Aulis London.

Aulis London

The first course is a croustade blackened with charcoal made from the grill's own waste, holding salt-baked kohlrabi in a shell pressed from that kohlrabi's dried skin.3

Why go

Simon Rogan could not get produce he wanted in Cartmel, so he grew his own, and Our Farm is where most of what you eat here starts.51 Twelve people sit at a curved counter facing a galley kitchen and each dish is cooked in front of them and explained.31 It holds one MICHELIN star, taken in 2024.23

Charlie Tayler runs the pass. He started in kitchens at fourteen, cooked under Matt Gillan at The Pass, in Alyn Williams's team at The Westbury and under Brett Graham at The Ledbury, then spent a year in Japan on his knife work, and Sophie Farrah watched him take a blade through venison as if it were butter.43 Oli Marlow, the group's executive chef, writes the menu with him.1

Almost nothing leaves this kitchen. The teriyaki is English pearl barley cooked, fermented, then blackened through a second ferment of five or six weeks; the taramasalata is made from the roe of the fish course, salted and smoked in-house; the beeswax left over from the honey at the cheese course is turned into candles.3

Order this / avoid

• Order: there is nothing to order. One tasting menu at 195 pounds, taken as prepayment, with a discretionary fifteen percent added at the end.1
• Order: the non-alcoholic flight if you are not drinking, and possibly if you are. One pairing is artichoke skins lacto-fermented and refermented into a hojicha kombucha, finished with a goat's milk and woodruff cream; the Red Wine Not Red Wine is Japanese black tea cooked with beetroot juice, unfermented red grape juice, cocoa nibs and blackberries.3
• Avoid: booking with an undeclared allergy or restriction. The house requires fourteen days' notice of any dietary requirement.1
• Avoid: counting on the wine list to match the cooking. Harden's reporters say it is quite simple by comparison, and there is no Champagne at all, only English sparkling.63
• Avoid: Sunday and Monday. Dinner runs Tuesday to Saturday, lunch Friday and Saturday.1

What locals & experts say

• Sophie Farrah, Essential Surrey, June 2026, on the truffle pudding: a bite-sized wedge of croissant slices compressed in truffle custard, caramelised in birch sap (sustainably harvested by Rogan's team), and then finished with a thick layer of grated Corra Linn cheese and a drizzle of pine oil. I could have eaten ten.3
• Harden's survey diners, most recent edition: the guide calls One word… phenomenal! the unanimous answer this year, and reporters hail the counter as the top spot in the capital for those who want to focus on what's on the plate.6
• Harden's, on what the format is for: Don't come expecting linen table cloths and flunkies: you are dining in an extended kitchen, so it only works if you want the food to be the star. And it's truly stellar.6
• Harden's, printing the objection: a complaint repeated across recent editions that numerous dishes seemed simply ready to plate, with one diner adding I missed the opportunity to learn more about the food, as you can at some chef's tables.6
• Kim Ayling, Elite Traveler, 2023, on what the room stopped being: Aulis has rebranded and exists as a restaurant in its own right, its guests no longer precursors to those who make the pilgrimage up to the flagship.5

Good to know

• Finding it: St Anne's Court, the pedestrianised alley between Wardour Street and Dean Street. A black frontage and a small plaque. When it opened they would only tell you the address after you booked.6
• Booking: essential, and the restaurant handles its own. Dinner Tuesday to Saturday, lunch Friday and Saturday.21
• The room grew from eight covers to twelve in a spring 2023 refurbishment that also added a lounge, where the first few courses are served before you sit down.53
• Groups: the whole counter can be hired for twelve at no extra fee, with minimum charges.1
• Where the food comes from: predominantly Our Farm, Rogan's Lake District farm at Cartmel, which also supplies L'Enclume.16

Verdict

must-visit — Twelve people sit at a curved counter facing a galley kitchen, the room has held a star since 2024, and the kitchen throws almost nothing away. The opening croustade is blackened with charcoal made from the grill's own waste and holds salt-baked kohlrabi in a shell pressed from that kohlrabi's dried skin. The house teriyaki is English pearl barley cooked, fermented, then blackened through a second ferment of five or six weeks. The taramasalata comes from the roe of the fish course; the leftover beeswax becomes candles. Most of the produce starts at Our Farm in Cartmel, which Simon Rogan planted because he could not buy what he wanted there. Charlie Tayler runs the pass, trained under Gillan, Williams and Brett Graham and then a year in Japan, and Sophie Farrah watched him take a blade through venison as if it were butter. It is 195 pounds prepaid with fifteen percent on top, the wine list is the weak half by the survey's own account, and one repeated complaint says several dishes arrive essentially plated. Book it as the meal, not as part of an evening, and take the non-alcoholic flight seriously.