Like many ‘tapas bars’, this Isle of Dogs newcomer can seem worryingly ambiguous to the non-Hispanic mind. Is it a bar or a restaurant? Well, however you describe it, this place emerges as one of the few places in the vicinity of Canary Wharf to which one might positively recommend a trip. It does not […]
We’ve recently noted something of a ‘back to basics’ tendency in the London restaurant market, and the recent re-formatting of this Soho restaurant initially looks like a classic example. Out went the mid-’90s minimalism, and in – or so the word had it – came an outfit in classic brasserie-style. Well, up to a point. […]
Vietnamese cuisine has never been part of London’s mainstream: its only upmarket exponents (Bam-Bou and Nam Long) are both as famous for their cocktail bars as for their cooking. A recent wind of change, though, has seen a few good canteens blow in from the East, and settle around the City. The Clerkenwell newcomer we […]
Are the media – heaven forbid – sometimes prone to exaggeration? Are merely interesting restaurant sometimes hailed as great? Is there sometimes an element of group-think among leading critics? These, and many more, thoughts were inspired by our visit to this new Soho Chinese – a restaurant which has provoked an almost unprecedented Halleluiah Chorus […]
Sometimes we just don’t get it. This Dulwich venture has clearly needed a lot of investment, and its backer (also involved in L’Etranger in South Kensington) is experienced. Why then is the new incarnation of this leafily-located Georgian mansion (previously called Belair House) so wide of the mark. For starters, why would anyone take such […]
As chef at Putney Bridge restaurant, Anthony Demetre proved that he could do the Michelin thing. He also worked out that it was not necessarily any sort of route to riches. (Nowadays those same premises trade as a branch of Thai Square). In conjunction with Putney Bridge’s former maitre d’, Demetre is now back in […]
Over the years, Chris Galvin has put in honourable service at both the Orrery (for which we won a star) and the Wolseley (which he helped launch). But for most diners, his name only became known with the opening – in partnership with his brother Jeff – of Galvin’s (‘Bistro de luxe’) in Marylebone last […]
A brilliant marketing wheeze – all possible fresh produce is sourced from the immediate environs of the capital – has already assured many column inches of coverage for this new restaurant in a former pub. Thanks to the location, they do indeed need all the PR they can get. Even the most accomplished estate agent […]
As we scribble this review, news reaches us of the sale of London’s most here-today-gone-tomorrow restaurant site. We’d guess that the new owners won’t preserve the name (Iniga), so it will go down in the annals as just the latest fatality at a Chelsea address that’s seen half a dozen name-changes in recent years. Today, […]
The Oxo Tower has long been a South Bank landmark. And such are the incomparable vistas enjoyed by its top-floor restaurant and brasserie that – despite perennially iffy standards – they’ve been packed for a decade. In contrast, the site at the foot of the building (whose view, more moodily, is as much of The […]
