This year marks the 20th year of StreetSmart, a campaign raising funds for homeless charities through restaurants nationally every November and December. The charity has raised over £8.2 million across two decades, through the simple idea of adding a voluntary £1 to diners’ bills throughout the festive months. StreetSmart raised a staggering £587,000 in 2016 and in this […]
London offers such a wealth of dining that you probably wouldn’t be able to visit every single restaurant in your lifetime. The attempt would certainly be a noble pursuit, but also a bankruptcy-inducing one (unless you have Mariana Trench-deep pockets). So we’ve rounded-up a more manageable goal – the top 25 dishes to try at […]
It is oft remarked that we Brits love to queue, and when it comes to dining out in London sometimes that’s a necessity. According to recent research queues are governed by the rule of six – customers will only join a queue with less than six people and are only willing to wait six minutes. Restaurant-goers, […]
Cartel, a new taqueria and late-night tequila bar in Battersea, is the latest in the new wave of Mexican taco joints that is sweeping across London. Named in what seems a clear reference to the Mexican narco wars involving drug cartels that have cost 100,000 lives in the past 10 years, the venue must also be an early front-runner in the “poor taste […]
⦿ 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 […]
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 […]
Sam and Eddie Hart, the brothers behind the soaring Barrafina group, opened their latest venture this week, the Mexican-inspired El Pastor taqueria near Borough Market. “Al pastor“, or shepherd-style, is where the taco meets the kebab – a Mexico City staple with its origins in the Arab shawarma. Sam Hart acquired a taste for the style while […]
Can it be nearly 10 years already since Barrafina first opened its doors. Yes, it was January 2007 that this phenomenal homage to Barcelona’s Cal Pep beamed down into Soho. The brainchild of Sam and Eddie Hart, they had the advantage of heritage (their mother was born in Mallorca) in their search to bring some genuine Spanish […]
Quo Vadis, the Soho veteran rated as “particularly charming” by the Harden’s Survey, reopens on Monday after a six-week nip and tuck which will allow its hip young stablemate Barrafina to bunk up in the same address in Dean Street when its lease in nearby Frith Street comes to an end in November. The re-shuffle of Sam and Eddie […]
On Thursday 26 May Auction Against Hunger will return for the fourth year in a row to raise money for the restaurant industry’s charity of choice, Action Against Hunger. This time around the event will be held at the new Street Feast venue Hawker House in Canada Water where top chefs will cook up street food style […]