Inamo St James review – computer-controlled Piccadilly Japanese
★★★☆☆ / Japanese / Pan-Asian / Sushi/Sashimi

Inamo St James review – computer-controlled Piccadilly Japanese

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

Les Deux Salons review – the Strand’s attractive French brasserie
★★★☆☆ / French

Les Deux Salons review – the Strand’s attractive French brasserie

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

Kirazu review – Soho ramen gets back to basics
★★★★☆ / Japanese / Japanese Noodles

Kirazu review – Soho ramen gets back to basics

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 – … Continue reading

Social Eating House review – Modernist cuisine gets affordable-ish
★★★☆☆ / Modern European / Modernist

Social Eating House review – Modernist cuisine gets affordable-ish

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 … Continue reading

Story review – a fairy tale or a shaggy dog story?
★★★★☆ / Modern European / Modernist

Story review – a fairy tale or a shaggy dog story?

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