Tired of queuing for the supermarket? Can’t be bothered to cook at home for the millionth time in a row? Have a celebration but don’t know to mark the occasion during lockdown? Never fear, there’s an unexpected silver lining to be found to our dismal lockdown 3.0 predicament; London now has a better takeaway scene than ever before. Forget the banana bread, how about ordering a boujie meal from your favourite London restaurant?
As the doors of restaurants across the capital were forced to close, a host of restaurants chose to boost their collection and delivery options in response, with many embracing takeaway for the first time in their years of operating. Diners can now order food they can’t (or won’t) cook at home. The message from the capital’s innovative hospitality industry is clear: if you can’t come to us, we’ll come to you.
Take a look at our top six picks of boujie takeaways for London below.
Sketch
Launched during the second lockdown, Sketch at Home is a new click and collect and delivery service from one of London’s pretty pink restaurants. Available to order seven days a week, Sketch at Home includes an aperitif menu, a four-course menu with an alternative vegetarian option and a two-course Sunday lunch menu for two people. Each menu comes complete with wine pairings, along with two-step instructions with advice on how to heat and present each dish.
Mmmm menu & Mmmm vegetarian menu, both £60 per person; Mmmm Sunday lunch menu, £120 for two people,
Hakkasan
Hakkasan at Home allows you to sample the restaurant’s Michelin-starred menu from the comfort of your living room (with no dress code). Arguably one of the most instantly recognisable restaurant names out there, the brand (of which there are two locations in London) is famed for expertly prepared dim-sum dishes and Cantonese specials such as roasted chicken in satay sauce and langoustine har gau with Prunier caviar. Yum.
hakkasan.com / deliveroo.co.uk
Claridge’s
The five-star hotel has curated an edited menu of game terrine (£60), lobster or beef Wellington (£75) and comforting chicken or fish pie (£25) for collection or delivery. You can also order an assortment of delicious sides, bottled Negroni cocktails, wine and champagne.
Available Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays either by delivery or for pick-up from Claridge’s,
Farmacy
Farmacy, Notting Hill’s popular vegan restaurant, has launched a home delivery menu, available to Londoners in zones 1-3. Select from a menu of 15 dishes, including the signature Got No Beef Burger and vegan ‘mac n cheese’, as well as chocolate chip cookies and cakes. In addition to the delivery service, the Farmacy Market is open daily, serving fresh vegetables, warming soups and nutrient-packed juices.
The Farm Shop is open daily 12-8pm on weekends (11am-8pm Mon-Fri); minimum delivery order of £30,
Bluebird
While it may not come with the usual side of people watching or D-list celebrity stalking, Bluebird Chelsea is currently operating a takeaway and delivery menu, as well as at-home dining kits. Tuck into whole rotisserie chickens, battered cod with chips, signature Bluebird burgers and tuna poke bowls, layered with avocado, edamame beans and wakame.
Available from Bluebird Chelsea and Bluebird White City, 12pm – 9pm, bluebird-restaurant.co.uk
Lina Stores
If you can’t go to their new instagrammable Kings Cross restaurant, and you certainly can’t go to Italy, then this is the next best thing. Central London’s best pasta pit-stop has created cook-at-home kits, available nationwide. Lina Stores’ aubergine polpette and ravioli verde are melty mouthfuls of cheesy, truffley heaven – hop straight on that Deliveroo app and add antipasti, panini and dolci to your basket between midday and 3pm and 5pm-10pm daily.
linastores.co.uk / deliveroo.co.uk
The Wolseley
Corbin & King’s flagship restaurant is now delivering its signature dishes – including its wiener schnitzel, Soutine’s coq au riesling, and zédel’s mousse au chocolat – direct to your door. Meals arrive refrigerated, can be stored for three days and are able to be oven heated or microwaved. Choose between a whole beef Wellington, a seven-hour shoulder of lamb or a salmon coulibiac. To assist with topping up staff wages, 100 per cent of the profits from The Wolseley’s Home Dining offer will go directly to its employees.
Sufiyeh Hadian-Clarke
