Riding House Bloomsbury

For the last 11 years, The Riding House Café has been a stalwart, dependably good brunch & dinner spot in Fitzrovia.

You could say it’s been extremely stable.

And now, it has a sister venue over in Bloomsbury’s Brunswick Centre, a Grade-II listed piece of Brutalist architecture. Being a little under a mile away from the Fitzrovia original, it means that the two restaurants are effectively straddling both sides of the British Museum.

Step inside the Riding House Bloomsbury, and you’ll find something that contrasts heavily with the coldly minimalist, concrete-swathed exterior, and create a warm, wood panelled space with a sleek-yet-welcoming club like feeling (to be clear, we mean members club, not oontz-oontz-oontz club) thanks to plush seating, plentiful greenery, and nice long bars. It’s all pretty sizable too, weighing in at 6,000 sq ft, and giving them enough room to feed 165 pancake-lusting diners at a time.

The broadly global menu plays all the hits that made the original Riding House Cafe so popular, including the lobster lasagne with crab claw & garlic sourdough, and of course their pancakes with toasted marshmallows, coconut clotted cream, white chocolate and banana maple syrup.

There are plenty of new dishes too, with a little more Bajan influences, thanks to the wonderful head chef Henry Omereye – Salt cod fritters with a zesty citrus mayo; smoked aubergine with a scotch bonnet berber spice mix; and a whole seabass bathed in miso and covered in Thai-style nuoc cham before being scorched on the asado grill. There’s even an ‘express tasting menu’ which nets you a swift four courses for just £28 per person.

And as for the drinks? They’ve lined up the help of Harry Hughes from The Ned, who’s shaken up a new cocktail menu for the place, and you can get their draught beers in gigantic growlers each holding 3 & 1/3 pints.

Sounds like they’re backing the right horse.

NOTE: Riding House Bloomsbury is open seven days a week. You can find out more, and book a table, at their website right HERE.

Riding House Bloomsbury | Brunswick Centre, WC1N 1BS

While you’re here… check out the area with our Bloomsbury itinerary