Hix

Press Reviews (10)

• Zoe Williams (30th November 2009)
  9/10
  
  Mark Hix’s Soho newcomer turns out to be an “exciting” destination, which may be why the review – to our jaundiced eye at least – comes over just a little too breathless.
• Marina O'Loughlin (19th November 2009)
  2/5 stars
  
  “Every time this charming, fêted chef-turned-restaurateur [Mark Hix] opens a new joint, the critics rave and the world flocks. Me, I find the cooking ordinary and the welcome, unless you're part of Hix's meeja-fabulous world, a bit chilly. Is everyone oot o' step but me?” In a couple of sentences, the critic summarises the problem we’ve referred to a number of times on this site. Hix is just too ‘in’ with too many journos to get balanced reviews.
• AA Gill (2nd November 2009)
  4/5 stars
  
  Another rave, or something pretty close, from one of Mark Hix’s many self-admitted friends in the media for the “relaxed yet sophisticated“ restaurant the former has recently opened in Soho. Even if “preparation is a little careless, a touch smilingly amateur”, the critic likes “the fact that Mark is a top-notch chef who thinks that if the crust falls in, or the bottom drops off, well, it’s just dinner. And there are more important things to worry about and be enthused by than a tepid dab and shy whelk.”
• Tracey MacLeod (26th October 2009)
  Food 4/5 stars, Ambience 4/5 stars, Service 5/5 stars
  
  Accompanied by her editor and food editor, the critic makes “a not-so-surprise visit” to Hix’s latest opening in Soho. “[I]t would be embarrassing if I didn’t like his new place” she notes (as they both write for the same magazine). But, knowing this “inspirational” restauranteur “exemplifies all that’s best about the British food renaissance”, she feels it’s unlikely to be a problem. And, phhewww, for her, Hix’s “most ambitious project to date” is a resounding success, from the “experienced” service, to the “quirkiness” of the design (a “high-ceilinged”, “midtown Manhattan” style room “softened by Georgian panelling, Ivy-style leaded windows and sturdy wooden tables”), to the “glorious” menu (with many dishes “like old friends”).
• Giles Coren (26th October 2009)
  8.5
  
  Hix “wants everybody to have great food and a spanking night out”, says Giles, and he seems to have succeeded with his new Soho restaurant, where the “captivating buzz” is “not just New Yorky” but “television New Yorky” in this “rugged Geogian” space that was formerly Aaya. The critic is – as maybe we all should be – watching his waistline too much for puddings nowadays, but still leaves here happily “stuffed” with “lovely” dishes from the “king of British food gathering”. All this plus the downstairs – “possibly the most comfortable [bar] in London”, with “all the bonhomie and bozziness of an old-fashioned pub lock-in”.
• Jasper Gerard (26th October 2009)
  4/5 stars
  
  On the site of Japanese restaurant Aaya, Hix “has opened a big, serious West End restaurant” that, according to Jasper Gerard, “shows off his culinary credentials” (but not before Jasper is shown around personally by the main man, so – perhaps – denting the anonymity of the experience?). The menu “reworks Chop House favourites while offering more fish” and the results show he is “as accomplished with net as with cleaver”. He, like Giles Coren at The Times, leaves “stuffed” (but managed pudding), and liked the “suitably raffish basement bar”.
• Guy Dimond (22nd October 2009)
  5/5 stars
  
  “If you’ve been wondering where Cool Britannia went, it’s moved to Soho”, says the critic, who seems to be rather swept away by the latest venue from Mark Hix, who is part “the small, but sparkling constellation of London celebrity chefs who write a bit, cook a bit – and socialise a lot”. “There’s plenty to amuse and interest on the daily-changing menu”, and some dishes were “imaginative combinations that could all go horribly wrong, yet both dishes were ingenious, well-considered, and very well-received”. The only failure was a fish dish which was “slightly overcooked and dry”.
• Richard Vines (22nd October 2009)
  
  “David Hasselhoff is dining in the corner, and he’s not the only actor around. James Nesbitt is in the bar with the celebrity hairdresser Nicky Clarke. The artist Tracey Emin and model Kate Moss have already been in, as have the rock musicians Nick Cave and Bobby Gillespie.” This isn’t quite a full review from Bloomberg’s man – he was interviewing the owner at the same time, so it was hardly appropriate – but it does tend to confirm that this Soho newcomer is quickly establishing itself as quite a ‘scene’. With the exception of the curry, however, the critic does feel able to express the view that the cuisine clearly “works”.
• Lisa Markwell (19th October 2009)
  16/20
  
  Though the critic acknowleges the faults with Hix’s new restaurant in Soho – “it’s pricey”, “it’s got teething problems” and the décor features a “Brit Art mobile of plastic fish” – she finds that it gets most things right. For her, the venue that was formerly Aaya “has been transformed into a clean, calm room with a vaguely Eastern European feel”, and the menu, with its customary “emphasis on British fare”, delivers some “dazzling” food.
• Fay Maschler (8th October 2009)
  3/5 stars
  
  One of those Ms Maschler reviews – they do sometimes happen – when it’s only the overall rating that really gives you some clue of what the doyenne of critics really thought. The review itself is largely taken up with description of the unforgiving interior, and of the dishes eaten and their prices. Quality seems to have had its highs and its lows, and we have to presume that – at the (not inconsiderable) prices – the overall experience was weighed in the balance, and found somewhat wanting.