Cloth

A wine-led operation near the old Smithfield meat market, founded by wine importers Joe Haynes and Ben Butterworth, Cloth occupies the ground floor of a Grade II-listed Georgian house – once home to the poet John Betjeman. The narrow street’s fabric-trading history supplies the name, while the snug dining rooms and bar area, with flickering candles, stripped wooden floors and an intimate bistro vibe, deliver some classy food courtesy of chef Tom Hurst (most recently at Lasdun). Sourcing is peerless and scrupulous. Cloth has become renowned for its chunky chips, which are faultless, but don’t let that distract you. The single-sheet menu of four small plates and four larger ones, topped and tailed by snacks and sides works equally well as a three-course format or a more exploratory mix and match. After an elegant beetroot, goat’s curd and fig tart you might opt for a plump fillet of roasted Cornish cod in an inky, shimmering pool of briny braised cuttlefish studded with creamy coco beans. Hurst keeps pace with the seasons – expect game when the time’s right and a handmade pasta dish featuring whatever is at its best; there's always a sharing plate too – on our visit, a slab of Longhorn sirloin with green peppercorns and truffle. The brief dessert list is perfect: if there isn’t a tart on offer (excellent pastrywork is a given), go for the rum baba. The sub-£30 lunch prix-fixe is a steal and they serve bar snacks throughout the day – just bear in mind that Cloth closes at weekends. With a cellar boasting 400-600 bottles at any one time, the wine list packs a punch. The hefty 'wine bible' is dominated by European producers, and there’s a very respectable, ever-changing by-the-glass selection. Expect plenty of mature offerings, a plethora of German classics (Haynes is a Riesling specialist), off-piste bottles and new-wave discoveries, alongside some very covetable vintages: deep-pocketed oenophiles do exceptionally well here.