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

Gul and Sepoy review – prince and pauper Indian dining in Spitalfields
★★★★☆ / Indian / South Asian

Gul and Sepoy review – prince and pauper Indian dining in Spitalfields

Look beyond the marketing spin at this Gunpowder threequel Update 12/3/23: this restaurant has now closed As the end of the year approaches, so does the anniversary of this website and so my feeble mind inevitably ponders all that it has accomplished. While I would like to think that I’ve helped at least a few … 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

Bellanger review – French-German mashup wags my tail
★★★★★ / French

Bellanger review – French-German mashup wags my tail

Alsace Islington brasserie on the green Update 16/8/2019 – this restaurant has now closed Britain’s long relationship with France has been a fraught and tangled one, to say the least. Thankfully that hasn’t stopped a surge of new French restaurants opening in London over the past couple of years. Bellanger, from the people behind Brasserie Zedel … 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

Berners Tavern review – looks good and tastes even better
★★★★☆ / Modern European / Modernist

Berners Tavern review – looks good and tastes even better

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

★★★★☆ / German/Austrian / Modern European / Modernist

Steirereck review – eating out in a Vienna park before sunset

This review of a Vienna restaurant is a break from The Picky Glutton’s usual London-based coverage. Steirereck is an unusual restaurant since its premises are located within one of Vienna’s city parks – the Stadtpark. The Stadtpark isn’t Vienna’s most picturesque green space and the exterior of Steirereck’s building isn’t much to look at either, … Continue reading