Near Gray’s Inn, a bit of an oxymoron from the Little Bay man (Peter Illic) – a ‘budget’ steak bistro; it offers a comfortably old-fashioned formula, at notably reasonably prices. Peter Ilic goes back a long way, so anyone who’d dined out – other than in the West End – over the past 20 years […]
Somewhat oddly located just north of Oxford Street, a loud and hip burger parlour that has opened with a cult following already in place; standards on our early-days visit were a touch up-and-down but, at their best, the burgers are of outstanding quality. Could it have been Ms Maschler’s four star review? There was a […]
On a grand scale, an unnecessarily fussily-conceived Theatreland brasserie; it offers a long and unduly esoteric charcuterie-heavy menu, and an extensive wine selection, all at very high prices. Why did it upset me so much, I wondered? In the middle of this grandiosely decorated, almost Ruritanian, St James’s brasserie stands a candelabra with half a […]
With great discretion, one of London’s best Gallic chefs in London has opened up in Smithfield; of his undoubted abilities, however, there was not much hint on our flat early-days visit. Morgan Meunier is one of the best Gallic chefs in London. Year after year, our survey has shown his cooking to be better than […]
Larger, if a touch less hip, than its Covent Garden sibling, the third member of this fashionable chain brings its impressively consistent steakhouse formula to a larger scaled City basement. Anyone familiar with the Hawksmoor formula is going to have few surprises at the latest incarnation of the steakhouse mini-chain, tucked away near the Guildhall. […]
Hidden-away in Bloomsbury, a gastropub venture from the people behind the well-regarded Princess of Shoreditch; it’s a potentially charming operation, but the first-floor dining room can get very noisy, and we found the food rather lacklustre. If you wanted to impress a visitor with your knowledge of the capital, this accessible (just north of Gray’s […]
From the school of Chez Bruce, a (rare) Chelsea restaurant where the emphasis is on the food rather than the ambience – in the light of those priorities, it achieves its aims very well. We all know restaurant groups have DNA – resemblances between the members of the ‘family’ explicable by their common origins. A […]
Not a destination for the cost-sensitive, but this showy Mayfair outpost of a famous Californian chef does what it does – including very good steaks and very pretty salads – very well. How we wanted to hate Cut! Who is Wolfgang Puck, this Austrian-Californian chef who’s created a multi-million dollar empire, but still doesn’t have […]
A basic Covent Garden bistro offering an ever-changing wine selection, and a menu of brutal simplicity; an early-days visit suggested this appealing-sounding formula is in need of a little refinement. The idea sounds so attractive. A bistro named after its ever-changing wine selection: ten whites and ten reds, all bought in (at most) ten case […]
The first solo London operation from Jason Atherton, the man who made ‘Maze’ for Gordon Ramsay; the formula – innovative, without it any way being startling – is nicely pitched, and already attracting a strong Mayfair following. The unassuming Jason Atherton is one of the most able chefs to have made his name as part […]
