Paradise

This is food with a "fiery island accent," says Dom Fernando's inaugural Soho restaurant, which occupies the tiny space that was formerly Russell Norman's Spuntino. Another courteous caution, or perhaps an encouragement, is provided lower down on the menu: "Some of our dishes are really hot." It's true that some of the dishes on the menu are quite spicy, such as the stir-fried devilled prawns, malu-miris chilli capsicum with chilli, murunga, and burnt lime, or the slow-braised hogget shoulder roll with fermented chilli, but those with Walter-the-Softy palates shouldn't be put off because the flavor is what Paradise packs the most punch with.

Nothing on the small-plates menu, which changes seasonally, that isn't seven shades of delicious, from the pollock curry with winter tomato, chilli (hi again! ), lemongrass, langoustine oil, and crispy leeks to the grilled Ceylonese spiced prawn skewers with seaweed and kelp butter, papaya, palm heart, and mango. A rambutan daquiri and a ginger arrack sour are among the innovative cocktails on the low-intervention wine list. Dan Preston's interior design, which somehow fits a new row of booths along the wall for further buzz, also deserves praise. Paradise is diminutive and ideal in every way.

Address: 61 Rupert St, London W1D 7PW, United Kingdom
Rating: 4.4/5.0, 257 Google reviews
Website: https://paradisesoho.com/reservations