Noble Rot

Noble Rot grew out of a wine magazine of the same name, and that lineage is obvious the moment you sit down: the wine list here is the main event, deep and genuinely well chosen rather than padded out for show, and the staff are clearly enthusiastic about talking you through it.

The food, in a bistro-leaning British style with French touches, is built to pair with wine rather than compete with it. Comté beignets are a good way to start, and the slip sole, simply cooked, is a reliable order when it is on the menu. Gnocchi with truffle turns up seasonally and is worth ordering when it does. A set lunch menu, two or three courses, is genuinely good value given the quality of the cooking and the wine on offer by the glass.

The room itself is dark, close and a little worn in the best sense, rough-lacquered wood, candles on the tables, framed covers of the magazine on the walls. It feels more like a well-loved townhouse dining room than a polished modern restaurant, which suits the Bloomsbury setting on Lamb’s Conduit Street.

It is not the place for anyone who wants dinner without a wine list attached; the whole experience is built around what is being poured, and diners less interested in wine may find the food alone doesn’t fully justify the prices on its own. Tables are close together, so it can get noisy when full.

For a proper wine-focused evening with food that does not get in the way, it remains one of the better options in London.

Noble Rot was founded by Mark Andrew and Dan Keeling, who launched the magazine of the same name before opening this restaurant in 2015, and a second site later followed on Soho’s Greek Street. Both restaurants share the same underlying philosophy, but the Lamb’s Conduit Street original has the longer track record and the deeper sense of place. A three-course dinner with a bottle of wine easily reaches £70 to £100 a head depending on what is chosen from the list, so while the set lunch is excellent value, dinner is a proper investment.