Scully

Ramael Scully’s name is often uttered in the same breath as Yotam Ottolenghi’s, having once headed up the kitchen at NOPI, but Scully is truly a talent in his own right. This eponymous restaurant is his first solo venture, a smart, charcoal-toned dining room with exposed pipes and an open kitchen, nestled on a hidden corner of St James's Market. It’s been open for five odd years and still, on a casual Tuesday evening, it’s bursting with diners looking to experience the chef's exciting, unorthodox food.

While Scully’s food draws on his heritage, a unique combination of Malaysian, Chinese, Indian and Irish influences, his cooking style refuses to be pigeon-holed. Rather, the chef combines explosive flavours with conscientious cooking techniques to create layered, yet balanced, dishes that challenge the diner.

We suggest booking a counter seat if you can; it’s fascinating watching Scully and his team in full force as they draw from pots filled with vibrant oils and funky-looking ferments. The first course is a corker: a fat chicken wing stuffed with soft thigh meat, truffle and water chestnuts, then deep-fried until golden, and served with the rich gloss of salted egg yolk and a caramel-like jus. A pillowy arepa comes next, which we’re instructed to cut in half like a pocket, then fill with jammy aubergines and tangy labneh. Rich flavours are often balanced with sourness or tang, like confit duck offset with a sweet and sour tangle of pomelo, cabbage and green chilli oil.

The non-alcoholic pairing is great fun if you’re not drinking. It features a sweet and aromatic series of short drinks, and culminates with Scully’s nostalgic take on barley water - a ridiculously delicious blend of coconut cream, caramel and chewy barley that can only be described as a hybrid between bubble tea and rice pudding.

The five-course tasting menu is £125 before drinks. It’s not cheap, but make no mistake, Scully refuses to let his guests leave hungry. This is cooking that both challenges and comforts in equal measure – a rare skill indeed.

Scully is an international restaurant found in St James's Market, run by ex-NOPI head chef Ramael Scully, serving a tasting menu of unique fusion flavours that you won't find anywhere else in London. Inside, all is cosily shabby-chic, with copper pendant lighting, potted plants and a fascinating glass-fronted pantry, stocked with herbs and spices. A large sharing table and an open kitchen create a communal vibe, but the marble-topped chef’s counter is undoubtedly home to the best seats in the house.

On offer is an intriguing menu that references Scully’s multicultural heritage, while confounding expectations when it comes to mixing and matching ingredients. Nearly all the seasonally changing sharing plates impress, from a tomato and coconut salad with green strawberries (summer in a bowl) to barbecued beef tendons, hidden by a dollop of smoky oyster mayo and served with salty fried tendon puffs for dipping.

Elsewhere, there’s fatty pork belly with house-made XO sauce concealing a subtle flash of heat, and a plate of monkfish rubbed with sambal belacan, a tongue-tingling shrimp paste. The arepa (a Venezuelan cornmeal pancake) topped with aubergine relish and bergamot-infused labneh is another Scully signature that rarely if ever leaves the menu.

To finish, there’s a love-it-or-hate-it dessert of parsnip and coconut ice cream, and a grapefruit sorbet which is paired with a scoop of caramel ice cream. Fastidious sourcing, impressively well-informed staff and an unflappable kitchen team swapping jokes while turning out plates of pure wonder all help to make dining at Scully a thrilling and eye-opening experience.