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Review of the Reviews - London

No.20, Sanctum Soho

Guy Dimond, Time Out (Rating: 3/6 stars)

TO’s head man is obviously unimpressed with how the £20 million invested in the new Sanctum Soho hotel has been spent. In the restaurant, No.20, “[t]offee colours dominate, with some mismatched chairs that look like a job lot from a burlesque outfitters”. He observes that “Mark Fuller’s places tend to land just the right side of tacky because he manages to create great food”. His meal here is “mostly good” – even though, curiously, most dishes are also described as “wide of the mark” – but it doesn’t do enough to distract from the “tedious ‘Now That’s What I Call Dodgy R&B’” music, and the objectionable fellow diners: “Jodie Marsh lookalikes and... middle-aged geysers”.

Albion

Marina O'Loughlin, Metro (Rating: 4/5 stars)

The critic pays “utter respect” to Sir Terence Conran. He could be enjoying a “cigar-puffing retirement”, but has undertaken a “mammoth” Shoreditch project: “three restaurants... and a roof terrace grill – plus 17 individually designed hotel rooms and suites.” She is even more impressed by “its beauty and instant, jaw-dropping appeal”. She reviews the caff, Albion, and finds that it’s like Canteen and S&M Cafe but “just done so much better”, with everything she eats proclaimed a “stodgy joy”.

Fino

Richard Vines, Bloomberg (Rating: 3/4 stars)

The critic visits the recently re-opened tapas joint and finds owners Sam and Eddie Hart “the warmest of hosts” (which contributes to the crowded basement’s “clubby feel”). On the food front, “[i]t’s the quality of the produce that shines through as messing about in the kitchen is kept to a minimum and the flavors are all about the integrity of the ingredients.”

Portobello Ristorante Pizzeria

Fay Maschler, Evening Standard (Rating: 3/5 stars)

According to the owners of this Italian restaurant, its speciality – Pizzametro, pizza by the metre – is a “symbol of conviviality and a way of bringing people together”. Indeed this sets the tone for an establishment where the staff “seem truly to enjoy their work”. “[T]he wooden tables are designed for groups of friends sharing” and “a noticeable, voluble proportion of the clientele [is] Italian”, making this a “jolly restaurant” and a “new source of satisfaction in Notting Hill.”

The Drapers Arms

David Sexton, Evening Standard (Rating: 3/5 stars)

This Barnsbury pub has recently been re-opened under new ownership (including Ms Maschler’s son Ben) and with Karl Goward (ex-St John) in the kitchen. The critic enjoys the “St-John-goes-to-the-pub” cuisine (although he admits to feeling “a bit of an amateur Hannibal Lecter” for eating seven devilled duck’s hearts). His only gripe is that the “extreme starkness” of some dishes appears “mannered”. “[O]n this form, the Drapers...looks like it’s going straight back to being the joy of the neighbourhood that it was in its heyday”.

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