The Month Ahead – New Restaurant Openings – February 2015

From a European brasserie in Spitalfields to an east Asian BBQ and a new restaurant inside an auction house, read on for our guide to the new restaurants opening in February 2015 and some events to have on your radar, including Chinese New Year at Hakkasan.

Chinese New Year at Hakkasan

From 8 February, Hakkasan Mayfair and Hakkasan Hanway Place will be celebrating Chinese New year with a special nine dish feasting menu, which includes some of the Michelin starred restaurant group’s signature dishes.

Start with the fabulous dim sum platter (as good as at sister restaurant Yauatcha) and the golden fried soft shell crab with red chilli and curry leaf.

Dim Sum platter at Hakkasan Hanway Place

Highlights from the mains (which really was a feast!) were the stir-fried black pepper rib eye beef with merlot and the grilled Chilean seabass in honey.

Finish your evening with the Kumquat wishing tree dessert and a special cocktail, the Kumquatcha (Germana cachaça, Campari, Kumquats, orange Juice and lime).

Hakkasan Hanway Place

We’ve always been huge fans of Hakkasan, and this menu really does showcase Hakkasan’s quality and consistency. The Chinese New Year menu is available for £88.88 per person until 1 March.

Blixen

Blixen will open on 9 February near Old Spitalfields Market. The ‘informal European brasserie’ is the latest venture from Clive Watson (formerly of Riding House Cafe, among others).

The restaurant will feature a terrazzo-tiled floor with mid-century pieces of furniture, brass fittings, a downstairs cocktail bar, a private dining room for 18 and a garden terrace.

‘Kobe Week’ at SushiSamba

‘Kobe Week’ at SUSHISAMBA will happen on the third week of every month, with a monthly changing menu created by Executive Chef Claudio Cardoso.

The Kobe Ishiyaki at Sushisamba London

Menu items will include the Kobe Burger (brioche, Kobe beef burger, horseradish mayo, aji amarillo), Kobe Tamari (Kobe beef, ponzu, pickled wasabi), Kobe Tartare (Kobe beer tartare, poached egg, macadamia, gold) and Kobe Beef Ishiyaki (1kg of premium Kobe beef, priced at £1000).

Rosewood London

Chef Amandine Chaignot has taken over as executive chef at Rosewood London near Holborn.

Scarfes Bar Rosewood London

Amandine has previously worked with some of the greats including Alain Ducasse at Hotel Plaza Athenee, at Le Bristol with Eric Frechon and at Le Meurice with Yannick Allno.

Duck & Rice, Soho

Hot on the heels of Babaji, his most recent opening at the end of 2014 with a casual Turkish menu, Alan Yau will open a Chinese gastropub in Soho called Duck & Rice on the former site of The Endurance.

Bonhams

A new restaurant has launched at Bonhams, the auction house in Mayfair, with chef Tom Kemble in charge. The modern European menu includes haunch of sika deer with chestnut and juniper puree, and crapaudine beetroot pollack with celeriac puree, Cevennes onions and lemon confit.

The wine list is overseen by Master of Wine and head of Bonhams’ wine department, Richard Harvey – there will also be two enomatic machines serving wines by the glass.

Bó Drake

Bó Drake, a modern east Asian BBQ restaurant and Anju bar, will open on Greek Street in Soho.

The new casual dining restaurant is the brainchild of Jan Lee, alumni of Japanese restaurant Roka. Serving a modern East Asian BBQ menu with an emphasis on smoked cooking methods alongside more traditional sweet and pickled influences from South-East Asia.

Bo Drake Soho

Having been to Bo Drake a couple of times already, I can honestly say I’ve experienced some of the nicest staff of any restaurant I can recall. Bo Drake is also great fun.

Honey and Co. takeover at Ember Yard

On Monday 9th February, Honey and Co. will be bringing a taste of the Middle East to Spanish restaurant Ember Yard in Covent Garden, combining Middle Eastern influences with Ember Yard’s charcoal grills. To book this one-off event, please call the restaurant on 0207 439 8057.

West Thirty Six, Notting Hill

West Thirty Six will be set over four floors of a townhouse in Notting Hill with various restaurant, bar and lounge spaces.

It will be a collaboration between Robert Newmark of Beach Blanket Babylon in Notting Hill and Shoreditch, Cheila Reais, Piers Walker, and chef John Pollard, who spent five years with the Soho House Group recently as head chef for Pizza East and overseeing Chicken shop and Dirty Burger.

Why not read some of our recent restaurant reviews including Koffmann’s at The Berkeley and The Cavendish in Marylebone?

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