Hotel food with a twist Hotel restaurants are very different from restaurants in hotels. This may seem like a minor semantic difference, but there’s actually a yawning gulf between the two. Hotel restaurants are identikit eateries serving up a large menu of lowest common denominator dishes designed for weary travellers too tired to care and … Continue reading
Hirata buns or gua bao – by any other name they would be as sweet Updated 8/11/13 – removed incorrect information about the term ‘hirata buns’, added new background Updated 11/3/14 – fixed broken Table of Contents When a new dish or cuisine is introduced to the UK, it’s inevitably given an analogous description that’s … Continue reading
This review of a Taiwan based restaurant is a break from The Picky Glutton’s usual London-based coverage The oddly-named Five Cent Driftwood House is a fair trek from the centre of Taipei, but if you’re ever in the Taiwanese capital then it’s worth the journey if only to gawp at the restaurant’s extraordinary design. The … Continue reading
Cooking by numbers Update: this restaurant has now closed. Bo London now occupies the same premises. It’s tempting to think that because a restaurant has been well-established and operating for several years, then it must be doing something right and has struck upon a winning formula. The pessimistic view is that they’re merely cruising along … Continue reading
The empty vessel makes the loudest sound. Meza is a long-standing bar in London’s Soho and it’s the last place I’d expect to find an Indian restaurant. Nestled in a corner of the bar itself, eating at Carom late in the week is a cacophonous experience – the loud, buzzy music, including a live sitar … Continue reading
This review of a Barcelona restaurant is a break from The Picky Glutton’s usual London-based coverage. If you’re the sort of reader who only reads the introduction and conclusion to a review and perhaps skims the photos, then let me save you the trouble right now. If you haven’t already guessed from the headline above, … Continue reading
Can a chain do French bistro food justice? With only a few exceptions, I don’t really like chain restaurants. They may have the best of intentions, bringing consistently reliable food to a large number of people at a reasonable price, but as the number of franchised branches balloons, the quality of the food tends to … Continue reading
Peru’s Soho embassy There are only a handful of Peruvian restaurants in London and the simply named Ceviche is one of them. Located in the heart of Soho, Ceviche’s interior is tastefully decorated with just the right amount of toned down kitsch hanging from the walls, although the effect can go into overdrive when the … Continue reading
Fine dining in relaxed surroundings or how to begin your week with a ten-course tasting menu There’s no shortage of expensive restaurants in Kensington and Chelsea, which isn’t surprising given the affluent locals. High prices are no guarantee of quality though, so I was fully prepared for an evening of disappointment at the simply named … Continue reading
Should Busaba Eathai be worried? Most Thai restaurants in London are far from expensive and well within reach of most budgets, but most are also quite chintzy and cheesy in their decor. Busaba Eathai is the obvious exception to this rule with its classy jasmine-scented surroundings, but there’s a new good-looking kid on the block … Continue reading
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