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

Rosas and Xocolate review – just as sweet by any other name
★★★★☆ / Eclectic / Mexican

Rosas and Xocolate review – just as sweet by any other name

This review of a Yucatan restaurant is a break from The Picky Glutton’s usual London-based coverage Rosas & Xocolate is an odd name for a restaurant and an even odder name for a hotel. Even if it didn’t have a distinctive name, the pink yet graceful mansion-esque premises is hard to miss. The dining room at … Continue reading

Yumi Izayaka review – small Japanese bar with big flavours
★★★★☆ / Japanese / Japanese Noodles

Yumi Izayaka review – small Japanese bar with big flavours

Shaftesbury Avenue yakitori that deserves your support Update 14/2/17 – this restaurant has now closed Location, location and location. It’s supposed to be one of the keys to a successful London restaurant, but a spot on the West End’s bustling Shaftesbury Avenue hasn’t helped Yumi Izakaya. Nestled in between the entrance to the Piccadilly West … Continue reading

Hill and Szrok Pub review – Old Street meat pub is worth a butcher’s hook
★★★☆☆ / Gastropub / Steak/chophouse

Hill and Szrok Pub review – Old Street meat pub is worth a butcher’s hook

Steakhouse and pub all-in-one Update 19/7/21 – this restaurant has now closed The original Hill and Szrok is a butchers in Broadway Market that branched out into catering. Re-purposing its central marble slab into a communal table, the butcher turned into a self-described ‘cookshop’ at night. ‘Cookshops’ are apparently the Regency-era precursors to restaurants in … Continue reading

Kuuk review – lovely mansion, shame about the food
★★☆☆☆ / Mexican / Modern European / Modernist

Kuuk review – lovely mansion, shame about the food

This review of a Yucatan restaurant is a break from The Picky Glutton’s usual London-based coverage Kuuk almost certainly has two meanings. Firstly as a play on the word ‘cook’, which suggests a small, quirky and playful restaurant. The fully apostrophised name, ‘K’u’uk’, is almost certainly an allusion to the Mayan name for the prehispanic deity … Continue reading

Nudo Negro review – culture clash dining in Mexico City
★★☆☆☆ / Eclectic

Nudo Negro review – culture clash dining in Mexico City

This review of a Mexico City restaurant is a break from The Picky Glutton’s usual London-based coverage Wandering around Mexico City’s Roma neighbourhood is a pleasant way to while away a couple of hours. Previous residents had a curious European fixation with some of the streets humorously named after continental cities. Many of the late 19th … Continue reading

Piquet review – classy French where you’d least expect it
★★★★☆ / British / French

Piquet review – classy French where you’d least expect it

Oxford Street has never had it so good Update 14/2/17 – this restaurant has now closed Although by no means the most incongruously positioned restaurant I’ve ever come across, Piquet is nonetheless oddly located. Wedged in-between a faceless office block and a hair salon, it sits opposite a building site and part of Oxford Street’s branch … 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

Nanban Brixton review – Japanese food with a West Indian edge
★★★☆☆ / Eclectic / Japanese / Japanese Noodles

Nanban Brixton review – Japanese food with a West Indian edge

Masterminded by a MasterChef Disclosure: upon asking for the bill, my fourth meal here was given free of charge by the management in light of my repeated custom. This was not asked for and was accepted out of politeness.  There’s no shortage of casual Japanese restaurants in London, but Nanban is different. Although headed up by … Continue reading