Zakudia, as you will know, is a Zambian word, meaning the enjoyment of food and drink. It’s also the name of this bar by Southwark Bridge, which is of note as the only non-chain outlet in a string of places to have opened over the last couple of years around Shakespeare’s Globe. Stairs lead up […]
For all the talk of London’s emergence as a great foodie Mecca, the capital’s bakeries – or, rather, their paucity – are still something of an embarrassment. Pâtisserie Valerie and Maison Blanc show that quality operations can survive, but in most areas of town the supermarkets have driven all before them. Our friends across the […]
This is the second of two Continental-style steak-houses to open in Marylebone in recent months. Both offer essentially the same fixed menu – salad, steak ‘n’ chips – and both make a big deal of their respective secret sauces. The first to open (Relais de Venise) was praised in this column, but has subsequently been […]
Les Trois Garcons was a real eye-opener when it was launched in 2000. Complete with stuffed animals wearing tiaras, that Brick Lane pub was not just the first truly cool opening in the East End – it also set a new London-wide standard for decadent, high camp decor. A couple of years later, along came […]
Borough was once the home of the famous ‘stews’, or brothels, of medieval London. It is now rapidly becoming a pleasure garden of a very different kind – a sort of mecca for food-conscious urbanites. As an example of how the casual London dining out scene is evolving, there are few areas more striking than […]
Generally speaking, London doesn’t ‘do’ wine bars or bistros and nowadays: the terms just seem so ’60s. Here we do ‘gastropubs’. When all’s said and done though, a gastropub is really no more than a bistro-in-a-pub. What to call this new concept near Smithfield? With such a strong lunchtime food emphasis and nowhere to stand […]
Very occasionally, Britain says boo to American cultural imperialism. Brunch, for example, may long have been a mainstay of the New York social scene (in particular) but it has yet to become as overwhelmingly popular here. Brunch has, however, particularly taken firm root in Notting Hill, presumably because it’s London’s closest equivalent to SoHo. They […]
It has been totally unsung in recent times, but Franco’s is one of the veterans of the London restaurant scene. Founded as Frank’s in 1946, its heritage puts in in the same vintage as better-known ‘period’ destinations such as Covent Garden’s Mon Plaisir. Such period charm as there may ever have been, however, was swept […]
As an act of witless cultural vandalism, the Dorchester’s Grill’s new look takes some beating. Out goes the characterful Spanish Baronial styling of 70 years’ standing. In comes a riot of Tartan High Camp that would not disgrace a Marriott in a Scottish golf resort. Dr Johnson’s observation – ‘The noblest prospect which a Scotchman […]
