Pitt Cue City review – Soho to Liverpool Street barbecue changes more than just the location
★★★★★ / Barbecue/BBQ / British

Pitt Cue City review – Soho to Liverpool Street barbecue changes more than just the location

Barbecue British-style Update 10/6/2019 – this restaurant has now closed The move from street food maverick to established restaurant can be a rocky one. Even if you somehow tame the logistical and financial maelstrom of setting up a London restaurant, there’s still the task of evolving your menu to keep up with the competition. That’s something The … Continue reading →

Hill and Szrok Pub review – Old Street meat pub is worth a butcher’s hook
★★★☆☆ / Gastropub / Steak/chophouse

Hill and Szrok Pub review – Old Street meat pub is worth a butcher’s hook

Steakhouse and pub all-in-one Update 19/7/21 – this restaurant has now closed The original Hill and Szrok is a butchers in Broadway Market that branched out into catering. Re-purposing its central marble slab into a communal table, the butcher turned into a self-described ‘cookshop’ at night. ‘Cookshops’ are apparently the Regency-era precursors to restaurants in … Continue reading →

Shuang Shuang review – conveyor belt Chinese hot pot
★★★☆☆ / Chinese

Shuang Shuang review – conveyor belt Chinese hot pot

Do-it-yourself food at silver spoon prices Chinese food in London has long been dominated by Cantonese cooking, but that appeared to be changing in the mid noughties with Sichuanese eateries opening up across the city. That move towards better representation of China’s myriad regional cuisines soon stalled, but it appears to have restarted with new … Continue reading →

Rök review – Scandinavian smoked meats in Shoreditch
★★★☆☆ / Steak/chophouse

Rök review – Scandinavian smoked meats in Shoreditch

Smoke and fire that didn’t really rock my world Thanks to the recent and growing popularity of American barbecue in London, restaurants serving other cuisines have jumped onto the barbecue and smoking branded bandwagon. It wouldn’t be completely fair to ascribe such cynical opportunism to the people behind Rök, as they do serve dishes inspired by the … Continue reading →

Paradise Garage review – the best value tasting menu in London
★★★★☆ / British / Eclectic / Modern European / Modernist

Paradise Garage review – the best value tasting menu in London

This railway arch restaurant will set your heart racing Update 12/02/18 – this restaurant has now closed Unless you walk around London, it’s hard to appreciate just how close many of the city’s neighbourhoods are to each other. Bethnal Green has the City and Shoreditch directly on its western border, while Mile End and Stratford sit … Continue reading →

Pidgin review – tiny Dalston restaurant with an equally compact set menu
★★★☆☆ / Eclectic / Modern European / Modernist

Pidgin review – tiny Dalston restaurant with an equally compact set menu

Don’t just look at the star rating and move on, read the words If anything symbolises the obstacles London’s insane property market throws in the way of budding restauranteurs, then it’s the location of Pidgin. Located in a mostly residential area on a side street with a handful of other shops, passing trade is probably … Continue reading →

Taberna do Mercado review – food so good the City doesn’t deserve it
★★★★★ / Portuguese

Taberna do Mercado review – food so good the City doesn’t deserve it

Sophisticated Portuguese food satiates the cravings you never knew you had If Spanish and Portuguese cuisine were human siblings, then Spanish food would undoubtedly be the attention-grabbing overachiever. From paella, jamon iberico de bellota and Cantabrian anchovies to the heady heights of modernist Basque and Catalan cooking, Spain has it all. Portugal, on the other hand, rarely … Continue reading →

Bao London review – Taiwanese bun street stall settles down in Soho
★★★★★ / Chinese / Taiwanese

Bao London review – Taiwanese bun street stall settles down in Soho

The entire menu reviewed Update 13/01/18 – added new opening hours and updated formatting Bao is a street food stand that was one of the winners of my Taiwanese buns group test, outdoing flashier, more well known competition such as Flesh and Buns. While Bao still operates a stall at various markets, it now has a small … Continue reading →

Kintan vs Jin Go Gae review – Japanese and Korean barbecue face-off
★★★★☆ / ★★★☆☆ / Barbecue/BBQ / Japanese / Korean

Kintan vs Jin Go Gae review – Japanese and Korean barbecue face-off

Chancery Lane vs New Malden Update 22/2/2015 – added extra comment about the weird booze at Jin Go Gae Every restaurant needs a hook (or, if you’re uncharitable, a gimmick) to stand out in London’s dizzying eating out market. Kintan claims to be the first Japanese barbecue (‘yakiniku-style’) restaurant in the capital. While technically true, as far … Continue reading →