Weekly Review: Margot (NOW CLOSED)
The Platonic ideal of professional lunch, manifested in Covent Garden.
UPDATE 14 June 2025: Margot has announced its closure as of 28 June 2025. Another place that I’m very sad to lose.
Quick hit: Refined Italian cruise. Refined service. Refined wine and cocktails. Refined atmosphere.
Details: Booking advised. Covent Garden. £££.
Restaurant website. More on Instagram and from Michelin.
Find it on Google Maps. 45 Great Queen St, WC2B 5AA.
We apparently have St. Augustine to thank for passing along the proverb that familiarity breeds contempt.
I was never, ever contemptuous of Margot when I worked just down the street, but there’s no question that I failed to appreciate its excellence.
Now that I work further away, and lunch at Margot requires a special trip rather than a short stroll, I’ve come to better appreciate just how good it is.
Margot is, in short, the Platonic ideal of a restaurant for professional lunch.
The service is exquisite. Friendly people at the front desk. A smoothly run coat and bag check that requires no faffing around. Ultra-professional wait-staff, most of whom are Italian. Brilliant sommeliers who have crafted an impeccable list. Outstanding, but not too familiar. Attentive, but if you’re deep in conversation, you’ll hardly notice their presence.
Then there’s the price. There’s a three-course set-lunch for £36, and you can easily order a starter and main from the a la carte menu and escape for less than £50. The wines are well-priced, too, with a reasonable rather than outrageous mark-up and some real bargains if you know where to look.
And let’s not overlook location. It’s in Covent Garden, milliseconds from the Central Line and Piccadilly Line at Holborn Station. And it sits on the little square at the corner of Great Queen Street and Drury Lane, so it’s bright on sunny days, and you can ponder what strangeness is happening in the Masonic Temple across the road.
The interior is gorgeous, with an art deco vibe and a vivid contrast of gold and black. But it’s still comfortable. The seats don’t hurt your back or backside, and you really can settle in for the afternoon. Or you can surf in and out in less than an hour. The staff is traditionally outfitted, but the look isn’t tired. It feels cool, chic, and modern.
And then there’s the food. It’s brilliantly done, properly refined Italian. So, while the titles and descriptions might sound familiar, Margot’s cooking pushes beyond the traditional. Pastas are a particular delight.
Carpaccio di Manzo — beef carpaccio with balsamic vinegar and shaved parmesan — is a favourite from the starters. Vitello tonnato and smoked salmon are also fantastic.
From the pastas, on my most recent visit, I chose crab ravioli with mascarpone, saffron sauce and cherry tomatoes. The pasta is homemade. The sauce is delicate and buttery, without overwhelming the crab. The tomatoes add a hint of acidity which brightens the dish. And because it’s ravioli, I minimise the chance of getting sauce on my shirt.
From past experience, I can also sing the praises of the wild boar ragu, the strozzapreti with duck ragu, and the lobster taglioni.
My friend tucked into a portion of cod, which was perfectly cooked and offered with a delicious and light butter sauce. The veal ossobuco with saffron risotto is also a triumph.
Margot was started by former Bar Boulud maître d’ Paulo de Tarso and La Petite Maison and Balthazar general manager Nicolas Jaouën. When it launched in 2016, the Telegraph said that they were “reviving the golden age of service.” Jay Rayner said “it is a special kind of right.”
There’s been very little written about it since, and its social media is a bit old school, so it doesn't generate much buzz. That suggests a quiet confidence that I can admire. Margot just performs, day after day, at a level of consistency and achievement that other restaurants should covet.
That consistency has made it a gem, and I can’t wait to get back. Familiarity has bred adoration.
Thanks so much for reading this week’s review. Have you been to Margot? What did you think? Let me know in the Comments.