Not just dino bones: the Natural History Museum is surrounded by good restaurants
(Picture: PA)North of Cromwell Road in South Kensington is a stretch of London known as Albertopolis, home to an embarrassment of edification: there is the Science museum, the Natural History museum, the Victoria and Albert museum — and then there’s the Royal College of Music and Imperial College London, too.
The land was purchased on the advice of Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s consort, with profits made from the Great Exhibition of 1851. Poor old Albert died a decade later but his name lives on in the Albert Memorial, the Royal Albert Hall and the V&A, while the entire area is a monument to the Victorian belief in progress.
The V&A drily marketed itself in the Eighties as “an ace caff with quite a nice museum attached”, but in truth museum catering is best avoided in London unless you want to eat surrounded by school trips and OAPs.
Happily, all that Victorian self-improvement has made South Kensington one of the most desirable areas to live in the capital and if there’s one rule religiously adhered to by restaurant owners, it’s “follow the money”. The usual burger chains — Five Guys, Honest Burgers, plus Big Fernand for the students from the French Lycée (they serve hamburgés, not hamburgers)— proliferate around South Ken tube but venture five minutes’ further to swanky Brompton Cross (the junction of Fulham Road and Sloane Avenue) and there are rich pickings, albeit for rich pockets.
It’s not all so dear, though, and below we’ve six of the best restaurants for every budget near the museums — note that distances given below are from the Natural History museum, though everywhere is close enough that it should be a useful guide wherever you’re heading. There’s also a super little farmers’ market on traffic-free Bute Street on Saturday mornings for a meal on the hoof.
Daquise
Founded in 1947, this old-school charmer recalls the days of post-war London when South Kensington was the centre of a community of Polish emigres, though the most notable date in the restaurant’s history came 15 years later when it played host to Christine Keeler and KGB spy Yevgeni Ivanov, during the Profumo affair. Things are more low-key these days, with a plain interior of stripped wood floors, tiled walls and perfectly starched linen, and a menu offering classic Polish cooking: chicken soup and wild boar dumplings, marinated herring and veal meatballs, apple fritters or a cake of the day. Not cheap, but unique.
How far? A four minute walk
Price? Starters from £7, mains mostly around the £22 mark
20 Thurloe Street, SW7 2LT, daquise.co.uk
Tapas Brindisa
Squint on a sunny day and traffic-calmed Exhibition Road might almost look like La Rambla in Barcelona — though granted, it might take a fair old squint. Part of a six-strong chain, Tapas Brindisa started life as a Spanish food import business, so the quality of ingredients is top-notch in the likes of plates of cured meats and farmhouse cheeses and classic tapas of ham croquetas, garlic prawns, tortilla with allioli and chorizo on toast. Be warned, however, that the place can get over-run with kids in the school holidays, but think of introducing them to authentic Spanish food as part of a well-rounded education — plus there’s a full Spanish drinks list of sherries, wine and gin tonicas if something is required to calm the nerves, or silence all the shouting.
How far? A three minute walk
Price? Salads and snacks around £6-7; grill items mostly between £10-25
7-9 Exhibition Road, SW7 2HE, brindisakitchens.com
Bibendum Oyster Bar
Bibendum is the name of the Michelin Man and this former UK HQ of the French tyre company and publisher houses a two-Michelin-starred dining room from French chef Claude Bosi on its stained glass-illuminated first floor. The former street-level garage, meanwhile, has been converted into a less formal all-day café, though this being the border of South Kensington and Chelsea, café here means designer-clad shoppers from the chic boutiques of Brompton Cross tucking into lobster, oyster and seafood platters from the crustacea counter, burgers (beef or prawn) and beef fillet from the grill, or simple fish and seafood mains such as skate wing with mustard sauce or sole with caper sauce. Not cheap, but the setting in a heated courtyard next to a flower stall is lovely whatever the weather.
How far? A 10 minute walk
Price? Starters around £15; mains mostly between £20-40
Michelin House, 81 Fulham Road, SW3 6RD, claudebosi.com
Jia
Opposite the entrance to South Kensington tube, this functional Chinese — bare tables, tiled floors, chairs that don’t encourage lingering — serves alright-enough dim sum at lunchtime and through the afternoon, but the kitchen does a better job with the main à la carte menu. Singapore noodles with a good kick of curry powder or fried rice with shredded duck make a thrifty one-course meal, otherwise there are mounds of crisply battered squid and prawns in a rubble of fried garlic and chilli, piles of fleshy spare ribs (with salt and pepper or capital sauce), and nicely turned-out Cantonese staples of the sweet and sour pork and crispy chilli beef ilk. Staff might seem grumpy but smile and they’ll smile back and, despite the high turnover of customers, meals here never feel rushed.
How far? A four minute walk
Price? Individual dim sum around £5; starters around £11; mains around £20
1 Harrington Road, SW7 3ES, 020 7584 7188
Pappa Roma
Blink and you’ll miss this side-street Italian, which offers some of the best-value cooking in South Ken. It’s a small and cosy place where a dozen classic wood-fired pizzas are the house speciality (margherita, quattro formaggi, calzone et al), plus there are salads to start, pastas to follow and a handful of more substantial plates such as beef tagliata and chicken Milanese. Desserts aren’t bad but better to head round the corner to Kova Patisserie if there’s time: a slice of matcha mille crêpe is one of London’s must-eat cakes.
How far? A five minute walk
Price? Starters around £10; mains mostly in the teens
6 Glendower Place, SW7 3DP, papparoma.com
The Brompton Cross
Super-handy for the V&A, the recently re-opened Brompton Cross has transformed a local pub into a smart local restaurant and bar, complete with live piano music twice a week. Steak-frites in the first-floor dining room comes as fillet with a house version of Café de Paris sauce for dunking crisp chips, or there’s chicken Caesar salad, burger or fish and chips and a couple of veggie pastas. An all-day snack menu, meanwhile, offers Scotch eggs, dynamite shrimp and half a pint of sausages to go with a cold pint of craft lager or there are wines and cocktails too.
How far? A 10 minute walk
Price? Starters around £10; mains around £16
