Our round-up of what the nation’s restaurant reviewers were writing about in the week up to 22nd December 2024
London Standard
Wiltons, St James’s
David Ellis might be the only person ever to have paid his bill with a Tesco credit card at this bastion of moneyed Englishness (est. 1742) – but he was a sucker for its elegance and formality, and made some pretty extravagant claims for its cooking.
“Now that Gavroche is gone, Wiltons claims the crown for London’s finest soufflé; here it is made with Stilton and baked twice, richer even than those eating it… I dote on it; it might be my favourite dish in town.”
And that’s not all. The lobster bisque is “perhaps a global gold standard for the dish”, while “Dover sole here outdoes anything at Scott’s.”
*****
The Guardian
Long Chim, Soho
Grace Dent could barely disguise her disappointment at this comeback restaurant from David Thompson, the chef credited with bringing authentic fiery Thai cuisine to London more than 20 years ago. Some of the dishes, she admitted, were “delicious” (namely the beef skewer and the tapioca with coconut and corn dessert), but the menu is “startlingly brief” at just four starters, seven mains with steamed jasmine the only rice option and the briefest of nods towards pudding.
“’Long chim’ translates loosely as ‘come and try, and you literally could try everything here on a single visit”, she said – so the offer felt “somewhat meagre” compared with nearby modern Thai spots Kiln and Speedboat. It’s “punchily priced”, too.
*****
The Observer
The Don, City of London
Jay Rayner made no bones about his disappointment at this “chilly” restaurant in the former Sandeman port HQ, where veteran chef Rowley Leigh has been hired to oversee the menu, setting up high expectations for his classic repertoire of “comfort food, made classy”.
“The cooking is just terribly uneven”, Jay moaned. “Too often, it feels as if the kitchen is still working its way through the manual Leigh left behind.” Worse still, he found the place expensive and the servings somewhat minimal – “Rowley Leigh’s generous touch in the kitchen [is] completely missing in action, and that’s quite the disappointment.”
*****
The Times
Wildflowers, Belgravia
Giles Coren accompanied his “very good friend” Jamie Oliver to this new restaurant from Aaron Potter, a protégé of both Phil Howard (Elystan Street) and Adam Byatt (Trinity), who is cooking seasonal ingredients over fire with a Mediterranean influences – “which is nothing new in itself, of course,” said Giles, “but is done exceptionally well here from start to finish”.
At which point he stepped back and let the Naked Chef bubble with enthusiasm at the cooking: a glazed focaccia which had him racing over to the kitchen to see where it had been baked; “amazing” pickled baby peaches; bruschetta with grilled mackerel and sardines that had him purring “beautiful, beautiful… ooh, that’s lovely…” like David Bailey as he snapped away with his phone camera; grilled Cornish seabass that was “perfect – the boy can really grill”;
“This is the generation of chefs we have to be hopeful for, right?” said Jamie. “Spending their own money on their own restaurants and believing in the industry at a time when it’s never been harder… Thank God they are still willing to take risks because without them, we’re f***ed.”
*****
Daily Telegraph
The Elder, Bath
William Sitwell was very happy with his meal at a clubby little place with links to game enthusiast Mike Robinson, with chef Liam Goldstone running the kitchen.
The “first masterpiece” here was bread and consommé, or game tea, as he called it – “so tasty, warming, rich and nutritious, it was like Bovril on acid, good enough to wake a 5,000-year-old mummified iceman”.
The venison course – neat slices of fallow deer served with a crisp pastilla of braised shoulder of venison, was “seriously a dish that makes you wonder why you ever bother with beef”.
*****
Daily Mail
Angus Steak House, WC2
Tom Parker Bowles returned for the first time in 41 years to what the Mail’s headline-writer billed as “Britain’s worst steakhouse”, to “tell you something you already know: that the Angus Steakhouse is an overpriced and underwhelming tourist trap with all the charm of rancid suet”.
Tom came to cover the “joke, and quite a funny one, too” that this third-rate outfit has become a social-media sensation in recent weeks, with queues drawn by AI-generated ‘top 10’ lists endlessly repeating Reddit-users’ claims of its high quality.
For the record, Tom’s £40 sirloin was “mean, drab and under-seasoned”, while the restaurant was “just plain depressing”. He awarded it one star out of five.
*****
Financial Times
Trullo, Highbury Corner
Tim Hayward celebrated the 15th anniversary of a “plucky little independent” which he characterised as the “bastard love child of St John, out of the River Café, with a fair smattering of Jamie Oliver grated over the surface”.
Everything about it was pretty well perfect, from the rope-powered lift at the pass and the “genuinely hospitable” front of house staff, to the brilliant house-made pasta, the “barely restrained” Cornish turbot wrapped in lardo di Colonnata and the ricotta doughnuts with freshly made vanilla custard.
“I reckon Trullo got it right pretty much on day one and they’ve been doing it brilliantly ever since,” Tim declared. “Trullo might be the youngest of the classics but it has seriously old bones.”
