Our mission is remarkably simple. To tell it how it is!
⦿ Jay Rayner of The Observer reviewed Louie Louie in Camberwell, a daytime cafe that becomes a restaurant in the evening under chef Oded Oren, originally from Tel Aviv, who is “an absolute corker”. “Lamb sweetbreads come skewered and grilled over charcoal. There is a wedge of lemon to squeeze over them and a tidy pile of za’atar, […]
The mystery team behind rising star 108 Garage in Notting Hill – chef Chris Denney and owner Luca Longobardi – plan to launch another restaurant in New York in September, with further US openings to follow. Denney told The Times he is flying to New York every Saturday night and back to London for service on Tuesday while he sets […]
Donal Doherty, who struck gastronomic gold with his hit Northern Ireland seafood restaurant Harry’s Shack, on the beach at Portstewart, has opened a new high-end city bistro, Harry’s Derry. Doherty (right in photo, with head chef Derek Creagh) is keen to catch the new wave of dining that has seen the emergence of half a dozen high-quality […]
A clutch of London’s most successful restaurant chains are heading up the M40 to open new outlets in Oxford’s Westgate shopping and leisure complex, which reopens after a £440million redevelopment later this year. Polpo (pictured), Russell Norman’s tribute to the Venetian small-plates bacaro, heads the list alongside Sticks & Sushi, Pho, Shoryu ramen, Comptoir Libanais, Pizza […]
⦿ The Observer’s Jay Rayner reviewed Tandoor Chop House, an Indian “concept” restaurant off the Strand, where he found the quality of the food was mixed and the prices high. “The best dish is the Dexter ‘dripping’ keema naan, a charred flatbread piled with highly spiced minced beef. Black pepper chicken tikka brings sizable cuts of bird […]
⦿ In The Observer, Jay Rayner reviewed Aquavit, the St James’s offshoot of an “award-garlanded” Swedish restaurant in New York – “And, oh boy, check out that swagger.” It turned out to be “a proper Nordic noir thriller but for all the wrong reasons… It’s altogether more Trump Tower than Wallander. Everything is shiny and golden […]
⦿ Jay Rayner of The Observer reviewed The Holy Birds in Shoreditch, which serves duck, goose and guinea fowl, “but mostly, to be honest, chicken“. The quality of the poultry was not to be questioned, but he was far from impressed by the cooking. “Sure, the skin is dark, but only in places. Elsewhere it’s soft and floppy. […]
The Real Junk Food Project has launched a fundraising campaign to open a full-time pay-as-you-feel restaurant in Manchester next year, using only food destined to be thrown out. The project needs to raise £20,000 by January 13 in order to go ahead, with pledges being sought through Crowdfunder. Chef Mary-Ellen McTague, formerly of the Fat Duck and Manchester’s Aumbry, […]
⦿ Jay Rayner of The Observer reviewed Veneta, just off Piccadilly, which, while “not an actively bad restaurant”, brought his culinary year to a disappointing end. “I long ago stopped taking notes in restaurants, figuring that if I couldn’t recall what I’d had for dinner that spoke volumes. With this one I had to dig out 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 […]
