So you’ve been in the capital for a few
days and you’ve sampled the best food that
London has to offer.
Pizza Express, Gregs and the Boots Meal Deal.
Now that’s great and all but what you’re
really looking for, is something unique.
So we’ll be showing you our 10 favourite
unique restaurants in London.
We’ll whizz by the worlds first cheese conveyor
belt, Sample some white chocolate mash which
believe me is much better than it sounds,
feast next door to the Prime Minister, be
surrounded by cats, dine in a Victorian toilet,
and much much more.
If you’re new here, we make travel movies
from our home town of London and around the
world, hoping you might just find your next
holiday inspiration.
This is Suitcase Monkey, looking for unique
dining in London.
First up on our list is Rabot 1745 and this
place is heaven for anyone who loves chocolate.
That’s because every single dish on the
menu uses either cacao (which is the seed
chocolate is made from) or the roasted cocoa
bean as a subtle ingredient.
The food all draws on Caribbean traditions
with a contemporary British twist and
the addition of chocolate on the menu makes everything appear original.
My personal favourite was the main course,
A slow cooked portion of Beef, with cacoa
mushroom dumpling.
On the side, we pecked at white chocolate
mash, and Caribbean Sweet Potato with cacao
barbecue sauce.
The chocolate theming is a gimmick that could
cheapen the experience but it’s actually
quite a swanky place.
Owned by Hotel Chocolat, the serving presentation
is more elegant than you might expect.
And so I think overall its a great place to visit if you're intrigues by what is essentially, a very posh Mars Bar.
Next up is The Attendant which is a restored
Victorian toilet, originally built and used
since the 1890s.
Now, to put the 1890s into perspective,
this means you could be eating an avocado
in the exact spot where Jack the Ripper did
a poo.
And if that isn’t unique, I don’t know
what is.
The original public toilet was closed in the
1960s and was remodelled, cleaned and reopened
50 years later.
There’s a nice mixture of lighter snacks
such as bacon rolls, porridge and granola,
to full plates of traditional brunch staples:
Avocado, hummus, lentils, grilled halloumi,
eggs, they’re all here.
Served with a tasty coffee, it was a satisfying
menu and yes apparently those tiles are original.
This next suggestion is something that won’t
be unique for lots of people, but for Londoners,
is something of a rarity.
A place we have visited more than anywhere
on this list is The Quince Tree Cafe and what
makes it stand out, is its surrounding and
tranquility.
Turning off the main road, you walk down this
narrow alley and feel as if you’re entering
into a hidden oasis.
Greeting you at the end, is London’s oldest
garden centre which has been inspiring people
since 1851.
It’s the most peaceful dining entrance I’m
aware of.
The Quince Tree Cafe itself is just as lovely.
The main seating area is inside this large
greenhouse, but there is also a roofed outside
space more open to the elements.
With all of this, it is easy to feel like
you’re in some English countryside town
and the whole setting already makes this worth
the trip.
But thankfully the food also holds its own.
Again, it hosts a mixture of small or large
dishes so should work for most appetites and
budgets.
These chorizo croquettes served with a tasty
mayo were awesome as were these avocado deep
fried chips with a chilli jam.
If you’ve seen my hidden gems in London
video, I suggested a walk along the canals
of Little Venice.
The Quince Tree Cafe is just a few minutes
away so makes for a convenient starting location.
Now, here’s a little Suitcase Monkey fact
for you.
I love cheese.
Out of 365 days, I reckon I will enjoy a cheese
sandwich on about 300 of them.
And most of the days I’m not enjoying one,
its because I’m somewhere abroad and I feel
I need to be less English and y’know, eat
like the locals.
So our next stop literally blew my mind when
I discovered it.
Enter the worlds first cheese conveyor belt
restaurant named Pick and Cheese.
Presented in a really cool cloche, each of
the 25 different cheeses, are all paired with
complementary condiments.
We had clothbound cheddar with tomato relish,
Spenwood which is a hard ewes cheese, served
with truffled potatoes, and my personal favourite
which was this Kingham cheese, paired with
a walnut fudge.
We also added in some smoked chorizo adding
some spice and everything was coupled with
a variety of crackers.
This also goes down in history as the earliest
time I’ve had a wine in my hand on a Sunday
morning.
Pick and Cheese is only a few months old,
being situated inside London’s newest market,
named The Seven Dials.
I’ll be doing a future video on all my favourite
London markets so please subscribe for that
if you haven’t already.
If you are a lover of cats then Lady Dinah’s
Cat Emporium is for you.
This place is super popular so you will almost
certainly need to book in advance.
These rescue cats are obviously the main attraction,
so of course there’s some games, some sleeping,
some drinking, some stroking, some attention
and some being ignored.
The tea room is split over 2 floors and has
a nice subtle but distinct Wonderland theming.
The layout is also really well designed providing
lots of space for the cats to explore.
The food is traditional English, with soup,
High Tea, scones, sandwiches and cakes.
I think if you’re treating a cat lover to
a unique dining experience, this would be
a perfect surprise.
For these last few suggestions I want to rattle
them off fairly quickly for 3 main reasons.
One, I think they are a bit more niche so
I wouldn’t universally recommend them to
everyone.
Two: Some of these I don’t have much footage
for and Three; It’ll help justify these
meals as an expense for the taxman.
So here are 5 quick suggestions you also might
want to consider.
The first is Swingers.
This is 18 holes of crazy golf that also serves
food and drinks for your enjoyment.
Great fun for either a couple or a small group.
Second we have The Jazz Cafe in Camden.
One of Londons most famous live music venues,
you get to enjoy your food from the balcony
while listening to live jazz, soul, funk and
blues.
How about the Paternoster Chop House?
This is the actual restaurant where the popular
UK TV show, First Dates is filmed.
We are massive fans of the show so spent our
first anniversary here.
Even without Fred and his team, it’s great
to see Merlins bar and make that infamous
walk towards the unknown.
Fourth, we have Sketch.
This place is probably most famous for its
incredibly pink Instagrammable Gallery room
where you can enjoy afternoon tea.
But it has numerous rooms that are each something
to behold.
It is expensive here but its toilets are almost
worth the price alone.
And lastly, there is dining inside the Houses
of Parliament.
This is technically classed as a pop up so
availability isn’t always open.
But when it is, you get to walk around the
inside of Parliament, see the House of Commons
in action, or not as things can sometimes
be and then sit down to some English food
in a room overlooking the Thames.
For further inspiration, check out my other
London food guides as well as our international
travels around the world.
And follow us on Instagram to see us exploring
live as it happens.
Thanks for watching Suitcase Monkey.
