Top 5: New Openings You Need to Visit in London This WeekBy Alicia Grimshaw
It’s all kicking off in London this week. From a new healthy eatery to a street food sensation opening their first bricks and mortar site – here’s 5 new openings to visit in London this week. Time to spend your time at working spying on menus:
1. For Healthy Fare: Sano To Go
Why: Breakfast offers include yoghurt pots; dairy-free porridge pots made with oat milk, plus a choice of berry and seed toppings; and egg pots with either avocado and smoked salmon, tomato or tahini. Lunch offers hearty bowls of ginger, lemongrass and five-spice chicken; za-atar spiced lamb meatballs; and aubergine and butternut squash tagine. There’s also salad bowls with smoked salmon, sweet potato and beetroot; salmon, fennel and pomegranate; and chickpea, spinach, cashew, cumin, coconut and tahini. And for a little afternoon pick me up, Holly’s raw chocolate brownie and Millionaire’s shortbread are made with almond butter and coconut flour.
Where: Sano To Go, 52 Gray’s InnRoad, London, WC1
What: From the bunch that brought you Zuma, Roka and The Oblix at The Shard – The Wayne Family have opened their new restaurant in Fiztrovia, Meraki. The restaurant was born out of a desire to offer the finest Mediterranean ingredients with warm, generous, hospitality and stylish cosmopolitan flare.
Why: Led by Greek chef Dimitrios Siamanis, Meraki’s menu celebrates produce that he and the team have scoured the length and breadth of Greece’s regions to find; Bottarga from Mesologgi, Graviera cheese from Naxos, and Galotiri cheese from Crete. Dishes include slow-cooked ox cheek with hilopites from Trikala, artichokes and graviera; baked cod wrapped in vine leaves, artichokes and broad beans in a mussels broth; as well as seasonally changing sharing mezze dishes, chargrilled meats and whole fish dishes which are carved at the table.
Where: 80-82 Great Titchfield Street, London W1W 7QT
3. For an All-Day Spot: No 29 Power Station West
What: Independent neighbourhood bar group, Darwin & Wallace (the team behind No 11 Pimlico Road, No 32 The Old Town, No 1 Duke Street and No 197 Chiswick Fire Station) have set their sights on a new area of London: Battersea. Opening on Saturday (29th July), No 29 Power Station West is set to be the only pub joining a selection of all independent traders in the iconic Battersea Power Station’s ‘Circus West Village’.
Why: The location will offer an all day drinking and dining experience from morning coffee and brunch, through to dinner and night cap – with a food menu featuring locally sourced ingredients. The hand crafted menus run throughout the collection of bars and feature an all-day food offering including a refreshing array of seasonal dishes cooked from scratch on site. Breakfast features avocado lime and chilli on sourdough, to lunch of coconut poached chicken salad, Sunday roasts of slow cooked short rib of beef and roast chicken breast – the menu champions British seasonal produce with big flavours.
Where: Unit 29 Circus West, Battersea Power Station London SW8 5BP
4. For Asian Grub: Ugly Dumpling
What: After causing a storm on the London street food scene with her traditional Asian dumplings, Ping Wong is opening of her first permanent restaurant, Ugly Dumpling in Carnaby’s Newburgh Quarter this weekend (29th).The restaurant will fuse Western/Eastern flavours together, transforming the humble dumpling from an Asian street snack into a new dining sensation.
Why: The menu will feature several signature dumplings including; aromatic duck, pork belly, satay chicken, prawn and chive, and the vegan special, spinach and tofu. To complement the unique style of cooking, the restaurant will also serve an array of Head Chef Andrew Mead’s dumpling inventions, which move away from Asian flavours to create a more global feel to the menu. Sides will include noodles, soups and salads including Szechuan aubergine, avocado and mango salsa, and crispy kale and sesame. Dumplings will also take centre stage on the dessert menu through exciting sweet fillings complemented with a variety of ice creams.
Where: 1 Newburgh Street Carnaby, London W1F 7RB
5. For Lunchtime Saviours: Island Poke
What: After conquering the poké market in Soho, the team behind Island Poke are bringing their Hawaiian bowls to east London with the opening (31st) of their second branch in Broadgate Circle. Poké, pronounced po-keh, is a mix of raw cubes of fresh fish with a soy-based dressing, served in a bowl with steamed rice and tasty garnishes.
Why: Open for breakfast, they will be serving Hawaiian Kona Coffee with a variety of dishes including overnight apple and cinnamon oats, tropical chia pots, salmon and yuzu cream cheese rolls and cinnamon buns. Lunch will offer a choice between three house poké bowls or a build your own besPoké bowl. Come the afternoon the offering in Broadgate Circle will flip to Hawaiian Beers, a chilled glass of wine or one of their house brand Pacific G&T’s – the perfect tonic to match with their new poké nachos and poké tacos.
Where: Broadgate Circle, London EC2M 2QS
