Sometimes smaller really is better Compared to the barren dessert of a year ago, London’s Soho is now awash with dedicated ramen restaurants – namely Ittenbari, Tonkotsu, Bone Daddies and Shoryu. The latest is Kirazu, a very small restaurant on the former site of a Lebanese cafe. Small is the key word in every sense – …
So popular, it needs its own doorman The oddly-named Social Eating House is the latest restaurant in Jason Atherton’s empire and it’s not quite as expensive as Atherton’s flagship Pollen Street Social. Whereas Pollen Street Social has a muted, inoffensive decor suited to its Mayfair location, the Soho-based Social Eating House is a tad more …
Easily mistaken for a pub, but only if you’re an idiot Some restaurants open with a blaze of publicity and hype, while others open quietly and slowly but surely build up a sterling reputation through word of mouth. Newman Street Tavern is one of the latter, but it’s hard to understand why this gem of …
And some of the worst too For many Londoners burritos are nothing more than a mildly exotic rice sandwich – a lunchtime filler to help them get through the working day. Most will devote little thought into choosing one; the idea of travelling to find the best burrito in the capital would be as alien …
50 different flat whites tasted; only nine worth drinking Way back in September 2011 I set out to find the best flat white coffee in London, trying out 21 different versions. Since then I’ve received numerous requests for a follow-up and after some delay, here it is. If you’ve read my first flat white round …
Fuel up at breakfast or brunch The area around Kings Cross station is slowly being regenerated and while some will miss the area as it was before, I won’t be one of them. The grotty, run-down, whore-strewn Kings Cross of yesteryear can’t disappear fast enough. One of the highlights of the new Kings Cross is … Continue reading »
The Lukin – winnin’ or pukin’? There are plenty of pubs serving food in Fitzrovia and The Lukin is one of them. Sat within spitting distance of the BT Tower, it’s a popular watering hole and lunchtime spot for local residents and office workers alike. I found it to be a merely middling experience though … Continue reading »
High-tech but low brow food? London’s restaurant scene is very crowded to say the least, so newcomers often need a gimmick just to get noticed. Inamo’s trick is that instead of ordering via a human waiter, you order using a computer with the screen beamed onto your table from a projector sitting above each table. … Continue reading »
Cheerful Continental Covent Garden Comfort Chow There’s no shortage of mock French-style brasseries and bistros in London from chains such as Cafe Rouge and Cote to independents such as Les Deux Salons. This two floor restaurant is a mere stone’s throw away from Covent Garden, Charing Cross and The Strand. Les Deux Salons is owned … Continue reading »
The Curse of St. Anne’s Court There’s no shortage of pizza restaurants in Soho and Piccolo Forno is the latest. The small diner has decided to set up shop at 9-12 St Anne’s Court, but this small Soho alley location has been a cursed address for past eateries. Previous occupants such as a ‘permanent’ version … Continue reading »
Treading water or better than ever? When I first dined at Pizarro shortly after it opened in the autumn/winter of 2011, I noted a few niggling blemishes and hoped they’d be ironed out. After a longer delay than initially planned, I made a return visit on a weekend evening with Templeton Peck, Socialist Worker and … Continue reading »
Tower Bridge gets a classy new neighbour A lot of new London restaurants have adopted some variant of the stripped back ‘industrial’ look common in Shoreditch – bare brick walls, exposed ventilation ducts and naked concrete floors. I’m thoroughly bored of this now cliched aesthetic, so I was pleased to discover that Story has opted … Continue reading »
