Like Yossarian in Joseph Heller’s “Catch-22”, it was love at first sight for your reviewer when he stepped into the Parakeet. Full marks for décor, vibe, service, food, drinks and pricing. This was the broad consensus view among our party of four but – and you knew there was going to be a catch – the Parakeet failed in one crucial respect: if you’re vegetarian, then you’re very poorly catered for. This should be fixed to make the venue truly excellent.
Los Mochis is full of juxtapositions, in a good way. We’re in plush Notting Hill, but the exterior of the building is covered in graffiti-influenced art. Fine dining is married with street food. Japanese and Mexican flavours jostle. But, both atmosphere and experience delivered. My dining comrade and I enjoyed the fun vibes outdoors in the late summer sun, but Los Mochis apparently comes truly alive in the evenings. Think dark interiors, cool cocktails and a soundtrack to match.
Diners in the Carnaby Street area are spoilt for choice. Almost every cuisine under the sun is within walking distance. Passing trade might be necessary for survival, but it is far from sufficient. Dehesa ought to be a sure-fire winner, serving up Mediterranean-influenced small dishes at a reasonable enough price. Our group of two ordered five tapas-sized tasters. Only three were a marked success, which probably tells readers all they need to know.
For those unfamiliar, Akira Back is a global phenomenon. He has more than 20 restaurants around the world. Each blends his unique style of Japanese, Korean and American, reflecting the countries in which he grew up. London is lucky to have its first Akira Back eatery, open now for three months in the recently launched Mayfair Mandarin Oriental. Both your reviewer and his dining comrade were impressed.
Has 28-50 had its heyday? Your reviewer initially encountered this inspirational and wine-democratising concept in the late-2000s, around its inception. Its Marylebone outlet received a Blog entry within the first six months of Gourmand Gunno’s website. The title of a 2015 review of the Mayfair branch – “Gone downhill” – perhaps tells readers everything they need to know. Nonetheless, 28-50’s backers have persisted. Its latest opening launched just post-pandemic and occupies an impressive site just north of Oxford Circus. Location notwithstanding, were your reviewer in the business of formally scoring restaurants, then 28 out of 50 would be a fair assessment.
Like Yossarian in Joseph Heller’s “Catch-22”, it was love at first sight for your reviewer when he stepped into the Parakeet. Full marks for décor, vibe, service, food, drinks and pricing. This was the broad consensus view among our party of four but – and you knew there was going to be a catch – the Parakeet failed in one crucial respect: if you’re vegetarian, then you’re very poorly catered for. This should be fixed to make the venue truly excellent.
Los Mochis is full of juxtapositions, in a good way. We’re in plush Notting Hill, but the exterior of the building is covered in graffiti-influenced art. Fine dining is married with street food. Japanese and Mexican flavours jostle. But, both atmosphere and experience delivered. My dining comrade and I enjoyed the fun vibes outdoors in the late summer sun, but Los Mochis apparently comes truly alive in the evenings. Think dark interiors, cool cocktails and a soundtrack to match.
Diners in the Carnaby Street area are spoilt for choice. Almost every cuisine under the sun is within walking distance. Passing trade might be necessary for survival, but it is far from sufficient. Dehesa ought to be a sure-fire winner, serving up Mediterranean-influenced small dishes at a reasonable enough price. Our group of two ordered five tapas-sized tasters. Only three were a marked success, which probably tells readers all they need to know.
For those unfamiliar, Akira Back is a global phenomenon. He has more than 20 restaurants around the world. Each blends his unique style of Japanese, Korean and American, reflecting the countries in which he grew up. London is lucky to have its first Akira Back eatery, open now for three months in the recently launched Mayfair Mandarin Oriental. Both your reviewer and his dining comrade were impressed.
Has 28-50 had its heyday? Your reviewer initially encountered this inspirational and wine-democratising concept in the late-2000s, around its inception. Its Marylebone outlet received a Blog entry within the first six months of Gourmand Gunno’s website. The title of a 2015 review of the Mayfair branch – “Gone downhill” – perhaps tells readers everything they need to know. Nonetheless, 28-50’s backers have persisted. Its latest opening launched just post-pandemic and occupies an impressive site just north of Oxford Circus. Location notwithstanding, were your reviewer in the business of formally scoring restaurants, then 28 out of 50 would be a fair assessment.
Cool as the Llama Inn may be, it still doesn’t have it all. Sure, it’s located on the boundary of where Hoxton meets Shoreditch. It’s got a rooftop bar with stunning city views. It’s got a sister restaurant in Brookyln, New York. But – and of course there was going to be a caveat coming – it’s misnomer to call this a Peruvian restaurant. There may be some Peruvian nods, but they’re mingled up with many things Japanese and there is barely a llama to be seen in either the venue’s décor or on its menu. Maybe neither of these things matters, especially if you’re a hipster, but your reviewer and his dining comrade had hoped for a little bit more.
Open now for three years, Burnt Orange has justifiably become one of Brighton’s destination restaurants. The team behind it certainly has pedigree. If the Coal Shed gained its reputation through excelling in cooking over coals, then the angle at Burnt Orange is to deliver food that has been prepared through smoking and flaming. Unsurprisingly, the venue is decked out in a range of… you’ve guessed it… shades of burnt orange. There’s a whole aesthetic concept behind this restaurant.
India has the world’s largest population and is the seventh biggest country globally when it comes to land mass. Given its size, it is only reasonable to expect huge variations in its cuisine. Most Indian restaurants in central London tend to embrace the food of Mumbai (Bombay), with a few nods to Gujarat and Delhi. Chourangi is therefore a very welcome addition to the London scene. Its mandate is to showcase “unexplored flavours of India”, with a specific emphasis on food from western Bengal.
Think of the Kingly Court as the food equivalent of a tech incubator. If you’re a budding restaurateur and you’re looking to graduate from a market food stall to the next new thing, then this is where you come. Donia follows in the footsteps of recent Kingly Court successes such as Darjeeling Express and Imad’s Syrian Kitchen. It provides a wonderful showcase for Filipino food, a much under-represented cuisine on the London dining scene.
It was with high anticipation that Gourmand Gunno returned to Gymkhana for the first time since its recent garlanding as London’s only Indian restaurant with two Michelin stars. High hopes often leave scope for disappointment and while the food certainly pleased, in the final assessment there is no way that Gymkhana deserves both its stars.
In Gourmand Gunno’s decade-plus of restaurant reviewing, Toba is the first Indonesian restaurant he has visited. This is anomalous. It is also not through lack of trying. Your reviewer remembers first trying nasi goreng when in Amsterdam as a teenager and loving it. The Netherlands is replete with Indonesian options, a legacy perhaps of its colonial history. London, however, is curiously lacking. Toba is therefore a very welcome addition. Other restaurateurs should follow in its footsteps.
Times are changing on Shirland Road. In the late 1990s, when your reviewer first moved to the area, the street was characterised by boozers and betting shops. Drugs were apparently rife. Slowly, but surely the area is gentrifying. Out with the old and in with the new. First came The Waterway. Much more recently, The Hero, a W9 version of Soho’s on-trend The Devonshire. In between, stands Da Daniela, untouched by all the upheaval. From the outside, it may not be much look at, but inside is a revelation. Your reviewer and his local dining comrades were left wondering why they had not previously visited.
Every neighbourhood needs a restaurant like Six Portland Road. It is the sort of place where you can – as your reviewer and his two dining comrades did – go for lunch and easily end up staying for the rest of the day. The team behind the venue have created a wonderfully relaxed vibe with thoughtful British food supported by a few quirky twists.
There’s always something very satisfying about discovering a new restaurant, particularly when it’s on your doorstep and you’ve walked passed it many times without crossing the threshold. Why the prior reluctance, readers may justifiably ask? Dhaba@49 is not located in the most salubrious part of the district and the predecessor curry house on its site was distinctly underwhelming. More importantly, scepticism overcome and meal completed, this is a venue very much worth revisiting.
Whisper it rather than shout it, and certainly don’t tell everyone, but something very exciting is happening in the Gredos region of Spain. Drive two hours northwest from Madrid, where diners lack no shortage of plush restaurants, to encounter a truly different experience. Three days in the region left your reviewer and his group of five dining comrades swooning for both more of its food and wine.
From its name onwards, there is knowing coolness, a certain intentionality to what COR is seeking to achieve. It’s a place to watch in an upcoming district of Bristol. And if COR is seeking to ape what is arguably the best restaurant in England (Clare Smyth’s Core in plush Kensington, London), then why not? The team at Michelin have already awarded COR a Bib Gourmand; stars may beckon.
Just moments from Cardiff’s Principality Stadium, central train station and main shopping street, diners can imagine themselves transported to Spain. Parador 44 is a wonderfully conceived venture, set up by an enterprising couple of brothers. Visitors can sip sherry, eat top Basque-influenced nosh and then sleep upstairs in a handful of boutique hotel rooms. There is every reason to do all three.
It was not the most auspicious of starts. When my dining comrade and I descended on Bellazul it was pouring with rain. We arrived soaked. Welcome to England in April. It’s about as far from the Mediterranean as one could imagine. Open only for two months, Bellazul has the laudable intention of transporting diners to the sunnier climes of southern Europe. The venture is well-intentioned but does not totally succeed.
If New Quebec Street in Marylebone were my local high street, then I would be delighted. Luckily it is close to where your reviewer both lives and works. Zayna has been a long-standing favourite for curry. There’s also a great wine shop, a fishmonger and more. In addition, Boxcar is located on this street. Open since 2017, Gourmand Gunno corrected a long-standing anomaly by visiting it recently. Billed as a ‘neighbourhood restaurant’, it certainly constitutes a wonderful addition to the street, for both food and vibe.
From a modest café that opened over a hundred years ago, to a Michelin-starred celebrity hang-out, the history of the Ivy has been both varied and colourful. The brand remains an enduring one in the culinary world despite having opened Ivy spin-offs across the country, in towns such as Guildford. Its most recent venture has been to create an Asian sub-brand. Trading partly on its name, the ethos at Ivy Asia is full-on decadence with decent enough food to match.
