When it’s too hot to eat, it’s somehow never too hot to consider having a Caesar salad. There’s something about the classic combination that just hits the spot every time. And while it’s a staple on many menus across town, there are a few places that do it really well. Here, in our opinion, are London’s Caesar salad hotspots.
Black Cactus BBQ
Walthamstow - 57 Sutherland Road, E17 6BH
Construction workers turned barbecue obsessives Matt Kears and Josh Alcock do not do anything by halves, as anyone who’s tried their amazing barbecued meats or award-winning burgers can testify. So it’s absolutely par for the course that their Caesar salad is a work of art too. It’s made with Romaine lettuce, a garlic crispy crouton, 24-month-aged Parmesan and - the clincher - anchovy xo chilli crunch. They call it "the most calorie-dense salad in London”. We call it genius.
Czer
Mayfair - 33 N Row, London W1K 6DE
This Caesar salad wrap residency in Mayfair singlehandedly pushed London’s obsession with all things Caesar into the stratosphere. Tucked away at a counter at the back of a grocery store is where you’ll find London’s take on the NYC bodega special. There are two wraps on offer, a classic and a picante. But the real USP is that you get to pick any crisps in the store to have them chopped into the salad. Prawn cocktail chicken Caesar wrap? You’ve got it.
Decimo
King's Cross - 10th Floor, 10 Argyle St, London WC1H 8EG
Given its Mexican roots (the dish was first made in Tijuana), it’s fitting that this rooftop Mexican spot in King’s Cross has a very good Caesar salad on its menu. They bill this as a “love letter to Caesar Cardini’s 1924 original”. The anchovy emulsion is whisked in a bowl, then tossed with the lettuce before being snowed on with Parmesan and finished with wafer-thin Coombeshead Farm sourdough croutons.
Corner Shop
Strand - 7 Arundel St, Temple, London WC2R 3DA
Swing by this stylish Strand spot at lunchtime and you won’t be able to move for folks ordering the Caesar, either solo or to go with the rotisserie chicken. Described by food writer Ben McCormack as "lavishly croûtoned and luxuriantly dressed", this is a beast of a salad. And, if you’re a big fan of anchovies, you’ll appreciate that this iteration features them whole.
Photo: @mrbenmccormac
Carbone
Mayfair - 30 Grosvenor Sq, London W1K 2LG
It’s all about the tableside theatre at US import Carbone’s London restaurant. Their Caesar salad alla ZZ is built step by step in front of you. First they do the dressing, then they toss through the little gem lettuce. Their semolina bread croutons are XXL and the whole thing is finished with an almost excessive amount of grated ricotta salata with anchovies an optional extra.
Dante
Mayfair - Claridge's, Brook St, London W1K 4HR
Normally the very idea of a kale Caesar salad would have us heading for the door, but having actually tried the New York Kale Caesar at Dante Mayfair, we were forced to rethink our prejudice. The American restaurant's Claridge's outpost serves it up simply using Lacinato kale, Parmigiano Reggiano and croutons, and we're here to tell you that it's a gamechanger.
Honourable mentions: Hawksmoor, Grasso, The Park and 74 Duke all serve up Caesar salads that are worth seeking out.
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