Toptable Dining Awards 2009 – Runner Up: Best Over £45

Owned by the Fifteen Foundation and made famous by Jamie Oliver’s TV series in 2002, Fifteen is now a legend in its own right. Set over two floors in a handsome old building near Old Street; the downstairs dining room is a bright, urban space – complete with retro white chairs, graffiti on the walls, and an open kitchen. The Mediterranean menu is an eco-friendly gourmet’s dream, because the ingredients are seasonal and locally sourced where possible and all fish are caught from sustainable waters. Popular dishes include Sicilian fisherman’s stew with saffron potatoes; romanesco and goat’s cheese ravioli; and shoulder of Welsh lamb with cannellini beans and anchovy-rosemary dressing. The laid-back vibe and excellent wine list complete what is now one of London’s premier dining experiences.

The Good Food Guide London

“The urban warehouse setting is as bright and breezy as Jamie Oliver’s TV persona.  On the ground floor is an all-day trattoria where you can pop in for a coffee, or tuck into the likes of linguine alla carbonara or rib eye with porcini butter.  The main dining room is below.  Here the menu makes a virtue of simplicity…’good service’ creates a ‘fantastic eating experience’…”

London Restaurant Guide 2009 – Charles Campion

“When  Jamie Oliver’s restaurant Fifteen first burst onto our television screens it quickly became apparent that the stated objective ‘To give opportunities to unemployed youngsters and help them change their lives by becoming the next generation of star chefs’, would not be an easy task.  Some years further on and dogged determination seems to be paying off.  The more pukka establishment downstairs is very busy….while the Trattoria on the ground floor offers customers sound Italian food, shirpy service and glimpses of the telly stars, and then makes them pay enough to support the endeavour…the beef comes from Buccleugh; the olives from Amalfi; and the olive oil from Cerro del Masso.  In a similar vein, ‘the lightest potato gnocchi’ are very good and come with Isle of Wight mushroom….The cooking is sound and the service is slick…”

London Restaurants 2009 – Harden’s

Fifteen Restaurant:
“…find the service ‘knowledgeable’ and the Italian food ‘enjoyable’…”
Fifteen Trattoria:“…the cheaper ground floor of Jamie’s Hoxton Italian has ‘enthusiastic’ staff, and offers ‘robust’ and ‘flavoursome’ fare (including ‘brilliant’ breakfasts) that generally live up to the prices.

Time Out – Little Black Book of London

“Fifteen…serves the best breakfasts in London.  We usually have two poached eggs and bubble and squeak.  It also has homemade muesli and Bloody Marys, plus the hugest bacon sarnies you ever seen.” – Brix Smith

Zagat London Restaurants 2009

“The ‘young chefs [in training] work hard to impress’ at this ‘casual’, ‘cute concept from the peripatetic Jamie Oliver’, where ‘creative dishes’ from an ‘enticing’ Med menu are ‘served enthusiastically’; whether you prefer the ‘smart dining room downstairs’ or the ‘cheaper’, more ‘buzzy’ ‘bistro space upstairs’, it’s ‘well worth the adventure’ of heading to Hoxton”

Photography © Simon Dean