Good eats in London n°2

February is proving particularly difficult in the discipline department… Too many chances to eat out – too many lovely things to try – too few trips to the gym.

But two recent culinary finds were so delicious I had to share them.

Exhibit A: I’ve been raving about The Thomas Cubitt in Belgravia over on Instagram ever since my Dad and I walked in on a whim a few weeks ago. Greeted by a friendly host staff, we were told they were pretty full but that we could take a table in their upstairs dining room for two hours if that was ok. The room was beautiful, the orders swiftly taken and the service super friendly. And then came the food… which was so good, I dragged my friend Lindsay back the week after just to see if it was still as good. And it was.

We tried a trio of starters: the turnip soup with horseradish cream and watercress (which we practically fought over), the crispy fried squid, prawns, lemon & artichokes with smoked chilli dressing and the fig & goat’s cheese tart, port reduction, black olive oil & mustard cress. The food was light but perfectly filling. And the ambiance is friendly but refined. As we were leaving, Lindsay and I may have been muttering “that was so good…” repeatedly to each other. Just to remind ourselves how happy we were. It is firmly on my list of London favorites and I can’t wait to try the other restaurants & rooms of the family run Cubitt House group. They are doing something very right.

Exhibit B: Gail’s Kitchen. Not to be confused with Gail’s Bakery, which we all tried to walk into as it closed not far from the British Museum. Though it is the bakery’s big sister.

Gail’s wasn’t very large but it felt light and airy as we entered. Their menu is composed of (the latest in London fashion but I am not complaining) small plates. We liked everything we tried – especially the Burrata with Castelfranco, orange and hazelnuts; the Squid with chickpeas, Persian lemon stew, labneh and herbs; and the Porchetta with sweet potato, red onion, mustard creme sauce and coriander. Everything tasted fresh. Everything tasted familiar, but at the same time in combinations I hadn’t tried before. You might feel you are being a bit adventurous in ordering but you’re happily reassured once you taste it.

Then the dessert menu appeared in front of us and I saw milk & cookies. Now, for context, this American was feeling a little bit raw with the announcement that Jon Stewart would be leaving the Daily Show this morning. He has honestly been one of the things holding together any sense of sanity I felt remained in the US after so many years overseas. So I had to go with something comforting from home. I was smiling at the presentation before it ever hit the table. The cookies were blazingly hot and melty, paired with ice cold milk. Man, were they good.

Get thyself to these restaurants pronto.

For Good Eats n°1, click here.

Photos of questionable iPhone quality taken by JessOnThames.