Over-design is one of the curses of the modern restaurant world, so it was a joy to enter Patrick Molloy’s new solo venture, by Guildhall. It’s almost a parody of plainness. Not perhaps quite to the extent of the epic Victorian stalwart Sweetings – where Molloy was formerly maitre d’ – but more in a […]
For some reason, new-wave Old English food is something you normally only find in pubs. There is of course a famous exception – the founder of the movement, St John of Smithfield. But the vast majority of St John’s imitators and inspirees are pubs, or dining rooms attached to pubs. The logic of this (or […]
It’s important for restaurants to be true to their roots, so first impressions of this new tapas bar near the Old Street roundabout are very comforting. Slightly ramshackle? Low-level bare-bulb lighting? Attractive, slightly offbeat staff? Yes, yes, yes. Spiritually speaking, this place is an absolute knock-off of its Brighton parent. And the mother ship is […]
It wouldn’t be fair to say that Fulham has no good restaurants. But – certainly as you leave the immediate environs of Fulham Broadway- the distant reaches of the Fulham Road have historically been a land of big pubs and chains. Here, indeed, near the junction with the Munster Road, stands the world’s very first […]
It’s never seems like the hottest idea when a new restaurant’s menu looks conceptualised to within an inch of its life. Few restaurateurs have the energy to get every aspect of an opening right, and it just seems to show a warped sense of priorities. This new Spanish outfit near King’s Cross puts its menus […]
We’d heard some good things about the sandwiches and smoothies at the Krüger take-away operations, so we thought its eat-in dining facility might be worth checking out. Part of a privately-run venture, we hoped it might stand out against the nondescript backdrop of dining on the Wharf (which is almost invariably overhung by the dead […]
If anyone wants to see how London restaurants have evolved over the past two decades, they could do much worse than a brief walking tour of the various branches of the Olivo franchise. The original restaurant near Victoria, offering Sardinian specialities, seemed almost exotic when it opened back in 1991. Its tasty cooking still makes […]
This prettily-located chippy now loudly proclaims the formerly little-known fact that it was established in 1939. It is only very recently, however – since its acquisition by the Embassy (Mayfair nightclub) people – that it has got in touch with its heritage side. The battered former appearance of the place (ho ho) has now been […]
Clerkenwell is not just one of London’s more attractive emerging areas, it is also home – not entirely coincidentally – to a good number of the better mid-price restaurants. So there’s clearly plenty of custom round here. If, however, a new concept doesn’t immediately click – witness the defunct Xich-lo, a few doors from the […]
