Restaurants may be reopening their doors (hallelujah!) but if you’re not ready to step outside your own door just yet here are some of the best DIY kits to get your restaurant fix in your own home.
Arabica DIY falafel kit
Middle Eastern food with bags of flavour is what you’ll find at Arabica’s restaurants in Borough Market and King’s Cross. Their DIY falafel kits are no different. You mould and fry the falafel yourself which is lots of fun then smother with tahini, chilli sauce and chopped salad. It’s like being on holiday.
Corbin & King home dining
Class-act restaurateurs Jeremy King and Chris Corbin may have reopened most of their restaurants but they’ve also turned their hands to home dining. Featuring the best they offer you simply pop Soutine’s Coq au Riesling in the oven for half an hour, fry Wolseley’s schnitzel in oil and butter, place Delaunay’s pickled cucumbers in a bowl and finish with Zédel’s mousse au chocolat straight out the container. This is pure bliss.
Dishoom bacon naan roll kit
It’s the blend of Dishoom’s tomato chilli jam, cream cheese and bacon (from Ramsay of Carluke in Scotland) that makes this DIY kit so bloomin’ delicious. You’re given three naan dough balls – the box serves two, that spare one is to practice. You roll out the dough, whack in a hot pan, stick it under the grill and hey presto, you’ve got yourself the perfect Dishoom bacon naan roll. Just add a fried egg for an extra treat.
Hame by Adam Handling
Here, you’ll eat some of the tastiest food there is and make it look gorgeous too while doing very little work yourself. The effort gone into this at home range by Adam Handling and the team is quite staggering. It includes every ingredient you’ll need, even the oil for frying Nanny Sophie’s fried chicken which is INCREDIBLE.
Jos? Pizarro
When it comes to tapas, Jos? and Pizarro on Bermondsey Street, not to mention his restaurant in Broadgate Circle and pub in Esher, are the best around. His finish at home range is brilliant because a lot of the dishes just need reheating (in their sealed bags) in warm water. The carabineros in olive oil is the best thing we ate in lockdown.
Le Swine DIY kit
Everyone loves a bacon sarnie, well except for vegetarians I guess. This one is a suped-up, fancy little fella. The milk and onion buns are a Le Swine recipe baked at Rye by the Water and they might just be the best buns you can get your hands on. Anywhere. They brilliantly sandwich together streaky AND back bacon topped with fresh sage and a fried duck egg with bacon butter and mushroom ketchup. Perfect for a hangover.
LUCA at home
Four courses or pure Italian joy are what you’ll find from the weekly changing menu at LUCA. The highlight is the homemade fresh pasta – this time it’s slow cooked beef ragu with pappardelle with chunks of meat so fatty it’s a total flavour bomb. Pudding is an Amalfi lemon posset with shortbread which acts both as an indulgent treat and palate cleanser.
Musette by Tom Aikens
Fancy fine dining restaurant Muse by Tom Aikens has perfected the classics for his at home range. We start with whole butter baked scallops in their shell, move onto a hearty fish pie with Isle of White tomatoes and green beans and finish with chocolate mousse which comes, conveniently, in its own piping bag ready to squeeze into a glass of your choice.
The Ninth black truffle pasta kit
If Michelin starred food in your living room is your thing then chef Jun Tanaka has you covered with this black truffle pasta Kit. You’ll receive fresh conchiglie pasta, Parmesan, breadcrumbs, egg yolk, truffle velouté and a generous pouch full of Australian winter truffle. This might look good on the old Insta but it tastes even better.
SHUK DIY pita kit
They have a street food stall down in Borough Market but if you can’t get there for one of Shuk’s insanely light pitas filled with spiced lamb meatballs then you’ll be pleased to know they deliver all over London within the M25. I’ve never had a pita quite like it and you need to try it for yourself.
SMOKESTAK at home
This is one of those restaurants you’d imagine is impossible to recreate at home but owner, David Carter, has smashed it out the park with his DIY brisket bun box. On lightly grilled buns brushed with beef dripping and barbecue sauce you place the curled up brisket which needs just 25 mins in your oven, top with pickled chillis and shove in your gob. Pure squidgy, fatty heaven.
