Our weekly roundup of what the nation’s restaurant critics were writing about in the week up to 9th February 2025
London Standard
The French House, Soho
Theming his review around Valentine’s Day, David Ellis declared his passion for a restaurant he loves – upstairs at a veteran Soho watering-hole, where Scottish chef Neil Borthwick (“primary influences Michel Bras and Phil Howard”) has run the kitchen since 2018.
“Have you ever fallen for a friend, noticing their looks long after the first meet?” David asked. “The French is a bit like that. Unassuming until it isn’t.”
He enjoyed dishes of calves brain and cod, pointing out that this is food that “does not show off” – which means the restaurant can be returned to time and again. “It is conspiratorial, trustworthy, fun, encouraging, and reliably always there, whether in times of crisis or celebration. What else is there in love?”
*****
The Guardian
Tropea, Birmingham
Grace Dent celebrated a “forward-thinking take on the Italian trattoria” from chef Kasia Piatowska and her business partner Ben Robinson-Young, who met while training at University College Birmingham.
“People might say Birmingham lacks a little by way of la dolce vita, but over in Harborne there’s a place where the imaginary sun shines just that bit brighter,” she said.
The ambience was “cool, but not too cool”, the staff “absurdly friendly” and the food consistently generous and excellent, from an “exquisite” butternut squash and sage arancino all the way to a “whopping great, obscenely decadent” home-made cannolo.
*****
The Observer
The Great Indian, Archway
Jay Rayner enjoyed himself at a “new and thoroughly delightful food pub” (formerly a north London boozer called the Prince Alfred), from an all-Indian team whose kitchen is headed by executive chef Surjan Singh, better known as Chef Jolly from his role as a judge on MasterChef India.
Despite the occasional hint of other “influences” – gunpowder Buffalo wings and “taco roti”, which Jay suggested must have originated respectively in the upstate New York and Mexican parts of India – this was a thoroughly Indian meal of “power and joy, depth and profundity”.
“The dal makhani is described as having been simmered for 48 hours and there is a buttery-rich quality to it that suggests they really aren’t kidding. Come for the lamb tacos; stay for the lentils. Assume no one is watching and spoon it neat from the bowl.”
*****
The Times & Sunday Times
Pinna, Mayfair
Don’t Tell Dad, Queen’s Park
A greedy Giles Coren doubled up by reviewing two restaurants – the first of which, Pinna in Shepherd Market, was “jolly nice if you like superexpensive Italian restaurants in Mayfair, which people in Mayfair absolutely do”.
This one was packed with “finance bros in their gilets with young women very much not in gilets, all noisily tucking into £30 starters and £40 pastas and £50 mains, made from the finest ingredients and not too much done to them.”
More to Giles’s taste socially – and rather less expensive – was the new all-day-bakery cum restaurant in Queen’s Park from a “lovely local guy called Daniel Land, who is connected to simply everyone and founded Coco di Mama”. The kitchen hit the spot with a “good squishy crab tart”, hearty scallops, a “monster” skate wing with chickpeas, clams and chilli, served with “good to perfect” pommes Anna” then madeleines warm from the oven.
***
Damasqino, Glasgow
Chitra Ramaswamy was won over by a Syrian/Lebanese restaurant from Mohammad Bashar Al Haj Ali that has gone from strength to strength in recent years, becoming a “beacon of light” in the Saltmarket, a run-down street on the edge of the Merchant City, where it has attracted other hospitality openings despite the sluggish pace of public regeneration.
A “massive platter” of vegetarian starters scored well with standout hummus, moutabel and fattoush plus “the best tabbouleh I have eaten in Scotland” (nine-tenths finely chopped parsley). The hot dishes were also excellent, including “sensational” juicy chicken and tender lamb from the charcoal grill.
Fully satisfied at the end of their meal, Chitra and her guest declined the offer of tea. But “it’s brought nonetheless, two tiny glass cups, on the house again… Happy days.”
***
Tropea, Birmingham
Charlotte Ivers also visited this Italian in Harborne, at the behest of former Birmingham mayor Andy Street, who declared it “the type of place where you’ll always bump into someone you know” – although apparently Charlotte did not bump into the Guardian’s Grace Dent (see above), which might have been awkward.
Like Grace, she found Tropea both modern and cool, “but not threateningly so” – which means we’re heading towards a favourable critical consensus. Apart from an over-salted rosti, the food hit the mark – although Charlotte ran out of time for dessert, so she missed out on that cannolo.
*****
Daily Mail
Noto, Edinburgh
Tom Parker Bowles dropped in on a small and unassuming restaurant on a New Town backstreet from chef Stuart Ralston, inspired by his time working in New York and also – confusingly, perhaps – by Japanese cuisine.
No problem, said Tom, for “this isn’t a place in thrall to the cult of authenticity”. So udon soup with fresh potato noodles (“a symphony of the soft and winsome”) melded the Scottish and the Japanese, while the “succulent” fried chicken glazed with coffee and Cabernet Sauvignon may have been inspired by Korea or Taiwan. Trout temaki, meanwhile, was “lascivious” – one of Tom’s favourite adjectives.
“There’s an innate understating of Japanese technique here, with the joy of texture every bit as important as the allure of taste – it takes great skill to make things seem this laidback.”
*****
Daily Telegraph
Starling, Esher
William Sitwell braved the high street of a “drab Surrey town” where a newish restaurant from former Tom Kerridge sideman Nick Beardshaw “gleams and glistens like a precious oasis”, and is handily situated for both Sandown Park racecourse and the station.
With the exception of a couple of clunkily named “as seen on TV” dishes in memory of Nick’s 2023 Great British Menu victory, the menu is “spick and span and a pleasure to navigate”. Steak tartare hash brown, crumpets with Parmesan and crisp pig’s head were all on point, while a pressed game terrine was “quite glorious, rich and tasty… and not one bit like dog food, which they so often are”. Mains – pork and “the most perfect piece of cod” – were “equally fab”, while puds were “conventional and excellent”.
“For a fine bite and great service in Surrey,” William concluded, “Starling is your nicely feathered nest.”
*****
Financial Times
Long Friday, Newcastle
Tim Hayward reported on a “transformational” visit to a tiny restaurant in an old parade of shops in Jesmond, the follow-up to Cook House in nearby Ouseburn from Anna Hedworth, a former architect and self-trained cook (a term she prefers to chef) who has been compared to Alice Walters “in the glory days of Chez Panisse”.
Dish after dish – grilled ox heart “so perfect it takes your breath away”; Shetland mussels with Stornoway black pudding, Madeira and samphire; fried chicken wings with fish-sauce caramel; Basque cheesecake flavoured with finely ground black sesame – brought Tim to utter the word “genius” – “a word I think I’ve almost never used in a review”.
“What I need to communicate is not what’s available or even necessarily what I ate, but the absurd talent of the individual,” he eulogised. “Anna Hedworth’s cooking is that good. It seduces entirely.”
