Former Pahli Hill head chef Avinash Shashidhara is opening his first pub next week – the Talli Queen, formerly known as the Queen Adelaide, on the Uxbridge Road in Shepherd’s Bush. Taking inspiration from “Kerala’s toddy shops, Bangalore’s neighbourhood pubs and bars, the military canteens of southern India and the chai stalls and kebab joints of Lucknow”, […]
Our round-up of what the nation’s restaurant critics were writing about in the week up to 23rd August 2026 The Times & Sunday Times Keller, Whitstable Giles Coren enjoyed his meal at a “loose, affordable and fantastic” new wine-bar/restaurant from chef Daniel Smith and sommelier Elliott Ashton-Konig of the Fordwich Arms in Canterbury. If every […]
A smart new steakhouse called Cordelia’s is to open in Mayfair next week, taking over the site in Clarges Street previously occupied by L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon. Cordelia’s promises a selection of steaks headed by 45-day dry-aged British rib-eye but also featuring interesting cuts from heritage and rare breeds around the world. Galician beef will […]
A funky American-inspired barbecue using sustainable locally sourced ingredients opens next week in a 17th-century village pub on the northern fringe of the Cotswolds. Ember at The Chandlers Arms is in the hamlet of Epwell, between Chipping Norton and Banbury in north Oxfordshire, and combines the expertise of two old friends, chef Harry Flockhart (left […]
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 […]
A new Indian bistro called The Crossing opened in Leeds this week – hot from Paris, where it was the first restaurant from the subcontinent to open in the famous Galeries Lafayette on Boulevard Haussmann. Founder Ankur Chakraborty was inspired to cook as a boy by his travels with his father, who worked for the Indian […]
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 […]
