The Glamour of Shoreditch

When your restaurant is on the 60th floor, thus becoming the tallest in Europe, it makes complete sense that the 12-seater counter faces the window and the stunning view over the city, rather than the chefs in their open kitchen. Gordon Ramsay’s exclusive little sky dining restaurant offers a surprise tasting menu, built around ingredients from the top drawer. Highlight dishes could include 14-day aged duck with celeriac and Alsace bacon, and lobster with pumpkin and pine. Everyone is served together so be punctual – and allow a little extra time for security checks on the ground floor.

Story is a restaurant that continues to evolve rather than merely reinvent itself and its latest chapter saw the addition of a second storey which hosts a handsome private dining room. In the bright, open main restaurant, Tom Sellers’ talented kitchen team serve a surprise set menu, where luxurious ingredients – from langoustines to turbot – make up dishes that are as succulent as they are visually arresting; you can also expect updated versions of his signature constructions. The charming service team ensure the atmosphere is always warm and welcoming.

Go for the house martini as you enjoy an array of snacks like crispy buttermilk chicken and crab dumpling that precede the start of The Clove Club's multi-course set menu. The roll-call of prime British ingredients includes Orkney scallops, Wiltshire trout, Torbay prawns, Herdwick lamb and Middle White pork – all starring in seasonally pertinent dishes where their natural flavours are allowed to shine through. The historic surroundings of Shoreditch Town Hall provide the perfect backdrop, with the open-plan kitchen adding a little more theatre to proceedings.

Ring the bell and you’re welcomed into an operation unlike any other – the name may be old English for ‘kitchen’, but this is very much a restaurant of the moment. You start with a drink and the first course in the bar, then it’s upstairs for a snack in the kitchen before being seated in the intimate dining room with its bespoke crockery and pottery. It’s easy to see why the chef, who is a keen forager, talks so proudly of his ingredients, whether that’s the Shetland cod or the Highland wagyu. He and his team deliver and explain in detail their delicate, balanced and innovative dishes.

The culinary techniques of the Basque country are the inspiration behind this smoothly run restaurant on the first floor of a former pub. Cooking over fire is the focal point, with the smell of smoke the perfect way to get your taste buds excited; ask for a table opposite the open kitchen to see the flames for yourself. 'Brat' is the Old English word for turbot and this is the house speciality – designed for sharing, it’s grilled whole in a handmade basket over lumpwood charcoal. Plenty of other fish are on offer too, along with some robustly flavoured starters, and the delicious burnt cheesec

Chef Nieves Barragán Mohacho brings all her experience to bear at this joyous Spanish restaurant in Shoreditch. If you’re a couple, then sit at the comfortable counter to take in the skills and the choreography of the large kitchen brigade. However many dishes you order to share – from succulent suckling pig or herb-crusted rabbit shoulder, to crisp ‘gambas cristal’ or lamb sweetbreads with orzo – you’re bound to end up ordering even more when you see them go past. An all-Spanish wine list and the delightful, enthusiastic service team add to the experience.

Top-drawer fish, treated with the culinary skill it deserves, is the main attraction at this restaurant on the top floor of the South Place Hotel. The chefs have the confidence to know that when seafood is this good, it needs little in the way of adornment, and the pared-back cooking allows exceptional produce like roast Newlyn cod to shine through. Dishes are attractively presented and so is the room, with an ornate ceiling and inviting roof terrace.