The Good Front Room returns with permanent Dalston opening
Dom Taylor is set to relaunch The Good Front Room with a permanent new site in Dalston, marking the return of the Caribbean-inspired restaurant concept that gained national attention during its residency at The Langham.
The restaurant will open beside Dalston Junction station, taking over the former Mildreds site, following a series of supper clubs held at the venue in the run-up to Christmas. The move brings The Good Front Room back more than two years after its last service, this time with a long-term home in east London.
Dom first launched The Good Front Room in 2022 after winning Channel 4’s Five Star Chef, where the prize was the opportunity to run a restaurant at The Langham’s Palm Court. The year-long residency was consistently busy and helped position Dom as one of the most visible voices bringing modern Caribbean cooking into the mainstream London dining scene.
From pop-up success to permanent home
Following the Langham residency, Dom explored other formats, including a more casual Caribbean restaurant Marvee's, which later closed.
Read more: Dom Taylor to close Marvee’s Food Shop in Ladbroke Grove
The Dalston opening represents a return to the original Good Front Room concept, refined and adapted for a neighbourhood setting rather than a hotel dining room.
The menu will continue to focus on contemporary interpretations of Caribbean food, rooted in memory, tradition and bold flavour, while being presented through a modern restaurant lens.
Starters set to feature include a coco stack slider, Irish ‘proper’ chips with maple, lime and chilli-glazed plantain, and rum and raisin pork belly strips. Main dishes will include short rib brown stew, a whole jerk chicken designed for two to share, and a seafood boil. Desserts will lean into comfort and familiarity, with sweet potato sticky toffee pudding listed among the opening options.
Drinks rooted in Caribbean tradition
The drinks offering will place particular emphasis on rum, with a house rum punch made using Wray & Nephew and Kraken Dark Rum alongside ginger, pimento, pineapple, lime and cherry syrup. Beers will include Red Stripe and Dragon Stout, reinforcing the restaurant’s Caribbean focus across both food and drink.
Food, memory and cultural responsibility
Speaking about the return of The Good Front Room, Dom framed the restaurant as both a personal and cultural project.
Dom said: “The Good Front Room is inspired by my great-aunt Myrtle and the sacred front rooms found in so many Caribbean homes, spaces kept for special guests and layered with pride and memory. As a grandchild of the Windrush generation, I feel a responsibility to carry the torch and keep our stories, recipes and traditions alive.”
That sense of storytelling has been central to the restaurant since its inception, combining dishes that feel rooted and familiar with a setting that invites a broader audience into Caribbean food beyond stereotypes or shorthand.
With the original residency proving its appeal and a permanent site now secured, The Good Front Room’s return to London looks set to build on its early momentum, this time as a long-term fixture rather than a limited run.
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