Three Cranes

A collaboration between former Racine chef Henry Harris and Harcourt Inns founder James McCulloch, Three Cranes specialises in all things grilled from 10 ounce rib-eye steaks to tomatoes on toast. Having taken over a Victorian townhouse in the City, this elegant eatery is comprised of a ground floor pub, with two smaller dining rooms across the second and third levels, and two serviced apartments on the upper floors. 

The menu, though small, is an interesting mix of dishes. With starters including smoked eel and Henry Harris' much-lauded steak tartare, and all manner of grilled meats for mains (served avec pomme frites, of course), it's a place for rich and hearty meals. The butter selection is a notable inclusion on the menu, with variations such as bone marrow, anchovy and rosemary, and thyme and fleur de sel on offer to accompany your rump or rib-eye. The kitchen is headed up by Douglas Brunen, formerly of Havey Nichols Fifth Floor, and food is served in the bar as much as the dining rooms, with a daily bar sandwich available.  

The wine list has adopted a strong Bordeaux influence on account of the fact that the restaurant takes its name from the three cranes of timber on nearby Vintry Wharf where the first casks of Bordeaux wine were brought into London. Gimlets, Armagnac Martinis and Negronis are also a speciality of the bar.