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 »
Classy Piccadilly steaks and fish It’s not usually fair to review a restaurant during its soft launch period – this is when a new restaurant offers a discount on its usual prices while it works out the kinks both in the kitchen and in the front of the house. I’m willing to make an exception … Continue reading »
Catalan tapas within spitting distance of Oxford Street There’s no shortage of tapas restaurants in London and Soho has more than its fair share, so a new tapas place has to have a little something extra to pique my interest. Copita serves up Catalan-inspired tapas and is located on a small side street in Soho … Continue reading »
A ray of tropical sunshine in grey north London? Update April 2013 – this restaurant has now closed With some restaurants, there may be a nagging doubt in the back of your mind as to whether the ingredients used by the kitchen are fresh or not. This shouldn’t be a problem with Chez Liline however … Continue reading »
Fine dining in relaxed surroundings or how to begin your week with a ten-course tasting menu There’s no shortage of expensive restaurants in Kensington and Chelsea, which isn’t surprising given the affluent locals. High prices are no guarantee of quality though, so I was fully prepared for an evening of disappointment at the simply named … Continue reading »
Should Busaba Eathai be worried? Most Thai restaurants in London are far from expensive and well within reach of most budgets, but most are also quite chintzy and cheesy in their decor. Busaba Eathai is the obvious exception to this rule with its classy jasmine-scented surroundings, but there’s a new good-looking kid on the block … Continue reading »
Will I come back here thyme and thyme again? Much to Wicket’s horror I’m not a huge fan of Christmas. It’s not that I have anything against it, I just never got into the swing of celebrating a traditional Christmas with all the trimmings. Even so, I ended up having a Christmas dinner of sorts … Continue reading »
Posh nosh or just a load of complete tosh? It must be a hard and unenviable task running a luxury hotel and restaurant in Knightsbridge and Mayfair. No matter what, you will be compared to the big name competition - The Mandarin Oriental has Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, while The Berkeley has two restaurants, one by Marcus Wareing … Continue reading »
Small portions expertly prepared. Eating out can be a waist-expanding exercise as I’ve found to my detriment since starting this blog – if you’re on a diet then eating at restaurants is not a good way to stick to it. Gauthier Soho has taken a rather honest approach to this dilemma. Rather than concocting ‘healthy’ … Continue reading »
