The former Balham Bar & Grill, modestly revamped, and now owned by Sam Harrison of Sam’s Brasserie (W4) fame; it remains a friendly and stylish spot, but the food is still rather an incidental attraction. Nick Jones is one of the most successful club-proprietors of our day, and his Soho Houses – recently acquired by […]
The most satisfactory to date of the ‘budget-Gordon’ establishments, this huge Victorian boozer in Maida Vale appears the least effortful of the trio, and – perhaps in consequence – succeeds best; it struck us as effectively a large and smart – but in some ways quite standard – pub dining room, above a bar whose […]
Opposite Waterloo, an odd contemporary brasserie with an unusually wide-ranging – and rather confusing – ‘offer’; on our experience, we’d recommend it on its practical merits – perhaps as an obvious venue for supper before the neighbouring Old Vic, or if passing through the railway station – rather than as a destination in its own […]
Overlooking the tourist hell of Covent Garden Market, a small but airy first-floor café, offering a good overall experience – particularly by the standards of cultural-centre dining facilities – albeit at prices which are arguably on the high side for an establishment of its type. Even in the tourist hell of Covent Garden, you can […]
From the eponymous chef, a superior local bistro, on the same Battersea site that has seen off two very superior local bistros in recent years; while we enjoyed our visit, we left unsure whether the formula is strong enough to shake off the jinx. Tom Ilic is a chef with a good following on Planet […]
Gordon Ramsay’s relaunch of a famous Chelsea bistro, now decorated in a rather chilly style somewhat resembling a ’50s kitchen; it offers food of good-to-variable quality in a setting we found it impossible to like. ‘Isn’t this the sort of stuff people rip out?’, said our guest. We don’t think so: if you found a […]
A no-nonsense English bistro, near Camden Town tube; a friendly sort of place, it offers plain cooking – in a style which, until recently, might have been called ‘domestic’ – at reasonable prices. First, in the early ’90s, we had what we now call gastropubs. By the late-’90s, a retro-style of English cooking was beginning […]
Now associated with the nearby Malmaison Hotel, this smartly revamped pub, near Smithfield Market, offers a good line in solid food (and drink); with its notably friendly service, it seems quickly to be attracting an enthusiastic local following. The Fox & Anchor – in a charming enclave by Charterhouse Square – has always been a […]
