7 Savvy Spots for a Working Lunch
Whether you’re reclaiming your lunch break and looking for quick dine-in options at lunchtime, or you’re a freelancer hot-desker after a spot to pitch up with the laptop and eat at the same time, we thought we’d round-up our top working lunch spots to tick the boxes for you.
Duck Soup
Lunch for £10
This is one of The Handbook’s favourite Soho spot for a quick, delicious and affordable lunch. Go solo and grab a seat at the bar, turn your phone off, get out a good book and choose one of Ducksoup’s daily lunch specials with a glass of wine for only £10. Expect fresh, seasonal dishes such as turmeric spiced cauliflower with almonds and garlic yogurt, ham hock with fermented celeriac, apple and hazelnuts, and bavette steak with charred chicory, puy lentils and mint. You’ll be in and out within the hour and can return to your desk refreshed, relaxed and pleasantly full.
Where: 41 Dean Street, Soho, W1D 4PY
Website: http://www.ducksoupsoho.co.uk
Bernardi's
Critic-commended, classic Italian
This new Italian restaurant and bar in Marylebone is ideal for a quick bite to eat on your lunch break. Meet a friend and enjoy a couple of courses from Bernardi’s set menu, which is available weekdays from 12 noon to 3pm. Coming in at under £20, enjoy winter-warming roasted squash with rocket and pecorino salad followed by Hampshire pork saltimbocca, kale and lemon. If you’re a sweet tooth, skip the starter and indulge in a slice of apple and olive oil cake with marscapone.
Where: 62 Seymour Street, Marylebone, W1H 5BN
Website: http://bernardis.co.uk
Hoi Polloi
Lunch Club
Hoi Polloi’s booth-style banquettes are the perfect place for those working on the move. Plug sockets and table lamps make the restaurant an ideal setting to hot-desk throughout the day, while a tempting Workers’ Lunch menu lures you in – an exclusive list of dishes for only £10: think minute steak with fried egg, chips, green tomatoes and jalapeno salsa and spicy chicken breast with green chilli and parsley. To top things off, Hoi Polloi’s new Lunch Club rewards frequent visitors, giving you £1 credit for every £10 you spend – so if you have lunch everyday for two weeks, they’ll give you lunch on them!
Where: 100 Shoreditch High Street, Shoreditch, E1 6JQ
Website: http://hoi-polloi.co.uk
Chicken Shop
Free-range fast-food
Healthy, affordable fast-food. We know… The Handbook didn’t think it existed either! But Chicken Shop is the perfect quick-serve, clean, working lunch, whether you’re based centrally near Holborn or further afield in say Kentish Town, Tooting, Balham, Whitechapel or Crouch End. Chicken Shop aims to get your fresh food to the table in four minutes, serving up deliciously moist, free-range rotisserie chicken with sides including butter lettuce and avocado salad and corn on the cob. You’ll be in and out within the hour and won’t feel sluggish from carb-laden food, which is a plus!
Where: Various
Website: http://www.chickenshop.com
Forge & Co
Work space with restaurant
A stone’s throw from Shoreditch High Street station, Forge & Co offers freelancers and start-up businesses alike two workspace floors to base themselves, with hand-crafted desks for individuals as well as enclosed studios for teams of people. Our favourite perk? Downstairs is Forge & Co’s modern grill, ideally located for a leisurely hour-long lunch, where not a minute is wasted on travelling there! The Handbook recommends grazing on a few small plates, like the braised beef croquettes, flatbreads with hummus, ratatouille and yogurt dip, and homemade ricotta with truffled honey, grilled poached pear and sourdough.
Where: 154-158 Shoreditch High Street, London, E1 6HU
Website: http://forgeandco.co.uk
Caravan
Small plates to share
Perfectly located for office workers in Farringdon and Clerkenwell, Caravan in Exmouth Market serves seasonal small plates perfect for sharing with colleagues on your lunch break. Tuck into courgette with goat’s curd, piquello peppers and sherry vinaigrette, grilled octopus with paprika, shallots and capers, and smoked duck breast with chicory, pomegranate dressing and blue cheese. Caravan’s bread, meat and cheese plates are great for grazing if you’re on a working lunch team meeting – we recommend the merguez sausage, maple roasted pork, crispy hen’s egg, piquello salsa, pesto courgettes, sobrasada, manchego and walnut bread platter.
Where: 11 – 13 Exmouth Market, Clerkenwell, EC1R 4QD
Website: http://www.caravanonexmouth.co.uk
