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
This special events catering company outshines the competition in Tooting Long before the rise of Hoppers, one of the standard bearers for Sri Lankan food in London were the cheap and cheerful restaurants of Tooting such as Apollo Banana Leaf. So much so, that the very idea of Sri Lankan food in London’s suburbs is … Continue reading
The best dishes of the year that you haven’t tried yet As another year – and another decade – come to an end, it’s tempting to feel a sense of melancholy. The country as a whole rushes headlong into what will almost certainly be a jingoistically embarrassing debacle, while countless cherished restaurants have shut their … Continue reading
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
If vegetables are so delicious, then why do so many vegetarian and vegan restaurants insist on making them resemble meat instead? It’s never been easy eating out as a vegetarian in London. Prior to the noughties, your choices were largely divided between Indian restaurants of variable quality and hemp-ridden Mildred’s-type establishments which were almost universally … Continue reading
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
To Eat Like A Girl is an aspiration, not a slight Update 27/10/2019 – added detail that this is a pop-up at Homeboy I’ve been writing about London restaurants for close to a decade now, so I’d like to think I’m at least a passable writer with decent judgment in what you should and shouldn’t … Continue reading
Every dish on the menu tried and tasted Bao in Borough isn’t just another Taiwanese restaurant serving up gua bao. It’s the latest in a line of small but highly successful bao restaurants that have been lauded and recommended by many, including this site. Living up to one’s own expectations is tough enough. Living up … Continue reading
Islington brisket vs Covent Garden celeriac Traditional Turkish kebabs are nigh-on perfect. Whether you prefer shish, kofte, doner, iskender or beyti, the smoke and sizzle of a charcoal mangal is hard to beat. The wisest restauranteurs know better than to attempt ‘elevating’ or ‘refining’ these timeless classics, but instead attempt to put their own personal … 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
The Picky Glutton 
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