Australian chef Scott Hallsworth is closing his peripatetic punk izakaya Freak Scene in Balham this weekend, and replacing it with a more “family-friendly” pan-Asian restaurant called Joe’s Oriental Diner. The former Nobu chef has opened and closed several iterations of Freak Scene over the past nine years, including a site off Parson’s Green in Fulham […]
Our round-up of what the nation’s restaurant critics were writing about in the week up to 16th August 2026 The Guardian Kinz, Notting Hill Grace Dent was transported back to a 1980s Duran Duran video by a former Lloyds Bank now converted into a “cinematic” triple-height Lebanese restaurant that is a very different proposition from all […]
A beautifully designed family-run Afghan restaurant has opened in a converted railway arch next to Leyton Midland station in east London. Azra takes its name from the Hazara ethnic group, and founder Waheed Kazemi says he hopes the venture will “change the perception of Afghanistan by incorporating aspects of its traditional heritage, highlighting the educated […]
Chefs Brad Carter (left in picture) and Tom Brown are closing Island, their King’s Cross surf-and-turf restaurant, after just a year and moving it to a new address in Clerkenwell. Their last service in the Chandelier Room above Mare Street Market will be this Sunday, 16 August, following which they will reopen next month at […]
East meets West at a new sake and wine bar in Islington that aims to strip the formality – and some of the expense – of drinking high-end artisanal bottles. Combining both liquids in its name, SANE has opened in cute Camden Passage, close to Angel tube station. Founder Maxime Maiano is a winemaker, importer and […]
The landmark Oxo Tower Restaurant on London’s South Bank has been acquired by the trio behind Fallow in St James’s, who say they plan to work with the current team before introducing changes next year. The move follows the sale this week of the Chelsea department store Harvey Nichols, which opened Oxo Tower Restaurant and […]
Dining with a view in central London receives a boost next week with the launch of Arcus at the revamped Imperial Hotel in Russell Square – pitched as the first rooftop restaurant and bar in Bloomsbury. Set on the tenth floor, Arcus has almost 360-degree views over some of London’s most famous sights, including St Paul’s, […]
A spacious new Persian restaurant opens in Marylebone next week from the Pachamama group, promising a menu redolent of “smoke and saffron”. Soraya, in the new Loxton Walk development off Baker Street, is group’s second venue of the same name, following an original which opened in Abu Dhabi two years ago. The restaurant will accommodate […]
After an 11-year run, Josh Katz has closed his flagship restaurant Berber & Q, a North African/Middle Eastern barbecue specialist in a railway arch off the Regent’s Canal in Haggerston, east London. His debut restaurant, it was widely influential and led to his follow-ups Shawarma Bar in Exmouth Market and Carmel in Queen’s Park. Harden’s […]
Our round-up of what the nation’s restaurant critics were writing about in the week up to 2nd August 2026 Financial Times Oudh 1722, Southwark Jay Rayner hailed the London debut of Birmingham-based chef Aktar Islam as “some of the best Indian food” in the capital, with dishes inspired by the royal court cuisine of Lucknow […]
