Hello and welcome back to Vittles Restaurants! Today’s Six of One has half a dozen excellent restaurant recommendations from Ella Fox-Martens, Tom Usher, Betul Arik, Tristan Rendell, Elliot Burr and **Jane Gleeson. **As well as gaining access to the entire Six of One back catalogue, paid subscribers can view the Vittles Restaurants map, which features over 500 venues, across every borough of London; our review archive; the 99 best restaurants list; and our three-part central London lunch guides, which covers everywhere from Soho, Clerkenwell, and the City.
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Anyone who grew up in South Africa in the 2010s will know that a visit to the much-beloved seafood chain Ocean Basket – established by the Lazarides brothers in Pretoria in 1995 – was no ordinary occasion. Graduations, birthdays, first dates: there was no event that a seafood platter couldn’t appropriately celebrate. For me, the trademark blue logo and casual collision of influences (Cape Malay, Dutch, Greek) exemplify the very best aspects of South African culture and cuisine: an unfussy, generous abundance and a commitment to absolutely stuffing yourself.
Despite its expansion into other southern African countries, I was caught off guard when I learned that there was a singular Ocean Basket in the UK, located in, of all places, Kingston-upon-Thames. Certainly I was sceptical that it could live up to my glowing childhood memories. Sitting on the bewilderingly picturesque outdoor patio, with views of the glittering river and its white swans, I inhaled a starter of tender grilled calamari that could just as easily have come straight from the Durban boardwalk. For £50, the platter for two featured two large portions of battered Cape hake, perfectly salted, crunchy chips, rice flavoured with turmeric, paprika and peppers, fresh Prince prawns, crispy fried calamari heads that could be consumed in a single bite and tangy mussels. It was outstandingly generous. Service was impeccable, the sauces, sides (pickled garlic and chutney) and bread rolls were free, and the South African-focused wine list didn’t go over £9 a glass.
The finishing touch was a Dom Pedro, which is essentially a vanilla milkshake infused with your choice of spirit. Mine was Amarula, a South African liquor with notes of toffee and apricot. It was perfect and perfectly sweet. I was left to gaze at the families and couples that surrounded us. Plenty of South African accents, of course, but I was pleased to hear many others, English and otherwise, united in admiration. Ten-year-old me couldn’t have dreamed of anything better. Ella Fox-Martens
52a High St, Kingston upon Thames KT1 1EU
Behind the paywall: Cypriot sandwiches in Wood Green, the top-tier of London lahmacun, and more recommendations. Plus a new updated map! You can subscribe to Vittles for £7/month or £59 for the whole year, which gives you access to restaurant recommendations from the last six and half years, including the Vittles Restaurants map, the Vittles 99, the central London lunch guides, and the Newcomers Guide To London.
