Restaurant St. Barts

Totally British to the core

BBQ turbot

There are many restaurants in London these days that focus on local ingredients, trying to source as locally as possible to ensure the freshness and condition of the ingredients. However, few like Restaurant St Barts take that to the next level. It would only use ingredients from the UK and refuse to touch anything beyond that. For example, it won't use lime at all given the temperature of the UK is not able to grow lime to the desired quality the restaurant seeks. It offers a tasting menu only format, with fermentation and aging methods to produce flavours you normally would not find from British ingredients.

Seafood cocktail

Lobster bun

Langoustine and squash

Cuttlefish ramen

Out of all the snacks, I enjoyed the lobster bun the best. The powerful shellfish taste was beautiful, I could tell the shell was used to extract maximum taste from the lobster, with just a hint of spices to bring out the sweetness of the lobster. The cheese and onion custard reminded me of my school day, but the taste was refined, it had a great balance of savory tone, with the cheese and onion notes working in harmony. The best dish of the meal was the last dish: Aged black koji, together with some fermented miso, it tasted like a chocolate tart. Rich and sweet with a hint of savoury note, really interesting. It doesn't look much visually but the taste was stunning.

Cheese and onion

BBQ mallard

Jersey beef

Black koji, miso, milk

This is my second visit to St Barts and I think it has improved a little vs my last visit. The canapes selection was more or the same, but the hot dishes, especially the meat dish I enjoyed a lot more this time around. The dishes might look simple but a lot of work went into it, and I found the fermentation techniques worked wonders to offset the limitation of St Barts sticking to British-only ingredients. This is a restaurant with a unique identity and one that I would love to go back to every once in a while.

Food 4/5


Average cost without drinks and services:
£140


63 Bartholomew Cl, London EC1A 7BF

https://www.restaurant-stbarts.co.uk/