Jay Rayner in The Observer finds the cooking at Roth Bar & Grill, Bruton – housed within the Hauser & Wirth gallery – more than a match for the art. “The whole proposition is so damn civilised that the quality of the cooking is an extra. The site, part of a working farm, is a pastoral […]
Jay Rayner in The Observer enjoys a knowing attempt to bring the street inside at Borough Market’s El Pastór (from Barrafina founders, the Hart bros)… It’s “a fun space of bare brick and shiny metal and colourful murals; a knowing attempt to bring the street inside”, with “tequilas in worryingly large servings” and “pork shoulder, marinated and […]
⦿ Jay Rayner of The Observer reviewed Plot in Tooting, “a sliver of a restaurant serving terrible cocktails and great food in one of south London’s traditional covered markets”. “Thick curls of squid, crusted with a chorizo crumb on a salad of tomatoes that taste of something, is a bit of textural fun. It’s followed by a dainty […]
⦿ Jay Rayner of the Guardian reviewed Radici, the new Islington Italian from Francesco Mazzei of Sartoria in Mayfair and, before that, L’Anima in the City. “Taglierini, fagioli and pancetta. That’s ribbons of a thin tagliatelle-style pasta, white beans and bacon, in a dense, starchy broth of such intensity and such conviction, you could be forgiven for […]
⦿ Jay Rayner of The Observer reviewed London Shell Co, a floating restaurant aboard a 30-year-old barge which is moored at Paddington over lunch and voyages along the Regent Canal while serving dinner in the evening. “It began as a pop-up on dry land, led by actor-turned-sommelier Harry Lobek and his sister Leah. In the small, diesel-powered […]
⦿ Jay Rayner of The Observer reviewed Koj, MasterChef finalist and former City banker Andrew Kojima’s “cheerfully low-key” Japanese comfort food joint in Cheltenham. “Koj Fried Chicken – work out the initials yourself – is halfway between the softness of American southern fried, and the full-on crunch of Japanese karaage. Sesame flavoured mayo sends it happily on its way. […]
⦿ Jay Rayner of the Observer reviewed Box-E, an 18-seater set inside a shipping container on Bristol’s Wapping Wharf, by Elliott Lidstone, former head chef of L’Ortolan and then of the Empress pub in Hackney. “I’d go so far as to say there’s a defined Bristolian style. It’s rooted in the love of the small bistros of France, championed by the late […]
⦿ Marina O’Loughlin of The Guardian reviewed Lorne 7/10 in Victoria, which lived up to the impressive CV of its founding partners, Katie Exton (sommelier and front of house) and Peter Hall (chef), who have worked at the Square, the River Cafe, Chez Bruce, Brawn and San Francisco’s celebrated Benu. “It’s the beef short rib that would make me a […]
⦿ Jay Rayner of The Observer reviewed The Other Naughty Piglet, a branch of Brixton’s Naughty Piglets inside Andrew Lloyd Webber’s new theatre in Victoria, The Other Place, where he found “a kind of modern British cooking with wallops of umami”. “Sometimes the cleverness is textural. A pile of white crab meat sits atop a heap of […]
⦿ Marina O’Loughlin of the Guardian reviewed Popolo 8/10 in Shoreditch,”run with utter grace by Jonathan Lawson, [an] ex-Theo Randall chef”. “The main flavour here is Italian classics, flawlessly realised… and dishes that straddle cuisines. Some appear to be the result of a particularly febrile imagination: cool, thick labneh studded with a hectic combination of crisp-shelled fried […]
