Bloomsbury French, the silver duck press, the classical menu and one of the very last rooms in Europe still pressing canard à la presse.
Otto Tepasse runs a small French restaurant on Grays Inn Road that has built a reputation around a single nineteenth-century dish: canard à la presse. The duck is roasted rare, carved at the table, the carcass crushed in a ceremonial silver press whose wheel guests turn themselves to extract the juices for the sauce. La Tour d'Argent and Otto's are essentially the only places left running the service. The rest of the menu is classical French in the unfussy bistrot register, sole meunière, foie gras terrine, île flottante, and the room is intimate, white-tableclothed, completely untrendy.
Canard à la presse must be pre-booked at least 48 hours ahead, minimum two guests, £250pp; verify availability, service paused at points in 2025-26. Worth the special trip even without the duck for the classical bistro register, but the duck is the reason.
At a Glance
View Type
Street Scene
View Quality
Good
Quick answers about Otto's, reservations, hours, dress code, and price range.
Spotted something wrong on this page? Report incorrect info
Discover other places in the neighborhood
Pimlico
Andrew Wong's two-Michelin-star pan-regional Chinese on Wilton Road, the first Chinese restaurant outside Asia to hold two stars.
Mayfair
Bruton Place Kyoto kaiseki, the discreet hidden door, the multi-course menu and the most considered Japanese dining in W1.
Farringdon
Farringdon Road's Grade II 1869 working-class chop house, Shaun Searley's revival of the listed-bench institution.
Clapham
Adam Byatt's two-Michelin-star Clapham Old Town room, the most considered cooking south-west of the river.
Mayfair
Three Michelin stars in the panelled drawing room of Mayfair's most discreet hotel, the defining London fine-dining address.
Mayfair
Britain's oldest Indian restaurant, open on Regent Street since 1926 and now in its hundredth year.
1 Bar, 5 Restaurant · 6 places nearby, by straight-line distance
Distances are approximate straight lines, not walking routes. Check directions between stops.
Noble Rot Lamb's Conduit Street
Bar · Wine bar
The Quality Chop House
Restaurant · British Chop House
Morito Exmouth Market
Restaurant · Moorish Tapas
Moro
Restaurant · Moorish & Spanish
Sushi Tetsu
Restaurant · Edomae sushi
St JOHN
Restaurant · Modern British