APPLEBEE’s is the oldest restaurant in the oldest market in London.
It was there before influencers, before foams & foraging, and before small plates came along and made dinner feel like a custody battle. The family-run operation started out as a fishmongers way back in ’99 before deciding to start cooking those swimmers too, and now they’ve done something wildly modern: a full top-to-bottom refurb. They’ve bussed in a new head chef with impeccable credentials, and whipped up a whole new menu to go with it all.
You’ll find it, as has been the case for the past quarter of a century, on Stoney Street in Borough Market, where it sits on a stretch of road that’s basically become restaurant catnip thanks to neighbours like Camille, Rambutan, and Akara. So, in part it’s keeping up with the Joneses – being a family-run business, the reins have been handed down to Jack Applebee, who wants to modernise and upgrade the place. Still no small plates though, he’s not a sadist.
The space itself has been given a new lick of paint by the folks at A-nrd studios, who seem to have a knack for turning restaurants into places you’d quite like to live in. They’ve done KOL, Bar Lina Shoreditch, Kolae and more, and they’ve nailed it here, too. They’ve given the place a feeling of understated elegance and refined simplicity thanks to whitewashed walls, brass accents, and lighting dim enough to make everyone look 20% more attractive. The whole place though, revolves around the open kitchen, and that open kitchen revolves around their huge, bespoke live fire grill which was designed & built a stone’s throw away in Bermondsey.
That’s the domain of executive chef Frankie van Loo, who comes here after almost a decade and a half at Jason Atherton’s restaurant group, running places like City Social (which held its Michelin Star right until he left). Frankie’s menu is a love letter to the sea, guided by whatever the Devon and Cornwall dayboats reel in that morning. Expect dry-aged Dover sole, dry aged in the salt chamber on show in the open kitchen for up to 36 hours before hitting that live fire grill, and then being drenched in a simple brown shrimp & lemon butter sauce.
Aside from that, you’ll also find a zero-waste Bouillabaisse (that incorporates “every part of the fish”) served up with Lincolnshire Poacher rather than Gruyère, and a beef tartare that’s basically a riff on a beef, oyster & Guinness pie. Of course the menu plays all the hits too, including fish & chips, and their vast chilled or hot seafood platters, which involve oysters, lobster, prawns, scallops, langoustines, cuttlefish, octopus, and Exmoor caviar among many other swimmers.
And for dessert? There’s a sticky toffee pudding pavlova that you will likely be thinking about for the rest of your natural life.
Finally, to round things out, there’s a cocktail list with homemade seasonal spritz and gilda martinis (martini on the rocks served with a skewer of olives, anchovies and spicy pickled Spanish peppers), plus a wine menu celebrating British producers like Gusbourne and Blackbook Winery.
We look forward to the next 25 years.
NOTE: APPLEBEE’s will be relaunching in on February 13th.
PREVIOUS PERK: Nudge Members +1 got in for exclusive previews from 10th-12th of February, with 50% off the food bill. Not a Nudge Member yet? Sign up for a free 7 day trial.
APPLEBEE’s | 5 Stoney Street, Borough Market, SE1 9AA
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