The best and worst American barbecue in London for delivery and takeaway
American / ★★★★★ / ★★★★☆ / ★★★☆☆ / ★★☆☆☆ / ★☆☆☆☆ / Barbecue/BBQ

The best and worst American barbecue in London for delivery and takeaway

Update 19/4/2021 – added reviews of The Big Smoke (Bromley), Crossroads and Pappy’s Summer and barbecue go together like Bank Holidays and rain. One naturally follows the other, but even better is a summer filled with American-style barbecue, a world away from a typical suburban garden grill topped with bangers and burgers. The low ‘n’ … Continue reading

Madera review – the Mexican Treehouse hotel restaurant that’s fallen off its branch
★★☆☆☆ / Mexican

Madera review – the Mexican Treehouse hotel restaurant that’s fallen off its branch

Tacos with views over London, but it’s barely a feast for the eyes Many major cities across the world have restaurants perched on top of tall buildings – quite often rotating ones. Berlin has the TV Tower, while Munich is graced with Olympia Tower and the CN Tower looms over Toronto. However, the rule of … Continue reading

Where The Pancakes Are review – Flat Iron Square’s pancake house falls flat
★★☆☆☆ / Breakfast / Eclectic

Where The Pancakes Are review – Flat Iron Square’s pancake house falls flat

London Bridge sweet and savoury pancakes I’ve always suspected that the food of our childhoods casts a long shadow, forming and influencing our tastes long after we’ve graduated into adult life. In its most primal form, the comfort foods we turn to for succor when adulting gets too hard are the ones most intimately tied … Continue reading

Davies and Brook review – this jet-setting restaurant at Claridges’ is running out of fuel
★★☆☆☆ / Modern European / Modernist

Davies and Brook review – this jet-setting restaurant at Claridges’ is running out of fuel

Humming along nicely? Not quite. An old work chum of mine was so ensconced in his suburbanite routine that he was only vaguely that Mayfair existed. When we had to walk through the area to get to a work-related Christmas party elsewhere, he was therefore taken aback at the gilded cushiness of the businesses lining … Continue reading

Baozi Inn London Bridge review – Cantonese roasts and Sichuanese dumplings under one roof
★★☆☆☆ / Chinese / Chinese Dumplings / Chinese Noodles / Sichuanese

Baozi Inn London Bridge review – Cantonese roasts and Sichuanese dumplings under one roof

But this Borough restaurant isn’t the best of both worlds The flowering of new Chinese restaurants across London in recent years has given us all a joyous bounty to partake in. Biang biang noodles, skewered offal and spicy crayfish – to name but a few examples – are immensely preferable to the saggy prawn toasts, … Continue reading

Flat Iron Square review – the London Bridge street food market hidden away in railway arches
★★★★☆ / ★★★☆☆ / ★★☆☆☆ / Street food/food court

Flat Iron Square review – the London Bridge street food market hidden away in railway arches

No, not *that* Borough street food market, the other one frequented by actual Londoners rather than tourists At first glance Flat Iron Square appears to be nothing more than a cosy, small-ish street food market tucked underneath a series of railway arches just south of Borough Market. Although it has just 12 stalls, it’s also … Continue reading

Mc and Sons review – the Thairish pub that’s not as plucky as it first appears
★★☆☆☆ / Gastropub / Thai and Lao

Mc and Sons review – the Thairish pub that’s not as plucky as it first appears

A pub food minichain hiding in plain sight Pubs serving Thai food seems like an odd pairing, but this now commonplace coupling was initially a result of nothing more exotic than economic necessity and entrepreneurial foresight. The first documented pub on these islands with a Thai kitchen was apparently Notting Hill’s Churchill Arms – a … Continue reading

Mercato Metropolitano review – the Southwark street food hall trying to be everything to everyone
★★★★★ / ★★★★☆ / ★★★☆☆ / ★★☆☆☆ / ★☆☆☆☆ / Street food/food court

Mercato Metropolitano review – the Southwark street food hall trying to be everything to everyone

Halfway between Elephant & Castle and London Bridge, but nowhere in particular Updated 30/9/2019 – added reviews of new traders and updated the reviews of Badiani, Duman, Little Sicily and Turkish Garden Updated 16/4/2019 – added hyperlinked table of contents, corrected spelling and grammatical errors The weird thing about street food in London isn’t the … Continue reading