Set lunches for a wet London weekend, 24 and 25 October
Rain on both days and lunch indoors, from a £20 set lunch in Soho to two Michelin stars in Mayfair
Open-Meteo gives London a 100% chance of rain on Saturday 24 October and 86% on Sunday 25 October. A wet weekend in London has its own pleasures: a long set lunch somewhere warm, rain running down the glass, nothing to do until the evening. This is a weekend for staying at the table, beside a fire pit in a former Soho cinema or under the windows of a Belgravia rooftop.
The set lunches here answer the rain in two ways, with warmth and with a view of it. Sophie's Soho cooks over an open fire pit of English oak and birch, and Cornus watches the weather through floor-to-ceiling windows above Eccleston Yards.
01 | Gymkhana
Mayfair
three or four courses £75 to £85, Mon to Sun, 12pm to 2.30pm
Pappadums with club chutneys open lunch at Gymkhana, a Mayfair dining room that takes its name and its manners from the members' clubs of colonial India. Oak panels, rattan trims and dark wood across the floor and ceiling make a gorgeous shelter from the weather, and the Michelin Guide points lunch towards the ground floor booths. Then comes kid goat methi keema, which Time Out calls "one of London's great dishes."
02 | Cornus
Belgravia
two or three courses £55 to £65, Wed to Sat, 12pm to 2.30pm
Floor-to-ceiling windows wrap Cornus, on the top floor of the redeveloped Ice Factory in Eccleston Yards, so a grey Saturday becomes the view. The restaurant calls it a "beautifully light-filled rooftop space", with a glowing bar at the centre of a mid-century modern dining room. The cooking is seasonal and rooted in classical technique, and it earned a Michelin star about six months after opening.
03 | Sophie's Soho
Soho
two or three courses £20 to £25, Mon to Sat, 12pm to 7pm & after 9.30pm
The Moulin Cinema once filled the building where Sophie's Soho now cooks over English oak and birch, and Hot Dinners notes the retro posters that still hint at its past. Start on fire pit soup, move to steak frites, and finish on cheesecake.
04 | Michael Caines London
Mayfair
three or four courses £48 to £58, Mon to Fri, 12pm to 2.30pm
Soft sofas, white tablecloths and framed artworks: FACT Magazine said Michael Caines London "feels like you are entering your fancy friend's living room." A shellfish bisque and Cornish cod carry the kitchen's seasonal British cooking, and the restaurant won its Michelin star in record time. Lunch here waits for Monday.
05 | Aqua Nueva
Soho
two or three courses £26 to £32, Mon to Fri, Mon from 5pm, Tue to Fri from 12pm
Copper-vaulted ceilings, designed to evoke the sherry casks of Jerez, arch over Aqua Nueva on the fifth floor above Regent Street. The Glass Magazine calls the dining room "truly cosy", and lunch opens on rustic tomato bread, padrón peppers and Spanish tortilla, with a glass of Prosecco alongside.
06 | Chotto Matte
Soho
three to seven courses £14.95, Mon to Fri, 12pm to 5pm
A 3D neon wall lights Chotto Matte, where the robata grill and the sushi counter sit in full view upstairs. The Nudge picks out the aji miso black cod, and says the pisco sours are "still here and thriving."
Saturday's forecast is the surest thing in this post. Take a table by the fire in a former cinema, or by the rooftop glass in Belgravia, and let the rain set the pace of the afternoon. Every London lunch set menu, Saturday ones included, is on one list.