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 who come to London’s Chinatown do not lack for options. There are over 100 places to eat within walking of the district’s famous Gerrard Street Gate. Baozilnn is not one of the best. Admittedly its flagship restaurant is located in London Bridge, but its Soho sister falls flat. In offering too many different things, it fails in producing memorable food in any area.
Your reviewer has lived in the environs of St John’s Wood all his adult life. He has walked past Oslo Court many times. It’s an imposing Grade II listed block of flats opposite Regent’s Park. Prior to this week he had never entered. Inside sits an eponymous restaurant that has been open for over 40 years. Step inside and it is as if the clock were wound back. You’re happily in the early 1980s, albeit now paying 2023 prices.
Any business that has been operating for almost 200 years and in the same location for over a century must be doing something right. John Sweetings opened the original “very superior oyster rooms” in 1830. Your reviewer can report from his first visit in well more than a decade that Sweetings is still going strong. The oysters were indeed very superior, but the whole experience merits another visit before not too long.
Way back, in 2018, your reviewer and his dining comrade were privileged to eat at The Greenhouse. This was a gem of a restaurant that commanded two Michelin stars throughout its existence. Now sadly shuttered, that meal was particularly memorable owing to the quality of the cooking from a young chef named Alex Dilling. British born, but having trained in New York under Alain Ducasse and other luminaries, he seemed to be a talent to watch. It is now fitting that he fronts the recently opened new restaurant at the Hotel Café Royal. Within its first year, Dilling has again the award he deserves – two Michelin stars.
Offal lovers eat your heart out. Chef-patron Javi Estévez has been on a mission since 2015 to educate the world about the merits of animal innards. His motto is #SomosCasqueros. In English, #WeAreOfffalLovers. For his commitment to the cause, he has been awarded a Michelin star. While not necessarily for the squeamish, to enjoy one of Estévez’s tasting menus is an experience to behold.
From cult magazine to mini restaurant chain in the space of a decade is an impressive achievement. Noble Rot – the term relates to the natural decay on some vines that allow for sweet wine to be produced – started out writing about the wine industry. Recently, it opened its third restaurant venue. Visiting, however, is not just about partaking in a glass or two. There is good food and a top ambience to enjoy.
Take an iconic London museum which has just had a makeover, open a restaurant on its top floor with stunning views over the city and install a proven chef in its kitchen and you should be onto a winning formula. Proof of concept lies in The Portrait, the new opening in the National Portrait Gallery, fronted by Richard Corrigan. Visitors now have good reason to come and appreciate both art and food.
There were several moments during our recent lunch at the Crab House Café that your reviewer and his comrade had to pinch ourselves and remember that we were dining close to Weymouth on the UK’s south coast rather than somewhere more glamorous in the Mediterranean. Sure, beautiful weather helped, but the joy of the Crab House Café lies in the fact that it confidently punches above its weight. This is place where visitors can enjoy both a fine meal and a wonderful ambience.
Tom Sellars has been a name to watch in the restaurant industry for some time. Few have sufficient talent to open their first restaurant at the age of 26. To then go on and garner two Michelin stars is an impressive feat. Dovetale, located at the heart of the 1 Hotel in Mayfair, represents the next chapter in his story. Throughout, there has been a consistent emphasis on combining class with playfulness. Both were on show at our recent visit.
Ask most people to put Myanmar on a map and they would probably struggle. Try and name a Burmese dish? Well, that’s a much bigger challenge. Fortunately, for the culinarily curious, Lahpet provides a perfect introduction to the country’s cooking. Both its founders have Burmese heritage. They are intent on bringing Burma (as they choose to refer to it) to the masses. What began as a Hackney concept in 2017 now comprises two restaurant venues, in Covent Garden and Shoreditch. There deserve to be more.
Mayfair does not lack for high-end restaurants, but 20 Berkeley pulls of the act of creating something totally novel. Think of it as a breath of fresh air relative to the style over substance vibe of nearby Amazonico, Bacchanalia, Novikov or Sexy Fish. There’s nothing showy or ostentatious about 20 Berkeley. Rather, it wears its class with subtlety; understated charm rather than self-conscious bling. It’s very British, and in being so, fills a gap in the market.
When your reviewer was at primary school many years ago, he was told to avoid using the adjective ‘nice’ whenever possible, since it was a bland filler. We were instructed to try harder. If you’re launching a restaurant and even if you wish to show homage to a major city in the south of France, just don’t put the word nice in your name. It also opens the way for reviews titled “not so.” My hackles were therefore raised from the outset. Much of the crowd dining there (showy, glitzy, with their fast cars parked very nearby) didn’t do it for me either, but the overall experience was… pretty nice.
Let me make a confession at the outset: I’ve never liked Queen’s Park. The northwest London district a step beyond Maida Vale just doesn’t do it for me. I think it’s a combination of the smugness of the people (there are a lot of yummy mummy types there as well as wannabe hipsters who aren’t quite daring enough to move east) combined with the down-at-heel train station followed by streets of dreary semi-suburban terraced housing. And there aren’t any good restaurants. Or at least that’s what your reviewer thought before visiting Carmel.
On paper, it all sounded so good: a Turkish chef who trained under Yotam Ottolenghi but built his own brand working at Soho House opens his first outlet in trendy Soho. No expense has been spent on the décor, with some beautiful tiling and a lavish bar with countertop dining. Nonetheless, you can’t buy atmosphere and neither the food nor the service quite hit the highs we were hoping for.
Brighton has a burgeoning dining scene. Sea views, wealthy locals and proximity to London all help. Gourmand Gunno paid his annual visit to the south coast city to check out Murmur. Despite its curious name, the visit was a success. Not all was perfect, but with good sunshine, company and alcohol, this is a pleasant venue to while away part of the day.
“I’ve never eaten good Mexican food in London” was what Gourmand Gunno’s dining comrade for the evening had told him when the two of us first discussed where we might go for our semi-regular supper outing. Your reviewer is fortunately a huge fan of all things Mexican, having first travelled to the country over 25 years ago. The good news – both for Gourmand Gunno and his then-sceptical comrade – is that London is now awash with ‘proper’ Mexican restaurants. Cavita is a welcome addition to the scene.
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.
Gourmand Gunno has had a long-held mantra that bad service trumps good food. Every time. What about the inverse? He and his long-suffering vegetarian dining comrade recently visited Assaggi, a Notting Hill Italian stalwart. While the venue gained a two-out-of-three success rate (just about) on my trio of dishes, my comrade’s culinary score was a big round zero. A return visit would, however, be in order. Full marks to Assaggi for atmosphere, service and drinks, even if the kitchen could do with upping its game.
Say German cuisine to most people and the image that will likely form is one of sausage, served with some form of dense starch, either bread or potatoes. Say fine German dining and you might get a wry smile, raised eyebrows or the suggestion that you’re talking wurst (as the locals would say). Consult the Michelin guide though, and what it shows is that Germany commands ten restaurants with three Michelin stars, a comparable number to the UK (eight), given its larger population. Our group was lucky enough to visit Schanz, one of Germany’s most-garlanded restaurants, last week. We came away mostly wowed.
There was one particular moment at Humo when your reviewer had to struggle hard to keep a straight face. The server was introducing our trout and caviar starter. He highlighted how the trout had enjoyed its life in a river in Hampshire before meeting its death in an Ike-Jine Japanese fashion which is supposed to minimise pain by paralysing the nervous system. Conveniently for diners, it also preserves the quality of the fish fat. Said trout is then smoked over oak. It is next topped with 3-month aged caviar, which is stored at exactly minus one degree in order to promote freshness. Perhaps it was the earnestness of the description. Maybe it was the length of time it took. Sure, we all want to be entertained when we go out – and have no doubt, there is no shortage of quality on show at Humo – but it was hard to escape the notion that the venue just took itself a little bit too seriously.
