finest meat you are able to find in the UK, all cooked in a very refined British manner. It offers a 3-course set menu with 5 choices on each course, changing daily depending on the ingredients are available to the chefs. 

Brat

Basque-style fire cooking

Velvet Crab Soup

I really enjoy the open-fire cooking style of the Basque country in Northern Spain, but with Covid around and not easy to travel these days, Brat in Shoreditch is a good alternative. Chef-owner Tom Parry's cooking at Brat is inspired by Elkano, a legendary seafood restaurant with a Michelin star to its name, as well as within the World 50 best's list. The menu at Brat is simple, with a selection of Basque-style dishes such as hake kokotxas and grilled turbot, with many dishes cooked on an open fire. This is actually my 3rd visit, the menu stayed more or less the same since launched, but sadly getting more expensive with the impact of Brexit which drove up the labor and ingredients cost.

Bocca di Lupo

Regional Italian cooking expert 

Pappardelle with beef stracotto ragu

 

Since launched back in 2008, Bocca di Lupo has become an extremely popular, hard-to-book restaurant in London. While there are many Italian restaurants in the capital, Booca di Lupo stood tall and to these days, it is still a hot in-demand venue that is not easy to secure a table. The restaurant offers a range of small to large plates of traditional Italian dishes from different regions of Italy, well ahead of its time before small plates become a trend. It also has a range of dishes using animal off-cuts such as trips and pig foot, very rustic indeed.