The best Marylebone restaurants right now
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One of West London's most celebrated neighbourhoods, Marylebone, may be known for its shopping scene or grand dame residences – but there's plenty of world-class dining on offer too. Here we have the low-down on the best Marylebone restaurants to book, from a Peruvian paradise to classic fine dining spots pushing the finest seasonal cuisine.
Roketsu, Marylebone
Any restaurant in Marylebone faces stiff competition, but London's first authentic kaiseki spot Roketsu can fend off the best of them. Showcasing a traditional style of dining featuring multiple courses and comparable to Western haute-cuisine, it's carved out quite the reputation since its mid-pandemic opening in early 2021. This isn't somewhere you pop into for a quick supper – reservations are released two months in advance and snapped up almost immediately. Just 14 diners are lucky enough to take their place at the counter each evening as chef Daisuke Hayashi, who trained at the three Michelin-starred restaurants Kikunoi in Kyoto, takes the helm in the open kitchen. Service and style draw inspiration from classic tea ceremonies, and the interiors are pared-back Japanese hinoki wood carefully crafted in Kyoto and shipped to London to be assembled. In short, it's all understated elegance and tradition – which isn't to say it lacks a theatrical flair. Dishes are nothing short of art, and the open kitchen allows diners to watch the chefs put the final touches to their masterpieces.
Dashi fish stock is the rich, umami heart of almost all the dishes, and over ten courses the chefs unveil the very best in Japanese tradition and technique. Menus are dictated by the season and change every month; my visit at the end of October focused on autumnal harvests of nuts, root vegetables and mushrooms. Particular highlights included intense furofuki turnip with walnut miso topped with crunchy roasted walnut, Japanese conger eel laden with truffle shavings and lobster served with butter-soft tofu made in-house.
Roketsu's name and the rabbit motif on the menus and napkins (including those they'll wrap around your leftovers to create the world's chicest doggy bag) refer to an ancient Japanese tale where the moral of the story is a reminder to live in the moment. As such, this is the kind of restaurant that will have you putting your phone away in favour of lapping up every second of the experience. Cassie Doney
Address: Roketsu, 12 New Quebec St, London, W1H 7RW
Website: roketsu.co.ukCavita, Marylebone
Within seconds of sinking into our beaten-up chairs at Cavita, the waitress asked, “how do you feel about Margaritas?” Within seconds of us affirming that we felt good about the concept – despite it being 5.14pm on a Wednesday – she delivered the house serve, made with fresh spiced watermelon. Terracotta tiles, crumbling exposed brick the colour of queso, a big open kitchen and an earthy bar are covered with plants. Greenery takes up seemingly every surface: hanging from the ceiling, wedged into corners, dangling over the edge of tables. A tinkling Spanish soundtrack completes the transportive Mexico City atmosphere. Then the waitress is back, asking eagerly, “can I recommend some things?” Plates of fatty tuna tostadas and gooey quesabirria – a taco with slow-cooked beef smothered in cheese – arrive from the kitchen in quick succession. Mains are family-style: wood-grilled chicken with lurid green mole, whole flaky sea bream cooked in banana leaves, chargrilled octopus, served with soft-as-can-be tortillas for building your own tacos. The standout pudding – chocolate sponge topped with cream vanilla caramel that jiggles as you carve it with a spoon – should not be swerved. Sarah James
Address: Cavita, 56-60 Wigmore Street, London W1U 2RZ
Website: cavitarestaurant.comLes 110 de Taillevent
This astonishing wine-laden offering from the legendary Paris eatery in the old Coutts Bank building on Cavendish Square stocks some 1,100 wines, 110 of which are available by the glass. Dive into the six-course set menu at £83 a head (when we visited, seared foie gras; lobster spelt risotto; Cornish halibut with roasted onion broth; Barbary duck with sauce bigarade; rove de Garrigues; and chocolate hazelnut crémeux). Pair it with both prestige and discovery wines. Just beware, even those dainty 70ml splashes catch up with you eventually. Steve King
Address: Les 110 de Taillevent, 16 Cavendish Square, London W1G 9DD
Website: les-110-taillevent-london.comJikoni
Food writer Ravinder Bhogal’s bijou Marylebone restaurant is the ideal spot for a relaxed and truly delicious supper. Calling itself a ‘No Borders Kitchen’, you can forget fusion food, this is cross culture cooking, skillfully mixing influences from South Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Britain. Jump from prawn scotch egg toast with banana ketchup and burrata with curry leaf oil to coconut stew kuku paka and Sukuma wiki (collard greens) and an alphonso mango thali. The food is exciting and comforting and you’ll want to try everything.
Address: Jikoni, 19-21 Blandford Street, London W1U 3DH
Website: jikonilondon.com- Rebecca Hope
Lina Stores
Once an iconic Soho deli, these days Lina Stores is an ever-expanding string of lovely little pasta joints. Sure, it’s now a chain (an independent one, nonetheless) but that doesn’t stop it from being one of the tastiest Marylebone restaurants offering crab linguine and a spritz. The Marylebone addition recently opened in a striking old building on the corner of Marylebone Lane and Wigmore Street and has an Art Deco basement bar and onsite deli so you can take home all the Italian treats you can carry.
Address: Lina Stores, 13-15 Marylebone Lane, London W1U 2NE
Website: linastores.co.ukThe Golden Hind
Fish and chips done well is a thing of beauty and the guys at The Golden Hind are true frying experts. They have been cooking here since 1914 and have refined the art of a fine fish supper. These days, you can still get the classic battered cod and chips, or fishcakes, salmon, skate or plaice, all fried in groundnut oil. But for something lighter, they’ll steam your fish of choice with olive oil and oregano. Just be sure to save space for the old-school comforting puddings like spotted dick and sticky toffee pudding.
Address: The Golden Hind, 71a-73 Marylebone Lane, London W1U 2PN
Website: goldenhindrestaurant.com
The Harcourt
What happens when you take a Grade II-listed British pub and add a dash of Nordic cool? Chef Henry Harris's meaty menu has plenty of elevated pub classics: whole baked brill with sea kale, lamb rump with smoked aubergine, rabbit with bacon, green beans and mustard sauce. For pudding, order chocolate mousse, sticky toffee pudding or mango rice pudding. Ask the genetically blessed staff for wine pairings from the largely organic list; for something stronger, order from the impressive collection of Scandinavian spirits. Faith Strickland
Address: The Harcourt, 32 Harcourt Street, Marylebone, London W1
Website: theharcourt.comFischer’s
Schnitzel, strudel and sachertorte – Fischer’s is a pleasing slice of Vienna at the top end of Marylebone High Street. The dark wood panelling, leather banquettes and highly polished waiting staff do a very good job of conjuring up the full traditional Viennese café experience. Go for a atmospheric supper of würstchen-sausaages, herring and Wieners chnitzel or drop by between the lunch and dinner rush to indulge in the Franz Joseph Kaiserschmarrn – a decadent pudding of chopped pancakes with cherry compote, along with a strong cup of coffee.
Address: Fischer’s, 50 Marylebone High Street, London W1U 5HN
Website: fischers.co.ukPachamama
The Peruvian-inspired cooking in this moodily lit basement in Marylebone still draws in high-spirited crowds, even mid-week, who pack out the rustic wooden tables. The dishes are very pretty, artfully presented on black plates with popping colours of beetroot-red and salmon-pink; inky black quinoa is served under curling octopus tentacles and dotted with yellow edible flowers. And the food is delicious, with big punches of flavour from jalapeño and miso. Peru's unofficial national dish, ceviche, gets special attention in the form of sea bass with radish and tiger's milk. The country's national spirit, Pisco, is also celebrated here, in straight-up traditional sours and with more wacky combos. Grainne McBride
Address: Pachamama, 18 Thayer Street, Marylebone, London W1
Website: pachamamalondon.comHoppers
When Sri Lankan restaurant Hoppers first opened in Soho back in 2015, the queue was legendary. Then they opened their second branch in Marylebone where you could book a table and it was a total game-changer. You can be safe in the knowledge that you’re guaranteed a feast of their legendary mutton rolls, morish kothu roti, and bowls of mouth-tingling karis (curry) mopped up with a hopper or three, all without the wait. There are also outdoor tables for balmy evenings.
Address: Hoppers, 7 Wigmore Street, London W1U 1QE
Website: hopperslondon.comChiltern Firehouse
This legendary restaurant really needs no introduction. Since opening in the impressive Grade II listed old Marylebone Fire Station in 2014, it has attracted an upscale clientele with plenty of famous faces. And it’s easy to see why – the airy dining room feels private yet fun and chef-patron Nuno Mendes and Executive Chef Richard Foster keep the menu feeling fresh. Decadent dinners start with oysters and move on to feasting on chargrilled Iberico pork or 48-hour marinated citrus chicken. Or book in for a more relaxed weekend brunch to try truffle cheese toasties and the Flaming Benedict with lobster, potato latkes and jalapeño hollandaise.
Address: Chiltern Firehouse, 1 Chiltern Street, London W1U 7PA
Website: chilternfirehouse.com