Whitechapel Gallery Dining Room
AA Gill, The Sunday Times (Rating: 4/5 stars)
The new restaurant at the East End gallery is “small and neat and nicely turned out”. It has a “ubiquitous modern English” menu, “short and well made”, and complete with “the de rigueur mission statement of organic righteousness and gastro-correctness”. Although it is “without surprises”, the critic is “happy with the food”. Such a lukewarm endorsement hardly supports a four-star review of course, but then Mr Gill is on record as being too grand to make these awards himself, so it’s no great surprise if there’s the occasional mismatch.
Eastside Inn
John Walsh, The Independent (Rating: Food 3/5 stars, Ambience 2/5 stars, Service 3/5 stars)
The critic tries the bistro section of Bjorn van der Horst’s new Smithfield operation, and finds that – with its “harsh” lighting and “crammed” banquette seating – it is not “a place to linger”. He is cheered up by the “jolly” service, however, and mostly enjoys the Gallic cuisine. “[D]espite its stripped-down style”, though, this turns out not to be a bistro, and they “charge a lot more than bistro prices.”
Terroirs
Jasper Gerard, The Sunday Telegraph (Rating: 5/5)
The critic awards full marks to “[t]he best wine bar/bistro I've found in years”, which opened last year just off Trafalgar Square. He deems the “French tapas” on offer “fabulous” and “a bargain”, and is “won over by the incredible selection” of wines, “much of it reasonably priced”. Even the service (which has been criticised for being “aloof”) he considers “charming in that slightly pouty Parisian way”.
Little Georgia Café
Giles Coren, The Times (Rating: 7/10)
Once Giles and his Sat Nav recover from the shock of finding themselves in Hackney, he enjoys the “very good, inexpensive, home-style Georgian cooking” at this Broadway Market café.
Edmunds, Birmingham
Zoe Williams, The Telegraph (Rating: 8.5/10)
In central Birmingham’s “swanky” Brindleyplace development, the critic is surprised to discover a restaurant interior that’s “soft, muted, unflashy [and] subtly luxurious”. “The service is very warm” and “the value is pretty good”. The food “reinforce[s] the impression of tremendous effort and care”, only to any extent faltering at the pudding stage.
At the Chapel, Bruton
Matthew Norman, The Guardian (Rating: 9/10)
The critic delights in finding “[a] provincial restaurant taking pride in every aspect of its work, unshowily passionate about pleasuring the punters and avoiding any hint of pretension”. “The large, uncluttered, high-ceilinged room” of this converted chapel in Somerset “is a beauty”, the wine list “is exceptional in range and pricing” and “the food was outstanding, every last morsel of it”.
River Cottage Canteen at Komedia, Bath
Jay finds some “very appealling” aspects to Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s latest canteen, in a “cabaret venue in the heart of Bath”. There are “large pastoral farming images on the walls and a bunch of smiley, enthusiastic waitresses”, and “[a] few of the dishes were great”. Some, though, were “less impressive” and he finds the prices “concerning” – “[t]his is a business for people who can afford their ethics”. “Most tiresome of all, however, is the endless flogging of River Cottage product.”
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