Ten restaurants that recapture that holiday feeling
Not risking a trip abroad this summer? We don't blame you. Thankfully, you don't need to travel far to have your appetite for foreign flavours sated. London is a melting pot, bubbling with traditional cuisines from around the world. It's also a launching pad for bold and experimental fusion concepts.
From the dining room that fully immerses its guests in the Italian experience to the hidden-under-the-arches gem offering a one-way ticket to Porto, these restaurants conjure up our favourite holiday destinations, transporting us far, far away via our taste buds
Frenchie absolutely looks the part. It exudes Parisian chic from its elegant grey leather banquettes, marble counter seating and quintessentially French lighting. Owner Greg Marchand, who has conquered the Rue du Nil in central Paris, brings a similar produce-led menu to the heart of Covent Garden.
All the references to classic French dishes are there, yet reinterpreted in a fresh, creative and quirky style that is clever, and a little playful. Think tarte fine with smoked yoghurt and girolles, exquisite duck foie gras with kaffir lime, melon and berries, decorated with fennel flowers. The French all eat it and so do we, as an occasional treat, when it is presented as delicately as this.
The best dish of all is the lamb ragu with exceptional silky pappardelle. All the provincial ingredients are present and correct: courgette, tomato and olive, all with a wonderful lightness. Even pretty roast carrots are given the Frenchie treatment, with tarragon aioli and crisp bulgur wheat. To finish, pungent brie de jeux with a homemade fig and grape chutney and shards of multi-seed tuile. Salut.
