London Maida Vale Restaurant Guide

2021 Review: This gentrified Maida Vale boozer, which was one of the Harcourt Inns’s original properties, opened to great acclaim in 2018 thanks to its “great Henry Harris menu”. But reports after its first year of operation were mixed. For its supporters, “churning out dishes like sweetbreads, rabbit and brain shows it isn’t your average pub”, and its “famous Sunday lunch is hard to beat”. But a number of former fans scent “a steady descent to mediocrity”: they feel staff can appear “unconcerned” or “ditsy”, and think the food is “priced as something very special but sub-par”. In late October 2020 Henry Harris announced he was moving on from the group.

2021 Review: “The perfect summer canalside fish restaurant” – this Little Venice charmer makes the best of “a delightful waterside setting”, with “well-spaced tables and a calm atmosphere”. The cooking is barely mentioned by reporters, although there are no complaints beyond the suggestion that it’s “a bit overpriced”.

2021 Review: This “spot on” Japanese near Little Venice wins consistent high ratings for its ultra-fresh sushi, sashimi and maki rolls as well as cooked dishes. Do book because it’s “small and often overcrowded, but worth it for the food and welcome”.

2021 Review: “A romantic hideaway obscured, by climbing plants, from passers-by” – Catherine Parisot’s St John’s Wood institution has just celebrated its 40th anniversary, serving “classic French cuisine” that is “unchanged in years”. “It is old-fashioned but never boring, conventional but not too formal, simple but not too basic, traditional but still progressive”. To the relief of her many fans, Madame C is targeting her half-century here: “she is always there to come and talk to you, the waiters are very friendly and they want you to have a good time”.