London’s best new restaurants

London’s best new restaurants

RAI, Fitzrovia

Chef Padam Raj Rai of Islington’s Hot Stone opened a new experimental concept in Fitzrovia this month, where Kobe and Wagyu beef, Sanpuku nori and Koshihikari rice rub shoulders with cave-aged cheddar, Marmite, Wiltshire truffle, Scottish heather honey and Exmoor caviar.

This Anglo-Japanese fusion translates into dishes such as Scottish salmon tartare with yuzu miso, British pear and cave-aged Dorset cheddar, or hand-dived Orkney scallop sashimi, fresh plum, spicy Japanese plum and English truffle ponzu sauce. The food is served omakase-style, with the tasting menu priced from £110 per person. RAI, 3 Windmill Street, London W1T; rairestaurant.com 

The Aubrey at the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, Knightsbridge  

Succeeding Daniel Boulud’s restaurant Bar Boulud (which closed last year due to the impact of Covid-19), The Aubrey takes the five-star hotel’s culinary offering in a new direction with a Japanese izakaya experience. Its upmarket take on a Japanese pub will be a collaboration with Maximal Concepts, the Hong Kong restaurant group behind the high-end Chinese eatery Mott 32. No official opening date has been announced, although the concept is confirmed to open this winter alongside the hotel’s existing Heston Blumenthal restaurant. Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, 66 Knightsbridge, London SW1X; mandarinoriental.com

Booking Office 1869, St Pancras Renaissance Hotel

Hotelier