Slumming it in Mayfair for South Asian haute cuisine giggles Pitting Gymkhana against Indian Accent seems like such a natural thing to do. Both are pricey high-end Indian restaurants on the same street in Mayfair, located mere yards apart from each other. And yet the outcome almost seems like such a forgone conclusion. In one … Continue reading
In this case ‘casual’ means ‘cheaper’. Sort of. It’s always fascinating to see what happens when a lauded, Michelin-starred fine-dining restaurant launches a ‘casual’ spin-off. When Dabbous attempted it, the result was the very different and somewhat odd Barnyard. Both of those restaurants have now closed and, in retrospect, Barnyard felt a somewhat patronising, phoned-in … Continue reading
Southwest London doesn’t know how lucky it really is Menus may look like an innocuous list of dishes and prices to most people. But, unless they’ve been written on the fly by a sleep-deprived proprietor teetering on the edge of alcoholism, they can be a far more calculated, insidious instrument designed to subtly serve the … Continue reading
Look beyond the marketing spin at this Gunpowder threequel As the end of the year approaches, so does the anniversary of this website and so my feeble mind inevitably ponders all that it has accomplished. While I would like to think that I’ve helped at least a few Londoners (and visitors too) at making better … Continue reading
Oxford Street’s eating options get a kick in the pants The little patch of shops and restaurants adjacent to Selfridges known as St. Christopher’s Place used to be one of London’s dining out black spots. Full of tourist traps fronted by touts wielding laminated menus either the length of the Bible or full of badly … Continue reading
It’s both different from the original Soho Temper and reassuringly similar too I try not to write too much about the industry goings-on in London’s restaurant scene. Such gossipy navel-gazing is often transient in its importance, at best, and really doesn’t serve the purpose of this site which is to help you find somewhere really good … Continue reading
Judging a restaurant on more than how good it looks on Instagram Update 31/7/2017 – added remarks about the bone marrow to the details of the goat curry An opinion column published on the newly launched London version of Eater caused a small stir among the capital’s restaurant watchers. The piece railed against the pernicious effects … Continue reading
