It’s not as French as you think, nor as good as you’d hope It’s well known that media ownership in the UK is concentrated in the fat, gold-encrusted hands of an increasingly small group of notorious moguls, shadowy oligarchs and ex-porn barons. While restaurant ownership is far more diversified, in London at least, a similarly small … Continue reading
Entire menu reviewed at intriguing Clapham surprise When I’d heard that a restaurant in Clapham, The Dairy, was serving high quality, complex and beguiling food I dismissed the reports as utter lunacy. I regarded Clapham as full of nothing more than crap bars transplanted from the Costas and stuffed to the rafters with wannabe Hooray Henrys braying about … Continue reading
Smoky moody Tottenham Court Road dive bar Updated 12/02/2016 – added back room private dining details Updated 16/02/2015 – updated opening times This review was originally published on 5/11/2014 and has since been updated Thai food in London has been stuck in something of a rut, with the usual pad thais and green curries predominating. That’s slowly … Continue reading
Marylebone celeb hangout serves good grub I like to make repeat visits to restaurants before writing a review for any number of reasons, from trying to get a feel for the kitchen’s style to giving wobbly staff a chance to get their act together. Or simply because I really enjoy what they serve. Making repeat visits to Chiltern Firehouse … Continue reading
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
Contemporary Indian small plates for sharing I’m fortunate enough that I can almost anything I want, but others have restrictions on what they can eat. The Cape, the better half of the The Squinting Brummie, is gluten intolerant for example. A surprising number of London’s restaurants do little to accommodate those with celiac diseases, but … Continue reading
No sniggering in the back The vast majority of Vietnamese restaurants in London have very traditional menus and tend to be clustered together in Hoxton and Deptford, with smaller concentrations in other places such as Hammersmith. Soho’s House of Ho is a very different affair. The exposed brick walls, moody lighting and odd contemporary art … Continue reading
Late to bed and early to rise makes one fat and tired Update 10/04/2019 – this restaurant is now closed Given the number of early risers and night owls in London, there are surprisingly few breakfast spots worth seeking out and even fewer late night diners. A restaurant that combines both is rarer still. Jackson + … Continue reading
The Hawksmoor that’s not a Hawksmoor Foxlow is the latest restaurant from the guys behind the Hawksmoor mini-chain of steakhouses, but it tries to be different by concentrating on meats other than steak. I say ‘tries’ quite deliberately, as you can still order various cuts of steak at Foxlow. Even if this wasn’t the case, Foxlow’s … Continue reading
So popular, it needs its own doorman The oddly-named Social Eating House is the latest restaurant in Jason Atherton’s empire and it’s not quite as expensive as Atherton’s flagship Pollen Street Social. Whereas Pollen Street Social has a muted, inoffensive decor suited to its Mayfair location, the Soho-based Social Eating House is a tad more … Continue reading
The Picky Glutton 
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