We’ve gone past 12th August, aka the Glorious Twelfth, and that means as well as the summer slipping away, we’re officially into game season. The 12th refers to the start of the shooting season for red grouse, so a lot of restaurants will start putting grouse on their menus from that date but you can expect venison, hare, pheasant and other wild meat dishes to appear. The game is afoot in London and here’s where to eat it.
Mount St. Restaurant
Mount St. Restaurant is doing double grouse for game season, with a starter of grouse broth with game & malt bread on offer, followed by a main of traditional roast Yorkshire grouse with trimmings of game chips, liver parfait tart with pickled elderberries, watercress, confit legs & grouse jus.
45 Jermyn St
An old-school spot like 45 Jermyn St would never skip grouse season so this year it’s back on the menu, served whole and roasted with game chips, bread sauce and rowanberry jelly.
The Jugged Hare
Game season or not, hare isn’t something you see a lot of on London menus but this Barbican gastropub is known for it, so much so that it’s named after it. Here the signature jugged hare is served with mash, savoy cabbage and bacon.
The Harwood Arms
A mainstay on The Harwood Arms menu and for good reason (because it’s bloody excellent), the venison scotch egg is one of the best versions of the breaded egg you’ll find in London.
Kutir
Rohit Ghai likes cooking with game so much at Kutir that he’s dedicated one of his tasting menus to it. Order the Hunter’s Expedition and feast on guinea fowl & fennel, quail with garlic & puy lentils, rabbit vindaloo, and venison & green peppercorn curry.
Kitchen W8
Kitchen W8’s head chef Mark Kempson is a big game lover so he wouldn’t miss the chance to add it to the menu, which he’s done with this Yorkshire grouse with ancient grains, smoked bacon and hedgerow jelly dish.