Chef

Andrey Durbach

"This is a wonderfully luxurious and rich lunchtime dish: tender veal, a crunchy potato pancake, the velvety mushroom sauce, and nothing silly on the plate to distract you from its classical beauty. It tastes the same every time as this restaurant is the model of consistency."

"This is an exercise in perfect textures and harmonious flavours. Spot prawn tails and savory Japanese custard are enveloped in a fluffy, unctuous, foamed shellfish bisque that is rich and light (but mostly rich) as well as sweet and briny. It's hard to describe, but it goes really well with expensive white Burgundy."

"This Pakistani lamb and rice dish appears simple, but it's extremely difficult to make well, which Al-Watan does extremely well. Perfectly cooked pieces of lamb shoulder, bold and complex spices that are just hot enough, and precisely cooked rice make this a well-judged biryani. It's absolutely delicious and for less than 10 bucks."

"A nice cut of tender, juicy, charred, assertively seasoned, premium beef is hard to beat, and that is exactly what this steak is. When meat is this good, it's best to leave it alone, which Hy's does. The cheese bread is also delicious and the room is an old-school blast."

"Everything at this luxe establishment is expertly prepared, but I love the duck. Chef Pino dry-ages, air-dries, marinates, spit-roasts, sous vides, and caramelizes the skin of the duck breast for magically tender and perfectly pink results. The legs are confited and pressed into a terrine. It's fantastic technique made to look effortless."