Rochelle Canteen, Shoreditch, London restaurant review

There are a few iconic, longstanding London restaurants that have been on my hit list for a very long time.

However, as they've all been there for decades or even centuries, it never feels like I'm in any kind of great rush to pay them a visit.

Over the years, I've ticked off Rules, St John, the Quality Chop House, Quo Vadis and the French House. But places like Simpsons, Sweetings, the Ritz and Scott’s all remain firmly on my agenda.

So, when a friend who we were meeting for Sunday lunch mentioned that he was going to be at a flower market in Shoreditch's Arnold Circus, Rochelle Canteen was the first and only destination that sprang to mind.

Whilst Margot Henderson's shrine to seasonal cooking has been open since 2004, we've only ever visited its short-lived outpost at the ICA and her Three Horseshoes Pub in Somerset. Both were excellent.

The OG Rochelle Canteen is hidden on the edge of a picturesque square in the heart of busy Shoreditch. Press the buzzer and a Secret Garden-esque door opens to reveal green courtyard, behind which sits Rochelle Canteen’s vine draped dining room. It's an oasis within an oasis that's a dreamy spot for a sunny Autumnal lunch.

The menu reads like any of the Henderson stable with a focus on unembellished seasonal produce, classic flavour combinations and a smattering of offal.

Whilst we wait for our starters to be prepped, a plate of intensely cheesy and short parmesan biscuits (£5) and a bottle of St John Cremant (£50) keep the wolf from the door.

To start, I order one of Rochelle Canteen's signature dishes. A good dollop of light and creamy smoked cod's roe (£10) is paired with peppery radishes and charred sourdough that's ideal for dipping and dredging.

Silky smooth, booze-twanged chicken and rabbit liver parfait (£14) is served by the slab. It's a delight paired with fruity crab apple jelly and more of that lovely sourdough.

Onto mains, and Mrs G keeps it Autumnal with a hearty bowlful of sweet delica squash pieces (£19) that are sat in a bowl of plump brothy chickpeas, robust kale and creamy goats curd.

I've had partridge a few times before and have often found it a little dense and dry. Rochelle Canteen's version (£28) is the best I've eaten - plump, juicy and highly seasoned with a lick of char on its skin. It's served alongside intense roasting juices and bittersweet roast tardivo, a vegetable that I'd like to encounter a lot more often.

Thick and creamy mace spiced bread sauce is giving major dessert vibes. Especially so because it's served in a large bowl and I inevitably start spooning it straight into my gob.

Mrs G always leans towards cheese rather than dessert and on this occasion, a couple of slabs of Westcombe cheddar (£9.50) turn her eye. Earthy and umami, it's delicious paired with homemade oatcakes and a sweet and sour fruit and vegetable chutney.

My slice of tart (£11) has a crisp base and so everything is right with the world. It's filled with nutty frangipane and fragrant plums and served with a good dollop of clotted cream.

It's taken me far too long but I'm very glad to have finally visited Rochelle Canteen. With its technically precise yet hearty cooking served in lush green surrounds, it's a very civilised place to spend a Sunday afternoon.

The Details: 

Address - Rochelle Canteen, 16 Playground Gardens, London E2 7FA

Web - https://rochellecanteen.com/

Telephone - 020 7729 5667

Sonder, Pontcanna, Cardiff Sunday roast review

One hospitality trend that I’m most definitely on board with is it becoming less formal.

In the early noughties, I remember donning my black trousers, loafers and Firetrap shirt for a big night out at Baja Beach Club on Newcastle’s Quayside. I looked and felt like an absolute plonker. But they were the rules if you wanted to go anywhere nice for the evening.

Twenty years on and dressing up like you’re going for a job interview is no longer a necessity in most places if you're going out for the night.

That includes high-end restaurants too, where the rise of the "luxury bistro" has seen starched white tablecloths, rigid dress codes, dainty portions and formal service ditched in favour of accessible yet technically accomplished cooking that's served in bustling settings where you can feel just at home in jeans and a t-shirt as a jacket and shirt.

In London, the Michelin-starred Dorian, which serves blackened-crusted sharing steaks, loaded tostadas and caviar topped rostis, is the poster-child for the movement. So much so, that it was named "the most influential restaurant in the UK of the last decade" in a recent column in Vittles magazine. 

In Cardiff, Sonder, is arguably the closest thing we have to the archetype. Since opening in April 2025, Jake Lewis’s luxury bistro has become Cardiff’s hottest ticket… and like Dorian he also sometimes serves sharing steaks, tostadas and topped rostis.

On the Sunday lunchtime that we visited at the start of October 2026 there wasn’t a spare seat to be found, with the place packed out with couples, families, and large group celebrations.

Normally, Sundays are more manageable for restaurant kitchens due to a reduced menu of roast dinners made with common components across all dishes. It’s certainly not the case at Sonder where they’ve taken the logistical challenge up a notch by serving both their hefty a la carte menu as well as roast dinners. That is once they’ve finished brunch service.

We kick off our meal with cocktails. A humorously named Pontcante (£12) is a ferociously spicy and zingy mix of guindilla tequila, agave and lime. It’s too much kick for Mrs G but I’m very glad to take it off her hands. A much lighter and subtler El Ritmo (£13) marries ginger infused rum with a fragrant gunpowder tea syrup. We move on to glasses of Ruinart champagne (£14.50) and spice twanged Marques de Caceres Excellens Rioja (£10.50).

From the bamboozling array of 14 snacks and starters, I struggle to choose. We settle on tuna tacos (£9), an appropriately Munchkin-sized snack before a plateful of meat. Three dainty crisp taco shells are loaded with freshly dressed meaty tuna tartare topped with a sliver of green chilli heat.

I’m all in favour of seeing burgers served as a starter. In fact, I’m all in favour of seeing them served as dessert too. Mini beef sliders (£9) combine pairs of pink and juicy, well-crusted patties squished between light toast alongside an ooze of American cheese and the freshness of green herb. They’re lovely little mouthfuls.

But my favourite of the trio is a mix of funky wild mushrooms (£11) bathed in a creamy, earthy and umami-packed chestnut and mushroom velouté. Salty cured egg yolk, iron rich spinach and the crunch of focaccia croutes provide plenty of contrast.

We all order Sunday roasts. Partially because I’m in the mood for a roast dinner and partly because it makes choosing from the stacked menu of 23 main courses less daunting.

Mrs G goes for the 40-day dry aged roast beef (£31). A quartet of dark crusted, gorgeously pink, beautifully tender and well-flavoured slices of meat are joined by sweet roast carrots, perky peas and greens, a light and soft Yorkshire pudding, silky celeriac puree and a fudgy boulder of roast beetroot.

I opt for the enjoyably named “trifecta” (£33), which combines a pair of those excellent beef slices with commendably juicy pork loin and shreds of intensely flavoured lamb shoulder. They’re all excellent but the beef is the star of the show – its cap of fat so tender that I don’t let it go to waste.

Roast potatoes are the standout of the included sides. Shatteringly crisp and fluffy centred, they’ve got a ridiculous beefiness from being cooked in dripping.

Celeriac and cauliflower cheese is excellent too. The soft and charred edged brassica and root vegetable with a bit more bite are coated in a thick cheese sauce that doesn’t hold back in its pokiness. However, the portion is a bit on the meagre side for a group of four and they kindly bring us a top up when we ask for more.

Gravy is a little underpowered and a touch thin, but we don’t go short as there’s an extra jug for the table.

Our meal continues on an upward trajectory all the way to dessert.

A plate of profiteroles (£10) is one of the best versions of one of my favourite desserts that I’ve ever eaten. Everything is on point from the light and crisp edged choux buns to their stuffing of silky smooth and soft textured milk ice cream. But what brings it altogether is a jug of hot dark chocolate sauce with a lovely bitterness and twang of salted caramel. The balance of textures and temperatures is off the charts.

In fact, it’s so good that a friend who wasn’t planning on eating dessert, immediately orders a portion for himself after tasting a spoonful mine.

Burnt basque cheesecake (£8.50) – with its requisite dark crust and silky smooth and tangy centre – sat in a pool of light Pedro Ximenez sauce is excellent too.

As if I hadn’t already indulged enough with dessert, a chocolate orange espresso martini (£12) delivers the right balance of roasty coffee, sweet chocolate and fragrant citrus.

We had a cracker of a Sunday lunch at Sonder and I can see why it’s so popular. Aspirational yet accessible with warm and friendly front of house, they serve the kind of cooking which rewards multiple visits.

The Details:

Address - Sonder, 72 Llandaff Road, Pontcanna, Cardiff
Web - https://sonder.restaurant/