A happy week for the majority of the critics, with pork pies, new experiences and old friends. Only Marina O’Loughlin’s trip to West Sussex (“England by Disney”) and Ed Smith’s visit to Bagatelle (“nothing to swerve for”) were disappointments. Continuing from last week’s homage to the dumpling and pastry-encased leftovers, Jay Rayner in The Observer […]
A week full of hits – Jay Rayner is predicting The Next Big Thing, Grace Dent awards her highest mark yet, Kathryn Flett has a 5-star time in Margate and the Evenings Standard’s week of reviews are all raves. Only TPB hits a slighty low note with Core, which gets 4 stars but no real […]
Jay Rayner in The Observer forgets culinary purity at Gaijin Sushi Birmingham where a Polish chefs cooks solid Japanese food… “Depending on who is using the word, Gaijin is either an aggressively offensive word for non-Japanese people, or a self-mocking term used by non-Japanese people to signify their otherness. “… this is a sushi joint run by […]
Jay Rayner in The Observer is the latest critic to fall in love with Tomos Parry’s food at Brat. The place itself is perhaps to achingly Shoreditch, but the cooking is utterly lovely… “Show cooking may be tough, but trickier still is the seemingly effortless; the edible equivalent of, say, Anthony Hopkins’s performance in The Remains […]
Both Grace Dent and the Standard’s guest reviewer Labour MP Jess Phillips ate at Bryn Williams – both mention the appalling signage: GD “there are no signs for Bryn Williams during the half-mile walk from The Strand to your dinner table in the south wing”. JP “Somerset House is massive, has four or five eateries and […]
Jay Rayner in The Observer was unable to visit his original Chester target Brewery Tap because they don’t take late bookings, but finds a gem in Kokonut Grove… “The restaurateurs, chefs and waiters running restaurants in Britain offering the food of the Indian sub continent… if you want to eat in a British restaurant after about 9.15pm outside […]
This week sees three near-identical reviews of Brat from Tom Parker Bowles, Keith Miller and Fay Maschler (despite Fay saying last week she’d wait until a restaurant settled in to visit!), not including Grace Dent, who appeared to go with TPB… Jay Rayner in The Observer apologises in advance for loving The Dining Room at Beaverbrook […]
Jay Rayner in The Observer reviewed United Chip in Clerkenwell. But make sure you also check out his defence of restaurant pricing below… “…the bravest restaurant opening in years. “United Chip stands out for attending to practically every modern bell and whistle it can find, while still caring about the essentials.” “…be in no doubt: this […]
Jay Rayner in The Observer reviewed Farm Girl Cafe, the third branch is now open in Chelsea for dinner [and it’s safe to say he DID NOT like it…] “The menu at the Farm Girl Café features lots of initials. There’s V for Vegan, GF for Gluten Free, DF for Dairy Free…. There should be TF for Taste […]
Jay Rayner in The Observer finds Thai food without British beards and man buns at The Greyhound Cafe in Fitzrovia… … on a hard-edged corner site north of London’s Oxford Street…the first British outpost of a well-known Bangkok group. I like this place: I like the buzz. I like the food, very much…lots of people […]