If Proust had been writing today, he would probably be thinking about the weather rather than the past when he wrote “À la recherche du temps perdu”. We English love to complain about the rain, but none of us having seen it for several months (apart from those of us stupid enough to have spent a week on the Isle of Mull), the complaints had switched to the overwhelming, oppressive “heat dome” that had settled on London and made 1976 feel like a Moscow winter.

A heat dome, a dead aircon and the long walk to Rupert Street

So you can imagine how much we felt like slogging up to London on what was then the hottest day of the year (a moniker that can be applied to virtually any day of the long, hot summer of 2026), on a train where the aircon gave up the ghost, and the only way of opening a window to get some air was via the liberal application of a hammer.

But plans are plans. And we are on a mission with our friend M (not, I should point out, the oenophile M of OXO Tower fame) to find the best value set lunch in London. I have already reported our great success at Mignonette, but I thought this one might be on a par with some of our more ok-ish outings like a slightly iffy Christmas lunch at Gazette in Putney. The menu looked ok, but just seemed too cheap for a decent meal in Central London.

It did not prove an easy place to find. Usually, I would have skipped over the bridge from Waterloo on foot, but it was genuinely too hot, and Lime bikes are the Devil’s work, so it was into the bowels of the Tube, to be disgorged with the usual gaggle of static tourists at Leicester Square. I zigged, zagged, pushed, shoved and swore my way down Charing Cross Road and up Lisle Street, along Wardour Street, down a dingy passageway and finally found my way onto Rupert Street. Oof. I eyed up the tables outside, which would usually be my go to, but they looked suspiciously empty, and I think at least one of the chairs had melted in the heat, so I ducked inside.

They took the wine list away because we did not look like wine people

First impressions were mixed. The aircon was on, which was a plus, but it is a tiny, narrow place, and as a table of three, we were given a corner banquette and a round table which meant that everyone, by the end of the meal, had a sore shoulder from having to twist round to either eat or talk. And the service, while not unpleasant, was a little brusque, at least at first. I was amused/slightly annoyed when the server took the wine list off the table when I wasn’t looking because they didn’t think we looked like wine people (as in, we were studying the set menu intently and had only ordered water up to that point).

There was not really much choice on starters, either cucumbers, or a plate of tomatoes. We all chose cucumbers, and at this point, the service perked up. Clearly we had heard of the famous Palomar cucumbers (we had not), but we played along. We also made a production and a half about ordering the wine. In a surprisingly good move, which I wholeheartedly support, Palomar offers half bottle sized carafes of wine, and most interestingly, it’s not just the standard fare. I have a great interest in the wines of the former Soviet Union (a man needs a hobby), and I noticed the house wine was Georgian (you have to be slightly dubious about any wine that comes from a country that gave us both Shampanskoye and Josef Stalin), which I was keen to try. M (in common with their namesake) was very happy to quaff the red with me, but Mrs N is of a more delicate nature and prefers a glass of white. And she is extremely suspicious of my love of exotic vines (even after a magnificent Moldovan white in Margate), so the server was sent off for a taster: It did not go down well. So instead, she settled for the Spanish which was next up the list…

The cucumbers nobody warned us about

Anyhow, the cucumbers duly arrived, and OMG, they were amazing. Not just good, honest to goodness amazing. There were crispy bits, and slimy bits (that is good, honestly), and a whole vegetable aisle of cucumbers on each plate. I could have stopped there. It was the most generous set lunch starter portion I have ever had, so hats off to Palomar for that.

Sweetheart cabbage with a side of magic

And it carried on. I love sweetheart cabbage, and I think this is one of the best renditions I have ever had. The menu says “Amba, Tandoori Onion” as the accompaniments, but I think “side of magic” would not have gone amiss here. M went for the trout, and Mrs N had the chicken, which is usually just too boring. They both loved their mains and I had a generous chunk of chicken in exchange for a parsimonious amount of cabbage, and again, it was delicious. Mrs N’s only complaint was that compared to both the trout and the cabbage, it didn’t come with anything. Perhaps they could have shaved a few cucumbers off the starter…

Baklava is not a sandwich, whatever the staff tell you

Even the pudding was great, and I don’t eat pudding. We were encouraged to pick the baklava sandwich to eat it, but I think that is just for the amusement of the staff. I very sensibly attacked it with a spoon. Not everyone else had the good sense to do so.

Three courses for the price of a generous Nando’s

Overall, the food was quite superb, and it is now officially my favourite set lunch in London. With sparkling water, wine, coffee, a three course meal and service, we got out for £55 a head, which is basically a generous Nando’s.

Small gripes, and the verdict

My gripes are small. Service was a tiny bit awkward, although it warmed up, and the tables are very cramped (what do you expect in Central London), which is fine when your neighbours have brought a cute baby along, but less so when the people on the other side are into their second bottle of wine (each), with accompanying increase in volume, and decrease in common sense.

This is unmissable as a set lunch: Get it while they can still afford to offer it.

Conclusion

Overall rating: 5/5

• Food: 6/5
• Service: 4/5
• Wine: 4/5
• Ambience: 4/5
• Value for money: 5/5
• Price: ££
• Would we go back? Certainly not waiting for the next Ice Age…

The Palomar: https://thepalomar.co.uk/