Keep strolling north and you’ll come to the slick, glassy frontage that signals Gaucho, part of the capital’s foremost restaurant group focusing on exceptional South American cuisine and world-class Argentinean fare. A recent makeover has taken the brand from glitzy and kitschy (be gone, cowhide and chandeliers) to modern and tasteful, with supple leather banquettes and a palette of inky blue and ochre. What has remained, however, is London’s best steak dinner. The Black Angus beef served at Charlotte Street — bred in Argentina on 17 different types of grass — is even 100 per cent carbon-neutral. Book the Beef Bar countertop experience (limited to four seats) or the monthly supper club for a special occasion. Meanwhile, empanadas, beef carpaccio and ceviche make the perfect trio of appetisers.
If you’re looking for a laser-sharp Japanese sushi fix on Charlotte Street, Kazu is the place to go, just across Tottenham Street from Gaucho. Notable by the midnight blue awning, the unassuming dining room inside is plainly Japanese in décor, with nothing more than simple woods, matte black detailing and a sturdy sushi counter. Behind it, chef Dham Kodituwakku brings more than three decades’ worth of experience and expertise in sourcing authentic Japanese produce. His knife skills, too, are lauded throughout London. Here, the wagyu is wafer-thin, the black cod is fat and creamy, and the tempura batter on your prawn light as a feather. The sake collection isn’t to be sniffed at, either, while the mixed Chirashi bowl has all the sashimi you could hope for.
Think somewhere as delicious as Charlotte Street would be Michelin star free? Not only does the street’s most exclusive reservation have one Michelin star: it has two. Just a little further up from Kazu, and within spitting distance of the BT Tower, Kitchen Table is an intimate affair behind a blink-and-you’ll-miss it door, seating only 15 diners in a horseshoe counter over which countless culinary explanations have shared. The brainchild of chef James Knappett and his sommelier wife Sandia Chang, the menus here change daily, with each course celebrating one star ingredient, such as oyster, deer or truffle. The ingredients are listed, nightly, on the blackboards that surround the bar, where you’ll also find scribbles of praise from world-leading chef guests like Thomas Keller. At £300 per tasting menu (excluding drinks), it’s one of the expensive restaurants in the UK. But with ingredients this carefully and sustainability sourced (Kitchen Table is a big advocate of daily foraging) and dishes so good a third Michelin star is surely round the corner, it feels almost like a bargain.
And so our journey through Charlotte Street comes to a close. As the spine of Fitzrovia, discerning diners are truly spoilt for choice by the street’s international range of restaurants, from counter-top gourmet, to Michelin star dining, all within a strollable 450-metre stretch. There really is nowhere better to whet your appetite.