Middle Eastern BBQ sequel goes back to basics When most restaurants decide to expand by opening new branches, they usually sprout carbon copy clones of the original, try to make each new location different from all the others or try to strike some of middle-ground balance. Berber and Q, the flawed yet generally still superb Middle … Continue reading
The successor to Newman Street Tavern I rarely get upset when a restaurant closes, no matter how good it was. At the risk of sounding trite, nothing in this life lasts forever. Even so, I was mortified to hear that Newman Street Tavern, an elegant restaurant serving reliably well-crafted French-ish dishes, was closing to be replaced by a … Continue reading
Italian food from Wild Honey and Arbutus The Barbican Centre may be a supreme example of Brutalist architecture and a fine place to take in a film or exhibition, but it’s been a barren wasteland for food with branches of Benugo, Cote and other such dens of last resort as your only in-house dining choices up until … Continue reading
S&M no more Update 6/1/2014 – tweaked the Verdict. Meat People might sound like yet another part of the burgeoning Meatliqour burger empire, but it’s actually, as far as I can tell, an independent meat-focussed restaurant. It’s located not far from the genteel sprawl of Islington’s Upper Street. Meat People has taken over the premises … Continue reading
Octopus and chorizo skewers on Berwick Street Updated 21/6/2020 – added details of 2020 meals and updated the Verdict as well as the formatting. Disclosure: I used a publicly available discount for my 2020 meals. This discount was available to the general public; as ever I did not seek any special treatment just because I’m … Continue reading
A cosy North London neighbourhood restaurant Until recently I’d largely become bored of Italian restaurants in London. They were either underwhelming, needlessly fussy or old-fashioned and just plain awful. What restored my faith wasn’t a glitzy haute cuisine restaurant in Mayfair or Chelsea, but a small bistro near Finsbury Park called Osteria Tufo. Osteria Tufo … Continue reading
This review is in partnership with Match.com. That means they reimbursed me for the cost of the first meal in this review, but apart from asking me to include an evaluation of how romantic this restaurant was, they had no say over the content of this review. Finding a romantic but affordable place to have … Continue reading
How does it measure up? Update July 2013 – this restaurant has now closed There’s obviously no shortage of pizza places in London, but most of them serve up grease-laden slices of slop. Franco Manca, with branches in Brixton, Chiswick and Westfield, is an exception but most of those locations aren’t exactly convenient if you’re … Continue reading
Upmarket Indian aims for the masses. Sort of. Selling upmarket Indian food is a tricky business. Given the cheap and cheerful nature of most high street curry houses, convincing most people to pay more than £6 for a main is akin to asking for moon rock in your lemonade. Even if you do convince people … Continue reading
A Mexican restaurant of two halves As my fellow restaurant blogger 31_75 pointed out recently, in his own inimitable style, there are very few good Mexican restaurants in London. The situation isn’t nearly as bad as it was two decades ago when all we had were horrid Tex-Mex dives like Chiquito, but it’s still far from … Continue reading
The Picky Glutton 
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