Located in the heart of Fitzrovia on Charlotte Street, The Ninth is one of this areas best known restaurants from London-based chef Jun Tanaka. Seating over 90, this simple but refined French-Mediterranean restaurant focuses on serving dishes to share, a bar for sipping on cocktails and an outside terrace for al fresco Summer dining.
The restaurant has been turning heads over the last couple of years now since it opened, so much so that the Michelin inspectors decided to award The Ninth with a shiny Michelin star back in 2017. It’s looking lovely inside too, not too dissimilar to a classic French brasserie – but slightly more refined.
Upstairs it’s just as relaxed and simple, with metallic copper walls, more of that exposed brick and some rather lovely light fittings hanging down over the tables.
Apart from a few too many cocktails, if there was one thing you should start with it’s a plate of the signature oxtail croquettes. Covered in a deliciously crunchy casing, incredibly well seasoned throughout and filled with the most moist and juicy slow-cooked oxtail meat. Possibly the best croquettes you’ll ever eat in London so make sure you order lots of them.
First dish out to the table was one of our absolute favourites. Garganelli cacio e pepe in a thick, rich sauce, morsels of crispy chicken wing and a good topping of Parmesan cheese. I can’t quite remember the last time I enjoyed a pasta dish this much and so I’ll most certainly be returning to try more, especially as there’s a whole section on the menu dedicated to them.
The only dish I wasn’t completely crazy about here at The Ninth was this plate of burrata, beetroot, figs and hazelnut. Presentation wise and mostly flavour wise it was spot on, but the creamy burrata was lacking in a little flavour. This really would have been one of my favourite dishes usually, so perhaps it was just a bad day for burrata.
Best dish on the menu? It had to be these chargrilled lamb cutlets served in a cast iron pan. The lamb was beautifully cooked, the fat was perfectly crisp – but the finishing off on the grill for an added touch of smokiness made for some really stunning meat. Served with cime di rapa & flakes of anchovy – this is one dish which should always be on the menu.
Actually the sides here are somewhat spectacular. The chargrilled broccoli with radish & miso was flavour wise very unusual, but also very exciting and the charred broccoli added yet another flavour dimension. The side of crispy Belle de Fontenay potatoes may well go down in my book as the best potatoes I’ve ever eaten. If I’d come here and they’d told me this was all they had left, I’d have been incredibly happy eating five more portions.
We finished up on a very good plate of cheese and a Michelin starred Chocolate crémeux pudding with a scoop of raspberry sorbet. This was one of those desserts which I think if anyone is eating it, they’ll never forget it. Rich, decadent – but oh-so refined.
We had a really lovely lunch at The Ninth and whilst it’s all about the food here, lots can be said for the service because it’s some of the best we’ve experienced in London. The Ninth isn’t the cheapest of London’s restaurants, but with a shiny Michelin star and a Fitzrovia postcode to match you can certainly see what all the fuss is about. So much so that I’ll be returning someday very soon.
You had me at oxtail croquettes! the food looks delicious!
Pasta and lamb – great choices!
I can tell from the photo the side of potatoes were good – I’ve had them like that somewhere else (can’t think where now!) and thought they were so tasty!