Ra-ra-ramen-ra In London’s increasingly crowded restaurant scene, new eateries often need a hook or some unique selling point to pull in the punters. For restaurants drawing on the rich culinary heritage of a foreign country, one easy hook is a dish or regional cuisine underrepresented in the UK. Ittenbari is a new Japanese restaurant specialising … Continue reading
Category Archives: ★★★☆☆
Patterson’s review – middling Mayfair mediocrity?
Cooking by numbers Update: this restaurant has now closed. Bo London now occupies the same premises. It’s tempting to think that because a restaurant has been well-established and operating for several years, then it must be doing something right and has struck upon a winning formula. The pessimistic view is that they’re merely cruising along … Continue reading
Cinnamon Soho review – British-Indian masala mash-up
Upmarket Indian aims for the masses. Sort of. Selling upmarket Indian food is a tricky business. Given the cheap and cheerful nature of most high street curry houses, convincing most people to pay more than £6 for a main is akin to asking for moon rock in your lemonade. Even if you do convince people … Continue reading
Chez Liline review – a taste of Mauritius in north London
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
★★★☆☆ / Indian / South Asian
Carom review – Indian food gets noisy. Very noisy.
The empty vessel makes the loudest sound. Meza is a long-standing bar in London’s Soho and it’s the last place I’d expect to find an Indian restaurant. Nestled in a corner of the bar itself, eating at Carom late in the week is a cacophonous experience – the loud, buzzy music, including a live sitar … Continue reading
Manairo review – dining in the shadow of dead bulls
This review of a Barcelona restaurant is a break from The Picky Glutton’s usual London-based coverage. I was attracted to Manairó because of its apparent reputation as a place for ‘snout to tail’ eating where every part of the animal is used. With this in mind, it’s therefore blackly ironic that the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it restaurant is … Continue reading
La Bodega Negra review – Mexican food gets sexy
A Mexican restaurant of two halves As my fellow restaurant blogger 31_75 pointed out recently, in his own inimitable style, there are very few good Mexican restaurants in London. The situation isn’t nearly as bad as it was two decades ago when all we had were horrid Tex-Mex dives like Chiquito, but it’s still far from … Continue reading
Asadal review – Holborn’s Korean food institution
Korean food goes underground If you’re navigationally inept (cough, LeChuck, cough), then you may not want to wander too far from Tube stations and familiar landmarks to fill your belly. If that’s the case, then Asadal may be just the ticket – this Korean restaurant is located literally right next door to Holborn Tube station. … Continue reading
Spuntino review – Italian and American small plates in Soho
West End bar food with a difference There are plenty of chain and independent restaurants in London, but some straddle this distinction such as the various, apparently independent Polpo restaurants that are all actually part of the same group. Although I have yet to make my way to Polpo or Da Polpo, I have dined … Continue reading
Los Caracoles review – eating snails in Barcelona
This review of a Barcelona restaurant is a break from The Picky Glutton’s usual London-based coverage. Los Caracoles is one of those Barcelona restaurants that tends to crop up in all the guidebooks, so it wasn’t surprising that the place was heaving with tourists on the weekday evening of my visit with The Jolly Giant … Continue reading
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