Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley
Zoe Williams, The Telegraph (Rating: 10/10)
This, we are told, is one of the few “genuine, special-occasion, marry-me or at least birthday-with-a-zero restaurant[s]” in the capital. Being in an hotel, it is “interior-designed to within an inch of its plush, maroon-hued life”, but – within this “theatrical” atmosphere – the critic is pleasantly surprised to find that the other customers are “perfectly fine, even normal”. “[I]t’s not a bargain”, she tells us, “but it’s certainly not overpriced for the market”, and the “very beautiful and minimalist” cooking is “spot on”.
Kai
AA Gill, The Sunday Times (Rating: 4/5 stars)
The critic has a “fine and dandy” meal at a “greige” Mayfair Chinese. Service is “speedy and informed”, food is “perfectly constructed” – and the puddings “remarkable and distinguished” – and he concludes he would come back, if it were not for the bill (£216.56 for two). This is one of those reviews where it’s helpful to know that Mr Gill is too grand to award the stars next to his column: is four stars really the right award for a restuarant that’s too expensive to want to go back to?
Terroirs
Arguably rather late in the day (having already been extensively critiqued elsewhere), a review of a wine bar/bistro, just off the Strand, that’s “doing a roaring trade” thanks to its “earthy and French” dishes and “eclectic selection of wines”.
Côte
Toby Young, The Independent on Sunday (Rating: 13/20)
The Wardour Street branch of Richard Caring’s “French lite” chain is “surprisingly full” on the critic’s weekday visit. He is, however, not particularly impressed; the “Eurozone” décor is “generic” and the food is “a mixed bag”. “Given what Côte charges”, he concludes, “I had been hoping for slightly better”.
Sojo, Oxford
Giles Coren, The Times (Rating: 9.33/10)
“[I]n poxy old smarty-pants Oxford”, the critic has “the best Chinese meal I have eaten in years and years”, from “a wide and dazzling menu”. However, as it’s “so modern and elegant”, “people are barely able to grasp that it’s a Chinese restaurant at all”: although it has been open for six years, the restaurant has not earned the recognition that – according to this review – it deserves.
The Nut Tree Inn, Murcott
Tracey MacLeod, The Independent (Rating: Food 3/5 stars, Ambience 3/5 stars, Service 4/5 stars)
On a trip to designer discount heaven, Bicester Village, the critic tracks down a “16th- century pub [...] straight out of central casting”. She finds the “fairly evolved” Modern British cooking “frustrating” because “for every highlight, there was an element that was just a little off.” And, though “staff are efficient and super-friendly” her experience is “skewed” by her fellow diners – “tiresome elderly residents”. As such, though she liked the pub, she just “couldn’t love it”.
Nathan Outlaw, Fowey
The critic thoroughly enjoys his lunch at the eponymous restaurant of one of Britain’s “more individualistic cooks”. He finds dishes that are “pretty classical, with all poncing about subservient to flavour”. There is also “an exceptionally interesting wine list”, and a “relaxed [...] comfortable” atmosphere.
La Becasse, Ludlow
Jasper Gerard, The Sunday Telegraph (Rating: 4/5)
The cooking at this Ludlow restaurant may be “a little fussy and self-consciously Michelin” but, for the critic, it’s “[s]ensational”, and he enjoys a “technically accomplished yet sensual” lunch here. He is also particularly impressed by the commitment to local sourcing, with “90 per cent of ingredients sourced within 30 miles”; “[t]his is brilliant French cooking – of brilliant British food.”
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