If you really want to up the ante, go to Darby’s. A new NYC-inspired oyster bar and restaurant in Battersea (by the folk behind vaunted Clapham joints The Dairy, Sorella and Counter Culture), it’s big, beautiful and quite simply world-class.
That includes the look and feel – lovely, attentive-but-discreet staff; plush velvet booths; a glowing central bar (seriously, the official photos do not do this place justice, so have a scroll through Instagram) – as well as the food. And that food! A starter of stracciatella with peaches and olive oil is transcendently gorgeous. Mains are meat or fish (clean, white, perfectly crispy-skinned turbot; melt-in-your-mouth steak) with simple but effective sides. For dessert, the burnt honey cake with gelato is a particular highlight. Finish by rolling each other home alongside the glittering Thames: glorious. 3 Viaduct Gardens, SW11 ● Words by Moya Crockett and George Wales