A happy week for the majority of the critics, with pork pies, new experiences and old friends. Only Marina O’Loughlin’s trip to West Sussex (“England by Disney”) and Ed Smith’s visit to Bagatelle (“nothing to swerve for”) were disappointments. Continuing from last week’s homage to the dumpling and pastry-encased leftovers, Jay Rayner in The Observer […]
A rollercoaster week for our intrepid reviewers: bad starts (including a hellish brush with Bicester Village for Tom Parker Bowles), off-kilter locations and misfiring menus. Jay Rayner in The Observer experienced the “troubled adolescence” of newly-opened, crowdfunded Thomas Carr Seafood & Grill in Ilfracombe, Devon. His initial impression left little to hope for, with a […]
Guest reviewing in The Evening Standard this week was Hamish MacBain, who reviewed the resurrected gastropub The Hero of Maida (8/10). Formerly The Truscott Arms, it was saved following a community campaign, and now (headed up by Henry Harris of “much-missed restaurant Racine”) has “an overwhelming air of much-more-poshness” than its predecessor. The “menu follows […]
Grace Dent in The Guardian awarded Leroy – the reincarnation of Shoreditch’s Ellory (RIP) – a solid 27/30 for being “a dark, noisy, naughty wine bar with a pleasing menu… where no one can tell that I’ve kicked off my shoes” (regular readers will know that if Grace is shoeless, she’s happy – add a […]
Jay Rayner in The Observer, 27 May 2018 reviewed Alchemilla, Glasgow “The focaccia at Alchemilla is light but springy… so satisfying, such a profound pleasure, that I had to use every last ounce of my insipid willpower to decline seconds.” “Argyle Street is cool “The food… is a thoughtful mix of great ideas and ingredients […]
Jay Rayner in The Observer forgets culinary purity at Gaijin Sushi Birmingham where a Polish chefs cooks solid Japanese food… “Depending on who is using the word, Gaijin is either an aggressively offensive word for non-Japanese people, or a self-mocking term used by non-Japanese people to signify their otherness. “… this is a sushi joint run by […]
Jay Rayner in The Observer is the latest critic to fall in love with Tomos Parry’s food at Brat. The place itself is perhaps to achingly Shoreditch, but the cooking is utterly lovely… “Show cooking may be tough, but trickier still is the seemingly effortless; the edible equivalent of, say, Anthony Hopkins’s performance in The Remains […]
Both Grace Dent and the Standard’s guest reviewer Labour MP Jess Phillips ate at Bryn Williams – both mention the appalling signage: GD “there are no signs for Bryn Williams during the half-mile walk from The Strand to your dinner table in the south wing”. JP “Somerset House is massive, has four or five eateries and […]
Jay Rayner in The Observer was unable to visit his original Chester target Brewery Tap because they don’t take late bookings, but finds a gem in Kokonut Grove… “The restaurateurs, chefs and waiters running restaurants in Britain offering the food of the Indian sub continent… if you want to eat in a British restaurant after about 9.15pm outside […]
