My favourite restaurants: Mike Davies

London-born chef and cookbook author Mike Davies’ cult-status menus at The Camberwell Arms and Frank’s Cafe have amassed a veritable army of fans. There’s a winning formula at play, characterised by a focus on seasonal ingredients, an appreciation of comfort food, and a holistic approach to hospitality.

It wasn't always so simple. After abandoning a degree in biology to pursue the pleasure of cooking, with no formal training he took to working in kitchens. Powered by determination, Davies’ culinary exploration led him to undertake a series of stages (short, unpaid roles at restaurants - a crucial development opportunity for many young chefs). He undertook stints at some of the UK’s top restaurants, including The Ledbury and Le Manoir, but it was while working under James Lowe at St John Bread & Wine where Davies found his style, aged just 19.

Later, Davies joined sister pubs The Anchor and Hope in Waterloo and The Canton Arms. Here he met business partner Frank Boxer, with whom he co-launched the Peckham hotspot Frank’s Cafe in 2008. Building on the success of this beloved summertime institution, they opened The Camberwell Arms in 2014. Back in the realm of hearty but elevated pub fare, it launched Davies further into the spotlight along with his ingredient-centred approach. Now ten years on, the pub restaurant is still considered one of South London’s best, known for its refined, moreish comfort food.

But for Davies, real hospitality isn’t just about the menu. True hospitality only exists when you’re made to feel both welcome and cared for. A conclusion informed by his experience with his mother and grandmother’s cooking, this philosophy sits at the core of his first cookbook, Cooking for People.

Naturally, Mike Davies’ self-care approach to food more than qualifies him to dish out tips for feel good restaurants. Spoiler: they're pretty great.

40 Maltby Street, London

Mike says: ‘Easily some of the best cooking in London with a constantly evolving, exciting wine list representing low intervention producers. Maltby street's menu is always brilliantly appealing from start to finish. Steve Williams is my favourite chef in London. Seasonally focussed, nuanced refinement, finesse deployed in all the right places. Ask for a wine recommendation, and eat as much of the menu as you can, be certain to get anything involving pastry.’
Where: 40 Maltby Street, SE1 3PA
Book now: 40 Maltby Street

Hunan, London

Mike says: ‘Hunan has been open since 1982, which in London puts it in a select few elite establishments coming up with the goods for over 40 years. There is no menu, and the cookery is beautiful seasonal Chinese plates, across a multi course menu, the only steer for which is letting them know if there is anything you don't eat. What's more there is a separate often hand written wine list, which reads like the archive of an obsessive collector. It is truly one of the best restaurants in London, even thinking about going makes me feel excited.’
Where: 51 Pimlico Road, SW1W 8NE
Book now: Hunan

The Sportsman, Whitstable

Mike says: ‘The Sportsman sits more or less alone on a stretch of beach in Seasalter, Kent, down the road from nearby Whitstable. A little pre-prandial stroll along the beach is the perfect way to whet your appetite. A very spacious dining room and a menu written on a blackboard of refined, delicious and honest dishes using all the best local bits. I've been going for years and have loved watching it evolve into the institution it has become. Poached oysters with caviar, slipsoles in seaweed butter, and so many other classics, all cooked with the kind of refined diligence that you always hope for.’
Where: Faversham Road, Seasalter, CT5 4BP
Book now: The Sportsman

Chez Etienne, Marseille

Mike says: ‘Maybe my favourite place in the world. The formula is simple, a wood oven is used to cook pizza for the table, a particularly idiosyncratic southern French style of pizza, big, crispy, sometimes cheesy, almost certainly with anchovies, black olives, capers and lots of dried Provençal herbs. The embers from the oven have been dragged out and steaks are cooked over them to follow the pizza. A punchy green salad and some other beautiful seasonal veg cooked in the wood oven come alongside. Cold Kronenbourg, local rosé and a bottle of Poire William are left on the table to finish. This, combined with assertive, maybe slightly angry French service in a restaurant that has been open since the 70s doing the same thing every day, make it an authentic and brilliant place to eat and somewhere I would happily travel for.’
Where: 43 Rue de Lorette, 13002 Marseille

Estela, New York

Mike says: ‘I first visited Estela in 2015, and was frankly blown away by the elegant and delicious food, and laid back but focussed service. All too often a big-name restaurant won't live up to expectations, but when they exceed them, it's magic. Estela constitutes many degrees of refinement more than the kind of cookery that I know, and more often than not seek out, but so resonant is my first memory of eating there that I aim for it every time I'm in New York, which is frankly nowhere near enough.’
Where: 47 East Houston Street, NY 10012

Looking for more tips and recommendations? We’ve got all the hot info from high-flying chefs, including Paul Ainsworth, Adam Byatt, and Chet Sharma for restaurants to add to your eating out agenda.