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It wasn\u2019t so long ago that a visit to one of London<\/a>\u2019s many galleries or museums required, for those wishing to eat, either an encyclopedic knowledge of the neighbourhood or a willingness to put up with stale sandwiches and tea always spilt into a saucer. London\u2019s museum caf\u00e9s had their own particular brand of grey-scale gloom, of cramped, crumb-covered tables and sullen staff. No longer: London\u2019s arts bosses have overhauled their dining offerings so that now, the food and drink stand a chance against the magnificence of the exhibits.<\/p>\n David Loftus<\/p>\n Somerset House<\/a> has come a long way from the days when its courtyard was used as a car park. Joining its artworks and exhibitions \u2014 found variously in the different wings, as well as the Courtauld Gallery<\/a>, Terrace Rooms, and even outside \u2014 is now a first-rate line-up of restaurants. Joining Skye Gyngell\u2019s decorated Spring (low wastage seasonal plates) and Rishim Sachdeva\u2019s mostly-vegan Caf\u00e9 Petiole is Aram, the new Syrian restaurant from Imad Alarnab<\/a>. Alarnab, best known for his Syrian kitchen in Kingly Court<\/a>, is promising a follow-up in a similar vein \u2014 wraps, salads, za\u2019atar croissants and maarouk donuts \u2014 but notably, uses Syrian produce imported directly for the first time since the war broke out in 2011 (the revolution ceased last December). But perhaps the headline act is Poon\u2019s<\/a>, the first permanent opening for Amy Poon (pictured above), daughter of the pioneering Bill Poon. Like her father, Poon will serve claypot rice, magic soup \u2014 described by the chef \u201cas fundamental to a traditional Chinese meal as Yorkshire pudding to a Sunday roast\u201d \u2014 and other dishes Chinese families typically cook at home. Look out for Setlist, too, which opened in May<\/a>: it\u2019s a bar and live music spot backing onto the river, that boasts a monthly-changing residency of female chefs. It\u2019s food, which is very good, is pictured at the top of this page. <\/p>\n Press handout<\/p>\n When Locanda Locatelli closed in December of last year, after almost a quarter of a century trading, expectations were high for what might be next (it was, after all, the first restaurant<\/a> AA Gill ever awarded the full five stars). Said expectations rather lowered on hearing his name was to be used in the Sainsbury Wing at the National<\/a>. It looked like a cash grab before his ride into retirement. And yet Locatelli\u2019s has proven to be anything but. Sure, the space is big and echoey and not like his old haunt, but the food \u2014 fritto misto, fresh pasta, rib eyes and pot roast chicken \u2014 delivers on the promise of his reputation. Elsewhere in the building is the handsome Ochre \u2014 you can guess the colour scheme \u2014 an all-day brasserie with a respectable martini trolley. Standard brasserie fare with international touches is well executed: schnitzels, burgers, pasta, a vegetarian madras. Most will find something to like. Good set menu, too<\/a>, with two courses for \u00a328. <\/p>\n The National Portrait Gallery<\/p>\n Press handout<\/p>\n Clever, that Richard Corrigan: he\u2019s named his place here The Portrait. How did he think of it? Corrigan\u2019s story in this building is an interesting one, him returning to open The Portrait some 20 years after he first walked in to consult on the food<\/a>. What he did then has been lost to time, but what is here now is his elegant but unpretentious Irish cooking, with ingredients from across Ireland and Britain. Dishes might include a globe artichoke slathered in crab mayonnaise, or Dover sole, steamed and plated with wild mushrooms and samphire. It is not cheap, though a \u00a335 for two-course set menu may lessen the sting somewhat. Sat on the gallery\u2019s top floor, at least it proves the rule that the higher up a restaurant is, the more vertiginous the bill. Still, the view \u2014 which includes the Houses of Parliament, Nelson\u2019s Column, Big Ben and the London Eye \u2014 gives it all a sense of occasion that feels worth the price of admission. <\/p>\n The Royal Academy of Arts<\/p>\n Jason Spoor<\/p>\n Spain\u2019s most famous culinary export, Jos\u00e9 Pizarro,<\/a> above, was something of a pioneer in gallery dining. He was among the first of this wave of big name chefs to make the move into one. As such, anticipation was high: would Jos\u00e9 Pizarro at the Royal Academy (JP at the RA to those in the know) be a dud? Happily, not in the slightest. It helps that evidently both chef and gallery put their all into making it work: the gallery installed him in the Senate Room, an extraordinary lit place thanks to windows that make a Rothko canvas look titchy, and one decorated mostly just with its paint \u2014 terracotta, cream, gilt \u2014 but also installations the colour of index tabs. Pizarro has brought his A-game too, offering three set menus (\u00a345, \u00a355 and \u00a385) which each promise his food at its finest; it has not been compromised for its surrounds. Expect prawn fritters, lots of heavenly olives, octopus and things to make you shiver with pleasure, like slow-cooked chorizo in red wine with quince.<\/p>\n Irina Boersma<\/p>\n![\"AMY](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/AMY-POON.jpeg\")
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