Berners Tavern review – looks good and tastes even better
★★★★☆ / Modern European / Modernist

Berners Tavern review – looks good and tastes even better

Hotel food with a twist Hotel restaurants are very different from restaurants in hotels. This may seem like a minor semantic difference, but there’s actually a yawning gulf between the two. Hotel restaurants are identikit eateries serving up a large menu of lowest common denominator dishes designed for weary travellers too tired to care and … Continue reading

The Clove Club review – superlative Shoreditch supper
★★★★★ / Modern European / Modernist

The Clove Club review – superlative Shoreditch supper

The best meal of the year and inexcusably overlooked by the Michelin Guide I encountered a fellow travelling Brit with some interesting views on food during my recent jaunt around Jordan. Although he had a broad palate, this didn’t extend to Modernist cuisine, especially multi-course tasting menus. ‘Artsy fartsy’ ‘nouvelle cuisine’ wasn’t ‘proper food’ he contended. Like … 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

La Cuisine de Joel Robuchon review – Theatreland fine dining
★★★☆☆ / Modern European / Modernist

La Cuisine de Joel Robuchon review – Theatreland fine dining

The Ivy’s sexier next door neighbour isn’t as good as it should’ve been L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon is the closest thing to a fine dining chain with almost identically appointed branches in numerous cities around the globe including Las Vegas and London. The bar-style seating can be brutally uncomfortable though which makes La Cuisine de … Continue reading

★★★★☆ / Eclectic / Modern European / Modernist

T8 review – modern eclectic dining in Shanghai

This review of a Shanghai restaurant is a break from The Picky Glutton’s usual London-based coverage Given the array of regional Chinese cuisines available in Shanghai, eating at T8, a Modern European restaurant, will seem like a bit of a cop out. However, T8 is not only regarded by some as one of the mega … Continue reading

★★★☆☆ / Modern European / Modernist

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

★★★★★ / Modern European / Modernist / Spanish

Gelonch review – Barcelona’s best kept secret

This review of a Barcelona restaurant is a break from The Picky Glutton’s usual London-based coverage. Barcelona has more than its fair share of fine dining restaurants, but even in such a large city it’s possible to stumble upon some gems and Gelonch may well be one of them. It’s a small restaurant located on … Continue reading

★★★★☆ / Modern European / Modernist / Spanish

Saüc review – hit and miss hotel dining in Barcelona

This review of a Barcelona restaurant is a break from The Picky Glutton’s usual London-based coverage. There’s no shortage of fine dining restaurants in Barcelona and quite a few of the newer ones are opening or have opened inside plush hotels but Saüc is slightly different. Although now located inside the Ohla Hotel on Via … Continue reading

★★★★☆ / Modern European / Modernist / Spanish

Cinc Sentits review – Barcelona’s best restaurant?

This review of a Barcelona restaurant is a break from The Picky Glutton’s usual London-based coverage. Cinc Sentits is reputed to be one of Barcelona’s best fine dining establishments, which is a vaunted reputation any restaurant will have a hard time living up to. First impressions are a good place to start and here Cinc … Continue reading