Applebee’s restaurant to relaunch in February

Applebee’s restaurant is set to celebrate its 25th anniversary in Borough Market with a relaunch on 13 February. 

As a marker of this anniversary, Applebee’s will launch a brand new concept, menu and refurbishment of the space, as well as a continued determination to champion sustainably sourced British seafood.

Still fully independent and family-run, Applebee’s is one of the original Borough Market traders. Having started as a fishmonger, Joy and Graham Applebee then moved into their first bricks-and-mortar seafood restaurant on Stoney Street. Their expertise has been passed down through the generations, with their son, Jack Applebee spearheading the relaunch alongside his two brothers.

The restaurant will continue to offer British seafood sourced directly from fishermen at Brixham fish market. The brand new menu, crafted by the newly appointed executive chef Frankie van Loo, will feature a weekly-changing selection of seafood dictated by what lands on the Devon and Cornwall dayboats each morning. 

Van Loo joins the business after spending 13 years at Jason Atherton’s Social Company restaurant group, including time at Pollen Street Social and Social Eating House and multiple head chef roles across the group, notably at the Michelin-starred City Social.

Applebee’s new menu will feature dishes including grilled dover sole, served with brown shrimp and lemon butter, fish and chips, as well as cold seafood platters featuring oysters, lobster, prawns, scallops, taramasalata croustade, and Exmoor caviar, and a hot version laden with whole lobster, langoustines, scallops, oysters, mussels, cuttlefish, and an octopus skewer. Each fish is dry-aged for 24-36 hours in a Himalayan pink salt chamber, visible to guests in the open kitchen. 

From March, Applebee’s will offer a twist on the traditional Sunday roast, with options like “decadent” salmon en croute or a whole turbot designed for sharing.

Both the food and cocktail menu will incorporate the use of British coastal greens. Sourced directly from Miles Lavers of Foodswild in Cornwall who specialises in foraging wild food and sea vegetables to provide natural, sustainable foods. 

The updated wine list will offer a selection of English growers, including Devon-based Sandridge Barton, Blackbook Winery – an urban producer in Battersea, Gusbourne and Westwell wines. The concise cocktail offering will include a homemade seasonal spritz, starting with pear, and other aperitifs such as a Gilda Martini and Rhubarb Sour.

The exciting redesign, led by hospitality design studio A-nrd, will create a 70-cover space, highlighted by a fish counter upon entry, a dining and bar seating area overlooking a live-fire grill, and an outdoor space. 

Jack Applebee said: “We are extremely proud to celebrate our 25th Anniversary with the relaunch of our restaurant. As a family-run business, we have always had quality at the forefront of anything we do, and we remain committed to sourcing the highest quality seafood from our shores. 

“As part of our reopening, we will also be providing all guests, old and new, with a more elevated dining experience in a fresh space with a greater emphasis on the journey in which our seafood takes from when it is caught.”