The Harwood Arms
Terry Durack, The Independent on Sunday (Rating: 16/20)
“This is the only review column in the country to my knowledge that asks the restaurateur or chef, post-review, for a statement of intent”, says the critic. “One of the interesting, and sometimes heartbreaking, things about doing this is how so many people struggle to actually explain what they are trying to do. At times, it's PR-speak, or worse, business-management lingo… But every now and then, you get the whole package: people who know what they want to do, and who simply go and do it. This is why I like The Harwood Arms so much. It looks like any smart contemporary gastropub, with its stripped woods, pale olive colours, blackboard specials, and bare tables. But it has real presence, personality and professionalism, being a joint venture between the Michelin-starred Brett Graham of The Ledbury, the country-style celebrity chef Mike Robinson and the publican Edwin Vaux”.
Modern Pantry
Matthew Norman, The Guardian (Rating: 9/10)
“By any standards”, says the critic, this Clerkenwell newcomer is a “gem”. The food is “simply beautiful” [and] my God, this young woman [Anna Hansen] can cook”.
1901
Marina O'Loughlin, Metro (Rating: 4/5 stars)
The critic visits 1901 – “formerly Aurora in Conran's Great Eastern Hotel, now Hyatt boutique brand Andaz”. As revamped, this is “a truly beautiful room”. “Apparently chef Dominic Teague (ex, erm, Aurora) has been tramping the length of the country in search of food-producing heroes”. His food is “good enough”, but “a little small and overwrought”. Whatever the place’s other attractions, it’s rather difficult to see how that’s a four-star performance.
Bob Bob Ricard
Charmaine Mok, Time Out (Rating: 3/6 stars)
This grand Soho brasserie newcomer “cuts a fine figure in old-fashioned quirkiness”, says the critic, “but unfortunately when applied to the menu, the result is more dowdy than delicious. … While BBR prides itself on pushing the ‘English comfort food’ wagon, it’s a pity it has not been done with more skill”.
Goodman
David Sexton, Evening Standard (Rating: 3/5 stars)
The critic finds “an absolute concentration on the steaks” at this new Mayfair steakhouse. “Everything else … matters less than the steak but is well up to the mark”. But even so, this “guy haven’, on – NB – a Monday night, was notable for the fact that it had “no guys”.
Terroirs
Jenni Muir, Time Out (Rating: 5/6 stars)
The critic finds “sensational” food at this “noisy” and “informal” new Gallic bistro near Charing Cross. “Ignore the five-star rating if you want” says the critic (rather unnecessarily defensively, we’d have thought), “but check the other reviews online, and you’ll find Terroirs has been warmly welcomed all round”.
Lena
David Sexton, Evening Standard (Rating: 2/5 stars)
The critic visits “a decent, pricey Italian restaurant”, which has opened “in an unpropitious place [Shoreditch], at an unfortunate time”. Its décor “doesn’t quite pull together, neither successfully smart nor particularly comfortable and welcoming”, and his party are the only customers on a Monday evening. The food was “all fine, if tending to the rich and bland”, but service was “astonishingly muted”, and he formed the impression that the restaurant had “abandoned hope”. (It’s worth noting, though, that this is the second consecutive rather gloom-laden review from Mr Sexton based on a Monday night visit – that can be a slack time even for the most established restaurants, not least in January.)
Trishna
Giles Coren, The Times (Rating: 6/10)
The critic manages to spend “a perfectly respectable £294.78” on a not excessively generous dinner at this new Marylebone Indian. The cooking is of good quality, but atmosphere is elusive.
Bocca di Lupo
John Walsh, The Independent (Rating: Food 3/5 stars, Ambience 4/5 stars, Service 4/5 stars)
This “immediately attractive” Soho newcomer offers an “opportunity to check out some classics (and a few extremes) of Italian regionalism”, says the critic. “There are lots of good things to enjoy”, but the menu is sometimes “eccentric” and it “should be approached with caution”.
Min Jiang
Jay Rayner, The Observer (Rating: )
This new 10th-floor Kensington oriental “isn't cheap”, says the critic, “which makes it a special-occasion restaurant,” What we currently need, he opines, is affordable moments of luxury, ways to spoil ourselves which don't kill the bank balance, and he thinks that the “superlative” Peking Duck on offer here fits the bill pretty well. They do, however, tend to be rather “stingy” with the portions.
Corrigan’s Mayfair
Zoe Williams, The Telegraph (Rating: 9/10)
“In Richard Corrigan’s new place the 1930s atmosphere is pronounced, with lovely arts-and-crafts carvings, and gentle but glitzy lighting delivered by chandelier. I had read that it was looking very hushed and recession-blighted, but when J and I were in, on a Friday lunchtime, it was abuzz with diners and jollity.” Thus begins (yet) another all-round rave review of the amiable Irishman’s Mayfair newcomer.
St James
Jenni Muir, Time Out (Rating: 4/6 stars)
“On the site that was the variable Florians, St James is the sibling of the best restaurant in Bushey, Herts”, the critic informs us. Service at this Crouch End newcomer is “mature”, and decor and serivce “confident” (“if a tad ostentatious”), but “[n]early everyone who’s walked into the lounge has commented on its resemblance to a high-end strip club, apparently”.
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