Whenever he opens a new place, as he did twice last year, the restaurateur Jeremy King reminds his staff that no restaurant worth its salt leaves its customers feeling swindled. The choice to spend a lot or a little, he says, is theirs; bills can be £40 or £400, depending on the mood and the means. There are others operators who do a similar thing.
At the Ivy chain (various locations, the-ivy.co.uk ), it’s easy to rack up an enormous tab, but likewise a lunch might be spent sat at the bar, with a shepherd’s pie — incidentally their most famous and perhaps best dish — and a crème Brûlée, for £19.
95. The surroundings make it feel an occasion; there is a sense of grandeur. With places like these, it’s all in the ordering: cannily navigating a menu means some of the capital’s best restaurants can be enjoyed without a sense of dread arriving at the same time the little leather book does.
With this method in mind, try, for starters, the likes of Hoppers (various locations, hopperslondon.com ), Brigadiers (1-5 Bloomberg Arcade, EC4, brigadierslondon.com ), Brutto (35-37 Greenhill Rents, EC1, @bru.
tto ), the Tamil Prince (115 Hemingford Road, N1, thetamilprince.com ), Manteca (49-51 Curtain Road, EC2, mantecarestaurant.co.
uk ) or Flour & Grape (214 Bermondsey Street, SE1, flourandgrape.com ). Look out for the deals too: Honey & Co (54 Lamb's Conduit Street WC1N, honeyandco.
co.uk ), for instance, run a £25, two-course lunch menu, though only in January. You might.