Upstairs, Downstairs and where the two meet There are restaurants where it’s clear that compromises have been made. Whether due to money, time or stress, or some unfortunate combination of all three, a restaurant’s premises, location or menu sometimes aren’t quite what its proprietor and chef would have liked them to be. I’d be very … Continue reading
Tag Archives: plaice
Gilly’s Fry Bar review – the chippy that wants to be a tempura restaurant
Finsbury Park doesn’t need more battered fried food I have a confession to make. It’s a deeply unpopular, long-held opinion that will not endear me to many of you. It’ll be even more controversial than the time I disparaged chicken, dismissing it as a soulless meat fit only for children and invalids. I don’t like … Continue reading
The Ninth review – racing towards first place and falling short
Fitzrovia French falls forwards While there’s hardly a shortage of expensive fine dining restaurants in London, there has still nonetheless been a general shift away from pricey, starched table cloth restaurants towards less costly, more informal eateries. In most cases, big name chefs and restaurant groups have been content to merely launch spin-offs, such as Dabbous … Continue reading
Fera at Claridge’s review – come back Gordon Ramsay, all is forgiven
Foraging in Mayfair We do a lot of things that our ancestors would find regressively, inexplicably primitive. In the past (and right now in the developing world while we’re at it), living in a field without running water, electricity or plumbing would be considered poverty. In the modern West, we call it camping and subject our … Continue reading
Mele e Pere review – chic Italian comes to Brewer Street
Is there any substance underneath all that style? Soho used to have a large contingent of Italian restaurants and cafes, but many of them have since closed or faded away. Although there are a couple of new Italian places, such as Polpetto or Bocca di Lupo, that are worth visiting in the area they are … Continue reading