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What's the deal?
London certainly isn’t starved for quality gallery restaurants – plenty of big-name museums have fab dining options, from Whitechapel’s Townsend to Somerset House’s Spring. Still, though, not many of them take the brief as literally as Ochre – the National Gallery’s new restaurant, which delightfully marries fine art and food with downright painterly dishes and cocktails so pretty they should be sold at auction.
But first, it’s worth mentioning the space. Ochre is housed in a magnificent William Wilkins-designed Neoclassical building adjacent to the gallery, featuring soaring ceilings, epic arched windows, and luxurious moulding painted a muted yellow. Interiors were realised by local architecture firm Red Deer, and they look gorgeously opulent in the soft glow of arty arched lamps and decadent chandeliers. The vibe – bolstered by furniture in lush velvet and marble – is “classy excess”.
This strapline applies to the food as well, which is painstakingly plated and primed for Instagram. The menu showcases British produce, with a strong showing from seasonal vegetables and plucked-from-the-Atlantic seafood. There are large and small plates to share on the lunch and dinner menus, and – ideally, for a gallery restaurant – there’s also a dedicated brunch menu featuring midday favourites (pancakes, eggs royale, et al.) alongside more exotic plates like Exmoor Cornish salted caviar with roasted baby potatoes, chives, and sour cream or soused Cornish mackerel and sea lettuce tacos. Each dish is its own little work of art – mango reduction and cubed heritage tomatoes are dotted, Pointillism style, around a samosa; a stuffed courgette flower comes lightly deconstructed and laid over an abstract smear of tomato sauce. Cocktails are very much the centrepiece here, each one mixed in honour of a masterpiece hung in the gallery. Take the Monet-inspired Sunflower Sour, a yellow-hued, mezcal-and-turmeric-based tipple topped with impressively intricate foam art depicting the French painter’s famous bouquet. It’s almost too pretty to drink – almost.
What should I eat?
Though the menu is seasonal, the samosa is an all-seasons mainstay, and should be your first stop – warm, crisp parcels stuffed with spiced sweet potato and pea, then daubed with mango chutney and pieces of heritage tomato.
With a whole veg-lead section on the menu, herbivores are well catered-for here. Non-meat eaters shouldn’t miss the charred cauliflower from the “large plates” section – a tender head of cauli rubbed with harissa and served over a creamy lump of more puréed cauliflower. A scattering of chanterelle mushrooms provide a chewy textural contrast.
For dessert, it’s the raspberry crème brûlée – a gorgeous take on a classic, plated artfully with an Expressionist red berry smear and a biscotti best used to shatter the glass-like caramelised layer.
Why should I go?
For the most aesthetically pleasing meal in town.
££££
National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London WC2N 5DN
ochre.london