Bong Bong’s Manila Kanteen review – Filipino food comes to Bethnal Green
★★★★☆ / Filipino

Bong Bong’s Manila Kanteen review – Filipino food comes to Bethnal Green

BBQ Dreamz street food stall settles down in east London Updated 23/11/20 – this restaurant has now closed Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. A street food stall serves up a cuisine barely known to most Londoners, earning plaudits and a devoted following in the process. Following a series of pop-ups, residencies and … Continue reading

Berenjak review – this JKS restaurant got me hooked on Iranian kebabs
★★★★★ / Iranian

Berenjak review – this JKS restaurant got me hooked on Iranian kebabs

Iranian stews and kebabs in Soho It’s strange to begin a restaurant review by talking about another restaurant, but bear with me for a moment. Some of the best dishes at Brigadiers, an Indian restaurant in the City, were the kebabs which meant it was immediately noticeable when the kebab chef responsible, Kian Samyani, left … Continue reading

Rick Stein Barnes review – celebrity chef serves the only seafood in the village
★★★☆☆ / Seafood

Rick Stein Barnes review – celebrity chef serves the only seafood in the village

TV CV only gets you oh so far I have little time for most TV celebrity chefs, but I’ll usually make an exception for Rick Stein. His genteel avuncular charm, childlike wonder and boundless yet measured enthusiasm make him far more watchable than the majority of his arse-clenchingly irritating peers. The big man naturally doesn’t cook in … Continue reading

Mr Bao review – New York, Taipei, Peckham
★★★★☆ / Chinese / Taiwanese

Mr Bao review – New York, Taipei, Peckham

Peckham Taiwanese small bites Update 25/2/2018 – updated formatting and corrected a few typos We Londoners like to think that we’re very cosmopolitan, open to new things and experiences, but when it comes to food we tend to prefer our exoticism in small, easily relatable bites. Chinese food is a prime example. A wealth of eating … Continue reading

★★☆☆☆ / Jamaican/Caribbean

Bubbas review – Caribbean food with a modern twist

Avant-garde or just modish? Caribbean food tends to be hearty and boldly flavoured, but has thus far been found only in traditional recipes served in casual eateries. Bubbas aims to change all of that with its stated goal of applying Modern European techniques to traditional Caribbean dishes and ingredients. Bubbas is oddly located right next … Continue reading

★★★☆☆ / Spanish / Tapas

Barrica review – Tapas invades Goodge Street

Yet another tapas place in Fitzrovia – but is it any good? There’s no shortage of tapas restaurants and bars around Goodge Street in Fitzrovia – some of my favourites include The Salt Yard (sister restaurant of The Opera Tavern) and Fino. For some reason Sue-Ellen inexplicably favours Navarro’s – inexplicable given that restaurant’s consistently … Continue reading

★☆☆☆☆ / French / Modern European / Modernist

Villandry review – Poor quality and insultingly overpriced

Finding a bad restaurant in London is actually pretty hard. The diabolically bad restaurants don’t survive long in London’s commercially competitive environment and most of us have the good sense to avoid the merely awful ones, such as the tourist traps like the Angus chain of steakhouses. What’s left are the sea of mediocre and … Continue reading