The modern Turkish restaurant that’s far too good for Fitzrovia’s backstreets Although I only spent a day in the modern, nondescript Turkish city of Kayseri a few years back, the mere mention of this central Anatolian metropolis is enough to bring back fond memories. The city’s mod cons were especially welcome after trekking through the … Continue reading
Banh mi and grilled meats galore If you’ve had Vietnamese food in London in the last decade or so, then you’ll know the drill when you walk through the doors at any one of the capital’s umpteen Vietnamese restaurants. Pho, summer rolls and perhaps a coffee or two. Endless identikit curries, salads and fried noodle … Continue reading
Unapologetically Sichuanese hotpot Shuang Shuang, the Chinese hotpot restaurant married to a conveyor belt, befuddled many of its Chinatown neighbours when it first opened. Comparatively expensive with somewhat unadventurous ingredients, a bit too much logistical fuss on your part and a relative lack of large communal pots for group dining, it broke all the Chinatown … Continue reading
Not quite the Barrafina 2.0 you were hoping for I try not to write too much about the personalities in London’s restaurant business for many reasons. But when two of the people behind Barrafina, the capital’s landmark tapas mini-chain, strike out on their own then I can’t help but sit up and take notice. Nieves … Continue reading
The Chisou empire’s Great Portland Street outpost Of all the London restaurants to have closed in the past year or two, few have wounded me as much as the unexpected closure of Ten Ten Tei. That budget Soho restaurant wasn’t perfect. Aside from the iffy service, one of its chief sins was its smorgasbord menu … Continue reading
2017 has been an incredibly hectic year for London restaurants, even by the frenetic standards of this city. Despite the closure of some much missed favourites, new restaurants have continued to open at a dizzying and surely unsustainable pace. Some of that has been driven by a modest influx of celebrity chefs from abroad – … Continue reading
