Something of a club for affluent Mayfair locals, this convivial basement Italian offers straightforward cooking at prices which would not be sustainable in most other parts of town. Chefs are a rather over-rated commodity. OK, let’s try that again. Many chefs are skilled and dedicated individuals and put their heart and soul into their cooking. […]
A brave, newly-built restaurant – on a rather obscure north-Islington site – which has attracted some very positive press reviews; on our early-days visit, the food – which has a touch of the ‘fusions’ about it – did not quite live up to expectations. We don’t like knocking brave new first-time ventures, but we would […]
The latest addition to the Gordon Ramsay stable, this Mayfair steak-specialist offers food of consistently high quality; prices are high, though, and neither the setting nor (in the early days) the service really measures up. Fans of Maze – the Mayfair petits-plats joint which has made quite a name for Jason Atherton – will know […]
A (grander) offshoot of a north London Turkish restaurant of some note; a good and friendly all-rounder, it seems a little out of place among the shiny boutiques of Brompton Cross. Here’s an oddity. The original Highbury Park Iznik – a pretty little restaurant, with very good Turkish food – was quite a place in […]
Spruced-up and relaunched in spring 2008, this classic Gallic café/bistro retains its charms as a definitive heart-of-Soho rendezvous. No one ever went to Café Bohème for the food, and that’s unlikely to change. That’s not to say that there’s anything wrong with the straightforward Gallic nosh, and our quick re-inspection meal – after the handsome […]
A straightforward and welcoming pub-conversion, in an ’emerging’ quarter between the City and the East End; the menu – which has an American slant and a particular emphasis on steaks – is realised to a competent standard, albeit at high prices. The backers of the ‘original’ Missouri Grill, opposite Aldgate tube, have now gathered enough […]
Near Piccadilly Station, an atmospheric basement dining room offering grazing (and other) dishes as good as any in Manchester; the extraordinary value of our lunch here suggests that this may indeed become the ‘destination’ the city-centre so desperately craves. Michael Caines, chef of Gidleigh Park in Devon, is one of Britain’s top toques. In recent […]
A notably welcoming World’s End newcomer, maintaining the ‘handy rendezvous’ status of its predecessor on the site, Bacio (RIP); the food on our week one visit was almost invariably satisfying, but without any particular flashes of genius to suggest the chef’s Ramsay-group background. Chelsea may harbour some decent restaurants, but its principal artery – the […]
Claiming to be London’s most eco-friendly restaurant, a pioneering, if obscurely located, Shoreditch brasserie with a nice atmosphere and pleasant, informed service; on our visit, though, the cooking was in undoubted need of tightening up. The team behind Acorn House, and now this Shoreditch newcomer, have a mission, and a laudable one too. They aim […]
A middle-market steakhouse, handily located in the heart of the City, and already doing very good business. All forty-plus British readers will recall Berni Inns: the steakhouses which defined ’70s high street eating. If you fall into that category, you can stop reading at the end of this paragraph. This new steakhouse, in the heart […]
