Magpie review – Modernist food served ‘Dim Sum’-style in Mayfair
★★★☆☆ / Eclectic / Modern European / Modernist

Magpie review – Modernist food served ‘Dim Sum’-style in Mayfair

The Pidgin sequel takes flight but doesn’t quite soar Update 10/04/2019 – this restaurant is now closed I once wrote that it’s rare for a restaurant to relocate inwards from the suburbs to the centre of town, rather than other way around. Recent events are proving me wrong, showing that such a move (or sprouting … Continue reading

Core by Clare Smyth review – fine dining where meat isn’t the main course
★★★☆☆ / Modern European / Modernist

Core by Clare Smyth review – fine dining where meat isn’t the main course

Not nearly as cliched as you might think at first glance Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. A fine dining restaurant with a much-vaunted chef at the helm has opened in leafy, wealthy zone 1 West London and serves dishes based on seasonal British produce. If that sentence of postmodern London restaurant cliches … Continue reading

Breddos Tacos review – StreetFeast Dinerama street food settles down in Clerkenwell
★★★★★ / Mexican

Breddos Tacos review – StreetFeast Dinerama street food settles down in Clerkenwell

The Schrodinger’s cat of Mexican food in London Update: 8/02/2018 – added new opening hours and updated formatting Street food has been a significant force for change in the way Londoners eat out. Street food market stalls lack the comfort and convenience of a fully fledged restaurant, but they can easily rival, match or even exceed the … 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

BBQ Whisky Beer at the Grey Horse Kingston review – barbecue pub residency returns
★★★☆☆ / Barbecue/BBQ

BBQ Whisky Beer at the Grey Horse Kingston review – barbecue pub residency returns

But not necessarily for the better Update: 16/11/2016 – BBQ Whisky Beer have apparently rebranded themselves as Smok’d. The amusingly named BBQ Whisky Beer was one of the best barbecue eateries in my original barbecue group test and it continued to impress on subsequent visits. After decamping to the Kentish hinterland for a spell, BBQ … Continue reading

Benazuza review – Cancun hotel fine dining falls flat on its face
★★☆☆☆ / Mexican / Modern European / Modernist

Benazuza review – Cancun hotel fine dining falls flat on its face

This review of a Cancun restaurant is a break from The Picky Glutton’s usual London-based coverage El Bulli, Ferran Adria’s famed modernist restaurant, must have employed half a continent’s worth of people given the number of chefs claiming some connection to that now closed Catalan institution. Benazuza is located half a world away in the basement … 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

Dickie Fitz review – light and airy Australian almost ruins an entire suckling pig
★★★☆☆ / Eclectic

Dickie Fitz review – light and airy Australian almost ruins an entire suckling pig

The successor to Newman Street Tavern I rarely get upset when a restaurant closes, no matter how good it was. At the risk of sounding trite, nothing in this life lasts forever. Even so, I was mortified to hear that Newman Street Tavern, an elegant restaurant serving reliably well-crafted French-ish dishes, was closing to be replaced by a … 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

Nobelhart and Schmutzig review – cloaked contemporary cuisine close to Checkpoint Charlie
★★★☆☆ / German/Austrian / Modern European / Modernist

Nobelhart and Schmutzig review – cloaked contemporary cuisine close to Checkpoint Charlie

This review of a Berlin restaurant is a break from The Picky Glutton’s usual London-based coverage Berlin, like most major cities, has more than its fair share of tourist trap restaurants in and around its historical, heavily touristed centre. It also has some surprises up its sleeve, such as Nobelhart & Schmutzig. Located a literal stone’s throw … Continue reading