Red Farm review – this Chinese restaurant isn’t revolutionary, but it is quietly radical
★★★★☆ / Chinese / Chinese Dumplings / Chinese Noodles

Red Farm review – this Chinese restaurant isn’t revolutionary, but it is quietly radical

It’s an import from New York in Covent Garden, but don’t hold that against it Updated 28/1/2019 ‘Red Farm’ sounds like a Maoist agricultural collective where exiled bourgeoise are forced to hunt sparrows as part of their re-education, but it’s actually the name of a Chinese restaurant in Covent Garden. It’s quite unlike any other Chinese … Continue reading

Claude Bosi at Bibendum review – a classic building, a vaunted chef and the new Hibiscus
★★★★☆ / French / Modern European / Modernist

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

Benazuza review – Cancun hotel fine dining falls flat on its face
★★☆☆☆ / Mexican / Modern European / Modernist

Benazuza review – Cancun hotel fine dining falls flat on its face

This review of a Cancun restaurant is a break from The Picky Glutton’s usual London-based coverage El Bulli, Ferran Adria’s famed modernist restaurant, must have employed half a continent’s worth of people given the number of chefs claiming some connection to that now closed Catalan institution. Benazuza is located half a world away in the basement … Continue reading

Bo Drake review – the Soho Asian barbecue where there’s smoke but no fire
★★★☆☆ / Barbecue/BBQ / Eclectic / Korean

Bo Drake review – the Soho Asian barbecue where there’s smoke but no fire

It’s Korean-ish BBQ with a dash of Mexican. Sort of. Around Christmas/New Years time I usually got a small shovel-load of emails asking me to predict what the restaurant trends for the coming year will be. Putting aside my view that being so beholden to the trends of the day is a sign of a weak mind … Continue reading

Heirloom review – Crouch End’s hidden gem
★★★★☆ / British / Modern European / Modernist

Heirloom review – Crouch End’s hidden gem

Better than Fera at Claridge’s, any day of the week Despite its booming property prices, leafy lanes and bourgeois reputation, Crouch End isn’t one of London’s dining hotspots. This is almost certainly due to its comparatively out-of-the-way, off-the-Tube location. It’s a 10 minute bus ride from Finsbury Park station which is an unimaginably arduous trek – if … Continue reading

Iberica Marylebone review – chorizo lollipops and dopey service
★★★☆☆ / Spanish / Tapas

Iberica Marylebone review – chorizo lollipops and dopey service

Great Portland Street tapas Restaurant decor in London seems to have fallen into a Shoreditch-inspired rut. Bare light bulbs, reclaimed furniture, exposed concrete and brick walls – I’m bored of it all. The interior of Iberica’s Marylebone branch is therefore a breath of fresh air – both the ground floor and the mezzanine are decorated with … Continue reading

Fera at Claridge’s review – come back Gordon Ramsay, all is forgiven
★★☆☆☆ / Modern European / Modernist

Fera at Claridge’s review – come back Gordon Ramsay, all is forgiven

Foraging in Mayfair We do a lot of things that our ancestors would find regressively, inexplicably primitive. In the past (and right now in the developing world while we’re at it), living in a field without running water, electricity or plumbing would be considered poverty. In the modern West, we call it camping and subject our … Continue reading