The best Marylebone restaurants right now
One of West London's most celebrated neighbourhoods, Marylebone, may be known for its shopping scene or grand dame residences – but there's plenty of world-class dining on offer too. Here we have the low-down on the best Marylebone restaurants to book, from a Peruvian paradise to classic fine dining spots pushing the finest seasonal cuisine.
Roketsu, Marylebone
Any restaurant in Marylebone faces stiff competition, but London's first authentic kaiseki spot Roketsu can fend off the best of them. Showcasing a traditional style of dining featuring multiple courses and comparable to Western haute-cuisine, it's carved out quite the reputation since its mid-pandemic opening in early 2021. This isn't somewhere you pop into for a quick supper – reservations are released two months in advance and snapped up almost immediately. Just 14 diners are lucky enough to take their place at the counter each evening as chef Daisuke Hayashi, who trained at the three Michelin-starred restaurants Kikunoi in Kyoto, takes the helm in the open kitchen. Service and style draw inspiration from classic tea ceremonies, and the interiors are pared-back Japanese hinoki wood carefully crafted in Kyoto and shipped to London to be assembled. In short, it's all understated elegance and tradition – which isn't to say it lacks a theatrical flair. Dishes are nothing short of art, and the open kitchen allows diners to watch the chefs put the final touches to their masterpieces.
Dashi fish stock is the rich, umami heart of almost all the dishes, and over ten courses the chefs unveil the very best in Japanese tradition and technique. Menus are dictated by the season and change every month; my visit at the end of October focused on autumnal harvests of nuts, root vegetables and mushrooms. Particular highlights included intense furofuki turnip with walnut miso topped with crunchy roasted walnut, Japanese conger eel laden with truffle shavings and lobster served with butter-soft tofu made in-house.
Roketsu's name and the rabbit motif on the menus and napkins (including those they'll wrap around your leftovers to create the world's chicest doggy bag) refer to an ancient Japanese tale where the moral of the story is a reminder to live in the moment. As such, this is the kind of restaurant that will have you putting your phone away in favour of lapping up every second of the experience. Cassie Doney
Address: Roketsu, 12 New Quebec St, London, W1H 7RW
Website: roketsu.co.uk