The Duck and Rice review – Alan Yau’s sleek Chinese gastropub in Soho
★★★☆☆ / Chinese / Chinese Dumplings / Chinese Noodles

The Duck and Rice review – Alan Yau’s sleek Chinese gastropub in Soho

Shiny gastropub shows everything that’s wrong with the new Soho Soho is changing. The redevelopment of what was once one of London’s most bohemian (and most seedy) areas is showing no signs of slowing down. This restaurant reviews website isn’t the best place to talk about the myriad issues surrounding urban regeneration, but it’s difficult … Continue reading

Morada Brindisa Asador review – charcoal-fired tapas comes to Piccadilly
★★★☆☆ / Spanish / Tapas

Morada Brindisa Asador review – charcoal-fired tapas comes to Piccadilly

Big and small plates of charcoal grilled and baked meat Brindisa is one of the older tapas mini-chains in London, having sprouted as an off-shoot of a Spanish goods import operation more than a decade ago. Perhaps because its existence is therefore taken for granted, it’s rarely spoken of in the same excitable or reverential tones … Continue reading

Rex and Mariano review – iPad your budget seafood in Soho
★★★★☆ / Italian / Seafood

Rex and Mariano review – iPad your budget seafood in Soho

Bargain seafood in the West End – hallelujah! Update 12/3/15 – added extra tuna steak photo Seafood in London has a reputation for being expensive, but Rex and Mariano shows that it doesn’t have be like that. Created by some of the masterminds behind Burger and Lobster, Rex and Mariano uses a couple of sneaky tricks to … Continue reading

Metamorfosi review – Gorgonzola lollipops and eel with ice cream
★★★★☆ / Italian / Modern European / Modernist

Metamorfosi review – Gorgonzola lollipops and eel with ice cream

This review of a Rome restaurant is a break from The Picky Glutton’s usual London-based coverage Holidaying by oneself can be a lonely experience, but it also gives a great degree of freedom – especially when it comes to choosing where and when to eat. Metamorfosi is a restaurant that would put many of my dining … Continue reading

Il Sanlorenzo review – superb Rome seafood, shame about the service
★★★☆☆ / Seafood

Il Sanlorenzo review – superb Rome seafood, shame about the service

This review of a Rome restaurant is a break from The Picky Glutton’s usual London-based coverage Seafood isn’t the first thing most people associate with Italian cuisine, if only because it doesn’t fit the stereotypes of Italian food deeply embedded in our collective consciousness – pizza, pasta and tiramisu. Seafood features prominently in many of Italy’s regional … Continue reading

Kurobuta Marble Arch review – modern Japanese izakaya falls flat
★★☆☆☆ / Japanese / Sushi/Sashimi

Kurobuta Marble Arch review – modern Japanese izakaya falls flat

An Edgware Road restaurant that isn’t Lebanese Eating at Kurobuta has, if nothing else, confirmed that I’m slowly devolving into a cantankerous old fart. Kurobuta is a modern take on the izakaya, a Japanese food pub, situated on a residential street just off Edgware Road. Originally due to open last Autumn, it was so delayed … Continue reading

Naamyaa Cafe review – Busaba Eathai’s awkward younger brother
★★★☆☆ / Thai and Lao

Naamyaa Cafe review – Busaba Eathai’s awkward younger brother

Alan Yau does it again? London’s restaurant going public can be broadly divided into two camps: those that care about celebrity chefs, brand names and trends and those that don’t. People in the first camp will almost certainly have heard of Alan Yau, the entrepreneur behind Wagamama, Busaba Eathai, Cha Cha Moon, Hakkasan and Yauatcha. … Continue reading

★★☆☆☆ / Eclectic / Pan-Asian

Tapasia review – is the food any better than the pun-fully bad name?

Small bites at high prices Update July 2013 – this restaurant has now closed More restaurants than ever are opening in Soho despite the relative scarcity of real estate and Tapasia is one of the newest. This small bar and restaurant, located on bustling Old Compton Street, serves up Asian-inspired tapas which isn’t as strange … Continue reading

★★★☆☆ / Eclectic / Modern European / Modernist

Fleur review – small plates, big portions

This review of a Las Vegas restaurant is a break from The Picky Glutton’s usual London-based coverage. Viewed from the outside it’s hard to imagine that Fleur offers some interesting fine dining in small plates form. Located in the bustling, cavernous mall-like parade of restaurants inside the Mandalay Bay Hotel, the bar and smattering of … Continue reading