Eating well on a budget in south east London If you hang around on London Food and Restaurant Twitter (TM) for long enough, then you’ll inevitably come across a peculiar form of griping. For some people, certain words and phrases are considered impermissible in food writing on pain of public shaming. Some, such as ‘melt … Continue reading
Tag Archives: dumplings
Wau review – Malaysian food heats up Newbury
Bringing the spice of life to West Berkshire The West Berkshire town of Newbury is notable for a few things. It was the site of two battles in the English Civil War, its neighbours once included a RAF base picketed by anti-nuclear protestors and it’s the headquarters for the UK branch of telecommunications behemoth Vodafone. … Continue reading
Nutshell review – Iranian food comes to Covent Garden
In a nutshell: you can do better On the face of it, a menu of small plates intended for sharing amongst multiple people seems like an oxymoron. It’s child’s play to share a heaving slab of roast, a cauldron of casserole or a heap of noodles with your gathered friends and family. It’s much harder … Continue reading
Mercato Metropolitano review – the Southwark street food hall trying to be everything to everyone
Halfway between Elephant & Castle and London Bridge, but nowhere in particular Updated 30/9/2019 – added reviews of new traders and updated the reviews of Badiani, Duman, Little Sicily and Turkish Garden Updated 16/4/2019 – added hyperlinked table of contents, corrected spelling and grammatical errors The weird thing about street food in London isn’t the … Continue reading
Kanishka review – I won’t whitewash this chef’s bigotry and neither should you
If you’re looking for a bog-standard restaurant review, then this isn’t it I’ve always tried to keep this site focussed on giving practical restaurant advice – where to eat and what to order, served with what I hope is a dash of wit and wry commentary. It’s what I’ve always wanted to read and hopefully … Continue reading
Silk Road review – Xinjiang noodles and kebabs in Camberwell
Not all Silk Roads lead to treasure Some restaurants become so totemic and talismanic, that no amount of criticism on my part or anyone else’s is likely to dent their popularity. In London, a town somewhat unfairly pilloried for being expensive to live in, that maxim applies most potently to cheaply priced restaurants. Few sit-down … Continue reading
Master Wei review – masterful noodles that you’ve never heard of…
…and there’s plenty more to enjoy at this Russell Square Shaanxi/Xi’an restaurant Update 18/10/21 – added details of autumn 2021 revisit Opening a new restaurant serving Xi’an food (or Shaanxi food, if you prefer) in the seemingly barren concrete wastes of the Holborn-Bloomsbury-Russell Square hinterland appears bafflingly odd at first glance. Despite being wedged in … Continue reading
Din Tai Fung Covent Garden review – people are queuing for hours to order the wrong dish at this dumpling restaurant
The biggest restaurant chain you’ve never heard of has opened in central London It should go without saying, but no restaurant is worth queuing for – at least in London or any other metropolis that’s similarly bursting at the seams with other restaurants at your disposal. Queuing for potentially hours on end does nothing but … Continue reading
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
Kin et Deum review – the revamped London Bridge Thai that hasn’t fallen far from the tree
Uncomfortable reading lies ahead The trio of siblings behind Kin et Deum would doubtless prefer that I spend this introduction focussing on their Thai restaurant’s airy and tastefully decorated interior or that they’re building upon the legacy of their father’s Thai restaurant which used to occupy the same premises. Unfortunately for them, I can’t possibly … Continue reading
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