THE setting for Kioku by Endo – the rooftop of a historic building in the heart of Whitehall – has to be unique: the food, the location and the views combine to form a very classy and one-off dining experience that cannot easily be replicated.
With summertime in mind, an early Japanese note can be struck with a gin-based cocktail that is complex but artfully composed: elderflower (fermented and foraged blossom), a distillate of wasabi root and a juice made from the leaves of the shiso herb. This or one of the other crafted drinks invites slow sips either outdoors on the terrace (last orders here are taken at 18.45) or in the dining room.
To the east, Big Ben looks shiny and touristy; Nelson’s Pillar to the north and the BT Tower behind are distinctive presences; while out on the terrace, the London Eye feels alarmingly close and the tops of the Ministry of Defence buildings Kafkaesque in their blank solidity.
Kioku by Endo on the rooftop of The OWO
A trolly wheeled to your table is usually reserved for carving meat, filleting fish or tempting you with desserts but at Kioku by Endo it arrives, as one of the menu’s ‘Bites’, with two different cuts of raw tuna (akami and chutoro) before mixing them with egg yolk and wasabi. Placed inside small bread rolls, they please the palette and prepare you for the food to come.
Sashimi and nigiri can be selected individually or mixed as the chef’s selection. Here, as throughout the meal, there is the delightfully changing tabelware that quality Japanese restaurants so excel at presenting. What might be unexpected is the perfect suitability of Rathfinny wines, coming from chalky Sussex soil, for the refined gracefulness of a visit to Kioku by Endo.
Chef Asimakis Chaniotis adds a final touch at Myrtos
The scene at Myrtos on Brompton Road in South Kensington comes courtesy of a new, smartly attired restaurant where the décor’s nautical theme overtly evokes a warm place by the sea on a Greek island: wave-like undulations above your head, sparkling blue panels on the walls and a lovely looking olive tree in a giant pot.
The neat marble bar – curated, like its cocktails, by legendary Line in Athens – makes you want to linger and talk about holidays in the sun. The food menu is suitably Mediterranean, filled with appetisers and small plates before progressing towards the choice of a shared main dish of fish or meat. With Greek desserts and wonderful cheeses that include soft and hard ones from Kefalonia and a blue one from Ithaca, an authentic Hellenic experience awaits diners.
Myrtos is spacious but the pavement tables are appealing and not just because it’s the Greek thing to do. From them, you can see Michelin House with its glazed tiles, motor tyres on the parapet and giant lettering. Opened in 1911 as the UK headquarters of the French company, the design was artistically ahead of its time and it remains one of London’s most unusual buildings.
Rotunda Bar & Lounge
When a warm summer evening suggests something less than full plates of food, head for the Rotunda Bar & Lounge at the illustrious Four Seasons Tower Bridge. Live music form Thursday to Saturday evenings adds to the charm of sitting comfortably in a splendiferous domed space, large enough to accommodate soft seating at tables as well as an outer circle of small sofas with their own low tables.
There is also a bar with stools, though this is not a place for lounge lizards but more a perch for watching some of the new signature cocktails being prepared with the finest of ingredients to produce exquisite tastes. Martinis, for instance, use a top-notch vodka from Montenegro, bergamot rosolio from Italy, touches of verjus and a very dry sherry – mixed and presented with a lychee on the side in its own small bowl of ice.
Martini with lychee on the side at Rotunda Bar and Lounge
The food snacks at Rotunda Bar & Lounge are equally well-crafted, whether a chicken Japanese-flavoured bun, aubergine croquettes, yellow tail sashimi or Maldon oysters, originally of Pacific provenance and now cultivated in an Essex estuary.
There is much else besides and the passing of culinary time is marked by the more subdued lighting as evening settles in. The unobtrusive service never ruffles the prevailing air of calmness and you may end up staying here longer than anticipated.
Chef Dana at Jang (photo by Eleonora Boscarelli)
The neoclassical edifice sometimes mistaken for the Bank of England, the Royal Exchange, has for so long been home to financial institutions that it may come as a surprise to discover the delights of an exceptional cuisine behind its stately exterior.
Ascending a stone staircase from a corner of the ground floor, you will find Jang serving food that reflects the tremendous impact of Japan on Korea’s culinary culture and the creative interpretation of this heritage by the chef. Hailing from Gwangju in the southwest of Korea, Chef Dana’s flair and inventiveness have created a menu for Londoners’ diverse food tastes: sirloin steak is brought out in a charcoal pot that stays burning to maintain the temperature; sashimi is presented on a formidably-sized metal crocodile; ‘Jang KFC’ is enlivened with fiery gochujang sauce; vegans will love bibimbap, as classic as it gets, after asking for the egg to be omitted and adding a kimchi salad and geongyang rice.
Cocktails at Jang can include those from Engel, the large bar that also overlooks the café area on the floor of the Royal Exchange and, on Fridays and Saturdays, sushi and champagne sessions also feature at Jang.
Iberico Bossam Tower for two to share at Jang (photo by Eleonora Boscarelli)
Summer is the time for seasonal pop-ups and current ones include a celebration of Château Minuty, a wine estate on the Saint-Tropez peninsula, at the Minuty Terrace at Park Hyatt, London River Thames. A new cocktail menu explores agave-based spirits at Isabel Mayfair and, staying in that London neighbourhood, a new Paloma menu at Caviar Kaspia injects summer fun into the tequila-based cocktail with the help of The London Essence Co.
by Sean Sheehan