Londonโ€™s food scene is one of the most vibrant in the world, with nearly every cuisine available at almost any level. Sometimes though, what you really want is the timeless ambience of a French brasserie, complete with banquette seating, chandeliers and gleaming white tablecloths.ย 

108 Brasserie scratches this itch without feeling like a throwback to the era before good food and good service were the norm. Nestled in a Marylebone cul-de-sac just off Oxford Street, the brasserie sits within a hotel but has its own entrance and space, avoiding becoming just an offshoot of the hotel itself.

The food nods to this mix of traditional and modern. There are steaks and a Caesar salad, but thereโ€™s also Thai curry and miso-glazed cod. Sitting somewhere in the middle of these options is the crab crumpet, a delicious starter which is about as far from a toasted Warburtonโ€™s offering as it can get. Pillowy bread is topped with a generous pile of crab meat and scattered with brown shrimp. Finished off with an apple and fennel slaw, itโ€™s a medley of surprisingly subtle flavours which is perfectly put together.ย 

The burrata is likewise a masterclass in doing more with less. The burrata itself is decadently rich and creamy, while the beetroot and orange accompaniment brings things back down to earth. Itโ€™s all brought together with one of the nicest pestos weโ€™ve had in a very long time.

As far as main courses go, you could do much worse than the beef and Guinness sharing pie. For anyone worried that โ€˜sharingโ€™ usually translates to โ€˜more expensive and not actually enough for twoโ€™, fear not – thereโ€™s more than enough pie and mash to make both of you struggle to walk home afterwards. The pie itself has a wonderfully thick gravy which is only made better by the extra red wine jus itโ€™s served with. The mash is also the perfect consistency to soak up all that gravy goodness without disintegrating, while the plate of seasonal greens does a pretty good job of making you feel far healthier than you are. Slight points deducted for the pie not having a 360-degree pastry covering, which makes it more of a stew with a pie lid than a proper pie, but weโ€™re only complaining because the pastry we did get was so delicious.

If you want old-school class without the old-school attitudes or the old-school food, 108 Brasserie is the place for you. Lovely staff, delicious food, and a location so central that you could visit John Lewis between courses if you were that way inclined. Whatโ€™s not to love?

For more information on 108 Brasserie, see here

108 Marylebone Ln, London W1U 2QE