Harden’s (slightly delayed) weekly update of where the critics are eating, recommending and avoiding, for the week ending 22 September 2019. Lagom at Hackney Church Brew Co, London E8 Searching for “good food, fairly priced” instead of the “false promise” of restaurants where the main courses start at £25, Jay Rayner for The Observer headed […]

Continue reading


Harden’s weekly update of where the critics are eating, recommending or avoiding, for the week ending 15 September 2019. It’s slightly shorter than usual this week – we’re busy finalising Harden’s London Restaurants 2020 and sending it off to the printer; available soon in all good bookshops! OKN1, London N1 40 Hoxton Street might not […]

Continue reading


Harden’s regular round-up of the restaurant critics’ meals, from the week ending 8 September 2019. Wun’s, London W1 For this week’s review, Jay Rayner for The Observer was tempted “to shove just five words at you and leave it at that: sugar skin Iberico char siu”. “The expansion of the Chinese food experience in the […]

Continue reading


Harden’s weekly update of where the critics are eating, recommending and avoiding, for the week ending 25 August 2019. The Yan, Lake District Grace Dent for The Guardian loves the Lake District, and visits a lot, but is constantly “in search of a big, reasonably priced and, above all, welcoming place to take normal folk” […]

Continue reading


Harden’s regular round-up of the restaurant critics’ meals, from the week ending 18 August 2019.  Flor, London SE1 Jimi Famurewa for The Evening Standard found Southwark newcomer Flor to be “lightly challenging” and “utterly astonishing”, with food that “hits a sweet spot between the unexpected and the familiar… between thoughtful, modern refinement and messy, chin-dripping joy”. […]

Continue reading


Harden’s weekly round-up of the restaurant critics’ reviews, from the week ending 4 August 2019. Little French, Bristol Marina O’Loughlin for The Sunday Times was in Bristol checking out the brand-new (and first solo) venture from Freddy Bird (formerly of the city’s Lido restaurant) – with a challenge, no less: “there are four of us […]

Continue reading


Harden’s regular round-up of the restaurant critics’ meals, from the week ending 28 July 2019.  Heritage, London W1 Jay Rayner for The Observer made some sweeping generalisations about Switzerland to start his review (“it’s expensive, tooth-achingly polite, efficient and profoundly committed to dairy fats”) but only to point out that Heritage manages just three out […]

Continue reading


Harden’s regular round-up of the restaurant critics’ meals, from the week ending 21 July 2019. The Kensington Arms, Bristol Grace Dent for The Guardian is “acutely aware that I’m the last face any kitchen brigade wants to see over a long bank holiday weekend” but she’d heard great things about the “dependably brilliant Sunday lunch” […]

Continue reading


Harden’s regular round-up of the restaurant critics’ meals, from the week ending 14 July 2019.  The Newell, Dorset Marina O’Loughlin for The Sunday Times celebrates the restaurants she calls “quietly wonderful” – not the “flashy and splashy and showy and spendy” places chased down (and sometimes closed down) by food critics and hordes of Insta-tourists, […]

Continue reading


Harden’s regular round-up of the restaurant critics’ meals, from the week ending 7 July 2019.  Mana, Manchester From the moment the first of 16 courses arrived, Marina O’Loughlin of The Sunday Times was “blown away” by Simon Martin’s cooking at Mana. He cooked at Noma for several years (unlike so many chefs, which, as Marina […]

Continue reading