http://www.hardens.com/ Visit Harden's.com for the latest London and UK restaurant news and reviews. Hardens.com -- the most authoritative restaurant and venue guides for London and the UK. en-gb Copyright (C): Harden's Ltd http://images.hardens.com/images/HardensLogoRSS.jpg http://www.hardens.com/ 60 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 18 19 20 21 22 23 Saturday Sunday http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-news/uk-london/02-02-12/es-review/ Dabbous is simply fabul-oo, says Fay http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-news/uk-london/02-02-12/es-review/ Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant news http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-news/uk-london/01-02-12/metro-reviews/ Marina feels like a chippy Bisto Kid at 34 http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-news/uk-london/01-02-12/metro-reviews/ Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant news http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-news/uk-london/31-01-12/mere-e-pepe/ New Soho Italian opens February 3rd http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-news/uk-london/31-01-12/mere-e-pepe/ Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant news http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/31-01-12/soif-sw11/ A basically-furnished Battersea bistro/wine bar offshoot of West End hit Terroirs, offering Gallic bistro fare realised to a solid standard; the daily-changing menu, however, struck as as irritatingly http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/31-01-12/soif-sw11/ Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-news/uk-london/29-01-12/weekend-press-roundup/ What the press pundits are saying http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-news/uk-london/29-01-12/weekend-press-roundup/ Sun, 29 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant news http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-news/uk-london/27-01-12/second-thoughts-hardens-revisit-dinner-sw1/ The Hardens revisit Blumenthal's Knightsbridge restaurant http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-news/uk-london/27-01-12/second-thoughts-hardens-revisit-dinner-sw1/ Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant news http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/27-01-12/tom-aikens-sw3/ Much improved by a general ‘loosening up’, an eminent dining room offers unusually intriguing and tasty dishes in a setting of almost Scandinavian understatement; the set lunch (as so often in Che http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/27-01-12/tom-aikens-sw3/ Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/25-01-12/introduction/ Much improved by a general ‘loosening up’, an eminent dining room offers unusually intriguing and tasty dishes in a setting of almost Scandinavian understatement; the set lunch (as so often in Che http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/25-01-12/introduction/ Wed, 25 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/24-01-12/xo-excellence-award/ Much improved by a general ‘loosening up’, an eminent dining room offers unusually intriguing and tasty dishes in a setting of almost Scandinavian understatement; the set lunch (as so often in Che http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/24-01-12/xo-excellence-award/ Tue, 24 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/23-01-12/vsop-award/ Much improved by a general ‘loosening up’, an eminent dining room offers unusually intriguing and tasty dishes in a setting of almost Scandinavian understatement; the set lunch (as so often in Che http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/23-01-12/vsop-award/ Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/22-01-12/coeur-de-cognac-award/ Much improved by a general ‘loosening up’, an eminent dining room offers unusually intriguing and tasty dishes in a setting of almost Scandinavian understatement; the set lunch (as so often in Che http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/22-01-12/coeur-de-cognac-award/ Sun, 22 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/21-01-12/the-sunday-times-food-list-/ Much improved by a general ‘loosening up’, an eminent dining room offers unusually intriguing and tasty dishes in a setting of almost Scandinavian understatement; the set lunch (as so often in Che http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/21-01-12/the-sunday-times-food-list-/ Sat, 21 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/18-01-12/34-w1/ A clubby, tightly-packed Mayfair sibling to Le Caprice and so on, attracting the glitzy clientele you might expect; the cooking, however, isn’t yet up to the standards of its nearest sibling, Scotts http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/18-01-12/34-w1/ Wed, 18 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/17-01-12/aurelia-w1/ The latest addition to the fashionable Arjun Waney stable, this Mayfair Mediterranean offers upmarket comfort fare of a high standard; the tightly-packed basement is more atmospheric than the somewhat http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/17-01-12/aurelia-w1/ Tue, 17 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/16-01-12/union-jacks-wc2/ A prototype for the latest extension of the Jamie Oliver franchise, this Brit-themed bistro is more of a wow than you might expect. The world fall into two camps. The much larger camp is composed o http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/16-01-12/union-jacks-wc2/ Mon, 16 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/16-01-12/the-delaunay-wc2/ From Corbin and King, a swish, Midtown brasserie, which has the hallmarks of an instant in-crowd classic, even if its looks are less stunning than its stablemate, the Wolseley. What's in a name? Re http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/16-01-12/the-delaunay-wc2/ Mon, 16 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/16-01-12/bread-street-kitchen-ec4/ Professional, but vast, soulless and expensive, Gordon Ramsay’s grand brasserie, in a shopping mall by St Paul’s, seemed to us to exert an appeal only discernible by those lucky enough to have lar http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/16-01-12/bread-street-kitchen-ec4/ Mon, 16 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/16-01-12/mishkins-wc2/ Trendy but unintimidating, Russell Norman’s new 'diner’ looks set – like the similarly US-inpired local classic Joe Allen’s – to become a long-term Theatreland fixture. Is this a classic http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/16-01-12/mishkins-wc2/ Mon, 16 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-news/uk-london/06-01-12/press-announcement-on-launch-of-hardens-uk-restaurant-survey-2012/ Out-of-town restaurants still thriving http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-news/uk-london/06-01-12/press-announcement-on-launch-of-hardens-uk-restaurant-survey-2012/ Fri, 06 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant news http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-news/uk-london/15-12-11/new-years-eve-in-london-dinner-and-dancing/ http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-news/uk-london/15-12-11/new-years-eve-in-london-dinner-and-dancing/ Thu, 15 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant news http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/12-12-11/meatliquor-w1/ Somewhat oddly located just north of Oxford Street, a loud and hip burger parlour that has opened with a cult following already in place; standards on our early-days visit were a touch up-and-down but http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/12-12-11/meatliquor-w1/ Mon, 12 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/12-12-11/steak-plus-wc1/ Near Gray’s Inn, a bit of an oxymoron from the Little Bay man (Peter Illic) – a ‘budget’ steak bistro; it offers a comfortably old-fashioned formula, at notably reasonably prices. Peter Ili http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/12-12-11/steak-plus-wc1/ Mon, 12 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/12-12-11/suda-wc2/ From the S&P people, an upmarket shopping mall-style Thai; its spacious Covent Garden premises offer a pleasant respite from consumerism, even if the food is not consistent enough to make the place a http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/12-12-11/suda-wc2/ Mon, 12 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/12-12-11/novikov-w1/ From the leading Muscovite restaurateur, a very large pan-Asian dining room that looks set to become a popular Mayfair destination, perhaps mainly for business; the smoothness of the operation on our http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/12-12-11/novikov-w1/ Mon, 12 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/12-12-11/ducksoup-w1/ In the heart of Soho, a bistro of rare – perhaps unique – decorative brutality, offering a short and ever-changing menu, realised to a high standard. Are you a 'Bobo’? Do you combine a bourge http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/12-12-11/ducksoup-w1/ Mon, 12 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/12-12-11/alyn-williams-at-the-westbury-w1/ Hidden-away inside Bond Street’s only hotel, a grand new dining room for an ex-Marcus Wareing chef of whom we suspect we’re going to be hearing a lot more; our lunchtime visit offered invariably h http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/12-12-11/alyn-williams-at-the-westbury-w1/ Mon, 12 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/22-11-11/the-balcon-sw1/ On a grand scale, an unnecessarily fussily-conceived Theatreland brasserie; it offers a long and unduly esoteric charcuterie-heavy menu, and an extensive wine selection, all at very high prices. Wh http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/22-11-11/the-balcon-sw1/ Tue, 22 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/21-11-11/morgan-m-ec1/ With great discretion, one of London’s best Gallic chefs in London has opened up in Smithfield; of his undoubted abilities, however, there was not much hint on our flat early-days visit. Morgan M http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/21-11-11/morgan-m-ec1/ Mon, 21 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/19-11-11/hawksmoor-ec2/ Larger, if a touch less hip, than its Covent Garden sibling, the third member of this fashionable chain brings its impressively consistent steakhouse formula to a larger scaled City basement. Anyon http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/19-11-11/hawksmoor-ec2/ Sat, 19 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/17-11-11/the-lady-ottoline-wc1/ Hidden-away in Bloomsbury, a gastropub venture from the people behind the well-regarded Princess of Shoreditch; it’s a potentially charming operation, but the first-floor dining room can get very no http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/17-11-11/the-lady-ottoline-wc1/ Thu, 17 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/07-10-11/10-cases-wc2/ A basic Covent Garden bistro offering an ever-changing wine selection, and a menu of brutal simplicity; an early-days visit suggested this appealing-sounding formula is in need of a little refinement. http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/07-10-11/10-cases-wc2/ Fri, 07 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/07-10-11/cut-w1/ Not a destination for the cost-sensitive, but this showy Mayfair outpost of a famous Californian chef does what it does - including very good steaks and very pretty salads - very well. How we want http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/07-10-11/cut-w1/ Fri, 07 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/07-10-11/medlar-sw10/ From the school of Chez Bruce, a (rare) Chelsea restaurant where the emphasis is on the food rather than the ambience – in the light of those priorities, it achieves its aims very well. We all http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/07-10-11/medlar-sw10/ Fri, 07 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-news/uk-london/30-08-11/press-announcement-on-launch-of-hardens-london-restaurants-2012/ Riot restaurant seizes culinary crown http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-news/uk-london/30-08-11/press-announcement-on-launch-of-hardens-london-restaurants-2012/ Tue, 30 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant news http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-news/uk-london/25-08-11/hardens-replies-to-ms-maschlers-recent-opinion-piece/ http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-news/uk-london/25-08-11/hardens-replies-to-ms-maschlers-recent-opinion-piece/ Thu, 25 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant news http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-news/uk-london/17-08-11/prices-leap-11-per-cent-in-year-as-bills-for-two-burst-gbp90-barrier/ Press announcement http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-news/uk-london/17-08-11/prices-leap-11-per-cent-in-year-as-bills-for-two-burst-gbp90-barrier/ Wed, 17 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant news http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-news/uk-london/17-08-11/hardens-london-2012-published-1-september/ 21st edition of “gastronome’s bible” (Evening Standard) http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-news/uk-london/17-08-11/hardens-london-2012-published-1-september/ Wed, 17 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant news http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/17-06-11/pollen-street-social-w1/ The first solo London operation from Jason Atherton, the man who made ‘Maze’ for Gordon Ramsay; the formula – innovative, without it any way being startling – is nicely pitched, and already at http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/17-06-11/pollen-street-social-w1/ Fri, 17 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/08-05-11/riding-house-cafe-w1/ In the rag trade section of Fitzrovia, a large, stylish and cheerful brasserie whose compelling all-round formula is already packing ’em in. Our first surprise on visiting this attractive-looking http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/08-05-11/riding-house-cafe-w1/ Sun, 08 May 2011 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/18-04-11/5-pollen-street-w1/ Near the Apple Store, a contemporary Italian restaurant whose rather retro culinary style contributes to a style surprisingly redolent of ‘old Mayfair’; a useful enough place, it seemed to us to l http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/18-04-11/5-pollen-street-w1/ Mon, 18 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/16-04-11/11-park-walk-sw10/ On the former Chelsea site of Aubergine, a welcoming and elegantly-styled new Italian restaurant; the cooking, though, is tame. Honey, we forgot the food! Are we imagining it, or is there a bit of http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/16-04-11/11-park-walk-sw10/ Sat, 16 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/15-04-11/watatsumi-wc2/ A grandly housed Japanese restaurant, just south of Trafalgar Square; standards struck us as solid, rather than anything more, but good bento (and so on) deals make this a handy daytime option – by http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/15-04-11/watatsumi-wc2/ Fri, 15 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/14-04-11/bennett-sw11/ Elegantly housed in Battersea Square, a smartly turned-out brasserie where food and service don’t quite live up to appearances; for oyster-lovers, though, this may be a place worth seeking out. I http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/14-04-11/bennett-sw11/ Thu, 14 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/12-04-11/grand-imperial-sw1/ Grandly housed in the hotel adjacent to Victoria Station, this Cantonese dining room offers airy surroundings and good-value dim sum (and lunch) menus, making it an ideal daytime rendezvous; by night, http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/12-04-11/grand-imperial-sw1/ Tue, 12 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/21-03-11/nopi-w1/ Just off Regent Street, a potentially useful brasserie, under the same ownership as Ottolenghi, and in a broadly similar (if more ambitious) style; format and location are undoubtedly very handy, but http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/21-03-11/nopi-w1/ Mon, 21 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/01-03-11/spice-market-wc2/ Bringing the style of New York’s hip Meatpacking District to Leicester Square, a glamorous establishment which brings a lot of style (with prices to match) to a menu inspired by the spicy street foo http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/01-03-11/spice-market-wc2/ Tue, 01 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/21-02-11/the-fox-and-grapes-sw18/ A former inn, prettily located on Wimbledon Common, whose interior has been converted to a large, contemporary-style dining room offering rich cooking of high quality; though many aspects of the opera http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/21-02-11/the-fox-and-grapes-sw18/ Mon, 21 Feb 2011 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/18-02-11/ilia-sw3/ Near Brompton Cross, a relaunch of Papillon as a good all-round-Italian; in fact little, except the cuisine, seems really to have changed from the former régime. Don’t they have enough Italian r http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/18-02-11/ilia-sw3/ Fri, 18 Feb 2011 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/14-02-11/opera-tavern-wc2/ Bang opposite the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, a former pub that’s now a offshoot – in what’s essentially a high-quality bistro format – of the Salt Yard/Dehesa tapas empire; its attractions for http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/14-02-11/opera-tavern-wc2/ Mon, 14 Feb 2011 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/09-02-11/the-mosaic-rooms/ Bang opposite the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, a former pub that’s now a offshoot – in what’s essentially a high-quality bistro format – of the Salt Yard/Dehesa tapas empire; its attractions for http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/09-02-11/the-mosaic-rooms/ Wed, 09 Feb 2011 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review