Foxlow Clerkenwell

Perfect combination of casual and elegant dining. Welcoming atmosphere, friendly service, and delicious food. We sat at a high top counter near the bar where we could watch both fellow dinners and the kitchen staff — neither of which failed to amuse. We’d come come back in a heartbeat. To top things of, our wonderful Italian server shared some of her awesome homemade limoncello with us. Magnifico!!!

Came here for my birthday with husband and in laws. It was great. I had the ribeye with some mac n cheese and mash w/​gravy. I also had a taste of some starters: Burrata (superb), and smoked ribs (also amazing). I pretty much liked it all except for the ice cream we had for dessert. It was made with milk and soft serve style, but a bit too grainy/​watery for my liking. Still wouldn’t put me off going back!

I came here for brunch and was first put off by the small portion of the main I got — fried chicken and waffle. The flavorfulness of the dish made it worthwhile — esp the gravy and was the right portion for me. My friends got a cheeseburger and fried chicken which they enjoyed. Desserts were apple and plum pie with really nice soft serve and salted caramel mousse — both were good but nothing to write home about. Keen to come back and try dinner options

I booked the Foxlow’s Clerkenwell site for a Sunday afternoon Valentine’s Day brunch with my boyfriend. After a notable meal there last May, I had the same high expectations for this more casual visit. The Foxlow’s brunch menu delivers a selection that diverts from the customary full English: think trendy Moroccan baked eggs with green harissa, avocado and feta smashed on toast and their signature croissant waffle– served with fried chicken and eggs– instead. The prices are also reasonable, with most plates under a tenner.
The Foxlow is a spin-​off concept from the team at the much-​lauded Hawksmoor, providing a more relaxed neighbourhood bistro setting focused on serving great, locally-​sourced produce. There are now three locations around London, but the flagship and central site remains consistently busy. Even on a Sunday, when Clerkenwell can resemble a ghost town, the restaurant was packed and lively. We were escorted through the main open floor space to a more contained section adjacent to the wine bar. A catchy mix of classic rock and 80s anthems wafted through the air and the servers were chirpy and unperturbed, creating a relaxed mood ideal for languid Sunday dining.
While the Foxlow excels with its warm ambiance and affable staff, we were stunned at the disorganisation that was so strongly apparent that afternoon. Diners were left waiting to order and were unable to command the attention of the sole, overstretched server in our area. Food was sluggish to appear– to the extent where two tables around us were offered complimentary drinks and starters and one couple opted to leave before their food arrived. We received a profuse apology for the delay with our meal and couldn’t find our server when we tried to order an additional side of toast.
I had the baked Moroccan eggs, served on a stewed tomato and chickpea base, drizzled with spicy green harissa and finished off with a dollop of yogurt. I also ordered a side of Sobrassada toast. The baked eggs came in a decent sized portion, but I found the two small slices of toast frugal. The tomato base was full-​bodied and flavoursome, but arrived searing hot; my eggs were overcooked, rubbery and dried out, lacking the gooey yolks that I anticipated. The sauce was tasty, however, and carried a nice punch of harissa, but I didn’t send the dish back because of the prolonged wait. I ate around the eggs, but found even the toast was rock hard. I would have preferred a warm, pillowy flatbread to scoop up the juices and yogurt.
My boyfriend was lured away from the brunch fare. Instead, he opted for a basket of fried chicken, which came with fiery habanero vinegar. He was much happier with his choice, which arrived as a generous bundle of wings and thighs that were amply seasoned and coated in a golden crispy shell. Evenly fried and appealing to the eye– with no resemblance to the sickly and greasy chicken of the local chicken shop– the meat inside was moist and elevated by the spicy and sharp notes of the vinegar.
This visit to the Foxlow was unfortunately inconsistent with our past experience, but I hope that it was a matter of catching them on an off day. While the lengthy wait for food was admittedly a huge disappointment, the atmosphere and staff are pleasant and I’m not writing them off just yet.

Good steak and cocktails, amazing desserts!
The staff was very nice with us.
A good address I’ll definitely come back to try the brunch !

I really wanted to love Foxlow. I really did. I went for a Sunday brunch — we only waited 10 mins to get a table which was lucky because it was packed!
The food was okay I guess… I ordered the chicken and waffles and maybe it’s partly my fault for not asking questions but when I think of chicken and waffles, I think of delicious tender fried chicken, a sweet waffle and maple syrup.
I got 1 and a half of that.
Delicious tender fried chicken — check.
Sweet waffle — half check. It was a croissant waffle but I could live with that.
But! The maple syrup was missing!!! Instead I got a little jug of gravy with bits of something of a meaty consistency in it. Okay, it wasn’t gross but it wasn’t sweet and maple-​y!
I also got a fried egg. That made me feel a bit better.
But I couldn’t help feeling a tad disappointed.
Service is friendly they give you enough time to look at the menu and don’t rush at all — although when they took my friends coat they didn’t really explain what that green ticket was for. I nearly left it at the bar.
From the look of the other dishes on the menu, I think I’ll give Foxlow another chance but sadly won’t be ordering chicken and waffles.

This rating is heavily weighted towards the food, as I prefer that most ratings would be. The service and ambience was fine.
The featured item based on reviews are fried chicken and the «10 hour short rib». On a Tuesday I picked incorrectly. Perhaps they should look into a 6 hour rib. I may have received a Monday rib, it was quite dry, it would’ve been a decent roast beef serving on Sunday, if there was gravy available to moisten it. I asked for gravy or a wine sauce after tasting, my choices were ketchup or bbq sauce.
Disappointed, possibly an off-​nite for Foxlow considering other reviews.

I adore Hawksmoor and after hearing about Foxlow from a colleague I was eager to visit. The décor is relaxed but stylish with an open kitchen which is always nice.
There was a table of 7 of us and we were served attentively and in a friendly manner. Our waitress was more than happy to give us more information about the menu.
We had the fried chicken sandwich, the mac and cheese and chicken salt fries and all were really delicious. The mac and cheese was the dish I was most worried about as so many people get it wrong but this was pretty decent.
One word of advice: do not take any vegan friends here. They literally have next to nothing on the menu for them but for veggies and carnivores it’s wonderful.

Amazing selection of meaty dishes with good veggie options as well. All their burgers are worth a visit.

Just finished a lovely sunday brunch here with 5 friends. We decided to have brunch just yesterday and we’ve been wanting to check this place out for a while. We were pleasantly surprised that they were able to fit in such a big group at a day’s notice and they were very flexible when our group dropped from 8 to 6 on the morning of.
The décor here is nice; a diner-​like feel but classier. When we arrived at 11am it was completely empty and very quiet, given that they only open at 11am on Sundays. This ended up being a good thing as they were quite quick with service.
The coffee here was surprisingly good. I ordered a flat white and whilst the milk was a bit bubbly it was thin and strong, as a good FW should be. Hubby ordered a piccolo and the waitress was very keen to get it right… making it twice to make sure he was satisfied. Everyone else at our table seemed happy with their americanos, some going back for seconds.
We went to this place because some reviews had said it’s the best breakfast burger in London. Two of our party ordered the burgers and thought they were good. In their opinions, the bun was soft and sweet, the egg perfectly cooked. The sausage patty was apparently not the best and the portions were a little smaller than they would have liked. Both guys got the mushroom on the side (and gave it to their wives!) Me and two of my friends ordered avocado on toast which was delicious with really well-​balanced flavours of lime & chilli. Good portion size (one large piece of toast with probably half an avocado). I ordered the sweet potato hash as I was intrigued about what it was. It was disappointing, though I wonder if healthier folk might have loved it. The sweet potato was a little undercooked and there was too much onion and kale to the proportion of sweet potato. It was not the sweet potato hash BROWN I had in my head.
The bill worked out at just over £15 each for coffee, brekky & sides. All in all, a really strong brunch effort and bonus points for the great coffees. We’ll definitely be back.

Overall I would definitely recommend brunch at Foxlow as prices are pretty reasonable, also it is pretty easy to secure a brunch booking unlike most other high profile brunch specialists, but that’s mostly to do with the City location as quality wise it can easily rival places such as Granger & Co and Kopapa.

This is a beautiful space; the staff is great, and chill, and totally not rushed (as in; we felt like we could just settle down into the booths and really catch up). WIN ON ALL THESE FRONTS.
That said, I was SO pumped to eat here (5 stars from Colleen C and Yee Gan O. On the to-​eat list for sure!) and I was left feeling… fine. It was — putting on my teen lingo — «totes fine».
You can see the Hawksmoor-​ian influence, and maybe this is where I went wrong: should I have gone for some meatier options? Our table went for some lighter Sunday brunch fare: green juices, avocado toast, americanos, sweet potato and egg hash. Foxlow’s take on shakshuka — basically a tomatoey stew with eggs atop — was nice, but served without bread. We got some, with a surcharge, which again is a small deal in the big scheme of things but… was that mini skillet of eggs suspended in tomato meant to be eaten just like so? It felt like there were a few little tricks at play to get more «sides» offered, and I wasn’t on board. Maybe it’s just restaurant psychology, but I’d much prefer being charged 50p more per dish and just bring the dish to me, complete. Perhaps this is a carry-​over from the steakhouse system (meat + sides) as opposed to full, composed, this-is-all-you’ll-need plates?
Anywho, price hypothesizing aside: the stand-​out from the group was the fried chicken and croissant waffle. The croissant waffle is exactly as you’d expect: it tastes like a perfectly griddled croissant and if it had been warm it would have been perfect. Flavour *on fleek*, however. The chicken atop was delicious; still very moist, and they nailed the seasoning. It had a scant drizzle of syrup atop, but was served with a side of gravy… southern-​style, complete with «bits» (ham hock? Gizzards? Gee, I dunno, it was delicious). Gilding the lily: a sunny side up egg. Again, the plates just felt a little unfinished — literally, a waffle with a piece of chicken atop — but on this dish the taste limited the complaints.
The reason for the 3 stars is really based on the fact that the portions aren’t really large, and the price to me skewed high given what was/n’t included. We went home to power up the Aeropress and make a snack #truestory.
Unilocal note: I know I have a few considerable grumbles about the food, but the space is beautiful, staff great, and I would absolutely return. Just maybe for drinks? Or dinner? Or… gah, I don’t know… flashbacks to brunch still leave me frustrated. But #thatdrinksmenutho

Have visited before for the Sunday lunch (which was amazing!), but wanted to try their weekday menu.
Came here with colleagues and had a great lunch. The Tamworth ribs to start simply fell off of the bone — very tasty and flavoursome. I had the fried chicken burger for my main which was the best fried chicken I’ve ever had in London — juicy and tasty!
Had a cocktail (Rockafella Fizz) and a nice bottle of red. The service was nice and relaxed as was the overall ambience !
Definitely recommend !

I dedicate my 2500^th review to Foxlow. Happily. Enthusiastically. Wholeheartedly (wholestarredly?) Anyway…
What.a.GREAT.fleeckin’.meal.date.dinner.drinks.etc
:A Weekend Favorite with Ease:
A last minute change of plans left us with an open dinner slot, as I did a search of my bookmarks and unearthed Foxlow I anticipated it might be busy (like everything in London) — but luckily Clerkenwell is a wee bit sleepy on the weekends, much to the joy of locals like me. Booked us a table for 2 at 730pm (online, easy peasy) and when we arrived we were whisked to a lovely table amidst a nice crowd of dates, families, etc enjoy each others company and great food. (*not super duper trendy, but very stylish and comfortable and nice… the perfect speed if you aren’t into trying too hard all the time, really). Next up, BRUNCH. It shall be done. That menu looks mighty.
:Exceptional Service:
From the moment we walked in (more on that later) to the moment with left everything about the service was absolutely on point. It was a serious joy to be there. In a city where service sometimes suffers unapologetically, Foxlow sets the bar HIGH. If you are looking for a place that will treat you right and earn your money, this is it. It was a pleasure to add additional tip for our server and we genuinely enjoyed our experience because of her. Perfect balance and pacing, just great. And this went for everyone — anyone that we interacted with was lovely. The hostess that greeted us, the barmen that brought our wine, the woman who presented our food and dessert. All equally pleasant and professional. How do they do it?! Why can’t everyone do it like this?!
:Food & Drinks — YESSIR:
We started with cocktails: Foxlow Mimosa (gorgeous) for me (I wanted to order 800 more but needed to be civilized). We graduated to a red wine to enjoy with our meals and it was a delight (he ordered it, apologies on the vague nature! I was just happy wine was arriving). The real star is the FOOD. I was feeling ambitious and went with the prime rib, which is served with bone marrow. It was out of the planet, I’m off my head about it. I don’t even know. I wanted to order a second but see note above about appearances. My husband enjoyed the fried chicken (he posted a pic!) which was a heaping basket of fried heaven. We split several of the very nice (and well priced!) sides: broad beans, crunchy green slaw, gem salad, tomato salad.
AND HOLD THE PHONE: those chips with chicken salt should be illegal they are so good. ILLEGAL. Except for I’d be in jail because I ate way more than half and had to apologize to my husband who was left with green slaw. Too bad for you, mate. Too bad! Top things off with a soft serve sundae… and well, there you have it. High quality food that isn’t trying to be overly frou-​frou, but hits every note exactly right.
:Price Point — what!?:
For all this I expected to pay the equivalent of one month’s rent but in fact it was all really rather reasonable considering! Example, steak was £21, most sides were £3−4, mimosa was £7. Given the location (Central London), style and quality — we felt it was a screaming deal for the money.
.and this I’ll leave you with:
husband: «Feel this door handle. Feel it.»
me: «yes, it’s a… door handle.»
husband: «No, it’s THE perfect door handle — the design is flawless. I just want to keep opening the door to this place over and over again.»
…and, I guess we will be exercising that door handle often. Winner winner chicken (salt, on the fries!) dinner never rang truer. If you need a spot for family, friends, laid back but excellent vibe and food, this is your spot.
Cheers to 2500 reviews. It’s places like this that make the local effort worth exploring over and over again.
*also seems relatively kid-​friendly, there were several parties with children when we dined. We luckily did NOT have ours, but it’s nice to know!

One of the best meals ever. Chicken sandwich was phenomenal and the slaw was the best I’ve ever had (and where I come from in Pennsylvania, we’ve taken slaw to an art). They have legit hot sauce which I’ve missed so much since moving here from the States!
Hub had steak and eggs and avocado which was fresh, delicious, and hit the spot!
Ambiance is great, we’ll be back!

Nettes Restaurant im Osten Londons. Ziemlich laut und eng alles, aber das Essen kann sich sehen lassen. Wir hatten nur einen Snack und uns für Pommes entschieden. Es war nur ein kurzer Aufenthalt den ich wohl unter normalen Umständen nicht bewerten würde — aber hier hat auch der kurze Aufenthalt schon Eindruck hinterlassen.
Der Service war trotz des sehr geringen Umsatzes unserer Seite sehr sehr freundlich.
Die Pommes waren wie von einem anderen Stern. Hat richtig lecker geschmeckt. Mit kleinen gerösteten Ziebeln war das super verfeinert.
Ich habe mich gefragt ob ein solches Restaurant in Deutschland überleben würde. Denn es war nicht wirklich im Epi-​Zentrum des Geschehens, die Straßen in dieser Gegend waren sehr leer. Aber dennoch scheint sich auch hier wieder zu zeigen, London hat es verstanden. Qualität setzt sich durch — egal welche Lage.
Solche kleine gemütliche Ecken mit so leckerem Essen wünsche ich mir in der Heimat mehr. Ich hoffe man nimmt sich ab und an mal ein Beispiel an solchen Konzepten und hat den Mut das hier zu etablieren! Und das spricht vor allem die Kundschaft an. Einfach mal ein wenig fahren und auch die unterstützen die nicht mit der besten Lage beglückt sind.

Brunch. The greatest thing you can do.
Shot down mid morning on a Saturday and although I had a booking the place was talking some walk ins. It’s a very decent space and perfectly comfortable scene. Cool but relaxing.
Few beers the night before meant we were straight on the bloody Mary’s and coffee. I’m happy say both these were top grade. Quick service too. The brunch menu isn’t huge but has everything you ever need. Sweet and savoury options that include a cracking fried chicken waffle dish. I went for the steak and eggs whilst a mate took on the brunch burger. As kickers we nailed some sweet potato and kale hash and avocado.
Another coffee in the food arrived in style. Two fried eggs accompanied my perfectly cooked (medium-​rare if ya asking) steak and the burger across from me was a master piece. Huge sausage, fresh burger tomato, hash brown, mushroom all in there, with a fired egg dripping down. It looked and apparently from the reviews was epic.
The sides were just as decent, also I love spice and asked for some and they’ve got a cracker. The name, Christ On A Bike and the taste is sensational. This with steak, egg and sweet potato all on one fork sent me directly to food heaven /​coma.
You’ll have a search on your hands to find a better, more satisfying brunch in the city. And the price is decent for the quality you get too.
Get involved.

One of the 10 best meals I’ve ever had. Foxlow is everything I want in a dining experience:
Great Food
We had the fried chicken and short ribs for main courses. To start the rillette and squash. For sides, the fries and kale hash were wonderful.
Great Service
Awesome waiter. Very friendly. The host was equally friendly and welcoming.
Great Environment
Loved the location. It’s the perfect combination of rough edges and fine lines.
I’d definitely come again and again. If there’s one nitpick, the bar didn’t have a very extensive or diverse beer list.

My first impression was this has a nice layout. I like the crisp and clean décor. I got to sit on the comfy banquette in the corner.
I knew what I wanted before I saw the menu, but gave it a cursory browse anyway. It would have been remiss not too. As I intended, I ordered the ribs. To not appear obsessed with only ribs, I got a side of fries and a cider.
At the beginning, the service was efficient. They took my order right when I was ready and I got my cider soon after. The food came only minutes after that.
You get two short ribs for £9, so it seems pretty expensive. But, wow, they are one of the best foods I have ever tasted! I thought about what lunch was going to cost overall and thought ‘yeah, if they ask me whether I want anything else, I’m getting some more ribs!’ The meat was just so delicious and had the ‘fall of the bone’ quality that I was craving. Admittedly, parts of it were just fat, but it was so nice and it just felt right to consume as much as I could without actually eating the bone itself.
The ribs came with a sweet and spicy chilli sauce. I ended up dipping my fries into it, after I poured them out all over my plate. The chickeny coating was tasty.
I was waiting for a while and I thought that was it, but I was brought a dessert menu. The chance for more ribs had passed but I went for the Elvis Presley sandwich, of which I had heard great things. It was ok, but I may have been just as satisfied with a hot caramel sundae from McDs.
I felt a bit ignored at the end. They seem to be concentrating more on setting the tables than asking me if I want to order anything else. It’s too bad, as if they had just asked if I wanted anything else, I would have had double ribs. Good thing that I brought a book!

Firstly, a big vote of thanks to my Unilocal buddy Andrew M, who has his finger on the pulse of the food scene in the capital and more importantly, his finger on the all important ‘send e-​mail’ button for soft openings.
Andrew managed to snag a precious table at Foxlow’s soft opening, giving us 50% discount on food. Foxlow comes from the same stable as the Hawksmoor steakhouse group and as such, there was quite a lot of meat on the menu but as our waiter pointed out, this venture gives them the chance to try out non meat items
The service was great, even when the restaurant gradually filled up. A small issue with the low level of lighting was quickly resolved when we asked about it. Smooth for a soft opening
As there were 4 of us and 50% discount, it was necessary to try out as many dishes as possible. The only mystery to me was the salad bar, which seemed an odd description as it seemed that they would bring us increasing amount of vegetable dishes for more money rather than us being to serve ourselves from a salad bar. We passed on that
My favourite starter was the squid — crispy and hot from the fryer and served with a nice mayo accompaniment
The star of the meats was the 12 hour beef rib — fall off the bone tender and oh so juicy. I also really enjoyed the deckle, which was on the specials board as the unusual cut of the day. I gather it comes from the edge of the rib and full of flavour, as was the ribeye cooked medium rare
A myriad of sauces were lovely as they all tasted different, so it was good to experiment. I liked the fries but the portions aren’t the biggest, so our waiter’s suggestion of getting 2 portions for 4 of us was spot on
We had dessert to share but to be honest, they were mainly ice cream based concoctions which were nice but not that memorable
Though they’re trying to differentiate themselves from Hawksmoor, the star of my meal was the steak. At full price, I think that it is a little expensive but I would certainly recommend Foxlow as a good alternative for steak
Thanks, Andrew!

Big thanks to Andrew M for being crazy – I mean dedicated enough to secure a booking for 4 at Hawksmoore’s new restaurant, Foxlow. So. thanks! After receiving 14,000 emails in 1 day requesting for a much-​coveted reso during their 50% off soft launch, one of those lucky reso’s went out to Andrew. So YGO, Katie B and myself were able to test out their new menu at half price. and trust me, you won’t be disappointed!
The menu had a good selections of slow roasted meats, fish, and a good selection of sides and veg. There is also a blackboard with the cuts of the day, Nothing too fancy, but they were oh-​so-​delicious!
All the meats come from Ginger Pig, so you know you’re getting the good stuff, but the prices were incredibly affordable, even without the discount. Appies ranged from £6−9, sauces £1, sides £3.50−4.50, mains: £10−18, meats from the fresh sheet: porterhouse £8.90/100g, prime rib $ 7.90/100g. so, pretty affordable, especially coming from the Hawksmoore family.
The squid was good, nice meaty pieces with a (chipotle?) mayo that went with it, but I didn’t care so much for the smokehouse rillettes. It was just mashed up bits of meat spread on bread.
Our meats for the night were the deckle, rib eye, bacon ribs with maple and mustard, and the beef shortribs with kimchi. My favorites went in this order: rib eye, beef shortribs, deckle, and I didn’t care so much for the bacon ribs as it was a bit on the fatty side, whereas compared to the other cuts of meat, they were just SO juicy and tender!
You must order the fries! The server suggested we order 2 fries instead of 1, and right he was. These fries never went soggy, crispy on the outside, and really — I just needed the fries to eat the amazing Kimchi Ketchup that they had! You must order this. Katie B and I were trying to find things to mop up that ketchup, though I think we should have just finished it off by the spoonful.
The sprouted broccoli could have been taken off the cooker a few minutes early. I would have liked a bit of a crunch too it, it was a bit too soft for my liking, but it wasn’t completely overcooked. I really did like the roasted veggies — different from just the standard potato and carrots! They also had a wedge of Kabocha squash — if you haven’t had this before, its awesome… a sweet pumpkin, commonly used in tempura as well (and makes a much better soup than butternut squash!).
As for the salad bar — we didn’t order from this, but they had dishes listed off as a side, starter, or main (£4, 7, 10), with a selection of 5 veggie dishes. You pretty much get 1, 2, or choice of 3 items respectively — but the server did say if you wanted to try a bit of everything, you’d get a small serving of each. Interesting, but no one seemed as interested in that as the meats.
We were pretty much stuffed by this point, but had room for dessert. As a disclaimer, I don’t have much of a sweet tooth, so as everyone else at the table mentioned… my opinion doesn’t really count here :) We did order a bourbon caramel, and PB&J sundae, along with salted caramel popcorn, and peanutella on toast. If anyone was curious, I liked the bourbon caramel sundae :)
Service was excellent, our waiter was very knowledgeable in his cuts of meats, and very prompt with the service. After the discount on food, with the service charge in, it came to $ 28pp (and this was including our full priced drinks). Not bad at all! Even if we were to pay full price, you would have a very affordable 3-​course dinner + drinks ringing in at £40-£50.
The soft launch was very well executed, and I would definitely come back again! Job well done :)