Our mission is remarkably simple. To tell it how it is!
We must apologise. Last week when we stated that surely everyone has now reviewed Chinatown newcomer Xu, we had forgotten that Marina O’Loughlin was yet to deliver her verdict in The Guardian. From the founders of the brilliant Bao, this more upmarket Taiwanese excited Tom Parker Bowles but disappointed Grace Dent and both Matthew Bayley at The Telegraph and Fay Maschler thought more bedding […]
The Observer’s Jay Rayner doesn’t so much review Plaquemine Lock in Islington as write it a love letter. The Cajun-Creole-influenced pub comes to us courtesy of Jacob Kenedy (of Bocca di Lupo fame)… “A celebration of the food of the Louisiana basin… The walls are painted a hot, sultry yellow overlaid by naive murals of life on the […]
This week the Observer’s Jay Rayner waxes lyrical about The Garden Museum’s new Garden Cafe in Lambeth, a lovely new space with food to match thanks to the quality in the kitchen. Harry Kaufman and George Ryle have an impressive list of credits between them, including St Johns Bread & Wine, Padella and Primeur… “The Garden Café occupies a sparkling new […]
Jay Rayner in The Observer enjoys a knowing attempt to bring the street inside at Borough Market’s El Pastór (from Barrafina founders, the Hart bros)… It’s “a fun space of bare brick and shiny metal and colourful murals; a knowing attempt to bring the street inside”, with “tequilas in worryingly large servings” and “pork shoulder, marinated and […]
⦿ Jay Rayner of The Observer reviewed Plot in Tooting, “a sliver of a restaurant serving terrible cocktails and great food in one of south London’s traditional covered markets”. “Thick curls of squid, crusted with a chorizo crumb on a salad of tomatoes that taste of something, is a bit of textural fun. It’s followed by a dainty […]
⦿ Jay Rayner of the Guardian reviewed Radici, the new Islington Italian from Francesco Mazzei of Sartoria in Mayfair and, before that, L’Anima in the City. “Taglierini, fagioli and pancetta. That’s ribbons of a thin tagliatelle-style pasta, white beans and bacon, in a dense, starchy broth of such intensity and such conviction, you could be forgiven for […]
⦿ Jay Rayner of The Observer reviewed London Shell Co, a floating restaurant aboard a 30-year-old barge which is moored at Paddington over lunch and voyages along the Regent Canal while serving dinner in the evening. “It began as a pop-up on dry land, led by actor-turned-sommelier Harry Lobek and his sister Leah. In the small, diesel-powered […]
⦿ Jay Rayner of The Observer reviewed Koj, MasterChef finalist and former City banker Andrew Kojima’s “cheerfully low-key” Japanese comfort food joint in Cheltenham. “Koj Fried Chicken – work out the initials yourself – is halfway between the softness of American southern fried, and the full-on crunch of Japanese karaage. Sesame flavoured mayo sends it happily on its way. […]
