St JOHN

By

Clara Whitfield

28 January 2026

There is no London restaurant like St JOHN, and there has not been a London restaurant like St JOHN since 1994. A whitewashed former bacon factory on the edge of Smithfield market, it was where the idea of British restaurant cooking was first argued seriously.

The room

White walls, high ceilings, wooden floors, one black metal coat stand, paper tablecloths. That is it.

What to order

The menu changes daily, but there are absolutes: the roast bone marrow with parsley salad, the Welsh rarebit, the Old Spot pork chop, and the Eccles cake with Lancashire cheese. Order the Eccles cake first, ideally before the meal, so it does not sell out.

The drinks list

Thoughtful, mostly French, with a standing column of St JOHN wines from small producers under their own label. The sherry selection is one of the best in London.

What you will pay

A proper lunch of three courses with wine, service included: around £85 per person. It is not cheap; it is demonstrably worth the money.

The verdict

You could eat in Smithfield every Friday and still not exhaust the menu. Book a long lunch, have two glasses of sherry before the bone marrow, and do not leave without an Eccles cake.

About the author

Clara Whitfield

Editor and restaurant critic

Clara Whitfield is the editor and lead restaurant critic of Vivi. She has eaten through the London restaurant scene professionally for over a decade, contributing reviews and features to regional and national food publications.

She writes Vivi's weekly restaurant review and the Saturday essay. She prefers early dinners and a table facing the room.