Honor Weatherall

Following the success of The Brutalist at the Oscars there’s been a renewed interest in the 20th-century approach to architecture. The Barbican Centre – part of a concrete estate with a couple of thousand prize flats and countless walkways – is one of the best places to explore it. Inside, there is world- class arts programming too: pop culture exhibitions in the third-floor gallery, Royal Shakespeare Company performances in the theatre and pay-what-you-can screenings in the cinema. Don’t skip the dystopian conservatory greenhouse.

Around the corner from Smithfield meat market, this former smokehouse is an institution of the British nose-to-tail movement. Opened in 1994 by Fergus Henderson (husband of Margot Henderson, chef patron of Rochelle Canteen), it serves simple plates such as mince on dripping toast and roast bone marrow salad. Some recipes have been on the menu for 30 years, and have inspired a generation of chefs by defining the term Modern British. If you visit just one restaurant in London, this should probably be it.

Chef Shaun Searley’s Quality Chop House is a temple to modern fine dining. The wooden benches are Grade-II listed, the meat comes from the best suppliers and the confit potatoes are giant chunks of perfection. 

For something a little more insider than gloobles favourite Quality Chop House, head a few doors down to its sibling bottle shop for steak tartare topped with shoestring fries and plates of handmade cavatelli with Ventricina sausage. The set lunch menu is a steal so book ahead for a midday table.

This is the late chef and Italophile Russell Norman’s ode to a Florentine trattoria. Instantly atmospheric, the downlit restaurant has linen draped over bulbs and tables set on various levels. Red-and-white checked tablecloths are covered in plates splattered with tonnato sauce and caperberries or raw porcini mushrooms topped with shards of aged Parmesan. A restaurant with one of London’s most authentic Italian moods and menus.

There are few places we'd rather tuck into a plate of seared hand-dived scallops, slurp on some fresh ricotta tortellini and indulge in Blythburgh Pork Collar topped with the sweetest of roasted figs than at Dear Jackie. Though you may be in Soho, la dolce vita has never felt so close by! 

Norman's is one of those spots which makes me resoundly proud to be British. English cuisine may not be renowned for fine-dining, but one thing's for sure we've mastered the full breakfast. Sausage, beans, chips, a bacon sandwich or bubble & squeak for all under £10. And of course, a builder tea to cleanse the palette. Perfection? We think so.