Last Updated on July 31, 2026
A Savoy Inspired Menu To Savour
5.0 out of 5.0 starsDuchy, in Shoreditch, takes its name from the Duchy of Savoy, a historic territory straddling French departments of Savoie and Haute-Savoie and parts of Piedmont and Switzerland. The menu draws on flavours from these Alpine and northern Italian regions.
In common with its aristocratic namesake, the 40 seater restaurant comes from a promising pedigree: chef and co-owner Simon Shand rose to head chef at the venue’s predecessor, the one-Michelin-starred Leroy, itself launched by founders of one-Michelin-starred Ellory in Hackney. Shand and his co-owner Alex Grant had also previously run a successful pintxo tapas residency called Topa in Holloway – inspired by the pair’s travels in the Basque region.
With these foundations, and based on our recent experience, this venue, opened in 2025, is one to check out. Equidistant from Old Street, Liverpool Street and Shoreditch High Street stations, we arrived on a balmy July Friday night to a buzzing dining space teased into a triangle on the point of two Shoreditch side streets.
The vibe was lively with carefree chatter, a breeze wafted over decorative Jeroboam bottles on window ledges as evening sunlight enhanced the warm atmosphere. With wooden floors and solid tables, it felt smart but unstuffy; stylish but friendly. As the menu changes daily, I couldn’t choose my dishes in advance and was waiting to be surprised.
Swiftly, two glasses of champagne were poured and three fresh-from-the-oven wodges of treacly brown bread with a fistful of salted butter, laid down. The gauntlet was thrown: Duchy dangled a prologue of pillowy bread with firm crust. No matter how much we each swore We Must Not Fill Up On The Bread, it kept taunting us to tear cubes off and swipe them through sauces twirling over the table throughout the meal.
I liked that dishes arrived one at a time. There’s been trend to deliver a spread of dishes to tables simultaneously, which is great if you’re an influencer shooting flat lays but not so much if you’re baffled by too much happening at once and everything goes cold. We felt gently ushered along a tasting experience at Duchy, timings tempered to let us focus and delight in each plate individually.
Immediately on the table came Polenta, a staple food of Northern Italy’s Piedmont so these crispy batons were perfectly at home in the Alpine concept. The puree, although made with red peppers nodded more towards savoury Nutella (Yum! Someone bottle this idea!) than we expected; golden cornmeal bite, soft interior that didn’t rely on cheese to taste good, toasted hazelnut crunch and thick wet sauce.
We were still perusing the menu when a perky pair Carlingford Oysters landed. Well hello, fancy seeing you here? The moss green vinaîgre of finely chopped cucumber and chilli spooned on top of our molluscs made a refreshing change to more regular shallots and pink vinegar. It seems pithy to argue that Irish oysters are not traditionally harvested in the Alps or London but – shucks eh! – they were mighty fine specimens and a welcome component to this menu experience.
We’d ordered now and this was where we realised plates were coming singly, which was great as we were both keen to try everything. Cue comedy moment with the Ricotta Stuffed Courgette Flower, there was really no polite way to photograph this without giggles.
If the crispy batter coating a deep green baby courgette (baring no resemblance to the ones I buy in Aldi) were not heavenly enough, there was the added clincher of salty white ricotta inside the sighing balloon of flower petals. I’ve not even mentioned the Bagna Cauda yet, a creamy puddle with a warm hug of garlic and anchovy fishiness. None of this got wasted, more cubes of that delicious bread came to the rescue.
Further nods to Piedmont with our other starter; an interesting combination of green Italian Beans, Peach, Gorgonzola, Pine Nuts. We agreed this looked pretty, was fun to eat and the delicate white peach slices sang sweetly against the blue cheese punch. I’d eat a bigger dish of this on its own.
Fish next: a slab of Stone Bass, Carrot, Braised Fennel (pictured top). The recurring motif tonight was star quality ingredients that shone far brighter than what I manage to pack into my own supermarket bags for life to cook at home. Nor should you make the mistake here that stone bass and sea bass are one and the same, the former is meatier with firm fat flakes, also known as “meagre” or wreckfish. The sweetness of the carrot against the umami of cooked fennel and crisp samphire balanced beautifully with the fish. I do love a fish dish with savoury juices too, it was robust and exciting.
For wines we’d first had a glass each of Aligoté white, “Clos Barry” Domaine Duvert 2025, a fresh white Burgundy with green apple flavour that slipped down nicely. On our server’s recommendation we later tried glasses of chilled red La Chaume de Lies 2023, a Côtes de Beaune boasting legs like Penny Lancaster and full-bodied red fruit and cherry flavours unimpeded by the cool serving temperature. Lovely on a hot evening.
The Flat Iron Steak, Café de Paris Butter arrived with the sides. Pooled in jus, the fat slices were so soft and tender they were almost like liver (in a good way). Effortless to chew, glistening with Café de Paris butter – which in my research I learn originates from Switzerland and is a savoury compound butter of herbs, spices, mustard and anchovies. We were blown away by the luxurious flavour. Although quite full by now, it would have been criminal to leave much of this beefy beauty behind.
It’s rare for me to rave about lettuce but on this occasion I did. An elegantly dressed green salad I’d also eat all day long. The nutty little Ratte potatoes in their speckled skins lay in thick warm brown butter Hollandaise, more sauce to swish that bread in.
In normal circumstances we might be beat here but dessert beckoned. We sampled a small scoop of creamy Lemon Verbena Sorbet with pear and basil, and also shared Strawberries, Brioche, Vanilla Ice Cream. The brioche was more like panettone served as my Italian friends enjoy, with grilled sugary crust that was nicely soaked from the sweet marinated strawberries. You get a large serving so sharing makes sense by now.
Finally we had our arms twisted to sign off with a Frangelico Hazelnut digestif. Clear and smooth but nutty, it was the perfect night cap on a pretty flawless dinner. My husband was very jealous when I got home.
You could come to Duchy for a date night or bigger group dinner. If I lived around the corner I’d be tempted to become a regular. Service was unfalteringly efficient and friendly throughout. In a world where restaurants are increasingly part of some anonymous conglomerate, Duchy felt refreshingly personal and with a menu that changes every time, you’ll have every excuse to go back.
Duchy
18 Phipp Street
London
EC2A 4NU
Tel: +447874310612
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