A Clerkenwell restaurant operating from a Victorian dining room that has borne the sign 'Progressive Working Class Caterer' since 1869, though the current incarnation — under Will Lander and Daniel Morgenthau — serves food that has progressed well beyond working-class prices. The confit potato (a brick of layered potato, slow-cooked in duck fat until the exterior shatters and the interior dissolves) is the signature and one of the most copied dishes in London. The original booth seating — Grade II listed wooden benches with numbered brass plates — survives and forces an intimacy that modern restaurant design has forgotten.
Location
Clerkenwell, London
Insider Intel
The confit potato — it is the dish that made the restaurant famous and it deserves its reputation. The steak (dry-aged, from the butcher's shop next door — yes, they run a butcher's) is excellent. The wine list is personal and interesting. The booth seating is the experience.
Dinner for atmosphere — the Victorian room glows. The Sunday lunch is a proper British affair. The wine bar next door is an option if the restaurant is full.
Reservations recommended. 88-94 Farringdon Road, Clerkenwell. Farringdon tube. The Grade II listed booths are original 1869 fittings. The butcher shop next door is worth visiting. Mains £18-30. Cash and cards. Smart casual.