Ideal for celebrating the Glorious 12th in style.
The Glorious 12th is just days away, and with it, the beginning of the UK’s shooting season. Soon after, expect to see wild game gracing the menus of some of London’s top restaurants, with grouse and snipe traditionally appearing first, followed in September by partridge, wild duck, teal, mallard and more.
Though not to everyone’s taste, when handled and cooked correctly, wild game can be some of the most complex, delicious tasting meats around, It’s also some of the healthiest, and is a defining element of both traditional and modern British cuisine.
If you’re wondering where to eat wild game in London to celebrate the Glorious 12th and the start of the shooting season, then you’ve come to the right place; here are the best restaurants to eat game in London, IDEAL for celebrating the Glorious Twelfth in style.
*Warning! This article may contain shot*
HARWOOD ARMS, FULHAM
Two Michelin starred restaurant The Ledbury in Notting Hill was revered worldwide for its expert game cookery. We say ‘was’ because the restaurant sadly closed in 2020 due to the pressures of the pandemic.
Thankfully for lovers of their precision game cooking, several of the restaurant’s chefs have found a new home in the kitchen of Fulham pub the Harwood Arms, which is co-owned by chef owner of the Ledbury, Brett Graham.
Already a critically acclaimed gastropub in its own right, coming third in the Top 50 Gastropubs awards this year and still the only Michelin starred pub in London, we can’t wait to see how the Harwood Arms’ new head chef Jake Leach updates the menu for the UK’s 2021 game season. If it’s as good as previous head chef Sally Abe’s autumnal efforts, London’s game lovers are in for a real treat.
QUALITY CHOP HOUSE, FARRINGDON
For those seeking a restaurant that feels properly ‘old school British’ but which cooks with gentle refinement, the Quality Chop House is your guy.
The grade II listed building has been, for centuries, a ‘progressive working class caterer’ and the restaurant’s interiors still boast the chessboard tiles and solid wooden benches of days gone by. It’s a charming, wholly appropriate space to enjoy chef Shaun Searley’s no-frills cooking, which truly comes alive in game season.
The Quality Chop House’s whole roast grouse with a perfect rocher of liver parfait on toast is perhaps the finest, most confident plate of game cooking you’ll find in all of London. And staying true to tradition, there’s a butchers next door supplying the restaurant if you’re keen to learn more about where your bird came from.
LYLE’S, SHOREDITCH
When game season begins, Lyle’s is the place to be. Chef James Lowe’s modern British restaurant just off Shoreditch High Street (named the world’s 33rd best in 2019) has a wicked way with hyperseasonal British produce and what could be more hyper seasonal than wild game?
In just 7 years of being open, Lyle’s has already become an East London institution, with their ‘May Contain Shot’ guest chef series one of the hottest tickets in town. Chefs from restaurants like Momofuku Ko, The Restaurant at Meadowood and Septime have all come to Shoreditch to collaborate on incredible game dishes in recent years with spectacular results.
Keep an eye out for this year’s event, usually occurring in September or October, as well as the usual restaurant menu shifting towards celebrating wild British game in the coming weeks, too.
Read: 10 reasons to enjoy game
KILN, SOHO
Thai grill restaurant Kiln is quite the spectacle, with bar seating overlooking flames, coals and clay pots, and plenty of spice and heat both in the air and on the plate. Though the vibe transports you right out of central London and to somewhere altogether hotter and more rustic, the menu very much celebrates what’s fresh, abundant and interesting about British ingredients right now.
The restaurant works proudly with a close clutch of suppliers, with fish sourced directly, daily, from fishing boats in Cornwall and heritage vegetables earning equal billing on the menu to protein. During game season, that menu comes alive with jungle curries of wood pigeon or wild mallard and minced laab salads of raw venison (whose season begins in April through October, incidentally).
But even better, and on more consistently throughout the year, is cull yaw, a type of mutton from retired female ewes that has been fattened with high degrees of welfare in mind. The meat has an incredible depth of flavour, and has been making appearances on the menu of several acclaimed London restaurants in recent years. At Kiln, it’s often served as a collar chop accompanied by a spicy dipping sauce, or in grilled skewers with a little sprinkle of cumin. Just so damn delicious.
JUGGED HARE, BARBICAN & VICTORIA
The clue’s in the title with this one, hey? ‘Jugging’ refers to a cooking method often used for game – including, you guessed it, hare – where a game bird, rabbit or hare is cooked in a jug inside a pan of simmering water. The end result is tantamount to a stew, but let’s not get bogged down in semantics, here…
The Jugged Hare bills itself as ‘London’s leading game restaurant’ and if you can’t wait until the Glorious 12th for your fix of grouse, then you’ll be reassured to hear that the UK’s hare season has already begun. You’ll also find wild roe deer on the menu right now (their season beginning in April) as well as guinea fowl and a fabulous venison scotch egg.
Expect the menu to shift into game overdrive in the coming weeks.
Read: Where to eat near the Barbican, City of London
THE HUNTER’S MOON, SOUTH KENSINGTON
A charming countryside pub and dining room in the heart of London, The Hunter’s Moon on Fulham Road is adding a roster of daily-changing specials centred around British game as the Glorious 12th becomes the fully-fledged British game season.
Created by Owner and Chef Director Oliver Marlowe, enjoy traditional roasted grouse with sautéed foie gras, game chips, puréed bread sauce and ‘Koffman’ cabbage with shallots, garlic bacon and white wine, whilst other plates might include a stunning game pithivier of pheasant, partridge and venison with celeriac purée. Or, you can indulge in a sharing venison shank with creamy white polenta, buttered squash, fresh corn and green beans.
Oh, and with the Harwood Arms just a mile and a half’s stroll down Fulham Road away, you could have yourself a game inspired pub crawl if your appetite is particularly heroic.
Read: 5 ideal game food pairings
THE CINNAMON CLUB, WESTMINSTER
A long-time advocate of game cookery, acclaimed Chef Vivek Singh looks to the ancient hunting traditions of India’s history to shape his delicious game dishes each year.
This August, The Cinnamon Club will be serving a special dish of delicately spiced clove smoked grouse breast, chickpea bread, hot-sweet pumpkin and game keema, served with creamy black lentils (£32, available from 16th August for three months).
Marrying the flavours of the subcontinent with resolutely British game, celebrate the start of the glorious shooting season with perfectly spiced dishes that pack a punch at The Cinnamon Club.
HERITAGE, DULWICH
Dayashankar Sharma, Chef Patron at newly opened Heritage Dulwich, is inspired by traditional recipes from the Indian subcontinent passed down through generations.
Showcasing his signature modern twist on regional cuisine, Indian spices are cleverly balanced with modern techniques in the super seasonal venison badal jaam with grilled aubergine with a spiced tomato relish, cream cheese and yoghurt dressing – a gloriously rich dish which celebrates the British game season.