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Join the secret supper club
By Samuel Pinney, London Lite 30.04.08
Fine dining: Oslo Court is worth the search
Going underground: Hidden beneath this block of flats is Oslo Court
Hidden gem: The Cork and Bottle in WC2
Heavenly food: The Place Below is underneath a church
Hidden treasure: St Mary Le Bow hides a restaurant in the crypt
Look here too
Think you're a serious foodie? Well, you can't claim to be a gourmet in the capital these days unless you have a list of secret venues up your sleeve — the kind of places that will wow your friends with their insider chic.
Tucked behind anonymous doorways or in unlikely locations, you'd easily miss these restaurants if you weren't in the know...
CENTRE POINT SUSHI CAFE
This Japanese gem is hidden above an Asian supermarket at Centre Point. Once inside the shop, head up the stairs tucked away on the left and step into an Eighties Tokyo time warp. Dark leather booths line one wall and solo diners can perch at the bar and watch the chefs prepare the sushi. The Hana Special box (£13.50) is a good place to start if you want to sample a bit of everything. Or, if you're feeling more adventurous, get the £10.50 tempura box. Even sushi snobs have nothing to fear — the traditional Japanese art of good food is certainly not lost in translation.
20-21 St Giles High Street, WC2 (020 7836 9860, cpfs.co.uk)
THE CORK AND BOTTLE
Tell your friends you want to drag them to a restaurant/bar in Leicester Square and they'll roll their eyes. Tell them that it's a little doorway between a sex shop and a naff pizzeria, and they might refuse to come. But after one visit they'll be hooked on this quaint basement bar. The Cork And Bottle is famed for its wine list and can fill up fast. However, as it operates a no-booking policy after 6.30pm at weekends you should get a table if you're lucky, as the theatre-going clientele tend to eat up pretty smartly. Order the signature dish of raised ham and cheese pie (£8.95).
44-46 Cranbourn Street, WC2 (020 7734 7807)
THE PLACE BELOW
It's not often you get to eat anything more substantial than a bit of wafer in a church, but The Place Below at St Mary Le Bow lets you do just that. St Mary's is home to the famous Bow Bells, so the uninitiated would never know about the restaurant hiding in the crypt down a stairway off the vestibule. The vegetarian menu changes daily, but features yummy options such as fennel, red lentil and tomato soup (£3.20) or Indonesian casserole with brown rice and roasted peanuts (£7.75).
St Mary Le Bow church, Cheapside, EC2 (020 7329 0789, theplacebelow.co.uk)
WAPPING FOOD
Blending in among the trendy warehouses of London's docklands is the delightful Wapping Food. It's tucked away in The Wapping Project, a decommissioned hydraulic power station in east London. The menu is fairly diverse and changes regularly, but the nettle gnocchi, morels, leek and pecorino (£6.75) I sampled on my last visit was excellent. This place gets very busy at weekends so make sure you book in advance. Wapping Hydraulic Power Station, Wapping Wall, E1 (020 7680 2080, thewappingproject.com)
OSLO COURT
Set beneath a Seventies tower block in north London, Oslo virgins might think they've got the wrong address. But it's unlikely this restaurant will be a secret for much longer — the food is amazing. The lobster thermidor is melt-inthe-mouth and the beef wellington would tempt the most hardened vegetarian. There is only a set menu (lunch £28.50 or dinner £40.50) but there's great variety and both sittings include three courses and a coffee. The service is a world away from snooty modern restaurants — within minutes it's as if you've known the staff for years.
Prince Albert Road, NW8 (0871 332 7749)
BISTROTHEQUE
Nestled on the edge of an industrial estate in Hackney is the ultra-trendy Bistrotheque. With graffiti-covered metal shutters obscuring the entrance, you'd easily mistake it for a dodgy warehouse. But there's nothing dodgy about the interior — or the food. The weekend brunch is a mix of healthy (porridge or muesli is £2.50 a bowl) and more traditional hangover cures: grilled kippers, poached egg and toast (£7.50). If need a hair of the dog, it does jugs of bloody Mary (£23.50). In the evening, order roast cod, chorizo, tomato, squid and fennel stew (£15.50).
23-27 Wadeson Street, E2 (020 8983 7900, bistrotheque.com)
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