Handy for Sloane Square, a useful modern café/bistro, with quite a nice gallery attached; the cooking has no great ambition, but standards overall are above the cultural-centre norm. Have no fear: you do not need to be in any sort of cultural mood to enjoy this convenient new café/bistro near Sloane Square. In fact, if […]
In St Paul’s crypt, an airy and relaxed English restaurant that realises its simple and unpretentious aims well. The undercroft of St Paul’s has recently received a major make-over. Part of the vast space is now given over to a relatively intimately-scaled but lofty two-level dining room. It turns out to be the first public-facing […]
A Chinatown newcomer, specialising in Taiwanese cuisine; by local standards, it’s a more than usually comfortable and welcoming all-rounder, and the food we sampled was of a good standard; the bizarrely complex menu presentation, however, leaves the nagging feeling of delights undiscovered. [Not professing any expertise in or even particular experience of the cuisine of […]
A re-launch of one of the most remarkable interiors in London, this grand Victorian – neo-Byzantine – dining room offers a comfortable sort of all-round experience, at prices that, except pre-theatre, will probably make it mainly a business venue. The most wonderful restaurant interior in London was created by Spiers & Pond, the great railway […]
Brilliantly located for business, a Fleet Street brasserie in the classic Conran mould; it serves all your favourite Gallic dishes, quite well done, in surroundings which are a touch grander than the menu really demands. It would be unfair to say that, when it comes to restaurants, Sir Terence Conran has only ever had one […]
An expensive Belgravia Italian on the former site of Mimmo d’Ischia (RIP); the design (by Joseph, of boutique and brasserie fame) is smart enough, but the operation is wreathed in complacency. OK. Our lunch guest was already half an hour late when we decided to go ahead and order our lunch at this smart new […]
Much better value than its parent establishment (in Marylebone), this first branch of a proto-chain, near Holborn tube, offers a sensibly short menu of bistro staples (and pizzas too) at reasonable prices; it was already remarkably busy on our early-days visit. The original Villandry foodstore-cum-café, in Marylebone, has often seemed to be something of a […]
A mega-pricey US-import steakhouse, on the Belgravia site long known as Drones (RIP); for those prepared to pay the premium for USDA meat, it may make a congenial destination, especially if someone else is paying the bill. How much would you pay for a good steak? That’s the £40-odd-plus question that comes into your mind […]
A bistro-style boozer, right by King’s Cross, worth knowing about if you’re looking for a stop-off from your journey; for others, the formula lacks enough in the way of distinctiveness to be worth seeking out. Things are certainly looking up around King’s Cross, which now boasts half a dozen at least satisfactory places to eat […]
A King’s Road pub, relaunched – and much tarted-up – by the Martin brothers (of Gun etc fame); the food can be pretty good, but we do wonder if – as an eating place – the formula quite ‘works’. Since the launch of the Gun, on the Isle of Dogs, back in 2004, Tom and […]
