The story
Sael, at 1 St James's Market in London, is a Modern British restaurant that The Good Food Guide rated Very Good in 2026. Jason Atherton's all-day kitchen serves British Isles produce in a room of marble and leather, with chandeliers and flowers.
Head chef Dale Bainbridge, formerly of Pollen Street Social, builds the menu around traditional British recipes and seasonal produce. The kitchen has worked with the same fishermen, farmers and growers for the past decade. Small plates include Orkney scallop with razor clams and smoked leeks, along with a Marmite custard tart that can be topped with caviar. Mid-plates bring a Hereford snail and ox cheek lasagne, and meat and fish cooked over embers.
Nursery puddings are reworked here, such as a jam roly-poly made with brioche, smoked butter and Jersey custard. The wine list is wide-ranging, with glasses from £8. Upstairs, The Blind Pig is a speakeasy-style bar for late drinks.
Recognition
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History
It isn't exactly news that top-end dining in London has become even more riotously expensive than it has ever been, but one heartening development is the willingness of proven chefs to venture into the more affordable end of the market without compromising on quality or excitement. One of Jason Atherton's newest such ventures is here, on a corner of St James's Market, a cheering venue flooded with light from deep windows. In a classy ambience of marble and leather, with chandeliers and flowers to boot, Sael (the name is Old English for season but also, fittingly, for an occasion) offers a tribute to British heritage cooking in an all-day format. The more democratic approach does not preclude extraordinary attention to detail, as head chef Dale Bainbridge (ex-Pollen Street Social) demonstrates with a range of appetisers that includes an intensely savoury Marmite custard tart (optionally topped with caviar) or tempura rock oyster with malt vinegar-doused batter scraps. Small plates encompass a memorable assemblage of Orkney scallop, razor clams and smoked leeks. From a menu section headed ‘mid-plates’ comes a fantastically delicious, multi-layered lasagne of Hereford snails and ox cheek, while the British fondness for east-Asian food is celebrated in gochujang-grilled cuttlefish with soy-braised pork cheek. Prime cuts of meat and fish cooked in embers take in the expected Aberdeen Angus and shorthorn beef, but also a tronçon of aged brill on the bone. Sides rise above their role as mere extras – especially when the broccoli is dressed with smoked anchovies, and the mash is lubricated in chicken gravy. Nursery puddings are creatively reworked, as in a recklessly sweet jam roly-poly made with brioche, smoked butter, strawberry jam and Jersey custard, or you could come to a quite satisfying sticky end with apple-vinegared English burnt cream and a brandy snap. The wine list is quite a corker, casting a very wide net, with glasses from £8. Otherwise, order by the pint (just over half a litre, for the youngsters among you) from £36.
3 Rosette Award for Culinary Excellence
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