Turning tides
Speedboat Bar at the Electric, Maré by Rafael Cagali, best gastropubs, Richmond properties, Ivan Ramen, Good Bones, MORE
RESTAURANTS • First Word
Spice of life
The Skinny: A rowdy spot inspired by Bangkok’s Chinatown, the first Speedboat Bar was a collaboration between the team behind Gymkhana and Luke Farrell, a British chef who’s lived in Thailand for almost 20 years. After the runaway success of the Soho branch, which opened in 2022, they teamed up with Soho House to open Speedboat Bar at the Electric in July. In the middle of bustling Portobello Road in Notting Hill, it occupies the former site of neighbourhood mainstay Electric Diner, which was also part of Soho House.
The Vibe: The shell of Electric Diner remains, including the beloved booths, but the interior is now much less polished, with a roughed-up aesthetic that suits a young drinking crowd. There’s plenty of bar seating, as well as outdoor tables that spill out into the buzz of the street. Service is fast and furious, and you’ll likely run out of table space when the dishes start to arrive.
The Food: The menu is compact but diverse, with small plates, salads, noodles, curries and specials. Crispy chicken skins with zaep seasoning are immediately addictive, and crunchy chicken salad with green mango kerabu offers a fresh, zingy start. Many of the dishes are unreasonably spicy – this isn’t your restaurant if you’re sensitive to heat. If you do enjoy the burn of chilli, try Tom Yam Mama noodles, minced beef with holy basil or an impressive whole sea bream served with makrut lime (I survived only two bites of the Tom Yam). On the milder side, the beef wide rice noodle dish is an easy win. Desserts are limited.
The Drink: The drinks menu is fun and one of the main reasons to visit Speedboat Bar, especially for the vibrant, tropical cocktail selection. Expect mojitos, snakeblood negronis, Thai-inspired palomas and whisky sodas, several of which you can order super-sized. The non-alcoholic selection is equally uplifting, including several very good Thai iced tea variations and a zero-proof mojito.
The Verdict: Although it’s bittersweet to say goodbye to the Electric Diner, Speedboat Bar promises a lively, casual atmosphere that aptly counter-programmes Notting Hill’s fancier side. –Emily Zemler
→ Speedboat Bar at the Electric (Notting Hill) • 191 Portobello Rd • Sun-Thu 12-11p, Fri-Sat 12p-1a • Book.
RESTAURANTS • Intel
PUB TO PASTURE: The team behind hit gastropubs The Hero, The Bull, The Pelican and The Fat Badger have been extra busy. In Marylebone, Public House Group has opened The Hart, another neighbourhood spot for unpretentious, top-quality British fare, like pork scratchings and bubble and squeak. Elsewhere, they’ve launched The Bushcamp, a nomadic dining experience complete with firepits, Argentinian-style lamb asados and enormous apple pies that can be hired for events around the country. Book.
NOODLE KING: Ivan ‘Ramen’ Orkin, the New York noodle master who started in Tokyo, is opening a ramen bar in Clerkenwell. After a successful pop-up in London in 2023, Ivan Ramen will sell its signature handmade noodles and slowly simmered broths at 98 Farringdon Road from November 19. Sign up for updates.
WANTING SOUP?: In further noodle news, London Fields will soon be home to Wonton Charlie’s, a Hong Kong-style soup bar specialising in hand-wrapped wontons. From the team behind Taiwanese restaurant Mr Bao, the walk-in-only Cantonese comfort food joint opens November 7. Follow for news.
TACO TASTING: Mexican bar-restaurant Zapote is opening a 12-seat taco bar inside its existing space on Leonard Street in Shoreditch. From October 30, Chicozapote will serve a taco tasting menu featuring indigenous corn and unusual fillings like saddle of rabbit. For the Day of the Dead, it will also serve a special Calavera skull dessert filled with dark chocolate, hibiscus gel and raspberry cremant. –Laura Price
LONDON RESTAURANT LINKS: Jikoni at the Barbican and other residencies to visit this autumn • A new Dishoom beside Borough Market? • What Rishi Sunak ordered at The Dover.
REAL ESTATE • First Mover
Three for-sale properties in Richmond that recently came to market:
→ Kew Rd (Richmond) • 3BR/1BA/2R, 126 m2 maisonette • Guide price: £1.8mn • restored period house with unique roof terrace • Ownership type: freehold • Agent: Foxtons.
→ The Vineyard (Richmond) • 4BR/2BA/4R, 208 m2 end terrace house • Asking price: £2.5mn • another period house with off-street parking • Ownership type: freehold • Agent: Antony Roberts.
→ Lancaster Park (Richmond, above) • 4BR/2BA/3R, 227 m2 maisonette • Asking price: £3.5mn • front garden and indoor-outdoor flow • Ownership type: freehold • Agent: Edward Adler, Knight Frank.
WORK & PLAY LINKS: 54-storey residential tower 77 Marsh Wall set for Canary Wharf • One of Covent Garden’s oldest houses hits the market for £2mn • Hampstead Heath and the battle over London’s green spaces • How to layer from a Londoner’s POV.
WORK • Wednesday Routine
Grand designs
LEANNE KILROY • interior designer • Good Bones
Neighbourhood you work & live in: Islington
It’s Wednesday morning. What’s the scene at your workplace?
I’ve just dropped my youngest kids at school. I’ll do a quick round of tidying the kitchen after the morning rush, then I’ll sit at the dining table with my computer and a coffee to start the day. If I’m not onsite with a client, I’m usually working from home. I’m an interior designer working on residential projects and doing a lot of consulting at the moment too. There’s such an appetite for intensive interior design support without the massive expense of hiring a designer for the whole project. I also have a weekly Substack, The Good Bones Life, where I share interior design tips and tricks and favourite recipes.
What’s on the agenda for today?
I’m working on some procurement pieces for a client project, and I have a one-hour virtual consultation with a client who’s looking for support on an upcoming kitchen renovation. I’m going to carve out time for an upcoming lighting collaboration, and will attempt to work out some logistics for an upcoming renovation at my own house. I’m also writing up a Substack post about how to partition a bedroom.
Any restaurant plans today, tonight, this weekend?
I just went to Wildflowers in Belgravia, which I loved. The formula isn’t new but they execute it so well. We’re planning our third visit to Perilla in Newington Green, which is outstanding, and Tofu Vegan on Upper Street, which is delightfully delicious. I’m also dreaming of going back to Vasiniko, which gets my vote for the best pizza in London.
How about a little leisure or culture?
We’ve recently discovered the joys of concerts in Hyde Park and going to the Opera. These are two very different sides of live music performance but there’s something so magical about both venues. Outdoor concerts at Hyde Park are just electric and we love sitting in the cheapest possible seats at the Royal Opera House – way up at the top. It feels like a sneaky treat and the acoustics are just incredible. A perfect kind of grown up London night out.
Any weekend getaways?
My whole family and I adore Bath. It’s 90 minutes by train from London and one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. We’ve toyed with the idea of moving there, it’s that beautiful!
What was your last great vacation?
We recently returned from Puglia, where we’ve been going for a long time, but this trip was extra special. We stayed in a gorgeous villa with a large group of family and friends to celebrate my mother-in-law’s 70th birthday. We love to go to the southernmost part of Puglia, near the tip of the heel of Italy’s boot. For big group lunches, we especially love Trattoria Picaló and for a memorable but unfussy dinner, Ristorantino da Fabio, which has a great bar with desserts and ice cream right across the piazza. The beaches near Torre Guaceto are some of my favourite on the planet. And for typical, inexpensive, hardwearing Pugliese ceramics, I love to visit Benegiamo.
What’s a recent big-ticket purchase you love?
We’re about to get a new sofa! It’s a design collaboration between Good Bones and the legendary The House Upstairs and I couldn’t be more excited.
What store or service do you always recommend?
I love Ocado and I recommend it to everyone who, like us, doesn’t have a car. There are some absolute bangers on there. I also love Wheely, a high-end version of Uber. On the other end of the spectrum, I adore Lime bikes. It’s such a freeing way to get around London, especially in the warmer months.
Photo: Matt Joy
CULTURE & LEISURE • Mr. Jones
Jehnny Beth • The Camden Assembly (Chalk Farm) • Fri @ 7p • GA, £34 per
Counting Crows • OVO Arena (Wembley) • Sat @ 6p • N7, £81 per
Suzanne Vega• Royal Albert Hall (South Kensington) • Mon @ 730p • grand tier, £85 per
GETAWAYS • Hove
Tidal pull
Brazilian chef Rafael Cagali is best known for Da Terra, his fine dining spot that’s picked up plenty of accolades since its 2019 launch in Bethnal Green. After opening the more casual Elis next to his flagship in 2022, Cagali and his husband Charlie Lee chose the East Sussex seaside town of Hove for their first venture outside London. Opened in September, Maré by Rafael Cagali occupies an elegant, light-filled spot on a busy main street, one block from the seafront.
Maré isn’t a Brazilian restaurant, but thoughtful touches come in everything from the name (which means ‘tide’ in Portuguese) to colourful artwork from Tarsila do Amaral and liquid soap from posh Rio brand Granado. Latin America is present in the food, too. Tortillas are made from manioc (cassava) flour, while a prawn course comes with the Brazilian seafood stew moqueca, and picanha steak is served with chimichurri. Petit fours come in the form of brigadeiros: sweet balls of chocolate and condensed milk, finessed with cacao nibs. There’s a little Italian too, reflecting Cagali’s dual heritage, and almost everything is made with seasonal British produce.
The meal starts with strong snacks: an excellent toasted brioche with liver parfait and preserved cherries, plus a fresh-tasting miniature crumpet with Dorset crab, lovage and dill. There’s also a deep-fried Mersea Island oyster with pickled onion and hot sauce. From the small plates, there’s aged Hamachi crudo with rich ajo blanco and cobnuts (hazelnuts, but creamy like macadamia), and a comforting bowlful of Cornish mussels with hispi cabbage and crispy focaccia croutons. Make room for build-your-own tacos, a generous spread of succulent pulled lamb shoulder, black bean ‘mole’, mild chilli sauce and those unique cassava discs. (There’s more filling than tortillas, so load ’em up.)
Maré gets better as it goes on. Lobster rice is the showstopper, with gleaming hunks of fresh meat on a bed of sushi rice, laced with chunks of ox tongue, Brazilian dendê oil and a topping of crispy leeks. I only wish there was more of it. For dessert, boozy baba comes drenched in cachaça, and there’s a tempting choux bun that I’d like to try next time. Jake Garstang shines as sommelier-manager, serving a varied wine list that includes Sussex-grown sparkling labels, as well as artisanal cachaça and some of my favourite non-alcoholic options, like London brand Jukes Cordialities.
As for the playlist, it’s non-stop nostalgia from Duran Duran to Erasure and Blondie, played at a comfortable (but prominent) volume. My seat faced onto the high street with a view of buses and takeaway shops, but a curtain can be pulled across for a more intimate, exclusive feel. And while it’s a shame there’s no water view, it’s just a block from the seafront, and well-placed for a walk to Brighton to stroll off that lobster rice. In peaceful Hove, Maré is a special occasion spot packed with personality and colour, bringing a little of Cagali’s culinary magic to the South coast. –Laura Price
→ Maré (Hove) • 60 Church Rd • Thu-Sat 12-230p, Wed-Sat 6-9p, Sun 12-3p • Book.
GETAWAYS LINKS: Shuttered department store Morley’s in Tooting to become hotel • Restored Welsh longhouse hits the market in Shropshire • Double-decker trains coming to Eurostar • The gatekeeper of Eden-Roc.
ASK FOUND
Three subscriber PROMPTS for which we request your immediate attention:
What’s your favourite London spa?
Who do you trust to do your eyebrows?
What’s the best bar to dine alone at in London?
Got answers or more questions? Hit reply or email found@foundldn.com.
RESTAURANTS • The Nines
Gastropubs
The Nines are FOUND’s distilled lists of London’s best. Additions or subtractions? Hit reply or found@foundldn.com.
The Hero (Maida Vale), neighbourhood favourite w/ pub fare downstairs, grill upstairs