Morada Brindisa Asador review – charcoal-fired tapas comes to Piccadilly
★★★☆☆ / Spanish / Tapas

Morada Brindisa Asador review – charcoal-fired tapas comes to Piccadilly

Big and small plates of charcoal grilled and baked meat Brindisa is one of the older tapas mini-chains in London, having sprouted as an off-shoot of a Spanish goods import operation more than a decade ago. Perhaps because its existence is therefore taken for granted, it’s rarely spoken of in the same excitable or reverential tones … Continue reading →

Peckham Bazaar review – oddball Eastern European takes over old pub
★★★★☆ / Eclectic / Greek / Turkish

Peckham Bazaar review – oddball Eastern European takes over old pub

It’s sort of like Turkish food, but even more fun Thanks to UKIP and the generally nasty tone of British politics in recent years, ‘Eastern European’ has become a loaded phrase. Our new neighbours have nevertheless been slowly making their impact on London’s dining scene. ‘Eastern European’ food doesn’t have the greatest reputation though and that nebulous … Continue reading →

Big Fernand review – French burgers come to Tottenham Court Road
★★★☆☆ / Burgers

Big Fernand review – French burgers come to Tottenham Court Road

Every burger reviewed from beef to veal, chicken and mushroom too If you buy into the stereotypical caricature of French food as a rarefied haute cuisine that abhors any sort of perfidious Anglo-Saxon influence, then the very idea of French burgers is oxymoronic. That stereotype, like any crass over-generalisation, is of course untrue – evident to anyone … Continue reading →

Blacklock review – £20 for a huge plate of chops in Soho
★★★★★ / Steak/chophouse

Blacklock review – £20 for a huge plate of chops in Soho

Bargain West End grilled meat The idea of a restaurant that serves just chops sounds startlingly modern, but it’s actually quite an old idea. London used to be covered in chophouses – restaurants that, from the late 17th century to the end of the 19th, catered exclusively to men and plied them with booze and cuts of meat. … Continue reading →

Portland review – lamb tartare and pickled shiitake on Great Portland Street
★★★★☆ / Eclectic

Portland review – lamb tartare and pickled shiitake on Great Portland Street

Picture’s sleek new rival Coming up with restaurant names is not easy. With umpteeen restaurants opening a week in London, all the names that are both good and obvious have long been taken by now. But the guys behind Portland on Great Portland Street near the BBC’s Broadcasting House aren’t even trying. Given how its … Continue reading →

Smoking Goat review – Thai Soho barbecue
★★★★☆ / Barbecue/BBQ / Thai and Lao

Smoking Goat review – Thai Soho barbecue

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 →

Tredwell’s review – why the Evening Standard is wrong about Covent Garden’s best diner
★★★★☆ / Eclectic

Tredwell’s review – why the Evening Standard is wrong about Covent Garden’s best diner

Marcus Wareing or not, you need to eat here Update 4/11/21 – this restaurant has now closed. Covent Garden has more than its fair share of shoddy restaurants. For every quality eatery such as Ape and Bird or Opera Tavern, there’s a dozen more slop houses such as Five Guys or Joe’s Southern Kitchen. Tredwell’s is … Continue reading →

The Providores and Tapa Room review – fusion Marylebone masterpiece
★★★★☆ / Eclectic

The Providores and Tapa Room review – fusion Marylebone masterpiece

Can’t get into Chiltern Firehouse? Try here instead. Update 16/8/2019 – this restaurant has now closed Australia has a lot to answer for. Tony Abbott, Home and Away and The Veronicas are all things I can easily live without. But the Antipodes has also given us Kylie Minogue, the flat white and the Tim Tam Explosion. Modern … Continue reading →