Angler

With its coveted rooftop location, deep-pocketed clientele and a head chef (Gary Foulkes) that’s helped retain the restaurant’s Michelin star for 11 long years, Angler feels a bit like the popular kid at school. This is a restaurant that everyone wants to be friends with; it’s still very much a place to be seen, potentially slinging back cocktails on its alfresco terrace, but peel away those cosmetically pleasing layers and Angler still holds an exceptional amount of substance that keeps punters coming back for more.

During the day, we can imagine the long, open dining room awash with natural light, streaming in through its huge, sloped windows, but we're here in the evening, when sunlight is swapped for clubby purple lighting and twinkling candles. One feels as though something exciting is about to happen, which it very much is.

Eating at Angler is a seamless experience from start to finish, or at least, such was our encounter of its tasting menu. Courses are delivered by calm staff members like a well-rehearsed procession they’ve clearly practiced a thousand times over. On paper, the menu looks like a lot, but one of Foulkes' talents is his ability to understand exactly what the diner wants and needs at every point of an eight plus course menu.

Lighter dishes crescendo to rich, gutsy ones. We move from dressed crab paired with ice cold sorbet and fiery wasabi, to langoustine on soft parmesan gnocchi, then finished with fresh truffle and truffle puree. Later on, roast cod finds a friend in caramelised, butter-rich parsnip puree, salty bacon and firm squid, while pink, pan-fried duck paired with sweet beetroot puree and whole peppercorns is all heady base notes. For sweet, a nostalgic concoction featuring dehydrated Pink Lady apple, vanilla mousse, mascarpone ice cream and cinnamon is like a deconstructed amalgamation of an apple tarte tatin and New York cheesecake.

We're clearly dining amongst city-slickers looking for somewhere to impress colleagues on every front, but they’ve chosen well, because Angler is bang on the money in every sense of the word.

Another jewel in restaurant group D&D’s ubiquitous empire is Angler, a Michelin-starred restaurant perched at the top of South Place Hotel specialising in sustainably-sourced fish and seafood. Led by executive chef Gary Foulkes, the menu features an ever-changing display of modern and innovative dishes, with both a la carte and tasting menus available. Gary has spent more than two decades working in Michelin-starred restaurants, starting his career under the guidance of acclaimed Gary Rhodes before going on to work at two-starred The Vineyard at Stockcross, one-starred Aubergine in Chelsea and two-starred The Square in Mayfair.

In addition to the main restaurant, The Angler Terrace is a rooftop terrace and bar which offers guests fantastic views across the capital. Offering a retractable roof and heaters, it’s a great place to soak up the city’s skyline all year round, and functions as an extension of the restaurant should you wish to enjoy a meal here.

The a la carte menu offers a concise selection of starters, mains and dessert, revolving predominantly around fish and seafood. To start, you may enjoy the likes of sea bass tartare with oyster cream, green apple and shiso, or native lobster ravioli with chicory, Japanese citrus and basil. While mains might include Cornish monkfish with pumpkin gnocchi, chestnut and rosemary butter. The tasting menu begins with a selection of snacks, from a comte, goat’s curd and pumpkin gougere to prawn and squid ink crackers with smoked cod’s roe and espelette peppers. This is followed by seven courses, not including petit fours.

To drink, there is an extensive bottled wine list which is carefully selected by its resident Sommelier. Discover a huge range of wines by the glass if you’d like to try a few, as well as a global selection of fine and premium bottles.