Now that summer's drawing to a close and the lure of spending a chilly evening in a theatre is ever stronger, we’re on something of a booking spree to fit it all the shows we’ve not yet seen this year because we wanted to make the most of summer nights in pub gardens.
With theatre comes the ever-present dilemma of the dining; we adore a pre-theatre menu, and these five are some of our current faves…
Yatay
The recently opened Japanese joint on Wardour Street pays homage to the many Tokyo street food stalls known as Yatai where eating and drinking is a social experience for all, whether day or night. Their pre-theatre offering is £28.50 per person (or a rather reasonable £30 with a glass of house wine or beer) with dishes such as chicken karate, masu chalk stream trout with kizami and wasabi and tamanegi roasted shallots with miso dressing and toasted sesame.
Available 12pm-8pm
22 Wardour St, London W1D 6QQ
www.yataysoho.co.uk
Pivot
Award-winning Chef Mark Greenaway has extended Pivot with a new all-day menu that now spans across two floors of the historic English townhouse. With a focus on quintessential British cuisine and seasonal produce, Pivot’s modern menu includes dishes like pork & apple terrine, wild mushrooms on toast with salt baked celeriac and truffle, and a raspberry pavlova. Priced £28 for three course, or £39 with a carafe of wine.
3 Henrietta Street, WC2E 8LU
www.markgreenaway.com/pivot-covent-garden
Kerridge’s Bar and Grill
Tom Kerridge’s Embankment outpost has just introduced its new pre and post theatre menu, courtesy of Head Chef Nick Beardshaw. A menu of small plates is inspired by The Coach, Tom Kerridge’s Michelin starred pub in Marlow, and includes the likes of Welsh rarebit, potted loch Duarte salmon with grapefruit jelly and yuzu crème fraiche, crispy pig’s cheek with piccalilli purée, and glazed ox cheek with clotted cream mash, while the menu is also accompanied by a champagne trolley featuring some of the finest fizz in town.
No.10 Northumberland Avenue, WC2N 5AE
www.kerridgesbarandgrill.co.uk
Fatt Pundit
The Indo-Chinese small plates restaurant offers two courses for £30 per person or three for £33, with dishes including Momos Nepalese steamed dumplings, crackling spinach with plum sauce and yoghurt, malabar monkfish curry with fresh coconut and saffron butter, and szechuan honey duck served with fresh cucumber and pancakes.
6 Maiden Lane, WC2E 7NA
www.fattpundit.co.uk/covent-garden
Cafe Murano
Angela Hartnett’s Cafe Murano is alway a safe bet for a pre-theatre menu, with two courses for £23 or three for £28, served every day from 12pm-3pm and 5pm-7pm. Choose from dishes like gurnard crudo, chilli, capers & basil, calves’ liver Veneziana, squid ink risotto with bottarga and pangratto and a poached nectarine with elderflower granita. Spectacular.
36 Tavistock St, London WC2E 7PB
www.cafemurano.co.uk
