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.
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.
Like Londoners say of buses, you wait for one and then two come along. By virtue of fortuitous coincidence, your reviewer visited a pair of Thai restaurants on consecutive Tuesday evenings. It was an obvious opportunity to compare and contrast. Think of the experience as a two Thai taste-off. Both had strengths and weaknesses, but there had to be a winner: Supawan beat Kolae.
Beware any review that uses expressions such as ‘hidden gem’, ‘redefining a genre’ or ‘homage to authenticity.’ But then consider that clichés do serve a useful purpose, to capture the essence of any venue in an easy to recall fashion. All the above would apply in large doses to Supawan, a serendipitous new find.
How do you make a restaurant both cool and of its place? One simple answer is to involve the Sethi brothers. Their JKS Group is behind many of London’s perennially on-trend restaurants. Despite their Indian roots, the team has done it again, taking the former venue of Xu and turning it Thai. Our recent visit to Speedboat was a marked success; a happening vibe with some superb food to boot.
When it comes to restaurants it seems as if the JKS Group, pioneers of Gymkhana, Hoppers, Bao and many more, has a Midas touch. Despite their venues representing cuisines from a range of different Asian countries, there is no let up in quality. Each combines great food and ambience; a winning combination for sure, if you can achieve it. Plaza represents their take on Thai. It is very good.
Tucked down a side street in Soho best known for its guitar shops, Smoking Goat is paving the way for a new era of Thai cuisine. This is about as far removed from curry in a coconut milk sauce or a plate of stir-fried rice noodles as you can imagine. Instead, Smoking Goat is all about a profound explosion of flavours, mostly based around smoke, spice and soy
