The former judges' dining room inside Old Sessions House, the Grade II* Middlesex Sessions House, opened in 1782 as the largest courthouse in the country and in judicial use until 1920. A double-height room with restored double-storey columns and tall arched windows, deliberately left with its distressed and peeling plaster, hung with chandeliers and artwork by Jonny Gent. Entry is through an unmarked door at the rear and then a lift. Upscale without having been polished into anonymity.
Location
Clerkenwell, London
Map
Plan Your Visit
Table service
Full service at your table
Insider Intel
The panisse — chickpea chips with lemon thyme and sea salt — dipped in the sea bream's fig-leaf and sorrel sauce. The fried potato with eel and the chocolate tart are the other standing picks.
Lunch, when light floods the tall arched windows — the room is the reason to come.
Over-18s only and only partly wheelchair accessible. Entry is an unmarked door at the rear, then a lift. Bookings open online at 7am, thirty days ahead; maximum party of eight.