Chick n Sours Seven Dials
With plenty of exciting restaurant openings constantly taking place across the Capital, here’s our pick of the best new restaurants arriving in London over the coming month.
Following the success of his first Chick ‘n’ Sours in Haggerston, having opened just over a year ago, Carl Clarke has announced plans to open a sister restaurant in the heart of Central London. Like the Haggerston space, the new restaurant’s menu will be short and punchy, offering a number of favourites such as Chick ‘n’ Sours’ wildly popular Korean Fried Chicken Bun and Szechuan Aubergine, plus some brand new creations. New menu highlights include the likes of ‘Mexinese Nachos’ (a play on Mexican and Chinese food using corn tortillas for the nachos and a spicy Szechuan ‘ragù’ of minced chicken, smoked bacon, Szechuan pepper and fermented chilli) and XO Pineapple, featuring cubes of pineapple served with an XO sauce, toban-fermented chilli, Korean ssamjang, lime and peanuts. Elsewhere, alongside having allegedly crafted the perfect chicken sandwich, Carl’s new menu will also feature a vegetarian bun, made with soy-pickled shiitake mushroom and American cheese in a crispy coating, with Gochujang mayo, Sriracha sour cream and Asian crunchy slaw. As expected, a range of Sours cocktails will also be on offer, as well as a range of unique soft serve ice cream creations.
Chick ‘n’ Sours Seven Dials is set to open on September 20th and can be found at 1 Earlham Street, London, WC2H 9LL.
With two successful restaurants already operating on the other side of the city (one in Kensington, and the other in Soho), the team behind Dirty Bones are set to open a third site this month. Taking over a Grade II listed heritage building at the Shoreditch end of Bethnal Green Road, alike the other two restaurants, the new venue will serve a selection of American comfort food classics, albeit this time around the menu will be heavily inspired by New York. The exact menu is still under wraps, for now, though it has been announced that the new restaurant will be the first Dirty Bones to offer an all-day dining menu, plus an all-new breakfast menu that’s been specially developed for the Shoreditch outpost. What’s more, a brand new bar area will also be unveiled, equipped to host live music and DJ nights, focusing on the classic funk, soul and hip-hop music that the other Dirty Bones restaurants have become renowned for.
Dirty Bones Shoreditch is set to open in September and can be found at 1 Club Row, London, E1 6JX.
With two other successful restaurants in London – Sonny’s Kitchen in Barnes and the Michelin-starred Kitchen W8, Rebecca Mascarenhas and Phil Howard have chosen a spot in Chelsea to open their third restaurant venture. Taking over the former site of Tom Aikens Restaurant, Elystan Street will see Chef Phil Howard (former chef and co-owner of two Michelin-starred The Square) return to the heart of the kitchen, with a modern British menu available daily for lunch and dinner. Speaking on plans for the new restaurant, the chef explained that the new menu will offer “delicious, clean, ingredient-led dishes, full of natural vitality. The aim will be, as it always has been, to give great pleasure.”
Elystan Street is set to open in September and can be found at 43 Elystan Street, London, SW3 3NT.
London-based foodies are in for a treat this month, as Eneko will officially open at London’s One Aldwych Hotel, following an August soft-launch period. Launched by Chef Eneko Atxa, renowned for his contemporary take on Basque cooking at his three Michelin-starred Azurmendi in Bilbao, Eneko at One Aldwych will serve Basque food with a traditional focus, served within a casual space, while a commitment to top quality ingredients will be a prominent feature. As for the menu, diners can expect the likes of Eneko’s ‘Txerri Boda Pork Festival’ (photographed) – a trio of Iberico ham and mushroom duxelle in milk bread, suckling pig brioche and pig’s trotter bocata. Mains, on the other hand, will include the likes of Basque-style hake tempura with red pepper sauce and parsley emulsion, as well as some creative vegetarian dishes such as dressed beetroot tartare, and bomba rice risotto with Idiazabal pesto. Elsewhere, a floating 35-cover wine bar will be located on the mezzanine, with a carefully crafted list of Spanish wines, including the house Gorka Izagirre Txakoli, a white wine from the chef’s own vineyards.
Eneko at One Aldwych is open now and can be found at 1 Aldwych, London, WC2B 4BZ.
Taking over the former site of Dover Street Wine Bar, MNKY HSE is the first UK project from chef Pablo Peñalosa Nájera. Having previously worked at Four Seasons in Bogotà and Mexico City’s Morimoto, the chef’s MNKY HSE will serve a range of contemporary Latin American dishes intended for sharing, mostly made with British seasonal ingredients. Elsewhere, an upstairs bar/lounge area will offer a vast list of cocktails, with a focus on increasingly popular mezcal, and will act as a platform for the restaurant’s house band to perform, alongside a host of international and resident DJs.
MNKY HSE is set to open in September and can be found at 10 Dover Street, London, W1S 4LQ.
The latest project from Michelin-starred chef Shaun Rankin, Ormer is the product of a collaboration with Flemings Mayfair Hotel, set to open this month. Operating under the same name as Rankin’s famous Jersey restaurant, the new Mayfair space will take inspiration from the St Helier shores and will have a prominent focus on foraged herbs, on-trend English wines, and seasonal produce from the land and sea. Expect the menu to include a number of accomplished dishes, featuring the likes of hand-dived scallops fresh from the Channel Islands; Jersey lobster ravioli in a crab and lemongrass bisque; venison loin with medjool dates, quinoa, parsnips and chocolate tortellini; and double chocolate brownie with salt caramel and milk ice cream.
Ormer is set to open in September and can be found at Flemings Mayfair Hotel, 7 – 12 Half Moon Street, London W1J 7BH.
