El Pastor review – the Barrafina of tacos? Not quite.
★★★★☆ / Mexican

El Pastor review – the Barrafina of tacos? Not quite.

Borough Market tacos has its ups and downs Restaurant decor has fallen into a bit of a rut in recent years. From exposed brick walls and concrete floors to reclaimed furniture and brass fittings, it’s rare to be truly surprised by the interior of any London restaurant these days. While El Pastor, on the edge of Borough Market, … Continue reading

Breddos Tacos review – StreetFeast Dinerama street food settles down in Clerkenwell
★★★★★ / Mexican

Breddos Tacos review – StreetFeast Dinerama street food settles down in Clerkenwell

The Schrodinger’s cat of Mexican food in London Update: 8/02/2018 – added new opening hours and updated formatting Street food has been a significant force for change in the way Londoners eat out. Street food market stalls lack the comfort and convenience of a fully fledged restaurant, but they can easily rival, match or even exceed the … Continue reading

Eating my way around Japan, part 1 – Tokyo and Kyoto
Japanese / Japanese Noodles / Sushi/Sashimi

Eating my way around Japan, part 1 – Tokyo and Kyoto

This Japan-focussed article is a break from The Picky Glutton’s usual London-based coverage For a country on the far side of the world with a reputation for being expensive and inscrutable, Japan holds an outsized place in our collective culinary consciousness. Its quixotic and singular culture might be one reason, becoming the archetype of the … Continue reading

Birdland review – Michelin-starred Ginza yakitori-ya takes flight
★★★★☆ / Japanese

Birdland review – Michelin-starred Ginza yakitori-ya takes flight

This review of a Tokyo restaurant is a break from The Picky Glutton’s usual London-based coverage A lot of words have been written about the glamourisation of ‘dirty food’ in London. Dishes such as burgers, previously only the preserve of fast food restaurants and other very casual eateries, are now taken very seriously indeed. This has been … Continue reading

Luca review – the Clove Club’s Italian spin-off is odd but lovely
★★★★☆ / Italian

Luca review – the Clove Club’s Italian spin-off is odd but lovely

Farringdon Britalian is a mash-up in more ways than one Although there are Italian restaurants of every shape and variety in London for all budgets, it’s the expensive ones that I’ve always found most amusing. Along with French and Japanese, Italian restaurants can easily get away with charging high prices that would be harder for … Continue reading

Blue’s Smokehouse Twickenham review – dire suburban barbecue fit only for meatheads
★★☆☆☆ / Barbecue/BBQ

Blue’s Smokehouse Twickenham review – dire suburban barbecue fit only for meatheads

The meal so bad, I had to apologise to my dining companion The cliché about the suburbs, especially those south of the river, is that there’s nowhere good to eat. That’s not quite true anymore, if it ever was, especially as London’s property crisis and the increasingly brutal restaurant market push more and more restaurateurs … Continue reading

Temper review – Soho meat palace serves exquisite beef, lamb and goat
★★★★☆ / Barbecue/BBQ / Eclectic / Steak/chophouse

Temper review – Soho meat palace serves exquisite beef, lamb and goat

Chicken? Where we’re going, we don’t need chicken. Update 25/2/2018 – updated formatting, added details of early 2018 revisit I try not to pay too much attention to a restaurant’s PR push before I eat there, as the nauseating buzzwords, jargon and marketing waffle can colour my view of the place before it’s even opened. … Continue reading

Smokestak review – barbecue street food settles down in Shoreditch
★★★★☆ / Barbecue/BBQ

Smokestak review – barbecue street food settles down in Shoreditch

Smoke is the new black. It’s easy to rant and rail against hipsters and their rapidly gentrifying east London hub. For many, such as my dining companion Vicious Alabaster, they’re all little more than pompous, shallow, fad-chasing Macaroni twits. That may or may not be true, but I generally don’t care. From a utilitarian perspective, they … Continue reading

Calcutta Street review – Indian supper club settles down in Fitzrovia
★★★★☆ / Indian / South Asian

Calcutta Street review – Indian supper club settles down in Fitzrovia

Curry that makes you feel at home. Sort of. Update 12/3/23: this restaurant has now closed I’ve never understood the compulsion for restaurants to describe dishes as ‘home made’. When eating out, I want professionally made dishes – culinary delights that I couldn’t make at home. That conceit is slightly different at Calcutta Street though. … Continue reading

Kiln review – Smoking Goat sequel dazzles Soho in a different way
★★★★★ / Thai and Lao

Kiln review – Smoking Goat sequel dazzles Soho in a different way

Less of a sibling and more of a cousin Second acts are hard, whether you’re switching careers, releasing a second album or opening a follow-up restaurant. With the latter, the easiest ways forward is to copy the same template as the original or dilute your idea for a wider audience. Sometimes, second restaurants feel like … Continue reading