From part of the team that built Strada, the Wimbledon prototype of a Gallic bistro chain; unlike most press reviewers, we found standards generally unimpressive. One of the big fears of the restaurant critical world is just not ‘getting’ it. You go along to a place that’s been unanimously well reviewed – in respectable publications […]
A much-heralded no-nonsense British newcomer, in Bayswater, heavily influenced by owner Tom Pemberton’s experience at St John Bread & Wine; though the food is generally sound, the overall experience fell short of our expectations. Michael Winner sometimes notes how, to many in the ‘hospitality’ industry, a smile is as ‘a silver cross to a vampire’. […]
By the Palladium, a de luxe ‘high-street-style’ restaurant offering an extensive menu stretching from sushi to surf ‘n’ turf; it combines the charm of an Angus Steak House with the culinary flair of a Garfunkel’s. As Oscar Wilde once observed, only fools don’t judge by appearances, and – on such a basis – we doubt […]
A classic MPW-French operation decorated in subdued nightclubby style, rather unpromisingly located by the entrance to Chelsea FC; the style of the operation is arguably a little passé, but the food is of high quality. London’s restaurants have come so far over the past 20 years – and particularly the past 10 – that the […]
Decorated in extravagant North African style, a bubbly bar/restaurant basement near Liverpool Street; its handy location and its style – suited to parties and, arguably, romance – has already made it a popular City destination, but prices (and the noise level) are very high, and culinary standards are ordinary in the extreme. The former occupant […]
An ambitious newcomer, just north of Oxford Street, where the personal touch of the co-owners – an ex-Manoir head chef and sommelier – is much in evidence; while we were charmed by the service (and wines), we were not convinced that the strikingly-plated dishes lived up to their high prices. Texture is an under-appreciated part […]
Handily located five minutes walk from Euston, a brightly-lit new hotel dining room (with its own entrance), where an ex-Zafferano chef cooks up a satisfying Anglo-Italian menu. Perhaps it’s the prospect of all those dapper ‘euro-types’ about to be deposited at the new Eurostar terminal at St Pancras – Bloomsbury has the feel of somewhere […]
In the heart of Mayfair, a very useful corner gastropub, open 365 days a year; sibling to the House (Islington) and Bull (Highgate), it offers similarly solid cooking, and – in this part of town – the prices demanded for it seem eminently reasonable! It’s not just in Mayfair that there are still – yes, […]
On the fringe of Covent Garden, a smart basement restaurant whose prices and style make it a ‘natural’ for business; on our visit soon after the summer-2007 revamp, the food veered – to an unusual extent – from outstanding to very ordinary. After a decade in business, Axis – the restaurant below the highly-regarded One […]
It’s not often you get to describe waiters as “looking like refugees from Star Trek”, but the styling of this hotel dining room (and its staff) used to be a case study in appalling design. After its recent revamp, we therefore approached it with some anticipation: would it be hilarious, or simply bad? But it […]
