Three Little Birds in Brixton Jamaican restaurant review and the Shuang Shuang Chinese hot pot conveyor belt disaster February 2, 2016 Last time I didn’t like a restaurant, someone got so cross they threatened to report me to the Independent Press Standards Organisation for the sheer gall of having an opinion, which, in this case, happened to be that their restaurant was rubbish. So in the interests of not making someone else cross, I shouldn’t write [...]
How Threadneedle Street’s M restaurant is bringing Japanese fishing tradition Ike Jime to London February 2, 2016 M restaurant's executive chef Michael Reid on being the first restaurant in London to make sashimi using Ike Jime king fish. Ike Jime King Fish Sashimi I was first introduced to the Ike Jime fishing method during my time in Melbourne and it is without a doubt the most ethical and sustainable way to fish [...]
Darbaar restaurant review: Indian fine dining inspired by the banquets of the Indian Royal Court January 20, 2016 Darbaar​ Snowden Street, EC2A 2DQ WHAT? A smart and upmarket new solo venture from a former Cinnamon Club head chef, Darbaar is an Indian fine dining restaurant with a menu of contemporary dishes inspired by the fancy banquets of the Indian Royal Court. WHERE? A five minute stroll from Liverpool Street station, on the ground [...]
Darkhorse Stratford restaurant review: more nag than stallion January 20, 2016 I'm calling January 2016 as the moment the restaurant template that's dominated London for the last five years finally jumped the shark. Far too many new openings appear to have been cobbled together, Inception-style, from my memories of other restaurants, from the interior design to the locally sourced, modern European menus. There's a cynicism to the uniformity. It's a formula that [...]
Mix it up: Low alcohol cocktails mean you can behave yourself without being a bore January 13, 2016 It's at this time of year that the puritanical prohibitionists start to circle. They can sniff out your Christmas excesses from 100 paces, and know that the New Year brings not only promise but promises, too. Dry January, sadly, isn't a prayer for clement weather. On top of the proselytising pressure to forsake alcohol for [...]
Burns Night: where to celebrate January’s hottest event in London January 13, 2016 Mr Fogg’s The waiting staff at Mr Fogg’s, a bar themed around the famous fictitious Victorian traveller of the same name in Mayfair, are swapping their military uniforms for kilts. Guests are invited to toast the Scottish bard with a glass of Glenmorangie Original 10yr whisky, sample haggis canapes and enjoy a recital of his [...]
Yum Som restaurant review January 13, 2016 Yum Som 1-6 Leadenhall St, EC3V 1PP WHAT? A recently opened Asian fast food restaurant serving up giant salads, grab and go boxes of meat and tofu noodles, as well as subs, soups, sushi and those neat little rice paper rolls. WHERE? It’s on the corner of Leadenhall Street and Bishopsgate, by everybody’s favourite towering [...]
Food trends 2016: black food, Persian food and cherry bakewell tarts January 6, 2016 Black to snack Bamboo blackened brioche buns, dark ribbons of squid ink pasta and even charcoal-infused water will herald the arrival of what might be this year’s least appetising food trend. In 2016 expect to eat black food, very black food, darker than the howling souls of the damned. Burger King Japan kicked off the [...]
Working Lunch review: Big Easy, Canary Wharf January 6, 2016 Big Easy, Crossrail Place, E14 WHAT? The third – and largest – Big Easy serving “low and slow” meat and seafood cooked in pit rooms that house two tonne US smokers. The sheer size of this venue – to give you an idea, it employs 170 staff – means it also accommodates an American breakfast [...]
Lessons in wine: Use Dry January to brush up on your wine critics and make a tidy profit January 6, 2016 The most important thing to remember is that a wine is subjective. Wine lovers should be guided by the critics, but at the end of the day the only thing that really matters is each individual drinker’s own enjoyment. With the arrival of the internet, it’s never been so easy to learn about and voice [...]