Where to eat this winter PLUS win dinner for two!

Tis the season for wrapping up and tucking in and in London there is no chance of food fatigue as there are new places opening up all the time. I’m thrilled to share my latest finds, including a tasty new Middle Eastern restaurants in Notting Hill and Golders Green, a swanky plush new haunt and a gorgeous afternoon tea both in Mayfair, and stunning Pan Asian food in Belsize Park. Plus there’s news of a stunning high end kosher pop-up and the chance to win dinner for two.  

Erev is the day before a notable day but Notting Hill’s new restaurant Erev is very much the notable occasion itself – and it’s even dog friendly. The menu is broken up into Earth, Sea, Land and Matok (dessert) and we had all three of those (Basque cheesecake, chocolate mousse and baklava). But before that we had creamy hummus, tangy matbucha and outstanding falafel which came with fat fluffy pita. The rest of the menu is a love letter to the Ottolenghi store cupboard – smoked aubergine with pomegranate molasses and pistachio, kale salad with squash and goats cheese, melting soft braised ‘tropea’ onion and slow-cooked short rib listed as ‘Dinosaur Bone’. There are two fish options and loads of veggie ones and the cocktails and the staff are wonderful.

It’s back! The create-your-own-sundae much loved by fans of the Colony Grill at The Beaumont has reappeared on the menu at Rosi, the gorgeous new restaurant on the site. Warm and whimsical in shades of pink with artistic murals on the walls and one of the UK’s few female Michelin-starred chefs (Lisa Goodwin-Allen) at the helm, it’s place you really want to be with a menu of things you really want to eat, from cauliflower cheese bites with truffle mayo and hash browns with walnut ketchup to starters including beef tartare and Jerusalem artichoke soup poured into the bowl in front of you. Main courses are a twist on classics – John Dory Fish Fingers and Chicken Diane plus Chicken Kyiv, Dover sole and a classic steak with onion rings. I built my own salted caramel and pistachio sundae with double espresso and chocolate pearls but next time I will have the Mayfair Millionaire Tart – a glamorous indulgence reflecting the location.

Everyone is talking about HUŎ in Belsize Park for its good food, great service, gorgeous fit out and not being silly money. The menu being pan Asian, it brings back fond memories of XO which used to be on the site. Standout dishes are Daikon cakes, dim sum and an absolutely superb chicken pad Thai There are delicious salads too including duck and watermelon. It has that ‘out out’ feeling without travelling as far as the West End and there’s a lovely private room for 20 people. From the team behind the well-established Uli in Notting Hill who clearly know their edamame.

Claro, Ran Shmueli’s highly successful London outpost of his Tel Aviv original, has made it into this year’s Michelin guide. The innovative chef’s USPs are sourcing the best of British ingredients and keeping menus seasonal, so expect beetroot, apples and cabbage with a twist in coming weeks with Israeli essentials tahini, labneh and zhoug laced liberally throughout. Star dishes on the current menu include a bruschetta of River Dun trout with roasted pear and trout roe, a sweet-pickled and charred wedge of hispi on a bed of skordalia with almond gremolata, and a to-die-for date and whiskey caramel pudding. Bread here is pricey but special; don’t miss the kubaneh, with its croissant-like crispy crust. WIN A £200 VOUCHER TO SPEND AT CLARO

Afternoon Tea at the Montcalm Mayfair brings the playfulness of a Georgian garden into a London hotel. With a bontanical influence it draws inspiration from Constance Spry, the pioneering florist, author and culinary innovator who invented the recipe for Coronation Chicken. It appears as a filling in one of the delicious finger sandwiches, as do smoked salmon and also lime-compressed cucumber, so prettily displayed and decorated. Then it’s time for exceptionally good scones – not too big or too small, not too crumbly or too soft, with strawberry jam, clotted cream and lemon curd. Among the plentiful miniature cakes are a matcha opera cake, a vanilla millefuille and a superb glazed pear tartelette. There’s a ‘chocolate’ tea which really does taste like a non-indulgent hot chocolate! The botanical theme pervades the newly refurbished hotel, making it quite the little haven in the heart of the West End.

Bracha in Golders Green is the new kosher street food sensation from the team behind Mazal in Camden. Order from the terminal as you walk in and within minutes your table will be laden with falafel, loaded hummus, arayes, schnitzel, chicken wings, chopped salad, cauliflower bites, asado beef pita, chicken thigh shawarma and the signature blooming onion. Or you could choose a heap of other tasty dishes and every single one is delicious. Finish off with apple or chocolate deep fried pastry ‘cigars’ with ice-cream. Don’t come here to diet but to indulge. WIN A £50 VOUCHER TO SPEND AT BRACHA 

Food writer Joanna Nissim has been running kosher cooking workshops for several years and has now branched into running Spanish-influenced fine dining kosher pop-ups at Arros QD restaurant in Fitzrovia, believing that there is scope for much more variety in kosher restaurants. The next one is on 18 January 2026. Email joannanissim@hotmail.com for more info and in the meantime follow @joanna_nissim on Instagram to see her fast, simple but effective demos of the type of dishes we all want to eat.