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Prairie Fire review – the smoke and fire of American barbecue arrives in White City
American / ★★★☆☆ / Barbecue/BBQ

Prairie Fire review – the smoke and fire of American barbecue arrives in White City

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But the embers are already flickering out I’ve watched the growth and rise of Prairie Fire with interest and concern. Originally a street food stall with a stint at the original Mercato Metropolitano, this American barbecue restaurant has now found itself a permanent home in a former railway arch in White City across the road … Continue reading →

My favourite London restaurant dishes of 2019
★★★★★ / ★★★★☆ / ★★★☆☆ / News

My favourite London restaurant dishes of 2019

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The best dishes of the year that you haven’t tried yet As another year – and another decade – come to an end, it’s tempting to feel a sense of melancholy. The country as a whole rushes headlong into what will almost certainly be a jingoistically embarrassing debacle, while countless cherished restaurants have shut their … 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

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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

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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 →

Paradise Soho review – the Sri Lankan restaurant packing big flavours into a small space
★★★★☆ / Sri Lankan

Paradise Soho review – the Sri Lankan restaurant packing big flavours into a small space

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The new restaurant taking over Spuntino’s place Disclosure: one dessert was offered for free. This was unsolicited and was accepted out of politeness. I don’t envy London’s restauranteurs. Extending hospitality, warmth and service is made all the harder by the compromises needed to open a restaurant in the capital’s cutthroat restaurant market. Soaring rents in … Continue reading →

Bubala review – the Middle Eastern vegetarian and vegan restaurant taking Spitalfields by storm
★★★★☆ / Lebanese/Jordanian/Levantine / Vegetarian

Bubala review – the Middle Eastern vegetarian and vegan restaurant taking Spitalfields by storm

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If vegetables are so delicious, then why do so many vegetarian and vegan restaurants insist on making them resemble meat instead? It’s never been easy eating out as a vegetarian in London. Prior to the noughties, your choices were largely divided between Indian restaurants of variable quality and hemp-ridden Mildred’s-type establishments which were almost universally … Continue reading →

Bong Bong’s Manila Kanteen review – Filipino food comes to Bethnal Green
★★★★☆ / Filipino

Bong Bong’s Manila Kanteen review – Filipino food comes to Bethnal Green

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BBQ Dreamz street food stall settles down in east London Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. A street food stall serves up a cuisine barely known to most Londoners, earning plaudits and a devoted following in the process. Following a series of pop-ups, residencies and barn-storming media appearances, it finally finds a permanent … Continue reading →

Normah’s Cafe review – this hidden Malaysian restaurant is Bayswater’s worst kept secret
★★★★☆ / Malaysian/Singaporean

Normah’s Cafe review – this hidden Malaysian restaurant is Bayswater’s worst kept secret

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Tucked away in a quiet shopping arcade and full of understated sass Updated 26/11/2019 – tweaked the conclusions slightly Bayswater is a funny part of town. Dotted with hotels, souvenir tat shops and one too many overpriced cafes, it often feels like tourist trap London. But it’s also long been an area where you can … 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

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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 →