El Pastor review – the Barrafina of tacos? Not quite.
★★★★☆ / Mexican

El Pastor review – the Barrafina of tacos? Not quite.

Borough Market tacos has its ups and downs Restaurant decor has fallen into a bit of a rut in recent years. From exposed brick walls and concrete floors to reclaimed furniture and brass fittings, it’s rare to be truly surprised by the interior of any London restaurant these days. While El Pastor, on the edge of Borough Market, … Continue reading

A. Wong review – Victoria Dim Sum and Peking duck
★★★☆☆ / Chinese / Chinese Dumplings

A. Wong review – Victoria Dim Sum and Peking duck

Plus the most mumbling tasting menu ever The overall trend in London restaurant menus, for the past few years, has been brevity. A few dishes, done well. Avoiding the false benefit of ‘choice’ and focussing instead on quality has been a very welcome development, but not every restaurant believes in short menus. A Wong has … Continue reading

Bao Fitzrovia review – Taiwanese sequel tops Tottenham Court Road
★★★★★ / Chinese / Taiwanese

Bao Fitzrovia review – Taiwanese sequel tops Tottenham Court Road

The king is dead; long live the king Update 19/7/21 – this restaurant has now closed Fitzrovia has always had more than its fair share of restaurants given the relatively small size of this neighbourhood, hemmed in by Bloomsbury, Soho and Marylebone. Even so, the area has bloomed in recent years with some top notch … Continue reading

Som Saa review – eye-opening pop-up Thai settles down in Spitalfields
★★★★★ / Thai and Lao

Som Saa review – eye-opening pop-up Thai settles down in Spitalfields

Some say it’s the best Thai in London. All we know is that we call it bloody brilliant. It’s very easy to become jaded and disillusioned when covering London’s restaurants. From the devised-by-committee initiatives to the cynical tourist trap theme parks, from overwrought concepts and dull chains to the atrocious bandwagon jumpers, there’s no shortage of mediocre and down … Continue reading

Shuang Shuang review – conveyor belt Chinese hot pot
★★★☆☆ / Chinese

Shuang Shuang review – conveyor belt Chinese hot pot

Do-it-yourself food at silver spoon prices Chinese food in London has long been dominated by Cantonese cooking, but that appeared to be changing in the mid noughties with Sichuanese eateries opening up across the city. That move towards better representation of China’s myriad regional cuisines soon stalled, but it appears to have restarted with new … Continue reading

Oklava review – classy Turkish food quite unlike any you’ve had before
★★★★☆ / Turkish / Turkish Kebabs

Oklava review – classy Turkish food quite unlike any you’ve had before

Another reason to stop being so pissy about Shoreditch London’s restaurant scene doesn’t stand still with an unstoppable cycle of new restaurants replacing old ones. Sometimes it’s for the worse, as when Charlotte Street’s Rasa Samudra, a very civilised Indian seafood restaurant, was replaced with a branch of Côte. A bloody, sodding, unforgivable Côte. Sometimes though, … Continue reading

Hoppers review – the Sri Lankan verdict on Soho’s new Sri Lankan restaurant
★★★★☆ / Sri Lankan

Hoppers review – the Sri Lankan verdict on Soho’s new Sri Lankan restaurant

To queue or not to queue If you hear a deep, guttural howl of despair echoing across London, then fear not. It’s probably just me triaging my email inbox. If they gave out monetary prizes for inbox restaurant buzzword bingo, then I’d be swanning about the Maldives in a hover chariot made of moonrock. ‘Seasonal British … 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