One of the most famous chefs of the past 25 years returns to the capital’s restaurant scene this month as Jamie Oliver — Britain’s best-selling non-fiction writer of all time, but also the name behind a restaurant empire that collapsed very publicly in 2019 with the loss of 1,000 jobs — proves there is such a thing as a second act in London dining when he opens at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane. Mind you, if you’re Abby Lee, there's a fourth act: the Malaysian chef is opening the latest iteration of Mambow this month, too.
Lee and Oliver aren’t the only ones serving up second helpings this month: The Tamil Prince keeps it regal with The Tamil Crown in Islington, Holborn Indian Colonel Saab is opening off Trafalgar Square, Phil Howard’s reasonably priced Notto is launching in Covent Garden, while the much-anticipated Wolseley City finally opens its doors in the former House of Fraser premises in the Square Mile.
Who needs retail therapy when there is comfort eating from these launches? Here are our pick of November’s most exciting restaurant openings.
The Walmer Castle
It’s been a rocky few years for this famous Notting Hill pub — bought by David Beckham and Guy Ritchie back in 2018, before being opened as a Scottish-themed whisky bar last year — but new owners Jack and Poppy Greenall look likely to make a go of it. The husband and wife also own The Surprise pub in Chelsea, so know a thing or two about what well-heeled west Londoners want from a local with destination appeal — North Yorkshire venison carpaccio; halibut with samphire, smoked tomato and corn risotto — with ingredients supplied by The Ginger Pig butcher and Flying Fish fishmongers. Cultural talks in the private rooms upstairs and a bar made by All Saints Road furniture maker Rupert Bevan underscore the local connections, though with this being the most des-res of addresses in W11, the interiors also include art from Tracey Emin and Jack Penny.
Opens: November 1
58 Ledbury Road, W11 2AJ, walmercastle-nottinghill.co.uk
The Wolseley City
This City outpost marks the 20th anniversary of the West End original, and perhaps the old House of Fraser premises by Monument tube are the only space left in the Square Mile available to convert that will match the cavernous grandeur of the former Wolseley Motors site on Piccadilly. Foodwise, it’s going to be a blueprint of the Mitteuropean menu of the original — chicken soup and chopped liver, soused herrings and Wiener schintzel — though as in St James’s, breakfast is likely to be the main event. What should stop this place feeling like another boring roll out, though, are three bars offering a list of classic cocktails, plus international whiskies for City high rollers.
Opens: November 8
68 King William Street, EC4N 7HR, thewolseleycity.com
Pearly Queen
Oysters were the staple diet of the East End in the 19th century, when Victorian Londoners slurped their way through 100 million bivalves every year, eating the Thames Estuary dry. That tradition is being revived by seafood chef Tom Brown at Pearly Queen, though City workers rather than street urchins are the likely clientele now that oysters are a byword for luxury. Brown worked with Michelin-starred seafood chef Nathan Outlaw in Cornwall before opening his own starred gaff Cornerstone in Hackney; the cooking here will be more approachable, even if the prices aren’t. Expect crispy buffalo oysters with a ranch dressing, grilled lobster served in XO lobster butter, and "100-layer" cuttlefish lasagne, washed down with pints of Guinness and cocktails created by Max Venning of Three Sheets. An interior design of mother-of-pearl inlays and bluey-green velvets is as on-theme marine as the menu.
Opens: November 11
44 Commercial Street, E1 6LT, thepearlyqueen.co.uk
Ixchel
Headline openings in Chelsea are few and far between these days but this Mexican-inspired newcomer should have an appeal beyond SW3. Co-founder Fraser Carruthers used to own Albert’s nightclub in the Royal Borough, so has his finger on the pulse of the jeunesse doré of the King’s Road, though Ixchel is very much a restaurant. Mexican-born head chef Ximena Gayosso Gonzalez has done time in the kitchens of Ella Canta in Mayfair as well as Dulce Patria in Mexico City; her menu here will include all-day tapas of sautéed prawn quesadillas, and avocado and Granny Smith corn tostadas, while larger plates from the robata grill will take in achiote chicken thigh and aged ribeye with a chilmole sauce reduction. A bar overseen by former Cavita bar manager Manuel Lema is out to prove there’s more to tequila than margaritas.
Opens: November 22
33 King’s Road, SW3 4LX, ixchellondon.com
Mambow
This latest iteration of Abby Lee’s modern Malaysian sees the chef find a permanent home in Lower Clapton after launching a restaurant on Commercial Street in 2020, pivoting to Nyonya-style meal kits during lockdown and moving to Market Peckham. Mambow mark four will offer Lee’s regional Malaysian cookery — Sarawak-style coconut ceviche with tamarind granita and chive oil; red curry and kaffir lime-leaf spiced prawns with wild betel leaf — washed down with wines and house cocktails at one of the 20 seats inside or the other 20 on a plant-covered all-weather terrace, with much of the furniture made from upcycled materials. Not fussed about sitting down? There’s a standing room-only bar.
Opens: November 25
8 Lower Clapton Road, E5 0RN, mambow.co.uk
Jamie Oliver Catherine St
A return to London dining for Jamie Oliver after his restaurant empire collapsed in 2019, this new project sees the Naked Chef join forces with Andrew Lloyd Webber in snazzy new digs within the Theatre Royal Drury Lane. Cooking is rather more British than the Italian of Oliver’s mop-topped Noughties heyday, with an emphasis on sustainable ingredients. A snack of devilled eggs with Exmoor caviar might be followed by a starter proper of seafood cocktail featuring Morecambe Bay brown shrimp, mains of British game (venison ragu made from slow-braised Royal Windsor Park fallow deer) and decent veggie options, like sticky onion tarte Tatin with Colston Bassett blue cheese. Oliver himself might not be spending much time in the kitchen, but head chef Chris Shaill spent eight years with him at Barbecoa, while general manager Caesar Cruz has worked with Oliver for 16 years.
Opens: November 28
6 Catherine Street, WC2B 5JY, jamieolivercatherinest.com
Also opening
OshPaz
The Uzbek food stall finds a plum West End location for its first bricks-and-mortar site. Expect grab-and-go breakfasts and lunches (plov rice bowls especially) and proper sit-down dinners of central Asian cuisine.
Opens: November 1
7 Regent Street, SW1Y 4LR, oshpaz.co.uk
Dalla
A Hackney local with design-classic Italian interiors by Spazio Leone in Lower Clapton and regional cooking from former P. Franco and Burro e Salvia head chef Mitchell Damota.
Opens: November 2
120-122 Morning Lane, E9 6LH, @dalla.restaurant
La Palombe
Kensington favourite Il Portico goes Gallic with this wood-fired Basque bistro next door. Expect produce foraged and hunted by owner James Chiavarini: wild mushrooms, wood pigeon and muntjac venison.
Opens: November 7
267 Kensington High Street, W8 6NA, lapalombe.co.uk
Sam’s Waterside
West London hero Sam Harrison reproduces Hammersmith’s Sam’s Riverside, only with views of the river Brent not Thames. Expect Parmesan churros, chargrilled octopus and tiramisu martinis.
Opens: November 21
3 Kingham Avenue, Brentford, TW8 8GP, samswaterside.co.uk
