Akara review – a taste of West Africa in Borough Market
A West African jack of all trades and a master of fun
Latest Entries
Plaquemine Lock review – Creole and Cajun pub food on the Regent’s Canal
The gastropub cousin to Bocca di Lupo Most new restaurants launch in a blaze of publicity glory with press releases spamming inboxes, repetitively woolly social media chatter, oversubscribed launch parties, a Ryanair-style rush for reservations and fawning coverage from all the usual suspects. Plaquemine Lock, the new gastropub from one of the bods behind Soho’s … Continue reading
Red Rooster at The Curtain review – the botched Shoreditch soul food transplant
Live music and a celebrity chef amount to a hill of beans Updated 23/11/20 – this restaurant has now closed I try to avoid mentioning celebrity chefs when writing about their restaurants. Apart from trying to avoid the cult of personality that most newspapers trip over themselves to indulge in, I just don’t think it … Continue reading
Xu review – Bao spin-off brings new twists to Taiwanese food
New-wave Taiwanese food in old school surroundings Update 28/3/2018 – updated opening hours Update 14/8/2017 – new details added, including the desserts Eagle-eyed Londoners will have noticed that an increasingly large number of new restaurants in London are branches, spin-offs and extensions of existing restaurants. That is no accident – experienced operators and proven ‘concepts’ … Continue reading
Madame D review – Gunpowder spin-off tries to scale new heights in Spitalfields
But doesn’t quite reach the summit. It’s odd watching the city of your youth gradually change and morph, almost imperceptibly, over the years. Commercial Street is a thoroughfare that links Hoxton and Shoreditch in the north with Whitechapel to the south, running right through Spitalfields and parallel to the City as it does so. It was until recently, and still … Continue reading
Machi-ya review – Kanada-ya spin-off does Japanese comfort food
A review from someone who can tell the difference between chicken and pork tonkatsu Machi-ya is an odd name for a Japanese restaurant. A machiya is a traditional Japanese house that can be very atmospheric and are thus increasingly popular with tourists visiting Japan. Indeed, I briefly considered staying in one during my trip to Kyoto … Continue reading
Monty’s Deli review – street food bagels settle down in Hoxton
Jewish soul food reasserts itself in the East End Update 16/8/2019 – this restaurant has now closed Jewish food doesn’t have much of a visible presence in London to the casual observer. But that’s before you realise that many dishes that we taken for granted in our everyday lives – from bagels and smoked salmon to hot … Continue reading
★★★★★ / ★★★★☆ / ★★★☆☆ / ★★☆☆☆ / Best and Worst group tests / Japanese / Japanese Noodles
The best and worst tonkotsu ramen in London – 2017 review update
Japanese pork bone broth noodle soup in the capital gets better. And worse. Although the deluge of ramen restaurant openings in London has lessened since its peak a couple of years ago, a bowl of warm, rich and comforting tonkotsu ramen is still rarely far from my mind. Not only because it’s the perfect dish … Continue reading
Claude Bosi at Bibendum review – a classic building, a vaunted chef and the new Hibiscus
Like a regenerated Doctor Who, what’s old is new again. I tend to review new restaurants and Claude Bosi at Bibendum does technically count as a new restaurant, having only just opened at the beginning of April this year. Except, in some ways, it is more of an amalgam of restaurants that have gone before it. Most … Continue reading
Sparrow review – eating out takes flight in Lewisham
A southeast London restaurant worth getting excited about The idea that southeast London is a gastronomic desert bereft of anywhere good to eat out is a long-held canard. Although somewhat overstated, especially in boroughs with relative wealth and proximity to Zone 1, there is an element of truth to it. With the locals spending the … Continue reading
Holborn Dining Room review – the Instagram pie phenomenon
Aye for pie with an eye for pie One should never, ever underestimate the importance of how food looks. Attractive-looking food not only influences how we perceive its taste, but can get otherwise disinterested punters in through the door in the first place. This placebo-like effect can be seen in the social media hubbub surrounding Holborn Dining Room. This previously … Continue reading
The Picky Glutton 
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