Gastropub, Islington
Alex Gunz
The Baring: Solid ground

Any pub that employs a chef with credible restaurant CV now feels it has the right to append the prefix ‘gastro’ to its name. Many have installed josper grills or wood fires to buttress their claims. Renovate on old boozer may earn extra points. The Baring doesn’t try too hard. It doesn't need to either. This neighbourhood venue lets its quality speak for itself.

The Baring: Solid ground
Georgian, Fitzrovia
Alex Gunz
Kinkally: Georgia on my mind

Your reviewer’s only previous visit to a Georgian restaurant was a disappointment. The passing of time and a desire to be open-minded provoked a recent visit to a new venue purveying Georgian cooking. It was well-conceived, but ultimately underwhelming.

Kinkally: Georgia on my mind
Oxford, Mediterranean, Gastropub, Thai
Alex Gunz
48 hours in Oxford: History in the making

It is a truth universally acknowledged that Oxford students will take every opportunity to show off their erudition. With this maxim in mind, when your reviewer and eight of his chums returned recently to their Alma Mater for a reunion weekend, he was reminded of the famous line of Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr: “the more things change, the more they stay the same.” In simple terms, the places where we dined some thirty years ago have stood the test of time.

48 hours in Oxford: History in the making
Chinese, Harrow
Alex Gunz
Panda’s Kitchen: Jay Rayner was right

Harrow is famous for its school, perhaps its eponymous hill, but little else. Although it is located less than ten miles from where this reviewer grew up, he was not aware of its dining options – until recently. Step forward Jay Rayner. I have long been a fan of the restaurant critic of The Guardian and have enjoyed several of his books, including My Dining Hell. This is a summary of his most damning reviews. 19 of the 20 places subsequently have shut. Fortunately, his recent piece on the incongruously named Panda’s Kitchen was praiseworthy – and rightly so.

Panda’s Kitchen: Jay Rayner was right
Mexican, Marylebone
Alex Gunz
KOL: From strength to strength

People love to make lists, however arbitrary they may be. KOL is one of only two UK restaurants to rank in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants, placing at number 17. It must, therefore, being doing something very good. Your reviewer had written two highly praiseworthy pieces about KOL in the past (see here and here), but a recent visit to the venue demonstrated to our group of four – all of whom were previously familiar with KOL – just how much it had raised its already strong game.

KOL: From strength to strength

Soho

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Chotto Mate: Classy – but, wait a minute, check the prices (October 2016)

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Chotto Mate ticks many boxes – it is cool, serves excellent food and wines and has enthusiastic and engaging staff. The catch, however, is the cost. The menu is somewhat bewildering in its complexity, the dishes are small and the bill can therefore rack up quickly.

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Casita Andina: My kind of house (August 2016)

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I first visited Peru 16 years’ ago and fell in love with the country, the culture, the food and the people then. Back in London everything seemed so grey in contrast to the visual hues of the Andes. Even the now-shut Fina Estampa on Tooley Street was scant compensation for the culinary delights that Peru had to offer.

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Morada Brindisa: Spat-out (July 2016)

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Eating out is generally considered to be a joyful experience. Doing so regularly, I clearly subscribe to such a view. I also recognise that popular restaurants – understandably – want to turn their tables, to draw in as many visitors as possible and also to make a fatter profit.

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Gauthier Soho: Impressed, but not wowed (September 2014)

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Just minutes from the sex shops of Soho is not perhaps the most obvious place to site a high-end French fine dining restaurant. Diners enter Gauthier (eponymously named after the head chef) through a discrete black door on Romilly Street and find themselves amidst an oasis of calm, a notable contrast to the outside world.

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The Palomar: Every reason to go (August 2014)

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As a seasoned London restaurant-goer, it is relatively rare, but nonetheless highly pleasurable, that when leaving an establishment after eating I was smiling from ear-to-ear, struggling to find enough superlatives to praise the place and thinking that I needed to make my next reservation as soon as possible.

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Wright Brothers (August 2013)

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Wright Brothers (August 2013)

I knew I had heard the name Wright Brothers (beyond clearly the famous aviation pair) somewhere and it was an unexpected pleasure to lunch recently at their Soho restaurant. Their original success stems from the siblings’ iconic establishment in Borough Market and the enterprise now comprises not only this venture and the one in Soho, but also a pub in Cornwall and a catering business.

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Barshu (April 2013)

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Londoners often face a challenge when it comes to finding good Chinese restaurants: on the one hand, there is the MSG-heavy Cantonese food that predominates much of Chinatown, and on the other, there is the likes of Hakkasan and its ilk, as much fashion destination as food experience, with only the briefest of nods to China as opposed to ‘pan-Asia.’

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Tapas Brindisa Broadwick Street (November 2012)

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Eating food for pleasure ought to be done in relaxing circumstances and what really makes Brindisa for me is that despite the concept being one of relatively informal tapas, my dining comrade and I were able to enjoy a two-hour lunch here without ever feeling rushed or that the serving staff resented our presence.