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
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
The Hawaiian raw fish salad that isn’t sushi Every now and again newspapers and blogs alike fall over themselves to breathlessly pant over and extoll the latest food trend imported from the US. Restaurants, street food stalls and supper clubs serving up the trend are listed and thus implicitly recommended, irrespective of the actual quality … Continue reading
All gelato is ice cream, but not all ice cream is gelato Update 24/8/2016 – added Badiani review, updated some links and fixed one location error Update 13/9/2016 – added Urban Ice review, updated some links It’s easy to joke about the cold and wet English summer, but those jokes will be a fond, distant … Continue reading
Fire and blood link Old Street and Liverpool Street London’s ‘ethnic’ restaurants tend to be clustered together in specific neighbourhoods due to quirks of history and rent. The Korean restaurants of New Malden, the Sri Lankan eateries of Tooting and the little Vietnam that is Kingsland Road are just a few examples. Cuisines that have … Continue reading
No matter how much we try to deny it, we all love sequels. You might tell your friends how much you enjoyed that quirky Spanish art house film that no one has ever heard of, while secretly sneaking out to see the latest Marvel blockbuster. I can feel a similar sort of vibe in London’s … Continue reading
Burger blogger puts his money where his mouth is I usually try to avoid knowing too much about the people behind the restaurants I review. I find it’s more difficult to be critically honest when thinking about the deeply personal hopes, dreams, blood and sweat that go into opening and running a restaurant. It’s impossible, though, to ignore … Continue reading
This review of a Yucatan restaurant is a break from The Picky Glutton’s usual London-based coverage Rosas & Xocolate is an odd name for a restaurant and an even odder name for a hotel. Even if it didn’t have a distinctive name, the pink yet graceful mansion-esque premises is hard to miss. The dining room at … Continue reading
Shaftesbury Avenue yakitori that deserves your support Update 14/2/17 – this restaurant has now closed Location, location and location. It’s supposed to be one of the keys to a successful London restaurant, but a spot on the West End’s bustling Shaftesbury Avenue hasn’t helped Yumi Izakaya. Nestled in between the entrance to the Piccadilly West … Continue reading
Cheap Chinese regional mega bites reviewed in rhyming couplets and haiku I’ve written before how about the under-representation of China’s numerous regional cuisines in London’s restaurants. If you needed a singular, illustrative example of the effects of that disappointing trend then it would be noodles. Veal Smasher and Happy Buddha have had to put up with my rants about … Continue reading
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