http://www.hardens.com/articles/article_list.php?type=cityam Visit Harden's.com for reviews of the hottest new openings. 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/articles/article_list.php?type=cityam 60 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 18 19 20 21 22 23 Saturday Sunday http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/13-05-08/review-cote-soho-w1-bistro/ In Soho, the second member of a new Gallic bistro chain (brought to you by many of the people who created Strada); it’s a useful enough place, in a chain sort of way, and friendly too, but our visit http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/13-05-08/review-cote-soho-w1-bistro/ Tue, 13 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/08-05-08/the-clissold-arms-review/ A laid-back but high quality gastropub that’s all the more welcome in the gastronomically deprived environs of Muswell Hill. Typical Conversations We Have with our Customers: No 14. <b>Reader< http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/08-05-08/the-clissold-arms-review/ Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/07-05-08/gazette-review/ A basic Balham bistro, aiming to offer a true Gallic experience at reasonable prices; on our visit, however, the food was very up-and-down, and service was shocking. The first Gazette is hidden-awa http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/07-05-08/gazette-review/ Wed, 07 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/01-05-08/review-hix-oyster-and-chop-house-smithfield-ec1/ A plain Smithfield establishment on the former Rudland & Stubbs (RIP) site, bearing the name of a former Caprice group executive chef; our early-days sampling of the meat-heavy English menu showed sig http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/01-05-08/review-hix-oyster-and-chop-house-smithfield-ec1/ Thu, 01 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/30-04-08/the-betjeman-arms/ By the tracks at the new St Pancras, a run-of-the-mill ‘English’ pub-cum-brasserie, from Geronimo Inns, with ideas above its station. "Yeah it's good... well, it's all right... it's fine." O http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/30-04-08/the-betjeman-arms/ Wed, 30 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/29-04-08/review-beehive-pulze-marylebone-w1/ Italian bistro-meets-Marylebone boozer – Claudio Pulze’s latest addition to London’s dining scene (his 50th!) is an odd and hard-to-characterise venture, offering good food at good prices, and f http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/29-04-08/review-beehive-pulze-marylebone-w1/ Tue, 29 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/25-04-08/review-mokssh-indian-chelsea-sw10/ A would-be-trendy Indian restaurant-cum-cocktail bar, on the Chelsea ‘Beach’; it offers good and sometimes innovative cuisine, but the atmosphere on our visit was rather flat. The site which is http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/25-04-08/review-mokssh-indian-chelsea-sw10/ Fri, 25 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/24-04-08/review-mosaico-italian-mayfair-w1/ Something of a club for affluent Mayfair locals, this convivial basement Italian offers straightforward cooking at prices which would not be sustainable in most other parts of town. Chefs are a rat http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/24-04-08/review-mosaico-italian-mayfair-w1/ Thu, 24 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/23-04-08/review-cruse-cruse9-islington-n1/ A brave, newly-built restaurant – on a rather obscure north-Islington site – which has attracted some very positive press reviews; on our early-days visit, the food – which has a touch of the http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/23-04-08/review-cruse-cruse9-islington-n1/ Wed, 23 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/18-04-08/maze-grill-w1/ The latest addition to the Gordon Ramsay stable, this Mayfair steak-specialist offers food of consistently high quality; prices are high, though, and neither the setting nor (in the early days) the se http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/18-04-08/maze-grill-w1/ Fri, 18 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/16-04-08/iznik-kaftan-chelsea-sw3-review/ A (grander) offshoot of a north London Turkish restaurant of some note; a good and friendly all-rounder, it seems a little out of place among the shiny boutiques of Brompton Cross. Here’s an oddi http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/16-04-08/iznik-kaftan-chelsea-sw3-review/ Wed, 16 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/16-04-08/cafe-boheme-review-soho-w1/ Spruced-up and relaunched in spring 2008, this classic Gallic café/bistro retains its charms as a definitive heart-of-Soho rendezvous. No one ever went to Café Bohème for the food, and that’s http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/16-04-08/cafe-boheme-review-soho-w1/ Wed, 16 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/14-04-08/missouri-angel-ec3/ A straightforward and welcoming pub-conversion, in an ‘emerging’ quarter between the City and the East End; the menu – which has an American slant and a particular emphasis on steaks – is real http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/14-04-08/missouri-angel-ec3/ Mon, 14 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/11-04-08/michael-caines-at-abode-manchester-m4/ Near Piccadilly Station, an atmospheric basement dining room offering grazing (and other) dishes as good as any in Manchester; the extraordinary value of our lunch here suggests that this may indeed b http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/11-04-08/michael-caines-at-abode-manchester-m4/ Fri, 11 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/09-04-08/jimmys-chelsea-sw3-review/ A notably welcoming World’s End newcomer, maintaining the ‘handy rendezvous’ status of its predecessor on the site, Bacio (RIP); the food on our week one visit was almost invariably satisfying, http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/09-04-08/jimmys-chelsea-sw3-review/ Wed, 09 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/08-04-08/water-house-n1/ Claiming to be London’s most eco-friendly restaurant, a pioneering, if obscurely located, Shoreditch brasserie with a nice atmosphere and pleasant, informed service; on our visit, though, the cookin http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/08-04-08/water-house-n1/ Tue, 08 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/07-04-08/green-door-ec3/ A middle-market steakhouse, handily located in the heart of the City, and already doing very good business. All forty-plus British readers will recall Berni Inns: the steakhouses which defined ’7 http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/07-04-08/green-door-ec3/ Mon, 07 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/04-04-08/apsleys-at-the-lanesborough-sw1/ Occupying perhaps the most lavishly-refurbished conservatory in London, this new restaurant offers a true grand luxe experience, albeit in rather American style; an Italian menu is realised to a compe http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/04-04-08/apsleys-at-the-lanesborough-sw1/ Fri, 04 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/03-04-08/launceston-place-kensington-w8/ Pétrus’s ex-chef has helped tranform this once-sleepy townhouse in a Kensington back street into one of the most notable London openings (well, re-openings) of recent times; efficient service and t http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/03-04-08/launceston-place-kensington-w8/ Thu, 03 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/27-03-08/l-absinthe-nw1/ A simple but pretty-much-perfect Gallic bistro, on a Primrose Hill corner site that’s seen a number of occupants in recent years. What are you looking for in a restaurant? Glamour, excitement, no http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/27-03-08/l-absinthe-nw1/ Thu, 27 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/18-03-08/browns-grill-%28the-albemarle%29-w1/ Old-school in all the best ways, this (relaunched) Mayfair restaurant is one of two truly English grand hotel dining rooms in town (the other being the Goring); a soothing and clubby sort of place, it http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/18-03-08/browns-grill-%28the-albemarle%29-w1/ Tue, 18 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/14-03-08/review-bord-eaux-bordeaux-grosvenor-mayfair-w1/ Fronting on Park Lane, a classic brasserie-style operation, where the attractions of good Gallic food and service are overwhelmed by depressing design and high prices. Is it deliberate that hotels http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/14-03-08/review-bord-eaux-bordeaux-grosvenor-mayfair-w1/ Fri, 14 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/03-03-08/rech%2C-paris-17/ Alain Ducasse’s re-launch of a grand (but quite small) brasserie, near the place Wagram, offering an almost exclusively fishy menu; it offers food of solid quality, but the service adds little joy t http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/03-03-08/rech%2C-paris-17/ Mon, 03 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/29-02-08/the-mercer-ec2/ A grand and agreeable brasserie, handily located in the heart of the City; it offers good (and reasonably-priced) wines and friendly service, but seems to us to ‘miss’ fractionally on the food fro http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/29-02-08/the-mercer-ec2/ Fri, 29 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/26-02-08/toms-place-sw3/ A good but pricey ‘eco-chippy’, from celeb-chef Tom Aikens, which offers a very handy Chelsea stand-by – just two minutes’ walk from a road (King’s) that’s always been infamously short of http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/26-02-08/toms-place-sw3/ Tue, 26 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/19-02-08/vivezza-sw1/ Not far from Sloane Square, a good all-rounder – in modern ‘Chelsea trattoria’ style – that has finally convincingly shaken off its pizzeria-origins. Perhaps there really is something in t http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/19-02-08/vivezza-sw1/ Tue, 19 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/19-02-08/the-three-bridges-sw8/ In an emerging part of Battersea – near the Dogs’ Home – a surprisingly good Italian, where pizza is just one part of a satisfying overall package. What’s in a name? Does Three Bridges say http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/19-02-08/the-three-bridges-sw8/ Tue, 19 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/14-02-08/the-modern%2C-manchester-m4/ On the sixth floor of the city-centre Urbis centre, a smart modern bar/brasserie – on the former site of Mont (RIP) – offering pleasant but unremarkable cooking, and a smart and discreet setting p http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/14-02-08/the-modern%2C-manchester-m4/ Thu, 14 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/12-02-08/harrisons-sw12/ The former Balham Bar & Grill, modestly revamped, and now owned by Sam Harrison of Sam’s Brasserie (W4) fame; it remains a friendly and stylish spot, but the food is still rather an incidental attra http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/12-02-08/harrisons-sw12/ Tue, 12 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/08-02-08/the-warrington-w9/ The most satisfactory to date of the ‘budget-Gordon’ establishments, this huge Victorian boozer in Maida Vale appears the least effortful of the trio, and – perhaps in consequence – succeeds b http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/08-02-08/the-warrington-w9/ Fri, 08 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/06-02-08/waterloo-brasserie-se1/ Opposite Waterloo, an odd contemporary brasserie with an unusually wide-ranging – and rather confusing – ‘offer’; on our experience, we’d recommend it on its practical merits – perhaps as http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/06-02-08/waterloo-brasserie-se1/ Wed, 06 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/29-01-08/upper-deck-wc2/ Overlooking the tourist hell of Covent Garden Market, a small but airy first-floor café, offering a good overall experience – particularly by the standards of cultural-centre dining facilities – http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/29-01-08/upper-deck-wc2/ Tue, 29 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/29-01-08/tom-ilic-sw8/ From the eponymous chef, a superior local bistro, on the same Battersea site that has seen off two very superior local bistros in recent years; while we enjoyed our visit, we left unsure whether the f http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/29-01-08/tom-ilic-sw8/ Tue, 29 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/29-01-08/foxtrot-oscar-sw3/ Gordon Ramsay’s relaunch of a famous Chelsea bistro, now decorated in a rather chilly style somewhat resembling a ’50s kitchen; it offers food of good-to-variable quality in a setting we found it http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/29-01-08/foxtrot-oscar-sw3/ Tue, 29 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/08-01-08/market-nw1/ A no-nonsense English bistro, near Camden Town tube; a friendly sort of place, it offers plain cooking – in a style which, until recently, might have been called ‘domestic’ – at reasonable pri http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/08-01-08/market-nw1/ Tue, 08 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/07-01-08/the-fox-and-anchor-ec1/ Now associated with the nearby Malmaison Hotel, this smartly revamped pub, near Smithfield Market, offers a good line in solid food (and drink); with its notably friendly service, it seems quickly to http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/07-01-08/the-fox-and-anchor-ec1/ Mon, 07 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/04-12-07/alain-ducasse%2C-dorchester%2C-w1/ A swish but surprisingly comforting addition to the über-chef’s international empire, this very Gallic Mayfair dining room offers a surprisingly unintimidating haute-cuisine experience, that’s hi http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/04-12-07/alain-ducasse%2C-dorchester%2C-w1/ Tue, 04 Dec 2007 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/30-11-07/balfour-wc1/ In the heart of Bloomsbury student-land, a jolly Anglo-Italian bistro that makes a pleasant destination for an informal meal. Perhaps it really is the arrival of the Eurostar. Bloomsbury seems to b http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/30-11-07/balfour-wc1/ Fri, 30 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/27-11-07/le-cafe-anglais-w2/ A grand brasserie broadly similar in scale (170 seats) to the Wolseley; on our early-days visit, the food and service of this Bayswater newcomer were rather superior to that you would expect in Piccad http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/27-11-07/le-cafe-anglais-w2/ Tue, 27 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/26-11-07/the-fountain-at-fortnum-and-mason-w1/ Stylishly (but not too stylish) revamped by leading designer David Collins, the buttery of F&M is one of the most genuinely ‘London’ of all institutions; the key points of its traditional appeal http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/26-11-07/the-fountain-at-fortnum-and-mason-w1/ Mon, 26 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/26-11-07/gazette-sw11/ A true neighbourhood restaurant, hidden away near the Thames in Battersea, offering simple Gallic fare; we found the cuisine generous, but rather lacking in finesse. When you see menu of this nota http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/26-11-07/gazette-sw11/ Mon, 26 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/23-11-07/the-queens-arms-sw1/ On the former site of the Page in Pimlico (RIP), the first gastropub at the ‘wrong’ (Eastern) end of the area; its cuisine is not ambitious, but this is a notably friendly place which has found an http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/23-11-07/the-queens-arms-sw1/ Fri, 23 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/21-11-07/mango-tree-se1/ A couple of minutes walk from Borough Market, a very welcoming Indian restaurant, offering fairly standard fare consistently realised to a high standard; the only real downside is that it is rather no http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/21-11-07/mango-tree-se1/ Wed, 21 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/21-11-07/lautre-pied-w1/ A Marylebone offshoot of Pied à Terre, offering high-quality Gallic dishes and friendly service in a stripped-down contemporary bistro setting. A glass half full, or a glass half empty? That’s http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/21-11-07/lautre-pied-w1/ Wed, 21 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/19-11-07/terranostra-ec4/ Near the Old Bailey, an externally somewhat unprepossesing Italian restaurant, with friendly and efficient service, and offering cooking that’s above the norm. Never over-estimate the power of th http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/19-11-07/terranostra-ec4/ Mon, 19 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/16-11-07/angelus-w2/ A former Bayswater boozer, impressively – and surprisingly convincingly – made over as a smart Art Nouveau restaurant; our overall impression was pretty favourable, but we found the Gallic cooking http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/16-11-07/angelus-w2/ Fri, 16 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/14-11-07/hibiscus-w1/ From Claude Bosi – a chef who gained a reputation as among the UK’s best when his restaurant was in Ludlow – a charming and understated Mayfair dining room, if one perhaps rather lacking in elec http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/14-11-07/hibiscus-w1/ Wed, 14 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/07-11-07/northbank-ec4/ Overlooking the ‘Wobbly Bridge’ and Tate Modern, a discreet and unusually welcoming City restaurant offering a tempting and elegantly realised English menu at reasonable prices… and a view too! http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/07-11-07/northbank-ec4/ Wed, 07 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/05-11-07/haozhan-w1/ In the heart of Chinatown, a much-above average Chinese newcomer (with some Sichuan specialities), of particular note for its exceptional-value set lunch. It’s not often that a small new Chinese http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/05-11-07/haozhan-w1/ Mon, 05 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/02-11-07/the-electric-birdcage-sw1/ On a difficult Theatreland site (most recently home to Dune, RIP), a somewhat tacky bar offering some surprisingly good oriental snacks at very reasonable prices. In most industries, a good site is http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-reviews/uk-london/02-11-07/the-electric-birdcage-sw1/ Fri, 02 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT Restaurant review