Kyseri review – this Oklava sequel packs big flavours into a cosy space
★★★★☆ / Turkish

Kyseri review – this Oklava sequel packs big flavours into a cosy space

The modern Turkish restaurant that’s far too good for Fitzrovia’s backstreets Update 29/12/2019 – this restaurant has now closed 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 … Continue reading

Lina Stores review – Soho Italian deli spawns its own dedicated pasta restaurant
★★★★☆ / Italian

Lina Stores review – Soho Italian deli spawns its own dedicated pasta restaurant

The West End’s other Italian restaurants should be pistachio green with envy. You’d be forgiven for thinking that London’s recent spate of pasta-only Italian restaurants materalised out of thin air, but it’s actually just another chapter in the long history of Italian hospitality and catering in the capital. Soho in particular, as well the areas … Continue reading

Mrs Le’s review – Clapham Junction’s rule-breaking Vietnamese diner
★★★★☆ / Vietnamese

Mrs Le’s review – Clapham Junction’s rule-breaking Vietnamese diner

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

The best dishes of 2017 – food that you need in your life
★★★★★ / ★★★★☆ / ★★★☆☆ / News

The best dishes of 2017 – food that you need in your life

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

Coal Rooms Peckham review – a train station restaurant that isn’t a dreary chain
★★★☆☆ / Eclectic / Steak/chophouse

Coal Rooms Peckham review – a train station restaurant that isn’t a dreary chain

Plus a beast of a bacon sandwich Salvaging, reusing and repurposing old fittings and furnishings to adorn new restaurants is nothing new; it’s been an ongoing trend in the English-speaking world for at least a decade, if not more. Renovating old buildings, while judiciously paying homage to their original purpose, has received less attention but … Continue reading

Killer Tomato review – attack of the imitation Shepherd’s Bush burritos and tacos
★★★☆☆ / Eclectic / Mexican

Killer Tomato review – attack of the imitation Shepherd’s Bush burritos and tacos

And I mean that in the nicest possible way Update 16/6/2019 – this restaurant has now closed Stuff any old combination of meat, veg and sauce into a tortilla and someone, somewhere will call it ‘Mexican’ even if the result only has a tangential relationship with Donald Trump’s favourite country. To be fair, former street food … Continue reading

Banh Mi in London review – baguettes from Whaam Banh Mi, Moba and more
★★★★★ / ★★★★☆ / ★★★☆☆ / ★★☆☆☆ / Best and Worst group tests / Vietnamese

Banh Mi in London review – baguettes from Whaam Banh Mi, Moba and more

Vietnamese sandwiches spread across the capital My 2014 group test of banh mi eateries proved to be one of my most popular Best and Worst round-ups – and also one of the most contentious, as some of the ill-tempered Comments attest. I’m quite thick-skinned though and I take such vehement, blinkered criticism as a sign … Continue reading

Taberna do Mercado review – food so good the City doesn’t deserve it
★★★★★ / Portuguese

Taberna do Mercado review – food so good the City doesn’t deserve it

Sophisticated Portuguese food satiates the cravings you never knew you had If Spanish and Portuguese cuisine were human siblings, then Spanish food would undoubtedly be the attention-grabbing overachiever. From paella, jamon iberico de bellota and Cantabrian anchovies to the heady heights of modernist Basque and Catalan cooking, Spain has it all. Portugal, on the other hand, rarely … Continue reading

Portland review – lamb tartare and pickled shiitake on Great Portland Street
★★★★☆ / Eclectic

Portland review – lamb tartare and pickled shiitake on Great Portland Street

Picture’s sleek new rival Coming up with restaurant names is not easy. With umpteeen restaurants opening a week in London, all the names that are both good and obvious have long been taken by now. But the guys behind Portland on Great Portland Street near the BBC’s Broadcasting House aren’t even trying. Given how its … Continue reading