“For once, the extraordinary hype is justified!”; Ollie Dabbous’s “industrial-style” debutant, in Fitzrovia, is “London’s best newcomer in years”; the “carefully-crafted” small dishes may look simple, but “OMG… the flavour” he creates from his “brave” (often “Nordic-inspired”) combinations; book many months ahead.
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As we write, we have in front of us a bill, for two, for £162.55, which included a bottle of basic wine, and two cups of coffee. In this case, a cause for celebration, you might think? Thanks to a...
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Ollie Dabbous is set to be showered “with every prize and gong and rosette that is known to man” thanks to his cuisine here. How can “ordinary people going about their business” ever afford the best cuisine? “This is the answer”. Giles is “not saying I like the room” (“like the lobby of Belgo”), but he unusually devotes the whole article to raptures over each dish, and the value is so good “the prices can’t stay like this. Simply can’t. Wont”.
Amol Rajan (26th February 2012)
9.5
“The Holy Grail for which your correspondent has been searching: an exquisite tasting menu in London for less than £50”. The only quibbles are a “horrendous” view of flats over the road, toilets “so achingly trendy and dark as to seem positively Satanic” and staff who are just too “attractive”, but “there is nowhere in London to match”.
Fay Maschler (2nd February 2012)
5/5 stars
“Five stars is reserved for when a place comes along that changes the game” declares Mrs M’s bold assessment of Ollie Dabous’s’ “unflinchingly urban and gritty” corner café in Fitzrovia, which, she says, “brings to mind the restaurant movement in Paris christened Bistronomy”: “high-octane cooking in low-key surroundings attended by amiable… service”. (She gives an interesting overview of the key movers and shakers in Paris associated with the same). Her culinary experiences here over the course of two meals are “ethereal”… “ingenious”… “best eaten in a long time”.
Giles Coren (10th March 2012)
Amol Rajan (26th February 2012)
Fay Maschler (2nd February 2012)
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