Hit the Spot: The best places to eat tonight
RESTAURANTS OF THE WEEK
The best places to eat tonight
Everyone loves a good meal, so to save you some time we’ve teamed up with online restaurant booking service toptable.com to choose our top four weekly recommended restaurants to try around the UK.
Bon appetit!
1. THE RESTAURANT AT DRAKES, BRIGHTON
Considered by many to be Brighton’s best restaurant, backed up by its status as the highest scoring local dining room in the Good Food Guide, The Restaurant at Drakes is an elegantly stylish setting for any occasion. Subtle lighting casts moody shadows across exposed brickwork and rich colours throughout the intimate dining room while Drakes’ cocktail bar offers airy sea views and excellent cocktails. The kitchen team insist on the best of ingredients, fresh and seasonal, including fish bought daily from local fishing boats, to create the excellent, refined menu that has earned the restaurant two AA rosettes. A special place, unpretentious in its warm atmosphere, it’s easy to see why The Restaurant at Drakes has such a reputation.
2. CHEZ BRUCE, LONDON
Set up in the mid-90s, Chez Bruce has become something of a London legend. Nuzzling up to the greenery of Wandsworth Common, this chic restaurant is very much the local leading light of South West London dining. While prestigious awards aplenty may have been thrust upon Chez Bruce and its team in the intervening years, the comfortable, neighbourly vibe has remained in the simplistic French bistrot styling, warm service and unpretentious food, not to mention the very Wandsworth-ish crowd of upwardly mobile types fresh from just round the corner. Wines are well priced and a perfect complement to the regional French based cuisine which changes seasonally. Our tip? Don’t miss the Chez Bruce cheese board – a celebrity in foodie circles.
3. THE RUTLAND, EDINBURGH
For a vibrant Scottish restaurant with verve we highly recommend The Restaurant at the Rutland Hotel. Boasting views of Edinburgh castle, Princes Street and the West End, The Rutland has an enviable location. Attracting a stylish crowd this restaurant has a slick new interior featuring a Tarantino-esque red, black and grey colour scheme. Head Chef David Haetzman has created a moreish Scottish menu made using the finest local ingredients; locals love the boneless quail stuffed with Stornoway black pudding mousse with parsley risotto; the rump of new season Scottish lamb with hot pot potatoes and pickled red cabbage; and the three mini chocolate fondants – milk, dark and white – for dessert. The Rutland also boasts a walk- in wine cellar with over 100 wines on offer.
4. BLUEBIRD, LONDON
Bluebird Restaurant in London’s perennially-popular Chelsea is a warm, relaxing and utterly stylish space to be enjoyed from lunch through afternoon tea and dinner. The decor combines classic British design with exciting modern furniture and details in welcoming deep reds and chocolate browns, gracing the loft-like dining room with cosy intimacy. No, there are no actual blue birds in this restaurant, just glimmering chandeliers that accentuate the stunning skylight or maybe you’ll be fascinated by the passing parade on the King’s Road below. Head Chef Mark Block has created a brilliant modern British menu employing only the finest ingredients in dishes like seared Scottish scallops with guacamole, Goosnargh chicken and mushroom pie and Bluebird’s famous rump of salt marsh lamb. The sexy bar has a vibe and scene of its own – not to be missed. Bluebird is a fabulous addition to the Kings Road restaurant scene.
