The Cocochine

Discreet elegance is the Cocochine’s stock-in-trade, perceptible from the moment you step into the ground-floor dining room or ascend to the intimate chef’s counter above. While there’s a palpable sense of luxury and ease, it’s the innate sense of hospitality from the front of house staff matched with the creative, inspired and personal cooking from Sri Lankan-born chef Larry Jayasekara that makes the place memorable.

Jayasekara’s gastronomic signature is the artful incorporation of Sri Lankan nuances and seasoning into technically dazzling modern food, its roots embedded in his classical training in France and Britain. To get a glimpse, the ridiculously good-value three-course set lunch is a great intro; otherwise, it’s eight seriously impressive courses. Technique is used to enhance rather than overwhelm ingredients, and the result is a stunning showcase for prime British produce. A pick of the early courses was an enormous langoustine served over seaweed and green lentils, paired with Jerusalem artichoke purée and finished with a rich lobster bisque. Later, a dish of meltingly tender roasted sika deer with coconut sambal, chilli, beetroot soubise, a peppery nasturtium purée and a red wine jus, captured on one plate Jayasekara’s ability to tease flavours from ingredients and combine them into coherently delicious, strikingly beautiful food.

It's normal practice for fruits seasoned with chilli and salt to be sold on rail and bus journeys in Sri Lanka, and the diced pineapple with lemongrass sorbet, chilli flakes, coriander oil and lemon balm proved to be a brilliant homage. A sensational collection of some 1,400 bottles majors on prestige estates from Burgundy and Bordeaux with astonishing breadth and value elsewhere. Prices start at £33 and there are two dozen by the glass from £15. It’s worth noting, too, that the top floor is where you’ll find ‘possibly the most sensational private room in town’.