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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Diners in search of good food when visiting Brighton are not short of options. However, the Coal Shed should feature as a must-visit. Such has been its success that the venue’s backers have opened a second outlet in London which has been similarly praised. The Coal Shed represents a textbook study in simplicity combined with super execution.
The British have always had a love affair with beef. Think of William Hogarth’s famous painting in the Tate, “The Gate of Calais”, also known as “The Roast Beef of Old England.” It shows a man valiantly defending a side of beef from the perfidious French. In more recent years, the likes of Hawksmoor and Goodman have raised the stakes (no pun intended) in terms of what diners can expect from a good cut of meat. Into the fray has sprung Flat Iron, a mini-chain on a distinct mission – to bring steak to the masses. It mostly succeeds.
Gourmand Gunno has eaten a lot of steak in his life. Despite being married to a vegetarian, there remains something deeply satisfying – primeval even – about tucking into a bit of cow. While diners do not lack options for such an experience in London, it was a pleasure recently to return to Goodman for the first time since before the pandemic. The cooking remains on top form, albeit that you are paying elevated Mayfair prices.
If you can look beyond the slightly garish and tacky cowhide furnishings, and steak is your thing, then Gaucho is a very decent option. Despite the Gaucho enterprise spanning a dozen outlets in London and four around the rest of the UK, it was a first for Gourmand Gunno to visit the Leeds branch and pen a review.
A neighbourhood restaurant in Soho? Lovely idea, but surely not workable? Maybe not, but this is the angle that Foxlow has gone for. The venue – the fourth in this mini chain operated by the same team behind the successful Hawksmoor venture – was full of good vibes and food and all very much on-trend. In summary, highly comforting (just like your neighbourhood local) and competent if neither revolutionary or ground-breaking.
Being a regular reviewer of restaurants has many privileges, but a combination of coincidence and premeditation has seen me visit three different Hawksmoor locations across London in the last two months. Regardless of venue (Air Street, Seven Dials and Spitalfields, in reverse chronological order), the formula has been not only remarkably consistent but also hugely successful. Put simply, this is about good meat in a highly convivial atmosphere.
There is something deeply satisfying about eating a slab of meat. Admittedly it is not an experience one would want to do every day, but when doing, it is worth doing properly. There are indeed few better places to enjoy such a delight than at Goodman, although be warned, the experience does not come cheap.
