Simpson’s-in-the-Strand – where Dickens and Shaw, Gladstone and Disraeli, Conan Doyle and PG Wodehouse all feasted – will close in April for an overhaul designed to reclaim its status as one of London’s leading restaurants. Founded in 1828 as the Grand Cigar Divan coffee house and chess club, it became famous for its lavish servings of […]
⦿ The Observer’s Jay Rayner reviewed Chop Chop in Edinburgh, which confirmed his view that dumplings are the ultimate comfort food – “While you are eating dumplings nothing bad can happen.” Opened in 2006 by Jian Wang, from Dongbei in northeast China, Chop Chop excels in its dumplings, although its other dishes were more variable […]
The Brighton-based Giggling Squid group of Thai restaurants has announced its first London opening, in Wimbledon village this summer. The group plans to expand rapidly in the capital, having taken a £6.4million investment to accelerate growth plans. The Wimbledon venue will seat 110, with potential to double in size by extending upstairs. It launched a branch […]
Pembrokeshire-born chef Tom Simmons is opening his first restaurant in London this spring, with a focus on the best Welsh ingredients. Simmons, 28, appeared on MasterChef –Â The Professionals in 2011 and has worked with Tom Aikens and Mark Sargeant. His new self-named venue, with partner Lois Thomas running the front of house, is in the […]
Seafood and oyster specialist Wright Brothers will open a flagship 150-cover restaurant this summer as the first businesses move into the redeveloped Battersea Power Station. It will be Wright Brothers’ fifth restaurant since opening their first at Borough Market in 2005. The business began as a seafood wholesaler three years earlier – a role that […]
Nieves Barragan, head chef at London’s all-conquering Barrafina tapas bars, is leaving the group where she has run the kitchens since the first Barrafina opened in Soho. Group general manager José Etura (pictured) is also leaving to work with her on a new project. Barragan joined the […]
Chef Matt Gillan will open his all-day café and evening restaurant in Brighton later this month — and has launched a kickstarter campaign to fund an ambitious extension. Gillan, who ran the Pass restaurant at South Lodge Hotel near Horsham for five successful years until last April, took over the Red Roaster café and roastery in Kemptown […]
⦿  The Observer’s Jay Rayner reviewed The Salt Room, Brighton, overlooking the beach from the unpromising ground floor of the Hilton Metropole. “Good things are sometimes found where you least expect them, and this restaurant is a very good thing indeed.” “Most pleasing of the starters is the fish soup. A bowl arrives containing a soft, […]
If you want to get your Valentine’s venue fixed, then our Top 10 Best for Romance list is a great place to start… so long as you began weeks ago, as the most famous passion magnets book up so far ahead. Perhaps your soul is too romantic and spontaneous for so much forward planning? In which case, here are […]
(Image credit – Mint Leaf Restaurant) With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, what better time to remind readers of the capital’s top 10 restaurants for romance, as voted for in our annual London restaurant survey: we achieved 7,500 participants in the 2017 survey. The coveted top spots are unchanged from last year, with Clos Maggiore, La Poule […]
