The Manor transforms into an Italian It’s tough times for restaurants with household names and independents alike having to close up shop all across the country. Skyrocketing business rates, a continuing staffing shortage, rising wages, intense competition (especially in London) and, in some cases, overaggressive expansion and impatient investors are all playing their part in … Continue reading
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
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
Year round group dining that doesn’t cost the earth Organising a meal for a group of people can be a huge logistical pain. Finding somewhere large enough, takes bookings, is affordable, caters for vegetarians and has a kitchen that can actually cook is an epic undertaking not to be taken on lightly. Ironically, one of the … Continue reading
Italian food from Wild Honey and Arbutus The Barbican Centre may be a supreme example of Brutalist architecture and a fine place to take in a film or exhibition, but it’s been a barren wasteland for food with branches of Benugo, Cote and other such dens of last resort as your only in-house dining choices up until … Continue reading
Cheap (ish) Cambridge Circus cuisine Marketing is a magical thing. It can transform the mundane into something much more wondrous and exotic. Vico, an Italian restaurant that has taken over what used to be the Pizza Hut on the corner of Cambridge Circus and Charing Cross Road, is basically a fast food joint. Or a canteen or cafeteria if … Continue reading
Finally, a good restaurant in Islington Oldroyd might sound like a wizened, unwanted hanger-on in an unmentionable anatomical structure, but it’s actually a new restaurant in Islington from one of the brains behind Polpo. Although independent from that burgeoning empire, Oldroyd’s menu immediately feels Polpo-esque – small plates, as well as a few larger dishes, with … Continue reading
