London’s thriving Nigerian restaurant scene received a double boost this week with the news that hit Brixton restaurant Chishuru is looking for bigger premises while an ambitious new dining and entertainment venue will open near Smithfield Market in Farringdon. The Patio is taking over the former site of Bird of Smithfield, a five-storey building that […]
Ikoyi, the high-flying restaurant bringing West African flavours to London’s West End, is to move from its small premises in St James’s, behind Piccadilly Circus, to a bigger site nearby. Yet to be confirmed, the mostly likely candidate is the Brutalist landmark 180 The Strand building, recently converted into a cultural centre. If Ikoyi does […]
Ikoyi, one of the most enchanting and original restaurants to arrive in London in the last two years, has set out its reopening strategy. Co-founders Jeremy Chan (head chef) and restaurant director Iré Hassa-Odukale said they were delighted to announce the reopening of Ikoyi on Friday July 17. The fixture will reopen with a special […]
Stork, a new west African restaurant from debutante restaurateurs Michael Adjovi Kalu and Nadina Grigoras, has opened in Mayfair. The restaurant is one of the more original-sounding openings so far this year, playing on its founders’ roots: “Stork is a fresh concept that puts the spotlight on fusion dining at its finest – modern British […]
Regent Street & St James’s have teamed up to launch a food waste pledge in May, featuring 11 of London’s most recognisable and acclaimed restaurants between Oxford Circus and Pall Mall. Collectively, the group has committed to reducing food waste by 25 per cent by May next year. It is, Regent Street & St James’s […]
One of London’s most high profile openings of 2017, Ikoyi, is introducing quite a sea change (geddit?!) for the new year. The West African-influenced restaurant has announced an entire new menu that is almost completely dedicated to seafood. Retaining the restaurant’s essence, the new dishes are born from creativity inspired by West African ingredients applied to […]
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 […]
Marina O’Loughlin in The Guardian is the latest critic to give Soho’s new Flavour Bastard a good bashing. “Not so much flavour bastards as thoroughgoing, unremitting, absolute taste tossers.” “Staff appear to be less amused and more terminally embarrassed… when they’re not explaining the concept to us at ludicrous length. The dishes are, apparently, bastardised in a tedious, […]
Jay Rayner in The Observer keeps things on The Straight and Narrow, a piano bar and restaurant in east London’s Docklands… “Food and music are meant to go together. Jazz, which is what I have spent most of my adult life at the keyboard wrestling with, was born in restaurants like this. “The Straight and Narrow has […]
It may be as massive as an ‘airship hangar’ but Bang Bang Oriental – an Asian food hall in Collindale – still offers some great eats, according to The Observer’s Jay Rayner “Top tip: set up camp at a table as close to the middle of the room as possible, or you’ll end up walking […]
