Alhaji Suya review – Nigerian barbecue for takeaway and next day delivery
★★★★☆ / Nigerian/West African

Alhaji Suya review – Nigerian barbecue for takeaway and next day delivery

Some parts of London are more blessed with takeaway bounty than others, with surprises tucked away in the most unexpected of places. Alhaji Suya serves up Nigerian suya and kilishi, grilled marinaded meats and jerky respectively, from a unit in a North Greenwich industrial park having relocated from Peckham. Continue reading

Nando’s vs Roosters Piri Piri review – cheap and cheeky chicken comparison
★★★☆☆ / Steak/chophouse

Nando’s vs Roosters Piri Piri review – cheap and cheeky chicken comparison

With lockdown, I have fewer respites from the amateurish tedium of my own cooking. It was this, combined with the need to run errands for an ill dining companion, that led me to pucker up for a cheeky Nando’s for the first time in years. At the same time, the existence of a notable competitor in the form of Roosters Piri Piri, a franchised chain with branches in London as well as farther afield, piqued my curiosity. There’s only one thing for it – a takeaway piri piri chicken-and-chips comparison. Continue reading

The Georgian review – Clapham’s Caucasus restaurant that must survive
★★★★☆ / Georgian

The Georgian review – Clapham’s Caucasus restaurant that must survive

No, not that Georgia – the other one Updated 24/03/2020 – corrected mislabelled/misidentified dish At the time of writing, the entirety of London’s restaurant industry – and indeed the UK’s – has entered a period of intense uncertainty. The Covid-19 coronavirus crisis has forced the shutdown of literally every sit-down restaurant in the capital (along … Continue reading

Yah-So review – look beneath the chintz at this Jamaican restaurant in Croydon
★★★★☆ / Jamaican/Caribbean

Yah-So review – look beneath the chintz at this Jamaican restaurant in Croydon

Bring your loved ones – and even your frenemies – to this Thornton Heath restaurant We all, at some point or another, have to break bread with people that we’d rather spend less time with – not more. Although there’s always the distant hope that it’s *this* meal that will finally help put that fractured … Continue reading

Trivet review – the London Bridge fine dining restaurant with an identity crisis
★★★☆☆ / Modern European / Modernist

Trivet review – the London Bridge fine dining restaurant with an identity crisis

What’s the point of all this? Fine dining used to be so easy to identify. The opulently decorated dining rooms, the tablecloths, the suited and booted staff – and that was just the physical environment, never mind the hushed aura. Then there was the food, itself a world apart from what most of us ate … Continue reading

Volta do Mar review – Portuguese food that isn’t just from Portugal
★★★★☆ / Eclectic / Portuguese

Volta do Mar review – Portuguese food that isn’t just from Portugal

Big issues on small plates from a Salt Yard alumnus Volta do Mar is an unusual restaurant in more ways than one. Founded by an alumnus from the storied yet troubled Salt Yard group, Volta do Mar’s Portuguese-themed menu has influences from all over the former Portuguese empire – or the Lusosphere if you prefer. … Continue reading

Trap Kitchen review – affordable seafood swims into Balham via Instagram
★★★☆☆ / Eclectic / Seafood

Trap Kitchen review – affordable seafood swims into Balham via Instagram

This crab dinner has legs, but it’s running before it can walk The potential of Instagram to power and propel businesses from mere photographic ideas into actual money making businesses is well known. It’s one thing to read about it though and quite to another to sit in a restaurant that has its origins in … 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

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

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

BBQ Dreamz street food stall settles down in east London Updated 23/11/20 – this restaurant has now closed 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 … Continue reading