Our round-up of what the nation’s restaurant critics were writing about in the week up to 7th June 2026
The Guardian
Grace Dent nabbed “one of the best seats in Manchester right now, if not the entire north” at a new cocktails-and-seafood bar from the trio behind Higher Ground next door. And if anybody questions whether shellfish snacks and complex cocktails go together – her answer is that indeed they do.
“A Death in the Afternoon cocktail made with champagne and absinthe does pair beautifully with Cornish Baerii caviar with house-cut crisps and soured cream,” she declared, adding: “These are not chuck-away casual bar snacks; this is meaningful, highly adept cooking, and in many cases simply the result of honouring truly great produce”.
Grace sampled devilled eggs with brown crab; some “glorious” Arbroath smokie fritters; cuttlefish ink and bacon croquettes; smoked mackerel rillettes; marinated mussel escabèche; Lindisfarne oysters; and beef tartare with crisp cod skin, plus a larger plate of monkfish pasta and a juicy Dexter beef burger. Better still, welcoming staff make this “the very antithesis of those hip places that are skewered by their own self-importance”.
*****
The Times & Sunday Times
Giles Coren surprised himself by enjoying a modern Greek restaurant despite the “bad vibrations” of its setting – an ugly newbuild in “soulless, over-moneyed new Marylebone”.
Once inside, he found “they’ve done wonderful things with the bleak space”, and the concise and enticing menu was equally to his liking, with dishes that ranged from “delicious palourde clams in white wine, yoghurt and dill” to an excellent duck with squishy gigante beans and roast Middle White suckling pig with roast wild greens.
Giles also ruminated on national identity, pointing out that he was served by a Spaniard and a Hungarian while the head chef, Louis Korovilas, was a Brit who has made his name with Italian cuisine (at Bancone and Locanda Locatelli) and the exec chef, Glen Ballis, was Australian – although Korovilas is a Greek name and Ballis “did once have Greek parents, which is fair dinkum if you ask me”.
***
Chitra Ramaswamy raved about an unusually “concept-less” restaurant with no website or signage that over its five years has “become a great one”, “home to some of the most generous, comforting, and deeply pleasurable food not just in Glasgow, but the whole of the UK”.
“Cheery, unpretentious and random-indie-bistro-ish in spirit”, with “ridiculously photogenic tomato-red Formica tables”, it serves a short menu of pan-European dishes, including sharing steaks in technically perfect sauces and desserts that are “inelegant and all the more fabulous for that”.
One highlight stood out: “Asparagus with clams and ham, in a bath of lemony buttery glossiness, is simultaneous exactly what it says it is and more than the sum of its parts. A tremendous dish… one of the best plates I’ve eaten in ages.”
***
Camilla Long headed for dinner at a new Italian restaurant in a leafy street near Holland Park, the latest opening from the team behind the Fat Badger and the Hart, whose food she loved.
The cooking was fine, especially some excellent pasta: “It’s what I’d call London Italian… nursery food disguised as Elizabeth David”, she said, although the ubiquitous bottarga was further evidence that “compacted fish fanny is having a moment”. And why did they need to cut scarlet prawns – already “rich and luscious” – with lobster?
However, the place did not work for Camilla. The cocktails were “basically nightclub hits”, not Italian at all; nor was the wine menu, that was “stuffed with Puligny-Montrachets and Cote de Beaunes and Pauillacs, very few of them under £100”. The “sleazy” décor (including mirrored lavatories: “who wants infinity sees?”) had barely changed since the venue’s incarnation as Casa Cruz, a “lizardy oligarchs’ lounge”, and “none of the staff look as though they’ve ever been inside an Italian restaurant, let alone worked in one”.
*****
The Observer
Rebecca Nicholson took a more indulgent view of CeCe’s, saying the leftover Casa Cruz décor perfectly suits the shift to a “big, shiny Italian” in the Mad Men mould – “I loved every ridiculous, over-the-top moment of it”.
The service “made us feel special and taken care of, without excessive fuss but with sexy competence”, while “everyone around us seemed lively and content, which is, I suppose, what being rich can bring to your life.”
If the food was “light on the portion sizes, already semaglutide-friendly, for its high-end clientele”, it was generally delicious, including white asparagus in a creamy sauce topped with shaved bottarga, “immaculate” fritto misto and “silky” rabbit ragu with pappardelle. The only duff dish was a bland potato ravioli, “the filling lacking texture and the walnut sauce almost instantly congealing on the plate”.
*****
Financial Times
Jay Rayner noted that the name of this upmarket spot close to the Bank of England is somewhat misleading: this is no humble bar where you kick back after work for drinks and snacks. “Some of its fish is flown in daily from Japan. It uses Jidori chicken, a fancy Japanese variety often referred to as the wagyu of fowl.”
But he wasn’t complaining, though, as he tucked into the “serious cooking” (sushi; delicate tempura; chicken skewers; cubes of deep-fried rice) that made good use of “some of the best ingredients I have come across in a very long time”, and sipped sake recommended by a sommelier who “comes across less as an upseller and more as a cheerleader”.
“None of this is exactly cheap”, although the drinks rather than the food are what will run up huge bills if you are not careful. And while you might expect the air to be heavy with “the fizz of testosterone” found in Finance Bro redoubt, Jay was happy to report a mixed and relaxed crowd on the night he went.
*****
Daily Mail
Tom Parker Bowles gave a warm welcome to the new gastropub combining the talents of a “great dining dynasty” – Jon Spiteri, Melanie Arnold and their children Lorcan, Fin and Molly – and already feels like a “much-loved local” after only two visits.
The menu of four starters and four mains included a “beautifully cooked” tranche of sea bass and rare onglet with hand-cut chips. “Pork-belly skewers are braised in cider, compressed then deep-fried. Seven hours’ work for a couple of magnificently meaty mouthfuls.”
Puddings, though, “need more work”. Chocolate mousse is rich but a little ponderous, while an apricot and amaretti biscuit crumble in custard is “a touch sparse”.
*****
Daily Telegraph
William Sitwell enjoyed a rustic Italian lunch at a charming if slightly chaotic osteria in an ancient town near the south coast.
The cooking was generally good, including some “decent” focaccia and a “really delicious” pasta carbonara made with guanciale, although it was slightly too cheesy for William’s taste.
*****
London Standard
Guest critic Jade Wickes tried out the new “meat and fish version” of Persepolis, a stalwart Persian vegetarian in Peckham for over 25 years, but was disappointed to find no fish available on the day.
The falafel, though, “were divine and among some of the best I’ve had, well, ever: perfectly crispy on the outside and moist within, warm herbs and spices singing.”
Of the main dishes, a whole baby chicken marinated in lemon, onion and saffron was “the lemoniest chicken I’ve ever had the pleasure of tasting”, but chargrilled fillet of lamb in saffron butter let the side down: “it was dry and felt lonely on the plate, like it needed another element to bolster it.”
