Restaurant in London, United Kingdom
Nose-to-tail cooking that earns its price.
Fallow is one of the strongest value cases in St James's: a Michelin Plate Modern British restaurant with a nose-to-tail menu, a lively open kitchen counter, and a £38 lunch that makes the kitchen genuinely accessible. Book the counter seats, start with the corn ribs, and budget for the wine list — it runs more expensive than the room suggests.
At the £££ price point, Fallow is one of the most compelling value propositions in St James's right now. A three-course experience with snacks lands meaningfully below comparable Modern British restaurants in the area, and the £38 lunch menu makes it genuinely accessible for a mid-week occasion. That said, sides and supplements add up quickly, so go in with a budget in mind rather than ordering freely. For a special occasion dinner that doesn't require a four-figure bill, Fallow is the right call. For a full fine-dining tasting menu format, look elsewhere.
The room at 52 Haymarket is built around its open kitchen counter, and this is the most important thing to know when booking. The counter seats offer a direct line of sight to the kitchen — you watch the pass, you catch the chefs at work, and the energy of the kitchen becomes part of your meal in a way that table service simply doesn't replicate. This is not a quiet, candlelit room. It is glass-walled, boisterous, and deliberately transparent. The noise level is consistent regardless of when you arrive, which the venue's social media following — a meaningful driver of footfall , tends to amplify.
If you can't get a counter seat, there is a heated terrace as a fallback. The terrace is functional but adds less to the experience than the counter; if counter seating matters to you, request it explicitly when booking rather than leaving it to chance. The dining room itself skews casual-smart: the open kitchen setup and relaxed service tone mean formal dress is not expected, but the ambition of the food and the wine list means you'll feel underdressed if you arrive in trainers and a T-shirt.
For a date or a celebration dinner where the energy of the room is part of the occasion, Fallow works well. For a quiet business dinner where conversation requires concentration, the noise level is a genuine obstacle. In that case, Cornus or Dorian offer more composed environments at a similar price tier.
Fallow started as a pop-up and became a permanent fixture in St James's, and the shift has brought a more developed menu without losing the original ethos. The kitchen operates on a nose-to-tail, sustainability-led approach that is applied consistently rather than selectively. The smoked cod's head with Sriracha butter is the house speciality most cited by regular visitors and the dish that leading articulates what the kitchen is doing: an unfashionable cut, treated with enough technique and seasoning to make the sustainability argument feel incidental to the pleasure of eating it.
The mushroom parfait is another reference point: at £18 it reads expensive for a vegetarian starter, but the portion size and depth of flavour , using mushrooms grown in-house , justify the price more than most comparable dishes at this tier. The corn ribs have become something of a signature snack, leading ordered early with a cocktail while you settle in. The menu covers snacks, small plates, large plates, and sides, with 45-day dry-aged dairy cow steaks and Sunday roasts (fallow deer, seasonally) extending the range further than most comparable venues.
Desserts are creative: the sourdough soft-serve and the caramelised whey tart are the standouts from the current rotation, though the latter's pastry has drawn some criticism for inconsistency. The vegetarian selection is noted by the We're Smart Green Guide as a positive start, though it remains limited relative to the rest of the menu , something worth knowing if you are booking for a group with plant-based preferences.
Chefs Jack Croft and Will Murray trained at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal before opening Fallow, and the technical grounding is visible in the kitchen's execution even at the snack level. The Michelin Plate (2024) and the Star Wine List White Star recognition reflect a venue taken seriously by the guide establishment, without the full star pressure that changes a room's atmosphere.
The wine list is one of the more surprising aspects of the Fallow experience. The casual, open-kitchen vibe implies an approachable by-the-glass selection and not much beyond that. In reality, the cellar carries bottles well into premium territory, with few options under £50 and recognisable grands noms for those willing to spend. This is worth factoring into your budget calculation: if you arrive expecting pub-level wine pricing, you will be caught off guard. The Star Wine List White Star recognition confirms the list is taken seriously by specialists. If you are budget-conscious on the wine side, ask the floor team for their by-the-glass recommendation rather than opening the list cold.
Fallow's social media following means the room is full at most services, and the Google rating of 4.6 across more than 8,000 reviews indicates a consistent experience rather than a venue coasting on hype. Reservations: Book at least two to three weeks out for dinner; the £38 lunch is more accessible but still fills quickly mid-week. Dress: Smart-casual is the practical standard , the room is relaxed but the food and wine list set a certain tone. Budget: Allow £70–£100 per head for dinner with wine; the £38 lunch menu is the leading entry point if you want to test the kitchen before committing to a full dinner spend. Counter seats: Request explicitly at booking , they are worth the effort and change the experience materially. Getting there: 52 Haymarket places Fallow a short walk from both Piccadilly Circus and Charing Cross stations, making it direct to reach from most central London locations.
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If Fallow's style appeals and you want to explore the broader Modern British category, the following venues are worth your time. In London, CORE by Clare Smyth and Ormer Mayfair operate at higher price points but with greater formal polish. The Ritz Restaurant is the right call if occasion and setting matter as much as the plate. Outside London, the Modern British category has strong regional representation: The Fat Duck in Bray and L'Enclume in Cartmel are the reference points at the leading of the category. Moor Hall in Aughton, Gidleigh Park in Chagford, and Hand and Flowers in Marlow offer serious cooking in destination settings. For more regional discovery, hide and fox in Saltwood, 33 The Homend in Ledbury, and Artichoke in Amersham are worth adding to a longer itinerary.
| Venue | Cuisine | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fallow | Modern British | Fallow is a restaurant in London, UK. It was published on Star Wine List on September 25, 2024 and is a White Star.; Thanks to a combination of interesting food and innovative use of social media, you can be sure that you’ll be walking into a packed and lively restaurant here, whatever the time of day or night. The large, open kitchen counter takes centre stage, while there’s also a heated terrace if you can’t get a table in the main room. The menu offers a large and appealing selection, from snacks to sharing plates, along with vegetarian choices. There’s a discernible nose-to-tail ethos too; do try the smoked cod’s head with Sriracha sauce, a house speciality. The corn ribs are great with a cocktail.; It’s the whole cod’s head, drenched in sriracha butter, that brings us face to face with the truth: the pursuit of sustainability is going to change the way chefs cook and we eat. Leading the charge are Jack Croft and Will Murray, two young chefs who honed their skills at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal before opening Fallow, originally a pop-up, now a fixture in St James’s. ‘Creative cooking, sustainable thinking’ goes the strapline, and that’s certainly what we get. The menu is broad, incorporating small and large plates, sides, snacks, steaks (45-day dry-aged dairy cow) and Sunday roasts (fallow deer, for example). The £38 lunch is a good deal, though sides and supplements soon bump up the bill. Two snacks to start: piping hot, liquid-centred cauliflower cheese croquetas with black garlic mayo, and fried corn ribs dusted with kombu seasoning, best enjoyed with a drink. Mushroom parfait, sounds pricey at £18, but with hefty slices of sourdough toast it’s generous and as rich as any chicken liver parfait. Impressively, the mushrooms are grown in-house. Presentation throughout is rustic, bordering on eccentric. To wit, that cod’s head, concealing plentiful beautiful moist flesh. Credit to Fallow for the focus on nose-to-tail eating, even if the lamb’s tongue with caper sauce proves divisive. Desserts are interesting and mostly impressive, such as sourdough soft-serve and a wobbly caramelised whey tart which just wanted finer pastry. Fallow is progressive but approachable: the glass-walled dining room with bar and open kitchen is boisterous and packed with folk of all ages. The casual vibe belies the ambition of the wine cellar, which offers few bottles under £50 and some ' grands noms ' for those with the means.; Chefs/Owners Jack Croft and Will Murray are busy bees. Together, they follow up different concepts, of which Fallow is the only one worthy of our attention. But we note that even at Fallow, the dishes are brought pretty basic. Importantly, they do have a choice of vegetable dishes, although limited. There is room for improvement there. We are including the restaurant in the We're Smart Green Guide as the reactions about the pure plant dishes are rather positive, and that is a very important start.; Opinionated About Dining Casual in Europe (2025); Thanks to a combination of interesting food and innovative use of social media, you can be sure that you’ll be walking into a packed and lively restaurant here, whatever the time of day or night. The large, open kitchen counter takes centre stage, while there’s also a heated terrace if you can’t get a table in the main room. The menu offers a large and appealing selection, from snacks to sharing plates, along with vegetarian choices. There’s a discernible nose-to-tail ethos too; do try the smoked cod’s head with Sriracha sauce, a house speciality. The corn ribs are great with a cocktail.; Michelin Plate (2024) | Moderate | — |
| CORE by Clare Smyth | Modern British | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Restaurant Gordon Ramsay | Contemporary European, French | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Sketch, The Lecture Room and Library | Modern French | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| The Ledbury | Modern European, Modern Cuisine | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Dinner by Heston Blumenthal | Modern British, Traditional British | Michelin 2 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
A quick look at how Fallow measures up.
Start with the smoked cod's head with Sriracha butter — it is the dish that defines the kitchen's nose-to-tail philosophy and is consistently cited as a house speciality. The fried corn ribs with kombu seasoning work well alongside a cocktail, and the mushroom parfait (grown in-house) offers real depth for the price. The £38 lunch menu is a sound entry point, though sides and supplements will push the bill higher.
Fallow began as a pop-up and the energy of that origin still shapes the room: it is packed and lively at most services, so expect noise and movement rather than a quiet dinner. Chefs Jack Croft and Will Murray trained at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal before building this concept around sustainable sourcing and nose-to-tail cooking, which means some dishes — lamb's tongue, for instance — will divide opinions. Book the counter seats if you want the full open-kitchen experience; the heated terrace is the fallback if the main room is full. With a 4.6 Google rating across more than 8,000 reviews and a Michelin Plate (2024), the kitchen consistently delivers.
The room at 52 Haymarket runs casual: an open kitchen, a lively atmosphere, and a crowd that spans all ages. Smart-casual clothing fits without effort — no formal dress code is documented, and the vibe does not demand one. Leave the tie at the hotel.
Fallow does not operate a traditional tasting menu format; the menu is structured around snacks, small plates, larger sharing dishes, and sides rather than a fixed progression. At £££ pricing, the à la carte approach gives you more control over spend, though the £38 set lunch is the clearest value proposition on the menu. If a linear tasting format is your priority, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal nearby offers that structure at a higher price point.
Yes — the large open kitchen counter is a central feature of the room and one of the better seats in the house for watching the kitchen work. Given Fallow's consistent occupancy across services, counter and bar seats can be a practical route in if a full table booking is unavailable. The corn ribs and cocktail combination makes the bar a reasonable solo or two-person option.
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