Somewhat contradictorily, Manuka Kitchen is a neighbourhood restaurant that’s worth travelling for, and it's popular enough that the team behind it have just branched out to a second, equally local-feeling restaurant project in Marble Arch. Dishes at Manuka are small and numerous, and it's cool enough to conceal a gin bar, 510 Below, underneath – but the patrons are the type who are known by name. The food is modern European with a few modern twists thrown in, and the wine is genuinely interesting, with a heavy Antipodean influence.
We're not sure where the "tiger" comes from; but the "Cornish" refers to the location from which almost all of the produce at this restaurant (just) on Battersea Rise is sourced. The best thing? A killer set menu: £9.95 for two courses and £11.95 for three.
Ana and Sanja Morris came up with the idea of a neighbourhood rotisserie restaurant during a night out in Brooklyn, and it's fair to say it set the tone for the Islington restaurant they run today. It's a tiny menu – bold starters, chicken and sides, and dessert. Simple.
Toasted, in leafy East Dulwich, is upmarket neighbourhood-style eating and drinking at its best – choose from more than 200 wines via bottle or tank, and match them to seasonal, European-inspired small plates.
