Luca, Clerkenwell

Luca is a Michelin-starred Italian restaurant on St John Street in Clerkenwell. It’s been around for over a decade now and has become something of a London institution, serving modern Italian food with a strong focus on British produce. Eating here à la carte certainly isn’t cheap, but the good news is that they offer a considerably more affordable ‘Bar Lunch’ every day. We went along to try it as part of my ongoing search for the best value Michelin menus in London.

The Details

Luca’s Bar Lunch Menu is served between 12pm and 2pm and costs £34 for two courses or £42 for three, with three choices each for starters and mains, and two desserts. Unlike the main restaurant, the lunch menu is served specifically in the bar area, with bookings available for up to four people. For context, the full Chef’s Menu currently costs £95 per person, so this is a substantially cheaper way to experience the cooking here.

There are a few snacks and sides available in addition, including Luca’s rather famous parmesan fries for £9, and a discretionary 15% service charge is added to the bill.

Interiors

First up, calling this the ‘bar area’ does slightly undersell it. Luca is a beautiful restaurant, and the front room feels every bit as considered as you’d expect from somewhere at this level. It’s warm and elegant rather than overly formal, with dark wood, leather and marble. The intimate banquettes have a worn, almost vintage finish, while pendant lamps cast a soft, ambient glow over each table.

Drinks

Luca’s wine list is predominantly Italian, with a good selection available by the glass. We gave our waiter a few parameters and she came back with two different suggestions, both of which hit the brief and were delicious. At £13 and £17 per glass, they sat around the middle of the by-the-glass range, with the most affordable white starting at £12.

Starters & Snacks

Having been to Luca once many years ago, I already knew I’d be paying the supplementary £9 for a portion of parmesan fries. These are probably Luca’s best-known snack and, for me, an absolute must-order. They look a little like enormous savoury churros, with a crisp exterior and a molten, cheesy centre. You absolutely don’t need them given how generous the rest of the lunch is, but I’d order them again without hesitation. Maybe even two portions, if I’m being completely honest.

For starters, we tried the salad of English courgettes with stracciatella, pickled Tropea onions and chilli oil. Light and refreshing, with creamy stracciatella against fresh courgette and enough chilli and acidity to give it some punch. A very good, summery starter.

The fried Jerusalem artichoke with hen of the woods and pickled walnut, however, was on another level. Rich, deep and intensely earthy, with a fantastic char on the mushrooms and enough acidity from the pickled walnut to balance the richness. This was easily one of the highlights of the meal and the dish I’d order again first.

Mains

For mains, we tried the braised lamb shoulder and collar with sweet potato, Kalibos cabbage and damson. The lamb was beautifully cooked, while the goat’s curd brought a welcome tangy creaminess to the dish. There was also courgette, another unexpected addition, and a collection of very good sauces tying everything together. The only element I wasn’t completely convinced by was the pepper, which felt slightly unnecessary when there was already plenty going on.

We also tried the mafaldine with tomato, pesto Trapanese, black olive and smoked almond. The pasta itself was beautifully cooked and the tomato sauce incredibly rich and concentrated, with black olive bringing salinity and fresh tomatoes lifting the whole thing. It was extremely well seasoned and, taken purely as a bowl of tomato pasta, about as good as you could reasonably ask for.

But fundamentally, it was still a bowl of tomato pasta. At a Michelin-starred restaurant, I’m hoping to eat something I either couldn’t make or wouldn’t think to make at home, and this didn’t quite give me that. It was delightful, but alongside the depth and complexity of the Jerusalem artichoke and lamb dishes, it felt comparatively simple. The plate was licked clean, though, so make of that what you will.

Dessert

Feeling rather full, we decided to order one tiramisu to share (for research purposes, of course), and it was exactly as it should be. As is the trend at the moment, it arrived in a great mound on the plate, presumably scooped from a much larger vessel somewhere off-screen. Rich but still remarkably light, with a generous hit of coffee, it was an excellent end to the meal.

Service

Service throughout was polished and relaxed, and suited the setting perfectly. Despite technically dining in the bar rather than the main restaurant, there was no sense of receiving a lesser experience. Service was attentive and knowledgeable without feeling overly formal, and our waiter’s wine recommendations were spot on.

Value

At £34 for two courses or £42 for three, this is one of the cheaper Michelin-starred lunches I’ve tried in London but it certainly doesn’t feel as though that price has been achieved by shrinking the portions. Every plate was generous and we were suitably stuffed afterwards.

Of course, as is always the case with these menus, £42 can very quickly stop being £42 if you get carried away with the extras. Add the water, parmesan fries, wine, coffees and 15% service and the bill climbs considerably (to £142.31, to be precise), but I still think that £72/pp is a reasonable price to pay for the quality and quantity of food we ate.

More importantly, the cooking felt representative of Luca rather than a lesser version designed specifically to hit a price point. Some of the dishes were relatively simple, particularly the pasta, but the ingredients were excellent and the best plates showed exactly the level of cooking I’d hoped for.

Final Verdict

There’s a reason Luca’s Bar Lunch Menu is popular. It offers a very affordable way into a Michelin-starred restaurant. The portions are generous, the setting is beautiful and the cooking is excellent.

Not every dish reached the same heights, and I’d choose the Jerusalem artichoke over the mafaldine every time, but that’s kind of the point of having three options per course. If a beautifully executed bowl of tomato pasta is exactly what you want, I suspect you’ll be delighted with the mafaldine. For me, there were simply more interesting dishes on the menu. Choose well, and there’s very little to complain about here. I’d happily return, although next time I’m having the Jerusalem artichokes all to myself.