Five to try: Celebrate lunchtime

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Cooking lessons: The Lecture Room

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SKETCH (LECTURE ROOM)
9 Conduit Street, W1 (0870 777 4488) £55
Pierre Gagnaire was in town recently to receive one of those awards the French hand out to each other for being French. I saw him in The Lecture Room — he is consultant chef — where at lunchtime £30/35 for two/three courses buys you a glimpse into the melodies and riffs Gagnaire plays around ingredients. Forget two or three courses: a parade of dishes, the whole gamut of textures, arrives — more than you would sensibly anticipate — for the fixed prices.

LE GAVROCHE
43 Upper Brook Street, W1
(020 7408 0881) £60“The best deal in London” is a description often given to the £48
set lunch with half a bottle of very decent wine, mineral water and coffee. Unquantifiable financially are the culinary traditions passed down through generations of the family Roux — Michel Junior's teenage daughter is now showing interest — and the dedication to buffing the polished service. If I didn't eat out so much, I'd eat here more.

CORRIGAN'S MAYFAIR
28 Upper Grosvenor Street, W1
(020 7499 9943) £40
Rave reviews (including one from me) have greeted this new restaurant to which Richard Corrigan has put his name. The broth of a boy is particularly excitable in the game season and while woodcock may not feature on the set lunch at £19.50/£23.50 for two/three courses, inventiveness doesn't flag — and maybe even accelerates. Consider braised hare, chorizo and pearl barley cassoulet, or shark fish cake with sweet-and-sour aubergine and harissa. Choose organic and biodynamic wines.

NOBU BERKELEY
15-16 Berkeley Street, W1
(020 7290 9222) £50
Nobu and lunch are rarely mentioned in the same breath but if the ambition is simply to go to Nobu, it is worth bearing in mind that, as
at almost all Japanese restaurants, set-price lunches are a relative bargain. The David Collins enchanted forest interior remains the same and staff have more time to pay attention. If you want to try black cod in sweet miso it is part of the £28 bento box.

MARCUS WAREING
The Berkeley, Wilton Place, SW1
(020 7235 1200) £55
“Reviewers” on the web stress meaningfully that Marcus Wareing is probably in the kitchen. Celebrity chefs will tell you that it shouldn't make a difference but, of course, it does, especially when the chef in question is striving for his third Michelin star. The £35 set lunch may be built around modestly priced ingredients such as pork belly, chicken and salmon trout, but the fanfare, folderol and juicy little extras are the same at every entry level.

Prices estimate set-price lunch with wine for one. Some deals are weekdays only.

 

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