Llewelyn's — Restaurant in London

“Amazing colour.” That's my strongest memory from Llewelyn's.

The interior at Llewelyn’s is white, like it was freshly painted yesterday. There are big windows that face into an open piazza, and the place is flooded with light, even on a cloudy day. The seating is grey leather which gently reflects that light. And the floors and other fittings are from wood stained with a mid-tone. It doesn’t absorb the light, but it doesn’t quite amplify it either. There aren’t white table cloths but there is bright white paper partially covering each table.

When food arrives, all of these surfaces — whites, greys, stained wood — serve as contrasts for the bright colours on Llewelyn’s plates. Reds, greens, oranges, yellows, and even browns leap off the table. It’s all like normal colour, but more, as if I’ve bungled the settings on a screen or overexposed an image during editing.

Those bright colours provide a feast for the eyes, but they make a promise to the palate, as well.

And Llewelyn’s delivers on that promise.

I dined with a friend who had been a food blogger in the U.S. before she moved to London. She has lived and eaten in great food cities. And though she gave up her blog and her Tumblr, she’s as much as food expert as anyone I know. And she invited me to Llewelyn’s because, she told me, it’s one of her favourite places anywhere.

I can see why.

The chef behind all of this brilliance is Lasse Petersen. His background includes stints at Westerns Laundry and Moro as well as Amass and 108 in Copenhagen. In interviews, he talks passionately about the need to vary the menu, experiment with ingredients, and never sit still.

All of that comes through in his food.

The menu at Llewelyn’s changes daily, so there’s always something new to discover. (And they get bonus points for updating the menu on their website every single day.) There’s a brilliant wine list, with really throughtful, tantalising choices.

We visited on a Friday in early November, so ingredients were autumnal.

We started with “beetroot, smoked ricotta, citrus & radicchio” and “persimmon, gorgonzola, celery & sunflower seeds.”

The beetroot dish brought together flavours in a way that I hadn’t experienced. Lots of sharpness balanced by smooth, creamy cheese. And there was red, orange, and pink — a feast for the eyes.

The persimmon dish married sweet, creamy, salty, and crunchy. And the golden persimmons glowed on the plate.

Mains were “pork loin, pumpkin, charred greens & lovage” and “spätzle, autumn truffle, pine nuts & confit garlic.”

The pork, pumpkin, and greens were another festival for the eyes. Bright orange tempered by glistening green. The pork perfectly cooked. The pumpkin wonderfully roasted. The greens delightfully charred. No flaws. Autumn on a plate.

The spätzle was decadent with grated truffle, but even it contained little notes of green, yellow, and orange.

Llewelyn’s would be a great restaurant no matter where it was located. It might have more buzz (and probably be more expensive) in Mayfair or the West End, but it would still be great.

Think of it like Chez Bruce or La Trompette. Their fantastic food and excellent wine make both destinations, and both are in lovely communities. They are very much worth the trip.

Llewelyn’s is like that, but brighter and more colourful. A destination to seek out. Not just a place to visit if you happen to be nearby.

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Having read the reviews and heard the local buzz around this place we had very hopes for Llewelyn's. Unfortunately, we were a little underwhelmed by our experience. We went for a double birthday lunch with a party of 7. I booked the table a week in advanced and mentioned that it is a double birthday celebration. When we arrived at 1pm our table wasn't ready - not because another party was occupying it but because it was not yet set up. When I mentioned the booking the not very friendly front-of-house manager proceeded (without an apology) to haphazardly push three double tables together. When I pointed out that we were seven he said that four could sit on one side. Only after I said that there is just about enough space for three he conceded to placing an additional chair at the end of the table. Cutlery, glasses and napkins were placed on the table while we were already seated.

The service continued to be pretty poor and slow throughout the entire meal: We had to wait 5min for the menus, another 10min to order (I had to ask a waiter to come over), another 5 min to get our drinks. It was about 40min after arrival that we finally got the starter. Every time a waiter approached it seems to be a different person. No one asked if everything is ok with the food, if we want more drinks, etc. When we asked for the bill, I had to go over after 5min to discover that the waiter forgot about it. Observing service on other tables, it seemed pretty chaotic and disorganised.

As for the food, we found it good but not outstanding, and therefore over priced for what it is. This is particularly the case for starters and desserts which are absolutely miniscule but cost the £6.50 - £7.50.

On the upside, the wine menu is good and reasonably priced, with a bottle of Sauvignon at £20 being a very pleasant surprise.

Would I go there again? Possibly, seeing that it's a local. But probably just for a...

Very disappointing. I visited Llewellyn's with a friend recently straight from work. We sat outside and were told the dinner menu would not be printed until 6pm. We ordered some wine in the meantime and on returning the waitress's comments made it clear she had not remembered our previous conversation (despite there only being about 5 customers) when we had said that we were there for dinner. When we were allowed to see the menu I ordered the plaice with a crab sauce and spinach which was delicious. However, I also ordered a side of new potatoes which were black and inedible. I appreciate these things happen but it is the way they are dealt with and this was dealt with badly. I informed the waitress (who frankly seemed as though she would rather be anywhere else that evening) and showed her them on the plate. Nothing was done on my first two mentions of this and on my third mention she just said "They were cooked properly"! I did not dispute the cooking of them merely that they were bad and inedible. Perhaps this was a miscommunication from the kitchen? In any event I was not happy to be expected to pay for something I could not eat and it rather spoilt the ambience and the otherwise lovely food. Eventually I was informed they would take them off the bill. It's a shame this wasn't done the first time I pointed out they were inedible. My friend had a ragu dish which she said was OK. Even if the food is good the staff really had an air of couldn't care less so I don't think either of us will be in any...