The National Gallery seems like the kind of place you go for dinner when you’re a grown up. I’ve wandered past the stately, towering entrance to Ochre restaurant for the past decade, ogling the formidable doormen and wondering what lies inside this easterly stretch of the building that houses so many priceless paintings.
Ochre used to be the National Café, an incredibly boring name for somewhere so lauded, and so along came this place, a British restaurant that opened in April with modern European influences and a little more je ne sais quoi.
Ochre is the term for natural clay earth pigment, and inside, that pigment has been interpreted as an earthy green. Artwork hangs on high-ceilinged walls and elsewhere hangs a jaunty looking metallic silver object. Prettier are the faded lemon-yellow banquettes, which disrupt the middle of the square, plainly-designed room.
The kitchen is headed up by executive chef Alex Drayton, formerly of Michelin-starred Texture and 28-50 Marylebone Lane. Bowling up for lunch, my guest and I began with soused mackerel and sea lettuce tacos and a sea bass tartare. Each taco is precision-tooled to be the perfect size for an indulgent mouthful; any bigger and you’d have to go through the process of pretending to cut each one in half and nobody has time for that.
We’d been drinking cocktails inspired by the paintings. Mine was a Sunflowers Sour (mezcal with turmeric, apricot liqueur, lime, agave syrup and egg white), inspired by someone called “Vincent Van Gough”. Perhaps they were a relative of Van Gogh, or perhaps it was a menu error – either way I could have had six. My guest stuck to a Spanish rioja, an unusual choice for the heat but a winner, he assured me.
He was busy with a harissa spiced lamb burger in a brioche bun, with the meat juices, pickled red cabbage and cumin yoghurt making it exceptionally succulent. I had the pan fried monkfish, which was the star of the show: three dense heaps of fish on a bed of spicy romesco sauce, alongside a charred hispi cabbage gently soaked in oil and salt.
Food? Good. Destination? Iconic. All things considered, Ochre’s offering feels fragmented, stopping short of a vibe that makes it a must-visit. But once or twice a year when you’re venturing into the National Gallery for an exhibition, you won’t regret ending an afternoon’s gallery stalking here.
Call 020 7747 2525 or visit ochre.london for more information
The post Ochre restaurant review: Art on the walls and plates at the National Portrait Gallery appeared first on CityAM.
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