Restaurant of the Month: 108 Brasserie.
Tucked just off Marylebone High Street - that genteel stretch where cashmere meets kombucha - 108 Brasserie feels like the sort of place where you could plausibly bump into someone called “Viscount Toby” who works in fintech and still wears a scarf indoors.
Housed within the Marylebone Hotel, this glossy all-day brasserie occupies what used to be a rather sleepy corner of W1. These days, though, it hums with a confident, candlelit swagger - part neighbourhood haunt, part romantic hideaway. The air crackles with low laughter, the clink of crystal, and the faint, flattering suspicion that everyone around you is on a really good date.
Inside, it’s all buttery leather banquettes, dark wood panelling, and glints of brass that whisper “grown-up glamour” without tipping into stuffiness. It’s the kind of dining room that glows - literally, thanks to the flattering amber lighting - and figuratively, because the staff glide about with the calm precision of a West End stage crew. You settle in, order a cocktail, and feel your shoulders drop about four notches.
Speaking of cocktails, the Antibes Sunset arrives first — a gilded, spritzed-up dream involving Disaronno, lychee, orange bitters, and a fizz of Rathfinny Cuvée. It’s a holiday in a glass, all almond perfume and seaside sunshine, the kind of drink that makes you briefly forget you’ve spent the day wrestling with London’s Tube delays. My date opts for the Monaco Royal — what a showstopper. Raspberry-infused Belvedere, lemon, and aquafaba topped again with Rathfinny bubbles: it’s flirtatiously tart, elegantly foamy, and utterly intoxicating (in both senses)..
To start, the Devon crab crumpet is a revelation - a buttery, oceanic little marvel, the sweetness of crab and brown shrimp teased into balance by kohlrabi and a flirtatious flick of green apple. It’s indulgence with structure; a sort of seaside symphony played on bone china. The tuna ceviche is its cooler, sassier cousin: delicate slivers of fish glistening in leche de tigre, the sharp tang of chilli and pineapple dancing around avocado’s silken calm. The whole thing crackles with electric freshness, like the culinary equivalent of a first kiss that actually lives up to the hype.
Desserts arrive like the night’s final flirtation: a classic vanilla crème brûlée with a crackly, glassy top that gives way to custard so silken it could star in its own skincare ad. And the peach and hibiscus cheesecake - oh my. It’s a pastel-hued cloud of creamy, zesty bliss, the hibiscus lending a subtle floral tang that keeps things from tipping into saccharine territory.
Then come the mains. My miso-glazed black cod arrives with the glossy allure of a K-beauty influencer - lacquered, gently wobbling, and exuding a rich umami depth that makes you momentarily consider writing sonnets about soybeans. The supporting cast - garlicky morning glory, baby corn, and sticky rice - provide crunch, heat, and contrast in all the right places. Across the table, the ribeye steak lands with the quiet authority of a Rolls-Royce door closing: thick, perfectly charred, and humming with marbled opulence. The béarnaise is golden and unapologetically buttery; the chips are thick-cut and audibly crisp. A glass of Sangiovese Armigero Riserva 2019 from Emilia Romagna - plush, plummy, and just the right side of dangerous - ties it all together like a silk scarf.
Sides? The Tenderstem broccoli with chilli and lemon is that rarest of things: a vegetable dish that earns its place in the conversation. Zingy, charred, and joyfully simple.
108 Brasserie doesn’t reinvent the wheel - it polishes it, lights it beautifully, and serves it with a cocktail and a wink. It’s polished but playful, seductive without trying too hard - the culinary equivalent of a perfect second date that makes you forget the first one ever existed.
Reservations: https://108brasserie.com/reserve/