The Best Central London Restaurants

Cantaloupe

Address: 35 - 42 Charlotte Road, London, EC2A 3PD
Telephone:

Work your way through the lively trendy throng that consistently packs out the big industrial style bar and you'll enter the back room from where you can observe the happy masses from secluded low seating. Here you're offered a quieter, more refined eating experience featuring a Mediterranean menu so beautifully put together that you'll be tempted to order the lot. If you're after a signature dish opt for the Xinim - chicken, prawn and mussel casserole with cashew nuts, peppers, tomatoes and coconut served with Brazilian rice, or the roast chump of lamb with braised chickpeas, morcilla, chorizo, parsley and garlic (all meat and eggs are free range). To keep your stomach happy while you're waiting for it to arrive, nibble on some of the satisfying side orders - the olives are especially good. Drinks-wise there's a good range of beers, cocktails, aperitifs and digestifs, but the most exciting is the descriptive wine list which serves Cantaloupe's enduring reputation well.