Where To Eat in November: Straker’s, Cycene, Khun Pakin Thai, and More

This intimate neighbourhood restaurant has only been open a matter of days but is already one of the city’s toughest tables. Chef Thomas Straker is, of course, a social media phenom, but has worked in some of the city’s finest kitchens and brings effortless finesse to the table in relaxed dishes like a puffy flatbread layered with scallops, silken taglioni with girolles and parmesan, an autumnal plate of roasted turbot with grilled cabbage, borlotti beans, and pumpkin, and superb desserts. There’s a pronounced local feel to the proceedings, flowing cocktails, and a killer soundtrack to boot – get in early while you still can.

Fine dining returns to Redchurch Street. With Cycene (‘kitchen’ in Old English), the minimalist Blue Mountain School is reintroducing and expanding upon the experimental fine dining concept that saw success at Maõs, its previous occupant. There’s a single 10-course tasting menu served each night that opens with cocktails and aperitifs in a ground floor bar, before shifting into a kitchen and finally into a tastefully appointed dining room, with chef Theo Clench (Portland, Akoko) leading the way. Imagine a relaxed dinner party at a wealthy friend’s tastefully appointed pad, with a Michelin-star chef on the pans, and you’ll have an idea of the level of experience Cycene is aiming for.

For reservations, call 020 7739 9733.

Can a brand-new restaurant feel as lived-in as if it had been there all along? St. John returns to central London on warm tidings, and the arrival of a new family member to Trevor Gulliver and Fergus Henderson’s beloved institution is always a cause for celebration. Located on Marylebone Lane, this newest edition of St. John is also the cosiest, with a small upstairs room and a counter that heaves with bread and pastries during the day, and British small plates from a daily-changing menu scribbled on a blackboard. The rarebit croquettes have grabbed the lion’s share of attention early on, but really, everything is excellent – from cold roast mallard with bread sauce or a tranche of seabass with green sauce, to the customary madeleines.

For reservations, call 020 7251 0848.

Having shifted locations from Soho to sleek new digs in Camden, acclaimed chefs Zijun Meng and Ana Goncalves have come up with a new menu that adds a salvo of new creations alongside still-exceptional dishes like the daikon cake and prawn ‘in’ toast. The duo have a reputation for innovation, and the new plates don’t disappoint; tartlets of cured trout and citrus yoghurt arrive topped with trout caviar; deboned chicken wings are stuffed with prawn and pork before being deep-fried to perfection; and hot and sour soup is poured over a timbale of king prawn fried rice in a theatrical flourish. Cocktails are as exceptional as ever, service is on point, and there’s a greater emphasis on wine, too. Come hungry and be ready for the ensuing carnage.

The pairing of London pub and Thai kitchen has plenty of precedence – from the OG Churchill Arms to the Heron, which served the most unrelenting Thai cooking the capital has seen to date – and this relative newcomer (part of The Salutation pub in Hammersmith) continues the tradition in spectacular fashion. At Khun Pakin Thai, there’s a focus on herbaceous Isaan fare, and alongside familiar dishes like duck larb or som tum (here, skilfully pounded with tiny salt crabs), there are lesser-seen dishes like marinated raw shrimps dressed with garlic and mint, or raw marinated blue crab salad. A spice level of three (out of five) will be ample for most.

For reservations, call 020 8748 3668.

Inconspicuous on the outside both in name and location, this first-floor restaurant above the Audley pub in Mayfair arrives courtesy of Artfarm, the hospitality wing of Hauser and Wirth. Inside, it’s anything but, with a jaw dropping collection of contemporary works strewn through the dining room, from the mounted Freuds and Warhols, to the literal floor, a palladiana mosaic by artist Rashid Johnson. There’s more than gorgeous ambience on offer; chef Jamie Shears has reinterpreted historic British recipes through a modern lens, with dishes like omelette Arnold Bennett and pigeons in Pimlico (a mini-Wellington of pigeon meat encasing duck liver) playing staples like Dover sole and an inviting lemon tart for afters.

For reservations, call 020 3840 9860.

This tiny new restaurant in Shoreditch comes from Mary Viviani and Alex Reynolds, a pair of restaurant veterans and both formerly of pasta specialist and bakery Pophams. Name for Alex’s grandmother, there’s a decidedly French leaning at this intimate bistro, with classic dishes like venison tartare and heritage pork with artichokes barigoule cosying up to Viviani’s rotating list of natural wines, available by the bottle or glass. With a tiny team, service is about as personable as it gets, and the whole operational feels genuinely warming – the kind of establishment to return to again and again.

Having quietly blown away even the most jaded of Londoners with casual fine diners in Hackney and Wandsworth, the founders of Nest and Fenn have upped the ante with a multi-space, full-blown fine dining restaurant that promises to eclipse even its well-regarded forebears. At St. Bart’s, executive chef Johnnie Crow leads a kitchen that turns out a hyperseasonal British tasting menu across fifteen courses each night, that begins with canapes and snacks in the bar, before moving to the dining room for luxurious offerings like native blue lobster with British XO and fermented red peppers, or poached cod with preserved Wiltshire truffle. A tailored wine pairing and views over the cloisters of St. Bartholomew The Great cap what is surely one of London’s most serene fine dining experiences in an age.

For reservations, call 020 4547 7985.

Now that guests have been acquainted with the cutting-edge style of Rafael Cagali at Da Terra, his two-starred restaurant in Bethnal Green’s Town Hall Hotel, the chef has opened up Elis, a more relaxed Brazilian restaurant down the hallway. The opportunity to try an acclaimed chef’s cooking in a more accessible setting is, of course, part of the appeal, but Cagali’s riffs on dishes inspired by his Italian and Brazilian heritage also offer plenty of appeal in their own right. Early standouts include a workmanlike picanha with palm hearts and kale and Iberico pork with black beans and chimichurri, alongside excellent pastas, small plates, and a strong lineup of accessibly priced Old World wines by the bottle and glass.

For reservations, call 020 7871 0460. 

The sentiment of ‘if you know, you know’ is probably due a refresh, especially when we’re talking about this Dalston ocakbaşı because, well, everyone knows about Umut 2000. Beloved for its lamb ribs, offal skewers kissed with charcoal, and beloved salads, it’s been a staple in the community for years and a favourite of chefs working nearby. A slick new interior refurb offers ample excuse for a first foray or a revisit, where you’ll eat some of the best grilled meat in town along with plenty of crusty Turkish bread to mop up the juices. Your beer might even arrive cold,  but for the dedicated, raki, neat.

6 Crossway, London N16 8HX. For reservations, call 020 7249 0903.