Evelyn's Table at The Blue Posts

From the team that brought us The Palomar and The Barbary, Evelyn’s Table sits in the cellar of reinvented Chinatown boozer The Blue Posts, beneath the ground-floor pub and first-floor Mulwray’s cocktail bar; it’s an intimate, romantically lit space, with a ‘private’ sign on the door, seats for 11 diners around the horseshoe counter and a name that references Faye Dunaway’s femme fatale in Roman Polanski’s 1974 film Chinatown.

The kitchen deals in small plates with a southern European accent and there are some top-notch suppliers on show: sourdough bread courtesy of Michelin-starred Hedone, cheeses from La Fromagerie and fish from the dayboats at Looe, which delivered our biggest hit of the night: beautifully cooked hake with capers and olive oil-soaked croûtons.

Elsewhere, our croquette-like salt-cod beignets with punchy taramasalata, and subtly smoked eel on excellent blinis, had the edge over some good (but not brilliant) duck tortellini and a plate of presa ibérica, which lacked the same clearly defined flavours – although there were no such complaints about our deliciously chewy tarte Tatin, as sweet as a toffee apple.     

Food aside, how much you enjoy this experience will depend on whether you’re happy to chat to the friendly chefs and front of house or prefer to give your companion your undevoted attention – Evelyn’s Table isn’t really recommended for those who want to be left undisturbed. Still, this is definitely a Chinatown address worth remembering.

Hidden away in the basement of The Blue Posts pub on the edge of London's Chinatown, Evelyn's Table is an intimate chef's table restaurant from the team behind hotspots The Palomar and The Barbary. Having first opened in 2017, the restaurant reopened in 2020 with a brand new team. The kitchen is now run solely by a team of three, namely ex-head chef of HIDE Above and Great British Menu finalist Luke Selby and his two brothers Nat and Theo. Serving a menu which champions British produce and takes its inspiration from Luke's time spent in Japan, Evelyn's Table aims to provide a fine dining experience that's great value for money.

Accessed via a set of stairs on Rupert Court, the small dining room consists of just ten seats around a counter which overlooks the open kitchen. There is little by way of decor at Evelyn's Table apart from a few lamps providing a glow up at the marble-topped counter. Due to the nature of the restaurant there are only two sittings each night, at 6pm and again at 8:30pm meaning that you're likely to be sat up at the counter with people you haven't met before. Who knows, you might even get chatting with some of the other customers.

The five-course food menu, which costs £55 per head, changes every month to make the most of seasonal ingredients. Expect Japanese-inspired dishes such as marinated mackerel served with plum umeboshi and shisho, and squid noodles with a mushroom dashi. Meanwhile sweeter plates might include tarte tatin with clotted cream and miso. The drinks offering at Evelyn's Table comes courtesy of Honey Spencer, who as well as running wine bar The Mulwray above, has curated a list of predominantly naturual wines which has been designed to perfectly complement the flavours of the food.