Macellaio RC Union Street review – the Italian steakhouse that can’t tear itself away from pizza
★★★☆☆ / Italian / Pizza / Steak/chophouse

Macellaio RC Union Street review – the Italian steakhouse that can’t tear itself away from pizza

‘What’s an Italian steakhouse?!’ The answer, of course, is a restaurant that serves steak cut from Italian cows. It’s a revealing response – pasta, pizza and pesto cast such a shadow over the perception of Italian food in our collective imagination, that anything else is literally inconceivable. If goldfish really do have a memory of just three seconds, then our gestalt intelligence is seemingly limited to just three things per subject. Continue reading

Myrtle review – the understated Irish dame of Chelsea
★★★★☆ / Irish / Modern European / Modernist

Myrtle review – the understated Irish dame of Chelsea

Where sirloin steak is almost upstaged by a beef dumpling At the risk of indulging in armchair GCSE-level psychology, Myrtle is one of those restaurants where elements of the personality and background of the chef are clearly evident. Starting with the obvious, there’s the Irish-accented menu – a surprisingly uncommon thing in London – created … Continue reading

Little Smoke review – Moorgate Smokehouse spin-off doesn’t have the chops
★★☆☆☆ / Steak/chophouse

Little Smoke review – Moorgate Smokehouse spin-off doesn’t have the chops

‘Little’ is the operative word and not in a good way I’ve been reviewing restaurants for long enough now to see multiple restaurants rise and fall, often at the same address. The small space at the edge of City Point near Moorgate is a case in point. Six years ago it was a forgettable and now … Continue reading

Pitt Cue City review – Soho to Liverpool Street barbecue changes more than just the location
★★★★★ / Barbecue/BBQ / British

Pitt Cue City review – Soho to Liverpool Street barbecue changes more than just the location

Barbecue British-style Update 10/6/2019 – this restaurant has now closed The move from street food maverick to established restaurant can be a rocky one. Even if you somehow tame the logistical and financial maelstrom of setting up a London restaurant, there’s still the task of evolving your menu to keep up with the competition. That’s something The … Continue reading

Rök review – Scandinavian smoked meats in Shoreditch
★★★☆☆ / Steak/chophouse

Rök review – Scandinavian smoked meats in Shoreditch

Smoke and fire that didn’t really rock my world Thanks to the recent and growing popularity of American barbecue in London, restaurants serving other cuisines have jumped onto the barbecue and smoking branded bandwagon. It wouldn’t be completely fair to ascribe such cynical opportunism to the people behind Rök, as they do serve dishes inspired by the … Continue reading

Story review – a fairy tale or a shaggy dog story?
★★★★☆ / Modern European / Modernist

Story review – a fairy tale or a shaggy dog story?

Tower Bridge gets a classy new neighbour A lot of new London restaurants have adopted some variant of the stripped back ‘industrial’ look common in Shoreditch – bare brick walls, exposed ventilation ducts and naked concrete floors. I’m thoroughly bored of this now cliched aesthetic, so I was pleased to discover that Story has opted … Continue reading

★★★★☆ / Barbecue/BBQ

Pitt Cue review – barbecue truck settles down in Soho

Having eaten my way through almost the entire menu, is this domiciled food truck really a bountiful BBQ bonanza? Update August 2013: more up-to-date review published Pitt Cue is a new barbecue restaurant in Soho, just around the corner from Carnaby Street, but it originally started out as a truck underneath Hungerford Bridge on the … Continue reading

★★★★☆ / Modern European / Modernist

L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon Las Vegas review – great food, arse-numbing seats

This review of a Las Vegas restaurant is a break from The Picky Glutton’s usual London-based coverage. Although famed French chef Joel Roebuchon has branches of L’Atelier in both London and Paris (among others), my first experience of his cooking wasn’t in either of those close-by locations, but in comparatively far-flung Las Vegas. Strictly speaking … Continue reading

★★★★☆ / Modern European / Modernist

Mix review – top of the world dining?

This review of a Las Vegas restaurant is a break from The Picky Glutton’s usual London-based coverage. Even though renowned French chef Alain Ducasse has a well-regarded restaurant at London’s Dorchester hotel, I have yet to make my way there. I have managed to dine at Ducasse’s Las Vegas establishment though, the succinctly named Mix. … Continue reading