Happy Chinese New Year folks, it is the year of the majestic fire breathing dragon. If you’re thinking about children, good luck with your dragon babies. My wishes to you are: 龙马精神, 阖家欢乐, 万事如意. To kick off the new lunar year, we travel to the hidden path within the mountains of Xizhi, Taipei. Where gravity [...]

Yay, I visited the world’s very first 3 Michelin starred Chinese restaurant. First things first, check out the much advertised view from the Four Seasons Hotel restaurant (let’s face it, this is the view that has won it the coveted third star) : Hong Kong has long been considered the gastronomic jewel of South East [...]

… I write to you as I lie on the blackened brown beach in Brunei. It overlooks the oil rigs just off the coast that fuels the economy of this tiny Sultanate on the Northeast coast of Borneo Island, and behind me, my parents’ backyard. Happy new year LDN. I am technically still on my [...]

This is the only time you’ll see the food menu, because these three items are quite literally all they serve. After Hawksmoor successfully ported the America’s favourite summer roll to the El Smoky last year, it was only a matter of time before the Russians would follow. Well it took them a while, but the [...]

At last, José Pizarro’s diptych is finally complete, and you know what, it’s mighty fine work. The restaurant took a while to finish – it’s at least a month late, and the private rooms are still awaiting the finishing details – but it finally opened, and my my, is it going to be a smashing [...]

AKA …where Kang spent most of his moolah this year. The time has come to reflect on what’s been yet another crazy year of restaurant collecting. Just when I thought the burgeoning number of openings in 2010 were overwhelming, 2011 came and smashed 2010 out of the park. There was literally something new to try [...]

Who comes up with all this fiction just for a restaurant? This is the persuasive language Oliver’s people have generated for his latest project: “Ours is a union of ideas, traditions, and of people.” “Where wood-fired flatbreads meet great British flavours.” Lookintomyeyeslookintomyeyes. What’s with the wonky name – why not just call it Union or [...]

My food writing invariably boils down to a caricature of self-indulgent cliched hyperbole or superflous self-doubting and pointless debate of what food should taste like. Given the circumstances, I sincerely believe this is the best thing between buns I’d yet come across. But first let us be properly acquainted. Reader meet Lucky Chip’s weekly burger [...]

Damn it, he’s done it again. (He being the elusive blurryman with the fire red scarf, and thick brown rim specs, aka Mr Cool.) And here I thought that Da Polpo was the last cherry atop this tiny empire. They are back, this time around, Norman, Beatty and Oldroyd give us a glimpse of something [...]

Here’s a list of good things I expect from a good bistro: 1.Good soup 2.Good steak 3.Good frites 4.Good tartare 5.Superhot waitress I recall a highlight reel of what the Glasgow arm of this luxury out-of-town hotelier is capable of, during an episode of Don’t tell the bride. They took the tour through the banquet [...]

Bryn Williams is the most underrated chef in this country. I recall his stupendous turn on the first season of Great British Menu, in which his representation of Wales on a plate of cockles, samphire and turbot, eventually won its way to HM’s 80th birthday bash. Something I’m sure she gobbled up with glee. Five [...]

Wet, hot, late in the night, an empty street and a full restaurant, ah… bonjour Paris. We arrived in Gare du Nord just after nine at night, taking the Eurostar from St Pancras. It took us a while to find our hotel in Madeleine ( The Le Vignon, a delightful getaway, which I highly commend) [...]

I told you Barrica was good. Not all of us agreed two years ago, but we probably do now. After all, they’ve impressed enough of us to have a crack at a second child: Soho newest sensation called Copita, for sherry glass. I’m sure I recognised a couple of ex-Barrica staff who now work at [...]

Banana skin. I was suggested to try the ‘Ocre Rouge’, a Pinot Noir from Dions (as opposed to Burgundy) and I had come to the conclusion that this was a quirky little devil of a wine. The finish and its tannin structure was akin to banana skin, a first and a rather interesting peculiarity. The [...]

This is what you see when you arrive at The Sportsman. Perhaps this is the secret to the good cooking since this is also the view from Stephen Harris’ kitchen. I’m sure you must have heard about this place by now, quite literally every blog and hack with the vaguest interest in food, in this [...]

There were an incredible number of suits who sat through Friday lunch service with me, to which I presume most (if not all) of these folks occupy cubicles in the offices nearby. If this was the share of the market which Jamie Oliver and Adam Perry Lang were hoping to capture, then by the looks [...]

I have never been to Denmark, with the way things are going with the rise and rise of Rene Redzepi, it looks like it will be a long while before I contemplate the Copenhagen trip. It doesn’t mean I’m not curious (obviously I am), you can already picture a Chinese guy perched over the dinner [...]

Pizzaro. One of a select group of individuals who masterminded the transformation of the Spanish perishable importer into a synonym for the British definition of a Tapas restaurant. He is a huge reason why we are so comfortable with the idea of sharing small plates of food, and thanks to the sheer dependability of the [...]

The smell of mushrooms, sizzling hot noodles and steamy soup. The knocking klikity klak of randomised synchronisation of high heels and colliding porcelain to the tune of a muzak of an epic eighties love ballad by Jacky Cheung, but above all of that a near enough constant stream of murmuring chatter in the background. Invariably [...]

Newsflash. If you local to Finchley Road, you need to find this Korean restaurant. As far as I can tell, the 50% discount for their BBQ menu looks permanent. I’ve already been twice, and I think it’s a great value for money. So this discount may be some sort of shrewd marketing to undercut glitzier [...]

As you, I came upon Hedone filled with expectation. Fay likes it, Guy loved it, Andy – whose standards are as high as Taipei 101 – gave it a rare 8. So it must be fucking magic right? You’ll read alot of kerfaffle online about the birth of Hedone and its progenitor Swedish chef Mikael [...]

About a year ago, a new kind of Italian restaurant swept into the smoke. It moved the goal posts, threatened the old guard and breathed new life into this country’s image of Italian cuisine. And it was mightily affordable. The decor bare, yet efficient, the service regimental yet friendly, the food simple but quite majestic. [...]

Despite the narrative the web has spun around Galoupet, you should know that this is not a restaurant. Don’t come here expecting to be fed, because you will be a little confused. Even the decor strays far from the norm, like the faintly perfumery, sterile ivory walls and beech floors, mirrors on either side and [...]

Ah, Chinatown. One can only love it and loathe it, at the very same time. I despise Chinatown like the way I despise the way Justin Bieber’s bobcut falls over his forehead. I may well be the last person in London who will write nice things about the state of Chinese food in London but [...]

There was a time in the last decade, where the concept of redressing Modern Brit cuisine around the starkly model which Fergus Henderson created, championed and subsequently turned into a culinary dynasty, was unique to the Hendersons. And those who cooked with Henderson. Eventually, these frontrunners adopted what is widely accepted as the St John [...]

£46 may sound like a steep price, but I assure you, it is one of the best investments you will make, when you are looking for something to fill that gaping void when you are feeling utterly ravenous. The proposition in question is the £46 buffet at the 4th floor restaurant inside the guts of [...]

All together now : Medlar is the best new restaurant of 2011. I said it, and I’d love for you guys to agree with me because I love this place to bits. The cooking is eye-wateringly sensational, the pricing is mind boggling slender, service is shy yet charming and the ambiance is that of the [...]

I discovered a fact about you lot (which seems intuitive but something you never really think about) when I first sat down for this meal at Roganic, and that is nobody eats lunch at 12 pm on Saturdays. In fact, you don’t show up till about 1.30. Talk about being unfashionably early. I booked myself [...]

The things people do to track down a good meal, this one in particular involves my first encounter with the Lucky Chip burger. As you know, summers are pretty up and down every year, we remember the odd day when the thermometer crosses the psychological 100F mark, but we tend to forget that mostly, it’s [...]

… yeah it really is, quite special. This must be my sixth visit, and everytime I’ve been back, I alternate between two of – what is quickly becoming – my favourite snacks: The ground beef & bone marrow slider and the gooey truffle egg toast. Most of the menu is fabulous, the panzenella (a kind [...]

Earlier this year I wrote about the largely underrated Nizuni in Charlotte Street. A Japanese restaurant, with a Korean accent in its cooking, it is owned by the same people who operate the crowd pleasing Koba, which is incidentally close by. So I returned for a quiet Friday night dinner to celebrate the coming weekend, [...]

When everyone including dear Ol’ Uncle B has visited this restaurant, that’s when you know the interwebs has taken to showering yet another crowd pleaser with its ever expanding vocabulary of praise words. “Wondrous”. “Decadent”. “Moorish”. “Decadent”. “Sinful”. “Ultimate comfort food”. Adjectives, which I too, am guilty of overusing. Cynicism aside, a restaurant that has [...]

I’ve no idea why it took me so long to visit The Bull & Last, a pub that falls in the category of one that is gifted with an overachieving kitchen, and incidentally, one which has largely won the praise of those who stalk restaurants as often as they do the interwebs. The pub looks [...]

I waited until the opportune moment presented itself, before making the visit to Marcus Wareing’s The Gilbert Scott. Or should I say The Renaissance Hotel’s flagship restaurant, seeing as to how Mr Wareing has rather desperately been detaching his name to the restaurant, at least so it seems. But today, I am in the right [...]

Remarkable. The standard of cooking is dastardly high, the artistry kept well in check, the flavours were – in my opinion – calibrated to run riot on your palate, that it made for a breathtaking dining experience. Service took an equally disciplined yet playful approach as the cooking, and so too was the decor; lime [...]

I don’t know the first thing about Iranian cuisine, but after my first visit to Kateh, I’ve become hooked on saffron rice. Oh man, it was so fluffy, so puffy, so billowy, so indescribably easy to eat, eating it was akin to a smooth glide like a magtrain levitating over nothing but thin air and [...]

Consider this as the side project. An epilogue of a visionary concept. A retelling of a story told from another point of view. The breakfast room for hotel guests. Yes, The Corner Room is the child of Nuno Mendes’ Viajante, both nestled within the zen like confines of the uber cool Townhall hotel in uber [...]

Tom Kerridge is an ingloriously talented chef. We both know this guy can cook the pants off of anybody, competition or no competition. I first savoured his brilliant ways when he joined forces with Anthony Demetre at Arbutus for the one-off 10-10-10 event for last year’s London Restaurant Festival. Look I’m a Demetre fan right, [...]

One can only admire Russell Norman, Richard Beatty and their merry team for breathing revolutionary life to the London dining circuit over the past two years. It kind of reminds me of the Star Wars prequels, how as each chapter unfolded, came the buzz, the anticipation and the new effects. I thought Revenge was the [...]

My favourite London restaurant is Cambio de Tercio. I think Abel Lusa’s fabulous, often times adventurous and sometimes experimental change of pace to Spanish cooking is the best representative of the cuisine to grace the Big Smoke. This is my most frequented restaurant in London, since my first visit in 2004 (or 05, around then) [...]

As the third long weekend dawned on me – the same week Kate & Wills tied the knot – I decided to get away from the reality of it, and by the time they were officially Man and Wife, I was watching it back on TV in the BnB. Ahh, Whistable, smell the sea and [...]

Coming to a West End near you, a slice of Little Hanoi. Let Pho fever be unleashed. Again. Yep, you feel it too don’t you. It is starting, Cay Tre is going to sweep the intertubes, and with good reason: they flog smashing Vietnamese food to the public. Many of you are already quite familiar [...]

UPDATE: Well now, this is news to me. 101 Pimlico Road is closing on the 28th of May, man that’s a loss to the trade, but here’s hoping Keith G’s next project will be more sustainable. The trick in choosing your next greatest meal is to find a restaurant which borrows its name from its [...]

Released to the wild in May 2011. Read version2 and version1. I love food blogs for the personality behind them, and for its ever-evolving nature. However keeping up with the frequent updates can be overwhelming for new readers who simply want a summary of the best recommendations. So I wrote this page down for their [...]

I have never know Queen’s Park in its old days of notoriety, and since uprooting from West London to this part of town; I’ve always felt the safely suburban leafy surroundings was an entirely nice neighborhood to live in. Kilburn is another story altogether however. I’d already written about the lovely Salusbury pub before, and [...]

I shan’t patronise you with a protracted preamble about the intertwined fate of how tapas became part of the culinary landscape of London (something which you no doubt are already well acquainted with), and simply get straight to the point: This is a rather perfect London tapas restaurant. Hardly anything else was expected, considering Simon [...]

5000. How do you even track that? Did they fill up three, four, ten books of names, numbers and dates? It is an insurmountable number, consider someone hanging by the phone to take 5000 calls in a continuous 24 hours period, which works out as 3.5 calls per minute, which translates to a pretty exhaustive [...]

I really like Leather Lane over lunch hours, because it converts into an electric street market, overflowing with people. It’s like a crack in the universe peering into an alternate world, where Holborn is cool, eclectic, and entirely down with the kids. It is especially special to me, because it’s also home to a very [...]

Hello Meat, I’m back. It’s been six months since I was last here. And my information gathering has returned the following: John had left the Josper to pursue new charcoaled pasteurs in Swindon… and is possibly back at Maddox St… , Dave S is still the smooth operator, and Goodman Mayfair is still ever overbooked. [...]

The reception for the Robot franchise, has been lukewarm, to say the least. Blogs can’t seem to get excited about either Tiny or Giant. Nevertheless, I was still interested in visiting at least one of the two all day diners in town, mainly because they serve one of my childhood nostalgic puddings – the baked [...]

Unless you have been living under the proverbial rock that requires abstination from evil things such as sex, alcohol and greasy chips, you would have otherwise heard about the gospel of The Meatwagon. Unfortunately, the wagon was stolen late last year, so in early 2011, Yianni Papoutsis – aka Blighty’s one true burger king – [...]

When I think about spending big on meals, where multiple stars are involved, I think French, I think Japanese, I think miniscular gastronomy, water-bathed, raw and beetroot. Rarely does the thought of an expensive Italian meal ever cross my mind anymore these days. I put this down to the recent drive by like-minded restauranteurs in [...]

At last. After months and years of hearsay and delay, Fergus Henderson and Trevor Gulliver’s newest project in the city is finally ready for you and I to throw our cash at it. The hotel occupies enviably concise address of Number One Leicester Square, where it was once Manzi’s seafood restaurant (which incidentally also had [...]

It’s that wonderful time of the month again to take a sneak peek at the Top 20 food blogs, as according to the good people at Wikio. The photograph above was taken at Queen’s Park Farmers Market, on a rather pleasant Sunday morning. 1 Maison Cupcake 2 Fuss Free Flavours 3 meemalee’s kitchen 4 Cheese [...]

Talk about being hidden away. Not only are Seoul Bakery based in a pocket of real estate behind The Centrepoint, which so few venture to, that going there is like remembering to clean behind your ears (unless if you happened to take a wrong turn, from the buzz of picking up your next Les Paul [...]

Nizuni’s official web portal has the title track to the film Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence (Senjō no Merī Kurisumasu), running in its background. In my opinion, it is Ryuchi Sakamoto’s best sheet of music, he has possibly ever laid down on paper. Beautiful, epic, elegant and heartbreaking. Ryuchi went on to write more cinemagic backing [...]

I would like to begin by publicly apologising to Russell Norman and his team, because on reflection, I think I was man-pmsing when I wrote the Polpetto review. I was out of line, and rude, and I hope I can be forgiven. Handslap. Most of you are already familiar with the famous bacaro in Soho [...]

You can almost expect Audrey Tautou to waltz through the front door of this cosy restaurant; hang her coat, and whip her beret onto the coat rack. With Piaf marching on in the background, your eyes follow her every move, as she sits herself down on the round corner table for two (except she’s by [...]

Gordon Ramsay restaurants are entering the autumn of their lifecycles. Cycle being the keyword here, with many of his proteges, who used to run his restaurants during their heady years, moving on to bigger and better things. Originally a spin-off from the next-door small plate wonder that was Jason

What it must feel like to be Yotam Ottolenghi. Author of two likeable, innovative cook books; Owner of a string of likeable, innovative takeaway/café/restaurants, and the custodian of a weekly vegetarian column in Guardian. And women just love his food. There is something extremely likeable about the brand Yotam has created for himself. It’s like [...]

These days, people naturally assume I take all my meals outside the comfort of the home; which is technically untrue, since I do eat home-cooked food at least during half the week; it is just that I’m not the one doing the cooking. That’s why she’s the better half, you see. While our usual go-to [...]

Camden doesn’t lack restaurants in number, it’s just most aren’t worth the detour. But things are changing. On the surface, one wouldn’t think this bar-café located at a gig venue – serving the purpose of tanking up visitors before any given performance – should suffer the unfortunate scrutiny of a blogger’s dour thoughts. However, after [...]

The most hotly anticipated London restaurant opening to date has finally opened for business. A quick trawl through the interwebs returns dozens of reviews, blog posts, photographs and genial hype. Expectedly, there is just no shortage of media (virtually and in print) coverage centred around Heston Blumenthal’s first foray into the queasy world of London [...]

If somehow you missed it the first time round in ’10, make sure you don’t miss it now. The patty is grounded Scotch chuck and is supplied and prepared fresh by Darragh O’Shea in his Knightsbridge shop. His Irish Angus steaks are – as you know – amongst my favourite choices for steak, and his [...]

Ever since the Great British Pound took its glorious tumble following the economic rodeo of ’08, travelling the world with HM in your pocket doesn’t go as far as it used to no more, all my assets doing an extended shrinking violet number. Ta-da. Picture the shock and horror whilst researching prices at top end [...]

Yes… the blog has been rather slow lately because I am still travelling in Asia. I’m on my annual leave to celebrate Chinese New Year. I must say, I am itching to get back to London, especially to meet my reservation at Heston’s Dinner at the Mandarin Oriental. Thus far, I have refrained from reading [...]

Happy Chinese New Year folks. I took this picture yesterday, at my parents’ house in Brunei. It’s a lion dance to usher the new year in, and I think the lion had peeled three satsumas to make the chinese character of ‘Wang’ , which is suppose to mean blooming, booming prosperity, I think. It’s all [...]

Perhaps it has aspirations toward becoming the Ding Tai Fung of Europe, what with the copycat white walls, chefs folding xia long bao behind glass panels. Full marks for ambiance and kudos for trying to emulate a franchise which has perfected the delivery of consistently good XLBs. Unfortunately, we’re closer to Chinatown, London, than we [...]

The long time resident oyster bar at Borough market opened their 2nd London outlet in late 2010, in the very heart of central London. It takes up an entire wing that oversees the courtyard in Kingly Court, with a view of nearby Cha Cha Moon. Alan Yau’s woefully modern noodlebar, which I dread, and which [...]

Let me just reiterate, if you don’t already know this : Cambio de Tercio has been my favourite London restaurant for many years, and in 2011, it remains my favourite. I had written exhaustive love letters in the past, expressing my true feelings regarding the superb work of CdT. I shant preach to the converted… [...]

Rarely do you come across new openings with a breezier philosophy than Kopapa. The website describes a modest and friendly outlook, also evident from the moment I picked up the phone to book a table, to the eventual visit. Pitched as a cafe & restaurant, this is Peter Gordon’s latest project in London; The New [...]

Love it, loathe it, the annual revision to the Michelin guide is still relevant. Widely scrutinised, lambasted and worshipped by restauranteurs and restaurant lovers alike, it is perhaps the most recognisable of all restaurant guides. But, it has probably lost some respect with stakeholders in this edition, which coincidentally,

Remember back in 2008, there was a little known wine bar, in Charing Cross called Terroirs? You know the one I’m talking about. It garnered gushing reviews from all four corners, everybody showed up to the party, and everybody thought it was pretty amazing. Well, get ready for the second coming, because they’re back! The [...]

It was probably the most intriguing restaurant opening last year. It generated a polarising reception, ranging from those who hailed Nuno Mendes’ travelling fusion food as groundbreaking to others who thought it a purely self indulgent public experiment, injected with an unhealthy dose of pretense. When I visited last summer,

On paper, this two month old wine bar in Fulham road reads like a winner. A laid back, well decked out bistro atmosphere, a dedicated and extensive wine list and a grazing Anglo-French menu, with fancy charcuterie made in-house and otherwise sourced from artisans in Beaujolais. The Henry Root, like Brawn, are derivatives of the [...]

If ever there was a restaurant synonymous with the term institution, that restaurant could well be Zafferano. Entering its sixteenth year of service, it is regarded by all of us, as one of the key purveyors of high Italian cuisine, in London. It boasts a fancy postcode, the single macaron from the Bib, as well [...]

I revamped my food photography portfolio for 2011 with a series of images that were taken completely inside the various restaurants that I had visited throughout 2009 and 2010. You might even recognise some dishes in these photographs. The photographs are presented

It’s that time of the month once again to look at the movers and shakers as according to the good folks at Wikio. And this month, we have yet another new leader at the top of the heap, Maison Cupcake who has jumped 38th since the end of 2010. Well done to Sarah!

Shortly after my visit to (probably) the first authentically Tunisian restaurant to open in London, I went on Wikipedia to read about the history of modern day Carthage, and the variety of its sun-kissed cuisine. There has been a movie made about La Goulette – the diminutive port town – titled “A Summer in La [...]

I eat alot throughout the year, and keep the material back to build a backlog of posts, but for a number of reasons, I tend to forget posting about them, or more accurately, there are better things to blog about, at the time. So as I have only just

This restaurant opened to rave reviews by gluttons across London in summer, staking their claim as the very first all day diner in London to be modeled after Bombay cafes. I’ve never been to Bombay, but those who have tried the genuine article (like Guy

The sheer volume of blogposts on Bob Bob Ricard throughout 2010 made the interwebs quite a homogeneous place to read about new things. For a moment in time, BBR was perhaps the trendiest all day, all-booth, Anglo diner in London, complete with

I think 2010 will be remembered as the year of fabulous openings. It wasn’t just the sheer volume, or the startling frequency (at one point, there was a new opening to try every week); rather it was about the sheer quality of the debutants inducted into the class of 2010. Some brought innovation (flaming sushi [...]

You might think that something as modest as a cafe on the side of a towpath, used by neighbouring residents as a jogging and cycling route, would always remain hidden and truly a gem. That can no longer the case in the internet age. This sort of concept

The fish counter at Wing Yip always gets my undivided attention, whenever we visit to stock up the larder. It’s those massive tanks with the filtered running water, the sound of an artificial waterfall, filled with still live and flopping crabs and lobsters

The last Wikio rankings preview of the 2010… and we have a new leader this month (again). These guys blog about the very cutting edge in the world of chocolates. Exciting how this list shifts every month no? Assuming you are still into these stats that is…

I had a lovely lunch when I visited the then pop-up version of Dock Kitchen in October last year. It was part of Stevie (and kitchen buddy Joe Trivelli)’s mobile restaurant project titled “The Moveable Kitchen” which began at the height of the underground

Are you still stuck on plans for the festive break? I almost forgot that I had filed away this experience till I rummaged through my archives. While we were still sweltering in July, I – very enthusiastically – accepted an invitation to preview the Christmas menu

As part of our entertainment plans for out of town friends who had drifted into the Smoke for a weekend break. We sold them the idea that London was a treasure trove of brilliant adventures, whether it’d be food, theatre, the arts or history. The rest of the other criteria were suitable met with walks [...]

How many sushi bars do you know, play bossa nova in the background? Out of that lot, how many deliver to your doorstep? And just how many sushi bars boasts an all-female run operation? Assuredly, sushi bars that satisfy all the above are rare,

I write this shuffling in my seat, on a flight bound for Norwegian airspace, and it isn’t often that I dream about London and its murky skies, but here I am, fantasizing about the startlingly magnificent lunch I experienced last weekend at Yashin, the latest addition

Those of you interested in Angela Hartnett’s (MBE) progression as a chef, rejoiced at the news that she has finally left Gordon Ramsay to make her own name, though truth be told, the charismatic chef has already built a formidable reputation over the years. There are very few – if any – negative reviews written [...]

Over the last couple of months, I’ve been busy helping Jennifer Joyce, food writer, stylist and a cracking chef with the redesign of her blog, Meals in Heels – an extension of one of her many very cool cookbooks of the same name. I’m not a web design

Hawksmoor has great PR, one of the early champions of blogs, it has since gone on to utilise and charm the medium with great success. Generally speaking, you guys – ie, people who read online food ramblings – love Hawksmoor. And I suppose, as a viable business

Well this is interest, plenty of new names breaking into the top 20 this month, including the brand new entrant Food stuff finds making its debut at top spot..! Refreshing really, some new blogs to trawl through. and it is nice to especially pleasing to see Daniel’s excellent

Whatever reservations I may have about the man and his empire, I respect El Gordo’s achievements above all and can’t help but admire the sheer talent that has passed through his stables. Ramsay’s first class have all but graduated, they now lead their

One can do no wrong dining in Phởmile, even though I think it is established that arguably the best London Phở is found outside of it. Arguably. After a fantastic experience at Cafe East, the better half was craving yet more soupy noodles, and so we decided to head toward Shoreditch. Mien Tay is one [...]

Les Deux Salons is into week 3 of operation, as of this visit, and I am glad to say that the kinks from the soft launch, crucially to do with service & speed, have been thoroughly worked out of the system. But thank goodness, this resplendent brasserie is not run with military precision, rather with [...]

It was the first time we rode the ‘new’ overground trains all the way from North to the nether regions of South East London. It’s a whole other world out here, bridges, apartment blocks, round-abouts and eerie silence. Arguably the best pho in town is said to be found

21/10 UPDATE – There appears to be a youtube video preview for this event here. Now, I don’t usually announce events on my blog, but I went to last year’s version of this food fest through my very Taiwanese extended family, and was totally impressed

Ain’t it just a beauty? I couldn’t help but show you photographs of this lovely little Italian on the corner of Fifth Avenue, toward Kensal Green. Since my move to North London, I have been actively seeking out goodies in the vicinity. And I think I might have found a really nice

Well, you can’t knock the restaurants around Whitechapel which serve excellent Punjabi food. Of course, I haven’t been to every single one – and who hasn’t tried Tayyabs and Needoo right? – but I think it is safe to say that most deliver food of a certain quality at pleasingly

Amex 10-10-10? Unsurprisingly, that points to the Sunday just gone, and was a special one-day only eating event which took place across 10 restaurants in London. Being that I am a stakeholder (with my belly) heavily invested in the dining scene and all,

The ‘X’ refers to the Brazilian mispronunciation of ‘ch’ in cheeseburger as ‘xis’-burger. So says the exposition on the menu, regarding the derivation of x-burger, of how cheeseburgers are locally referred to, in Brazil. So I heard about this place via a LondonEating

I’m dreaming. This is a radical fantasy, the food is beyond excellent, the filtered water is free, a rainbow assortment of bread flows (freely too) all night long, with the startling choice of salted and unsalted Normandy butter on the table. All hail the new chieftain of Soho,

Somewhere along the way, I’d lost track of what it means to be a food blogger. I rode the chu-chu express along with the rest of the zeitgeist, squeezed my way to the front of the queue for a place at London’s trending restaurants, and had somehow forgotten about unearthing local gems.

And here is a sneaky look at the Top 20 belly shakers for October, rankings put together by the chaps over at Wikio. They measure blog influence by how well networked they are, in relation to one another and to the rest of the interwebs, or so I understand.

[st width=660 height =440 showtext=on textbgcolor=#0000 wmode=window] [note: you'll need flash to view the slideshow above] Tsk, tsk… Malaysian Night – the very first of its scale – at Trafalgar Square was suppose to replicate a Pasar Malam or Night Market, but it fell way short of what many had expected. You can readCatty’s immediate [...]

By now you’ll have tried and failed to book a table at Trullo, the latest budget conscious, laid-back, Italian inspired restaurant to open and to become over-subscribed, in London. Owned by Jordan Frieda, once the front of house at River Café, and chef Tim Siadatan,

London is blessed with many a handsome weekend market, all of which are worth a visit. The beauty is that food is sometimes incidental, at Broadway for instance, antiques and boutiques have their rightful stalls in the market as well. It makes for a wonderful atmosphere,

I’ve always thought about upgrading (or downgrading depending on where you stand) the photography on this blog to film-based rather than digital, but after visiting 300 or so restaurants with the Nikon D700, it’s hard to it put. Digital is just so,

I’ve been to the Boundary Estate before, and this was during one of the many illuminating photowalks with Garson Byer, he who makes striking portraits of those he encounters on the streets. Particularly around this part of East London, where enough of the historic architecture

How can you not enjoy reading about Fergus Henderson. His books, Nose to Tail Eating, and the companion follow-up Beyond NTT, I gather, have become necessary volumes in the canon of British cooking. I haven’t read the 2nd one, and I would love for him to autograph a copy for me. Yes, it’s geeky, but [...]

A long long time ago, I used to write these weekly round-up posts which I called ‘eat & read’ . They were more useful to me, than to readers, it was a place which I linked to pieces I bookmarked. I’ve always wanted to resurrect that series of posts, much breezier to write, because it [...]

And so the legend came to pass, that Otto would become the very first pizzeria in London to crust with cornmeal. Purists (and Italians) will balk at the mention of this heretical abomination, even though the cornmeal base (polenta) is more Chicagoland than Neopolitan. There is no oily, tear resistance, wood-fired sponge in this pizza, [...]

You would have most likely read about Russell Norman’s new opening on other blogs, or probably were amongst those who went to Polpetto’s first week of launch. Well if you are a Polpo fan, then you’ll be familiar with much of the Venetian inspired bacaro concept, now transported to the upper floor of a pub, [...]

I must confess, I feel pressure writing up my visit to L’Anima, because as you know, Francesco Mazzei’s Soul in the city is the gastronomic darling which has had critics, blogs and people who are generally interested in food, cooing in unison. As the consummate restaurant collector living

I swear, this is the last time I’m posting photos from a meal at Shiori…. so good…. So I believe I’ve tried everything on the Shiori menu now (not the tonkatsu or kaarage) , this set of photos are from my 3rd visit, and I’ve been four times. The canape sushi at £23 deserves your [...]

Having to update my list of favourites is the least of my worries, and this is probably the only time, in my time as a blogger, that I feel devastated enough to compel me to write a few words about the closing of a restaurant, and the factors which surround it,

Everybody loves Korean food no? The burning red chilli paste, the lively sting of properly fermented kimchi, the hot, hot soups. Mmm, as I’m sure many of you have already done, like me, you’ve been frequenting Koba to top-up on the kimchi pancake cravings.

Ahh… smell the shit and seaweed in the air. That’s the smell of the fresh summer seaside breeze, the stench of highly oxygenic and smog-free air, something which I was assured time and again is duly absent in the vestiges of London. I hope you will forgive my brief absence from this blog, as I [...]

Sushi bingeing. The final frontier. The unquestionably orgasmic delight of popping dollop after dollop of a food of an unrelentingly elegant design; low in fat, high in umami, arguably, an invention born of perfection. Some say the combination of raw fish

A firm, yet genteel voice answered the phone. The line was horribly muffled as I struggled to pick out the vowels through the low, low bass. Fum.Fum.Sa.Sa. I think she said, in a deceptively Japanese accent. An awkward silence befell.

I didn’t realise cameras in restaurants were still such taboo. This week I had two journalists ask me what I thought about the act of pulling out a camera in a restaurant, which some say is equal in every sense to dropping your trousers in the middle

Yes I cannot believe it too. It is two years ago today, that I assaulted the internet with my barrage of hot air and vulgar food photography, which may as well be classified as taboo, and I would just like to start by saying Thank You for reading and putting up with me. So far [...]

Adam Byatt, the thinking man’s version of a celebrity chef, and owner of the much lauded Trinity restaurant, situated in leafy Clapham. Critics adore his work, for the invention, progression and enthusiasm he has brought to British cooking, and one expects no less

It has taken me about a year to visit Bea’s in Bloomsbury, but I’m glad I finally made it. This tour de force bakery, cake house, coffee & tea shop produces top notch sugary things from their massive kitchen on site on a daily basis. Needless to say,

From the creators of the sleeper hit of the century, the Icelandic inspired, macaron-winning, Texture, comes Rousset & Sverrisson’s next high octane, vinely-charged collaboration, titled 28-50. The name is a geographical tip of the hat to all the world’s vineyards, most

Twenty quid doesn’t go too far in London, maybe two courses. Three if it’s a michelin-on-a-budget. On the otherhand, the Taiwanese have perfected the art of amazingly affordable fine dining on half a shoe string. Back in February, I was over in Taipei for

The last couple of weeks have been particularly damaging on my wallet, so I will use this week as a time out to recall some of my adventures as a ravenous monkey abroad… this one from a recent trip to the teeny township of Haugesund in Norway.

I have been itching to supersede my first Goodman post which I wrote last year with something that better reflects my feelings about the restaurant. I love my meat sweats obviously, and in the twelve months following the first visit, I’ve returned to many a fabulous meal at Goodman in Maddox Street. With the launch [...]

I updated my little list of favourite restaurants today, and just wanted to let you know about this… Released to the wild on 12-08-2010. Read version1. I love food blogs for the personality behind them, and for its ever-evolving nature. However keeping up

All hail the gods of charcoal, keeper of the exalted flames, oh revered and magnanimous Ganko Ojisan, for I require six allotments of your juiciest chicken oysters. I imagine this place would be a hit on weekends what with its convenient location in Soho and

No doubt you will have read the multitude of pieces extolling the virtues of this greatest of London pubs. The pub’s shiny Michelin win, was both a surprise and a seal of approval that solidified its status as the epitome of pub grub in London. For the months that followed,

I remember the early days when Byron was the new kid on the block, did sliders and was firmly a West London thing. I didn’t think much of them back then, but all that’s change. I am a little amazed that some of my friends still haven’t tried a Byron yet. There are now ten [...]

Running a little behind this month, but here it is. The full listings are due to be published on August 10th. .nobrtable br { display: none } 1 Hollow Legs 2 Cheese and Biscuits 3 Food Stories 4 eat like a girl 5 meemalee’s kitchen 6 DOS HERMANOS 7 The English Kitchen 8 Cook Sister! [...]

This is one restaurant where I have expended more of my earnings than any other. Before I started writing this blog, Cambio de Tercio was the pay day reward I gave myself at end of every month, it had always turned out to be a fantastic evening. It’s a great restaurant to say the least, [...]

For a neighbourhood restaurant, this place sure has a history, not all of the good kind. While there are those of you who reminisce about the good old times, others have only scathing words to say about this Primrose Hill establishment, especially since Mark Powers took control of the reigns in 2006. I never had [...]

You might remember my first visit to this excellent sushi bar run by a husband and wife team in Warren street which I wrote about exactly two weeks ago. I loved it, praising the artistry, attention to detail and the sheer brilliance of the cold food. I said I would return for a birthday meal, [...]

The Salusbury is the obvious hip hang out junction, where the beautiful, the youthful, carefree inhabitants of this rapidly gentrified part of NW6 flaunt their hide. It is hardly ever empty, and undoubtedly the most happening joint in and around Queen’s Park. On the weekends, it’s chock-a-block

Maybe…? Photo atrributed to Eivind Z. Molvær (cc) I have been dipping my head into various design blogs whilst perusing some of the more sophisticated iPad RSS apps which have the ability to turn multiple news sources into a consistent news resource.

So you’ve been to every one of the coolest ice cream parlours in town and you need an alternative scoop to Scoop. Well here’s one for your list. Chin Chin is London’s (and Europe) very first nitrogen ice cream parlour. Yes that’s right, instead of freezer-stored ice cream, these guys make theirs by cooling with [...]

And what a view indeed. Positioned on the edge of the Thames, overlooking the water and the O2 centre in the distance. However, A Grelha is not technically a restaurant in its own right, rather it is a make shift al fresco area of The Gun, which opens during sunny days and warm nights (May [...]

Food is much more accessible and democratic over on the right side of the Pacific. There is so much diversity, that at times, I find it ironic that the gourmet awakening (of sorts) is taking place in London, where food blogs are as plentiful as fishes, as opposed to the rest of Asia. That might [...]

“The Doctor will see you now.” Last weekend I went to a one-off special billed as a “an exciting walk-through dining experience and multi-course meal charting key revolutionary periods in food history.”. It was put together by Bompass and Parr, the pre-eminent purveyors of wobbly

Good sushi is as much about skill as it is about availability and accessibility to ingredients. We’ve read about the supremacy of the few top-end Japanese restaurants in London, inaccessibly pricy to most of us, but I think they have played a crucial part in establishing an import route for premium fish to come into [...]

Food history is always an interesting read. Most of the evolution of modern day food has been esoterically documented, parts of it excitingly shrouded in folklore, but always, food is something inextricable linked to the life of the times. In the case of sushi, we know it’s been around since the 8th century,

Paul the octopus was right all along, Spain are now World Cup winners, and I should have put some money behind his choices. Sorry to have been away from the blog for so long, I’ve been out in the sun you see, chasing sushi dreams. Here’s the first report, a few more to follow in [...]

The idea behind Viet Grill and Cay Tre – sister restaurants both owned by Hieu Trung Bui – is simply to bring delicious (and authentic) Vietnamese cuisine to London. They’re not the only ones in the Shoreditch area hoping to do so, of course, with much of ‘Phở Mile’1, the term coined by Bellaphon, vying [...]

Are you melting in the English summer yet? I’m surprised how humid the weather is so far, I went to Uniqlo to get new shorts so I can let the wind blow me dry… …. So there is a new gelateria in town, the same group behind the excellent tour-the-Italian-regions restaurant, Bocca di Lupo, and [...]

Here we go once again. This month, the famous Ms Marmite Lover finally enters the fray, Lizzie Mabbot dethrones Chris Pople to go top and the highest climber is The Graphic Foodie to number 13, up by 12. Congratulations to all. Isn’t it more exciting watching the list change leaders now that the all powerful [...]

At the half way mark of 2010, we have witnessed a number of new restaurant openings in London which has brought a sleuth of choice to the discerning diner. Yet, many more are anticipated to open as we hurl toward the second half of the year. I went to some of the new opens and [...]

Texture is the brainchild of Icelandic born Chef Agnar Sverrisson and French born sommolier Xavier Rousset. Butter and cream, I’m told, are not involved in the Icelandic-inspired recipes. Winner of a michelin star in 2010, Texture is one part of the ascendency of Nordic cuisine.

…Tim, the editor, told me the Faller figurines were going to be 9mm high. I thought to myself that my macro lens was only 60mm and not really fast enough at f2.8. Thank god for high ISO.

“You sound surprised.” Michael’s response to my initial thoughts about his food. I blurted “Yeah. It was great.” with bulging eyeballs. Indeed I couldn’t hide my instinctual outburst. This was a restaurant that had mostly flown under my radar until now. Full report after the jump.

Just a quick note regarding the recent changes to the site. It is a little unfortunate that there are people out there who want to steal content, rather than just asking nicely first, but oh well. On the bright side, I guess my content must be worth something if people feel compelled to steal it. [...]

Yes, the food festival that features some of London’s more famous and not-so-famous restaurants, popped up this weekend at Regent’s Park under rather dreary skies. Of course I was there. I spent 100 crowns, that’s fifty quid. Oh yeah baby. Lots of photographs after the jump.

Eight (baat) is phonetically similar to fortune (faat) or “about to hit the motherload” more like and is significant if you’re Chinese1. Chinese being a culture which has an insurmountable archive of superstitions and a belief system that links fortune to being fortunate. Lady luck is not a bad thing to have on your side, [...]

Atari-Ya are primarily fishmongers who specialise in importing sashimi-grade fish and are said to supply some of the highest profile Japanese restaurants in London, including Umu and Nobu. They also own sushi-bars. Do they keep the best for themselves? Let’s find out.

I have been a runaway train wreck with my commentary lately, neglecting to edit myself. Jay Rayner called it ‘a bad case of blogorreah’ and I can’t say I disagree. Chop, chop, 574 words. Starting with Sedap, Malaysian in East London.

Daniel Boulud. Three Michelin Stars. Twelve restaurants. French. Celebrated. Now in London. We were all witnesses when the internet welcomed the meritable chef’s European debut with open arms. Time for us to consider Bar Boulud.

When I grow up, I want to roam the twenty regions of Italy to discover all the local specialities, so intertwined with the nation’s culture and history. Pesto made with Ligurian basil, a hearty Milanese ossobucco from Lombardy, sip wine in a Venetian baccaro, visit the factories which produce Parmigiano Reggiano in Parma and if [...]

….And we take another sneak peek at this month’s movers and shakers (as according to the good people of Wikio) in the world of virtual food media. Right at the top, Chris has set up camp at the summit…. and Jeanne’s Cook Sister! arrives all guns blazing as a new entry to this list at [...]

Viajante has been on every foodie’s lips lately. Critics and bloggers collectively crashed the new restaurant during its soft launch and consequently rushed elaborate reviews of their experience to the intertubes. I waited. So far, the innovative brainchild of Nuno Mendes has split opinion. Some herald it as a revelation, while others simply found it [...]

In the last few weeks, I embarked on a hugely carnivorous adventure to sample some of London’s serious purveyors of the bovine to bring you this mini-guide to London’s most well-hung. By far my favourite newsletter to put out yet. LondonEater presents The Steak Issue.

This will be my third visit to Eastside Inn, which is hands down my favourite restaurant in London. There is much fire in Bjorn van der Horst’s sauces. Though the restaurant’s history is short, it has undergone significant changes of late changing from a Restaurant-with-a-Bistro to a Bistro-with-a-lounge-bar. My love affair with ESI continues. Here [...]

Oh the sun, the sun. I spent most of last week in Norway, and happily returned to a gloriously sticky London on Friday, feeling utterly like a tourist in my very own city. There could be no better than now to loaf around in a restaurant designed for oysters slurping and scoffing seared slabs of [...]

It wasn’t long ago when pizza was simply a decision of who to call to coincide with prime-time TV. I am referring to the myriad of takeaway menus regularly shoved through the front door of course. I’d always pick the one which sold Haagen Daz ice creams. Pizza being about as far away from pretension [...]

I attended a mega steak tasting dinner very recently put together by Douglas who writes the magnificent Intoxicating Prose, and the good people over at Chapters All Day Dining in Blackheath. One of the few London restaurants which has installed a Josper Grill. It was an enlighteningly

Paradoxically tempered tea, univalved porridge and nitro-blasted savoury puddings have no place in Heston Blumenthal’s rather quaint, rather modest pub, situated just next to The Fat Duck. This true-to-its-roots establishment can trace its history as far back as four hundred years, including being the assembly point for Prince Phillip’s stag do just before he married [...]

There is collective praise for this bare-bones Udon-ya, specialising in thick wheat flour noodles that hail from Shikoku Island in Japan. Slippery, stick-to-your-chopsticks elasticity is the result of a traditional kneading process, carried out on the premises, with wheat imported from the mother land. Affordable, quick, delicious and novel – the next over-subscribed sensation has [...]

We already know that Pearl Liang’s dim sum menu is more than formidable, however for a Chinese restaurant to have an equally capable dinner menu, that is a definite rarity in London. The word on the street is that Pearl Liang is one such rarity. I already consider this establishment to be serving benchmark dim [...]

Sam Harris must be the merriest restaurateur in town right now. Zucca is enjoying near universal adulation; Critics and blogs are raving about his fresh take on Italian food and it has even been compared to River Cafe, The Quintessential Institution that launched a billion Italian restaurants. Aside from being named after a wrinkly skinned [...]

And here is a preview for May 2010. Wikio informed me that Guardian WOM were removed from this listing for it being too ‘Newsy’. The biggest movers are TomEatJenCooks jumping a whopping 53 spots to sixth!

The LondonEater Newsletter, Vol 2, Issue 2 Did you watch the election last night? Six days to the polls. Be sure to vote. In other news, A Danish restaurant was named the best in the world, and LondonEater finally made the pilgrimage to Bray. On Monday, the list of the best fifty restaurants in the [...]

It must be the name. It does something to the wiring of my brain causing me to associate it with many adjectives such as magnificence, opulence, ecstasy, paradise, exorbitance, Sophie Dahl. It must also be the attractive old-world quality it exudes, a quality which has ensure commercial and critical success, over its seven year history.

The Fat Duck is Britain’s most famous restaurant, widely regarded as one of the best in the world. Its owner is the indomitable Heston Blumenthal. A pioneer of the very cutting edge of gastronomy, his name synonymous with perfection. Last weekend, I ate at his three michelin starred restaurant, and this is what I discovered.

I never had confidence in museum mess halls. Having memories only of torrid experiences both locally and abroad. It is the logical thing to do, after taking in centuries of culture, to then breathe in stereotypical food. Of course, that was until I became a convert to the restaurant at Tate Modern. I wondered then [...]

Rather embarrassingly, I allow myself to get lost along the cramped sidewalks of Soho, on the odd occasion. Even with my eight years as an avid London restaurant collector and in the face of advancing technology (Turn the phone around. And again.), I still can’t work out the differences between Beak Street and Lexington Street. [...]

The LondonEater Newsletter, Vol 2, Issue 1 I have been toying with the idea of a redesign for the last few months, rather than making superficial changes, my intention was to rethink the blog format particularly how to handle my archives of reviews so that it can be more usefully deployed. What do you think, [...]

One of the major themes of my restaurant collecting this year involves expanding the catchment area. It occured to me last year when I felt like a tourist in Liverpool street station; circling it many times until I eventually found out that Andaz was just next door. Yes, the East is still a mystery to [...]

I associate fish and chips with the impending arrival of the weekend. Back in the day when I was a spring chicken exploring the dark arts of jellied petrol, I also tended to the student bar. Ah the days of minimum wages – £4.80 an hour, I think. We didn’t even have fancy touch screen [...]

There was a time when Gordon Ramsay was the darling of the nation, the once protege who displaced his mentor, then the king of British gastronomy, Marco Pierre White. Like his mentor, he has achieved three stars and so much more. I remember my first brush with Gordon Ramsay food, albeit indirectly. It was on [...]

Long before supperclubs started popping up all over the capital, a certain door 83 had already been inviting strangers round for Sunday dinners, and the door has remained open for nearly three decades. Jim Haynes, 77 was born in Louisiana, relocated to Edinburgh where he opened a theatre, after which he moved south and swang [...]

Only the most romantic of cities could have given birth to the L’Entrecote restaurants. It has remained firmly a family business for the better half of the 20th century. The legacy belongs to the family of Paul Gineste de Saurs, the founder, who was then searching for an outlet to sell wine from his family [...]

It has been at least a year since I last visited Great Queen Street, a restaurant which I frequented in 2008. Still signage-free and firmly offline, the low profile hasn’t kept No.32 from becoming the establishment it is today. Owned by chef/writer Tom Norrington-Davies, he has made 32 a name for its nameless self by [...]

Getting a table at this rather cosy restaurant is a bona fide challenge, even in light of its rather low-profile existence. I don’t think it has a web page. It does however have a fervent following spreading the good word on the intertubes. Twitter was equally in love with Andrew Edmunds (same people perhaps?). I [...]

There are a a couple of meals from my recent trip to Taiwan which I have decided to upload separately from my Taiwanese cuisine post. This post is on Sonoma Grill, a steakhousei in Taipei. I saw value in discussing about the quality of beef in a location other than London. By quality I mean [...]

There are five restaurants inside the beast of a hotel that is Andaz. Situated right in the heart of the square mile, a part of town where I periodically get lost in. I did as I usually do to turn to my trusty GPS when I exited Liverpool Street station. This would be my third [...]

The last time Bruno Loubet was cooking professionally in London, I was apparently on scene to try his much praise innovative yet traditionally grounded French cooking. On that occasion, he was a guest chef for Pierre Koffman’s superbly successful Selfridges pop-up, which in 2009, had critics and bloggers swooning more about the gravity of the [...]

The last time I went to the Tate Modern, I was completely baffled by one of the exhibits. A slab of wood, painted white probably no bigger than 10 x10, jutted out from the similarly pearl white wall. On this wooden plank sat a large jug of what appears to be water. It was placed [...]

This is what food blogging looks like. Today, he is trying an experiment, by training his antiquated film camera on a plate of cheese and fruit all the while bobbing to tunes streamed from the internet to his touch sensitive media device that can also make calls, sometimes. Once he exhausts his roll of C41s, [...]

Roka is part of an ever expanding chain of zenith-class restaurants owned by German restaurateur, Rainer Becker. He also happens to own the Zuma line of luxury restaurants. Since he opened Zuma in 2002, and then Roka two years later, his highly acclaimed brand of refined Japanese cuisine has gone strength to strength, now Zuma [...]

Sir Joshua Reynolds, the 18th century painter held the view that defining good art required standardisation and classification. He argued in one of his discourses on art that general beauty makes more sense than particularities because it was rational and because that’s how the human mind operates.

I perform too much of a ritual when I am about to travel to pay valuable attention to the eating at all, let alone eating well. Flying elicits all kinds of emotional responses, my brain becomes strangely reflective of the past x number of months since I was last bumping in the clouds. Time slows [...]

There is money behind J Sheekey. The ultimate owner, Richard Caring bought the Caprice galaxy of restaurants, amongst other things for a cool £30m in 2005 with a view to transform it into a superbrand of luxury eateries. This very group also includes some old time establishments such as Le Caprice and the Ivy which [...]

Hello folks, I am officially back from my month long vacation, trust you have applied yourselves positively while I’ve been away. My yearly visit to the folks is always enlightening if perspective bending though this is the first time in eight years that I went home in time to celebrate Chinese New Year. I’m carrying [...]

I left Berlin thinking how everything was physically larger. Perhaps the city architects mistook their metric scales for imperial ones. The repeated pattern which cover the major central train stations went on forever and they make St Pancras feel more like Covent Garden. The behemoth of trains which pass through were like one of those [...]

And here we go again peeps, a sneak into this month’s Wikio rankings. 1 The Guardian – Word of Mouth (=) 2 Eat like a girl (=) 3 Food Stories (+1) 4 DOS HERMANOS (+7) 5 Hollow Legs (=) 6 Cheese and Biscuits (-3) 7 Thring for Your Supper (=) 8 London Eater (-2) 9 [...]

Ask any Taiwanese what their number one to-eat dish is and the answer is likely to be Niu Rou Mian. Originally a Northern Chinese recipe, it eventually made it’s way to Taiwan when millions of Nationalist Mainlanders fled the Middle country to escape Communism (source : Travel in Taiwan). It’s a relatively simple recipe, but [...]

Hello guys! I am reporting to you live from Taipei, where the rain doesn’t stop and the beef noodles are bouncy. I think my weight has gone up to 80 kgs, I’ve been eating out alot lately, hah, as if I don’t eat out in London. At least my jeans still fit. I wasn’t kidding [...]

A little while ago, I met with Laissez fare, a fellow foodblogger for dinner and I walked away quite amazed with his wealth of knowledge regarding restaurants in London and otherwise. A kindred spirit and a gentlemen, my impression of this guy was that he just loved to eat out. So our conversations started with [...]

As you know, I am now half way round the other side of the world basking in the sun. It’s been eight years since I left sunny Brunei, and in that time, friends have moved on to the bigger and better, I somehow feel as if I had only just awoken from a long coma, [...]

I moan about the speed of my broadband alot. It’s one of these do everything type packages where by the phone line that permits me to connect to the world wide web also serves as a carrier for the TV signal. It’s an incessant system. It gets clogged up very easily during peak hours and [...]

This will be the penultimate entry in my unofficial 2010 Chinese cuisine fortnightly special which is (unofficially) intended to celebrate the coming Lunar New Year (Tiger) which will fall on the 14th of Feb this year. I had always been fasnicated with the idea of Haozhan, being it is one of two restaurants (the other [...]

I once held the narrow view that only three types of Chinese restaurants exist in London. Ones that specialized in barbeque meat, others serve dim sum and the rest ripped people off. This perspective is largely unfounded as the diversity of London based Chinese restaurants with specialist regional cuisines are more than far reaching. There [...]

Dim sum is one of the most unique and entirely accessible experiences in food. The literal translation for dim sum is ‘touch your heart’ – a term chosen to describe the style which is suppose to be small, packaged, and dare I say ‘bite-sized’ to tickle your fancy rather than cure a ravenous appetite. Dim [...]

Dim sum week continues to roll through LondonEater and I have chosen to return to Leong’s Legends Continues – a restaurant which I panned not too long ago. I have good reason to go back because I have heard good things about their dim sum. I take the view that ala carte and dim sum [...]

The countdown to Chinese New Year begins now. We are technically now at the tail’s end of the Ox year – an insidious one I must say, but in little over three weeks, we will be welcoming the year of the steely Tiger and one which should see us return to prosperity once again. I [...]

One of the most memorable meals I had in 2009 was the newly opened Eastside Inn restaurant in Farringdon. The pride and joy of Bjorn van der Horst, formerly of La Noisette, the food was simply superb and cooking was of a high order. The major issues I had mainly was to do with the [...]

As many of you have heard, the big news for restaurant obsessives this week is the (leaked) release of the 2010 update to the Michelin Guide. As usual, there are some winners, some losers and some shock decisions where potentials didn’t make the big time. Whether you love it or hate it, backpatting exercise or [...]

Sometime in 2008, London food bloggers unanimously join in chorus to sing the praises of arguably one of the greatest (and cheapest) restaurants ever to grace London, elevating it’s status to that of legend and institution. The restaurant in question is Tayyabs. As 2009 closed, the crowded favourite is as hard as ever to secure [...]

I have vivid childhood memories of tagging along to the supermarket with my mum and her methods of judging if a piece of meat was fresh or whether it had gone off, she would always sniff the meat – if it smells good, it can’t be bad. Growing up in Brunei, everybody has a passion [...]

Weather woes continue to ground my eating habits as the 2nd week of the New Year leads me to venture out to…only about as far my local pub. Not that it was a bad thing since I spend alot of time in the Prince Regent anyway. It was as if someone upstairs had decided that [...]

We are in the middle of the coldest snap known to mankind. It has decidedly grounded many of us – including the restaurant going republic, in fear that the tipple monster might never lead us home again. Thank the goodens for the dude who invented the neighbourhood cafe, because this means we can venture on [...]

Generally speaking, we Londoners are still very much in love with sharing bite sized portions, and 2009 certainly has been the year of tapas. Gone are the days when we accidentally wandered into La Tasca hoping to have our expectations exceeded and the tapas bar (forgive the pun) has metaphorically been raised. Salt Yard and [...]

And here we are, the first sneak preview into the Wikio UK gastronomy blogs rankings list in 2010. I’ll be receiving these every month from now on as the chaps over at Wikio have installed me as their latest gastronomy blogs ‘expert’… it just basically means I get to publish these sneak lists or hand [...]

And with a whimper of a bang, 2010 has finally arrived, Happy New Year folks. I trust everyone celebrated with enthusiasm and alcohol in equal measure. Myself, I watched the neighbours light up their backyard with a modest display. The lights, the sleeping in, ohhh the Jack O’Shea porterhouse… all still vividly lingering at the [...]

Merry Christmas all and hope you are all now gearing up for New Year celebrations! So I trust everybody had a healthy and hearty Christmas dinner and got everything you wanted in the morning? Myself, I indulged in a very lovingly whole roasted, waitrose bought chicken, made with Lambrusco, I kid you not. I didn’t [...]

2009 has been a hugely gluttonous, but productive year for this website and for me. For those of you piling on the pounds along side of me, we’ve definitely had some memorable meals no? And my, my have our ranks been swelling. This time last year, we were 200 odd regular subscribers, today we’re 600 [...]

Winter has well and truly arrived. As I write this on a bitterly cold Friday morning, there is but a shallow layer of snow building outside, not quite enough for me to stab my feet into it with heavy boots, but enough for me to feel Christmassy. I’m usually averse to boiling hot and soupy [...]

The first email from Ffiona’s PR lady was a succinct one liner in which she asked if I wanted to know more, and inquired about my publicly available site stats. Naturally, I replied with a link to my numbers and an obligatory yes to her offer. A couple of days later, Ffiona (the owner, hence [...]

Barrica was never on my eat-list. The original intention was suppose to be an impromptu power lunch at oversubscribed Lantana to give the now legendary steak sandwiches a try. The steak sandwiches remain folklore for now. Unable to squeeze into Lantana, we stood at the front door of Viet baguette (next door down), contemplating… but [...]

I say this with full confidence in my testosterone-charged manhood : I enjoy watching romcoms on the silver screen – the cheesier the better. Especially when the protagonist is a successful, young creative (but played by an older dude) who lives in an English speaking metropolis (aka NY) drives a dream car (or bike) and [...]

Tis’ time to be jolly. I have sent off my wish-list to Daddy Christmas – pending strike action from royal mail – and lined my fake fireplace with stockings deep enough and strong enough to hold the weight of a solid Leica camera. The festive lights are already up on Oxford street, and I’m already [...]

Every now and again, something new comes to town sets off waves of gushing remarks and generates so much intrigue among the eaterati that one cannot help but to buy into the word of mouth. We’re human afterall, and have a vested interest in witnessing a supposed second coming, or at least the next meteoric [...]

As I was researching (some prefer to say wikipedia) the origins of Pizza, I stumbled across the valiant efforts of an organisation known as Vera Pizza Napoletana (VPN) , or the Real Neopolitan Pizza Association. Obviously, they are non-profit and their goal is to preserve the ‘authenticity’ of restaurant pizza recipes around the world, and [...]

If you’ve been keeping your finger on the pulse of the London foodie scene, you’ll be aware of the carnival that followed the recent opening of this latest Italian venture to hit Soho. It has been a couple of months since it’s opening and it is ever so busy. They do no take evening bookings, [...]

I have two things to announce, both of which are related to my sponsors. Firstly it is to introduce iStarvin.com which is the latest UK based national restaurant recommendation website and who have recently taken up virtual residence on my sidebar (look right). Secondly is to upload the third and last of the Douwe Egberts [...]

Yup, I was there and it was brilliant. The first UK based food blogger connect conference saw 70 food lovin’ guests descend upon Levant restaurant right here in London, all of whom have a vested interest in the phenomenon that is food blogging. Most already have their own blogs, some were interested in starting up [...]

Everybody knows that LondonEater endorses Sushi Hiro to no end and it is my most frequent spot to cure my equally frequent sushi shivers. With such a great place so near to the office (people still don’t believe that it’s only a 15 minute tube journey from Park Royal to Ealing Common) , one would [...]

I have a few things to share with you today, first of all – who wants to see me make a right tit of myself on stage? Alright, an exaggeration, but I am both very proud and flattered to have been invited by my favourite Brighton foodie Beth to speak at her event – the [...]

I am just about the biggest fan of Spanish food, I could be served deep-fried croquettes – with a frozen centre – and probably still walk away a happy camper. In London, I have already established my favourite Spanish spot – Cambio De Tercio, (go there it’s good) – and ironically enough my eating schedule [...]

I was introduced to the marketing whiz kids at the Andaz hotel through an associate who was telling me about yet another larger than life pop-up restaurant project to hit the Capital – Bistrotheque setting up a Supersonic Masonic Supper club during London Restaurant Week in October to be exact. Of course, I missed that [...]

Hi guys, just a quick word from my sponsors Douwe Egberts and the chance to enter two competitions to win some pretty cool prizes, please keep reading for the details:

In my never ending quest to eat everything, I am fortunately saddled with a curiosity for all manner of restaurants. Take Jack’s for example. Situated next to the farmer’s market in Queens Park (where Cillian Murphy can frequently be seen) , I’ve walked out with a beef burger in hand (superbly grilled by one of [...]

I finally pulled the trigger. I downgraded my travel card to exclude free roaming in zone 1. I’ll have to pay as I go into central London (I work in zone 4) or use more bus routes, but that’s only a mild inconvenience compared to the annual £600 savings, not to mention the ‘health benefits’ [...]

I discovered Turkish food in Belgium, where a mutual friend introduced me to this diverse cuisine. I recall quite vividly having parsley and cheese filled pastry – ‘Su Boregi’ – for breakfast and then washing it down it with strong Turkish coffee (or was it tea?). In the evening, we were whisked to what looked [...]

If you follow this blog, you’ll know that I am only the biggest fan of this sushi bar located in Ealing Common, a convenient and frequent after work spot for me. It’s been about a year since I last wrote about it, and it’s time we revisit to find out if it’s still the best.

Eating in someone’s home is both exciting and a little daunting. I never know what to expect and how I should act, especially since the host has graciously opened up their private space. I suppose home restaurants are one of the positive things to come from this recession, or more accurately from the growing awareness [...]

So the new site layout is nearly done, whaddoyathink? I really like the full width feature box which runs across the new homepage, it lets me post bigger pictures. Woo hoo. Mad kudos to the designer Tim Gieseking. If you have some feedback (both good and especially bad) please send them in. This’ll be a [...]

Dock Kitchen was started up by Stevie Parle and Joseph Trivelli, the former, a River Cafe alumnus and the main man in the kitchen; the latter still currently at River Cafe. Not the average trendy living room restaurateur I suppose what with the pedigree.

Not everything gets publicised on the internet these days, especially the hyperlocal events, like this Taiwanese Food Festival which took place at Westminster Academy last weekend for example. I heard about it through my special Taiwanese counterpart. I love food fests, time for another photo essay me thinks.

Cast your mind back a couple of years ago and the emergence of the gourmet burger in this country, particularly London. I contributed my two pennies with a burger shoot-out of my own last year, pitching some of the well regarded burger bars against one another. Since then, the momentum for sleek burgers have subsided.

Since popping up, there has been a flood of internet buzz building around it. Those stuffed trotters are no longer just urban legend, for a fleeting moment in time, you could taste the Koffman genius once more. Given the occasion, I’d imagine many of the gastro fanatical would be in attendance. Along with my partners in crime Athos, Porthos & Aramis – we made reservations for a Monday evening.

Forty five minutes after exiting Temple tube station, I am still wandering around the area. I could have sworn I have walked past Buddha bar before – which faces the river – but for the life of me, all I can see is a Walkabout. Defying pride, I finally make the call to the restaurant [...]

In between my kitchen waltz (see Part I), I was alternating with the parallel of events at the front of house, and of course, the two are completely different worlds altogether. I had arrived early at 5.30 pm when most of the staff were only just starting up. I stood at the front door, nervously [...]

I was given the opportunity to spend a Saturday evening service at Gazette – a neighbourhood French brasserie in Battersea – and they gave me the chance to observe a busy London restaurant at work. It’s about time this restaurant goer stepped behind the stove to watch the action from the other side. A personal project of sorts and a bit of a labour of love, I hope you’ll enjoy this two part series folks.

The first visit to Dinings left me spellbound, everything about it ticked the boxes for me. This was a genuine, independent and cosy neighbourhood restaurant with a kitchen that had pedigree which churned out delicious food. I was really keen to return, and so it became the venue to meet up with Helen the World [...]

I have this presumption that since Knightsbridge is the quintessential tourist trap, eateries leading up to Harrods can mostly be disregarded, such as the hollow glitz that is the Brompton Quarter cafe, for example. But then there are those places which look intriguing, precisely the reason Racine has attracted me for so long. Like the [...]

Hands up who caught the repeat of ‘Dawn Porter: Geisha Girl’ last week? I have it recorded. For me, Japan is a beautiful country; Their rich culture is evocative and it is a country that is high on my list of holiday destinations – especially the thought of sampling ‘real’ sushi. Luckily for us, Japanese [...]

After decades of humiliation, we can now be taken seriously. Having watched ‘British Cuisine’ re-invent itself on TV complete with Jenny Bond voice-overs; we are now undoubtedly living in the golden age of restaurants proud to be serving British food and proudly pushing local produce. And why not? It makes for moving PR pitches and [...]

Call me Chinese as I love seafood and especially enjoy a succulently prepared Lobster dish. Hey, who doesn’t right, especially with the regal chunkiness the red backed crustacean is so famous for. Most commonly associated with the upper echelons of gastronomy, the prized shellfish is of course, an integral part of the fishing industry, to [...]

…and we interrupt the eating news with a word from my sponsors. This is Absolut Vodka’s advertising campaign centered around ‘doing things different’. Enjoy folks.

We had spent most of the afternoon strutting around Brick Lane with our digital canons, nikons and XA2s. Even though we didn’t know it yet, it was the maiden meet-up which served to incubate the now infamous FM2 trio currently with plans of flickr domination, then google, before taking over the rest of the universe. [...]

The tweatup team comprises of six bottomless appetites and it took fate (and twitter) to bring together this hungry pack, whose ultimate goal is to eat our way to economic growth. The pack is led by the enigmatic Tehbus and his second in command Mr FbM, a shadowy secret agent who splits his gastro assignments [...]

Soho could not be a merrier place. The colours of the rainbow adorn shop fronts and in this most celebrated of city underbellies – home to a myriad of eclectic restaurants – it is the default option to hang out with the cool kids, albeit being a little cliché. Randall & Aubin is such a [...]

It happened during the summer after I graduated from university. I was attempting an eight week trip to cover five different countries, sampling unagi at all the destinations I touch down upon. By far, the most memorable experience was at Kura in Sydney – a modest space, a short sushi table, man was it good. [...]

01/10/2009 UPDATE Me and We are Social have decided to give Becky (comment 15) and her foodie Mum the chance to have a positively gastrolicious holiday in Lille. Thank you all for participating, sorry can’t offer everyone tickets, if I could I really would. Congratulations Becky, do have a great time in Lillle. Eurostar (and [...]

I was half expecting a svelte Audrey Tautou to jump out from behind the red satin curtains and amaze us all with a bout of song and dance, such was the fantasy filled spectacle that Le Cassoulet exuded, oh and we’re in South Croydon for this one.

Yeah so starting from 16th – 25th September, the entire St. Pancras station is going to turn into an indoor food market. This is to celebrate the launch of Source Market inside the station and lots of overly famous celebrity chefs (Corrigan, Kochhar) will be flogging themselves too. This actually looks like it might be [...]

Bayswater is a culinary destination onto itself. It already feels like Chinatown, the sequel with dim sum superchain Royal China and the King of Lobster noodles Mandarin Kitchen in the area; Not to mention that ultra reputed curry house Khan’s as well as meatfest heaven Rodicio Ricos. It is also where you go to get [...]

Trend is a funny thing. It is exhilarating riding the hype waves and it had driven me to try Yalla Yalla, especially after reading about it on World Foodie Guide and on Metro. It was a toss up between Tayyabs and this, for a five person feasting on a Saturday night and I chose to [...]

The scene is set against the neighbourly backdrop of Chiswick. Tranquillity seemingly dominating this part of West London, a lazy suburbia far removed from the frenzied cry of the urban jungle. Time for lunch me thinks.

I can only ever focus on one thing at any given chunk of time, everything else seems to just be neglected in the process. Take photography for instance. At the moment, my leisure time consists mainly of stealth street corner hugging, punctuated by fleeting moments of inspiration. I’m so totally engrossed in ‘deciding the moment’ [...]

Last weekend I was a tourist all over again. Parading around Soho with bleary eyes, brandishing my camera at whatever piqued my interest… don’t you just love the August bank holiday? One of these years, I swear I will make it to Blackpool.

I was very recently part of a foodblogger daytrip to Lille, fully sponsored and put together by Eurostar’s PR bods to help promote their current ‘little break, big difference campaign’….. yup, it was fun, lots of pictures inside.

Nude Espresso is one of a few places which are at the fore front of the rising coffee culture in London. After a bellyful of Croydon chicken rice; Supercharz, Mark and myself headed toward Brick Lane for the Rankin exhibit, but not before we woke up to a cup or two. Oh, and we’re calling [...]

I like steakhouses. They are great for mea(e)ting up with mates being a halfway house between a restaurant and a pub – plus food is uncomplicated too. My mate is getting married soon (Matt I’m so proud of you geezer, sob.) and we thought it would be a great place to catch up. Steak and [...]

You know how sometimes you crave simple things but you don’t know where to find a really good version of it? Well, I’ve been craving chicken rice for months now, and most recently, it has taken me all the way to Croydon to find possibly, the best chicken rice.

And LondonEater is officially one year old today. My first post seems so long ago and since, I have written a further 230 posts, approved 1.8k comments and received 200k page views. It is both rewarding and daunting looking back at what a bloody long journey it has been. Highlights, low blows, great and appalingly [...]

There are a few candidates for the best Korean restaurant in London, but I haven’t tried enough to really decide which it really is. A visit to my former favourite Myung Ga had been dissapointing, and so the search was on to rediscover Korean magic, and it has thus far led me to the doors [...]

I will never be able to afford the Martin 0M-28. The solid mahogany, the musky rosewood and that resonant, clear and crisp ring, I was John Mayer possessed strumming along to ‘No such thing’, now eternally burned into my memory from years of fandom. Achingly, I have to put down the guitar in the shop [...]

The spoils from my recent travels continue to pile on, and this time I have returned from Brugge looking much rounder and feeling much richer – chocolately speaking. I hope you chocolate lovers out there will enjoy this post.

Man has walked the moon, some have conquered the highest peaks and few have even achieved the impossible dream. These are the tales of those who dared to go, where no one has gone before to bring to the London republic, exceptional bangers.

Yes, this is for your mac or PC desktop and you are free to use it for personal pleasure, if you exploit it, I will sue your arse off. Available in two versions: Widescreen 16×10 or Standard 16×12. Click on appropriate size for your monitor, right click and ‘set as desktop background’ and make sure [...]

There are two Toms in London who appeal to me. Both are men of food and both have legends written about their conquests in the kitchen. “Why yes of course I would like to sample an all expense paid meal at Tom Ilic” when their hype department called. Can we stop calling this food blagging [...]

The class falls silent; my eyes turn toward the fluttering curtains, Miss V’s constant chalking against the green board is fast becoming hypnotic and my eyes can barely stay open. The tummy, now rumbling like a motorcycle is in dire need of some refuelling. Is it nine thirty am yet?

Established by a former restaurant manager, Giuseppe Turi in 1990, this little known family run Italian restaurant is just beyond the bridge in Putney and finds itself nestled on a handsome corner off the high street.

Negotiating tight side streets past the imposing museums of Les Invalides, I finally found this traditional restaurant with no official website, or little mention elsewhere… oh and it starts at 8pm. Half an hour till eating time, will it be worth the trek?

So this is the summer box. Faultless presentation, the box is so shiny, you can actually see the distorted reflection of my arm in it. Years ago when he began, Pierre Herme actually opened his first boutiques in Tokyo, before coming back to his motherland to satisfy French sweet teeth. I settled on a bench outside the nearby St Sulpice church to break open the box.

Paris! I went, I ate and I ate even more. Reporting back with all the action from the weekend of excess, we start with this truly French Bistro located in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower.

I’ve been looking at Parisian Foodblogs for places to eat since I’m going to be there this weekend, and kept longing a summary or list of the best restaurants/bistros/cafes to try; suddenly lists are such useful things. It’s given me motivation to do an update to my all time favourites list. Anyway, if you’re coming [...]

Breakfast reviews are my favourites to do – especially when the meal takes place on a Sunday. Call me old fashion or perhaps I’m just prepping for family life; Italian eggs, iced New York coffee and my favourite copy of the Sunday Times. Come on son, let’s grab some grub.

The internet is in agreement: The Hawksmoor steaks are to die for. But let’s not jump to conclusions just yet. Bring on the mandatory steakporn and let the procession begin.

Here is the ‘new’ disclaimer: PR guy for Brouge emailed me asking if I’d come and review Brouge in Richmond, he covered the costs of the meal, and I said sure, why not. Am I gonna be totally objective? Totally. If you don’t trust the opinion, forget the words and just drool over the food [...]

Bibimbap is a favourite of mine. The elegance of the dish (which is really rice and other bits mixed together) makes it a hearty treat. This is one of my favourite little places in the city, and its about time I headed back for a proper review.

The things I do for food. Sunday and I’ve signed up to the Nom Nom Nom Cooking Competition, and amazingly, was one half of the final nine teams. My cooking partner in crime is Billy of Cowfish, and we face-off against… lots of bloggers, with the grand prize of a dinner at Tsuru. I didn’t [...]

So, everybody knows that I have a sweet tooth, right? Alright, I declare I have a thing for good macarons. I Qype-d this one from me iPhone while in Saarf London and its true, this place has no shop sign that spells out its name, and you do need to look for the giant pink [...]

Oh gosh, yet another long bus journey into the unknown, this time, into the heart of Southwest London. After a weekend hiatus, I found myself in this little known Austrian café for a charity dinner. Oh and I paid for this one, just in case you were wondering.

We start with the long bus journey from Waterloo station (bus 77, 35 minutes) past Battersea and into Lavender Hill in search of the supposedly hidden gem of an Italian restaurant. And I’ll take this opportunity to address a topic that’s been brewing among the twitterati of late.

Held at a ‘secret’ location somewhere in London called ‘The Loft’, The Mash-up is the brainchild of Paris-based Gastro-Architect Rachel Khoo. And LondonEater brings you all the sumptious action, from behind the camera.

Let me start by saying John is alot better looking in person than on masterchef. Here’s me, reporting on the relevant action which took place at the Toast Festival – Australia Day.

Lobster is in season at Belgo once again. After reading up on a couple of recent blogger visits (here and here), I couldn’t resist the tempation and had to indulge in the Lobsterfest.

Pompous pretension or serious contender of applied arts and gastronomy? Based in the 18th century townhouse which once bore the Dior label; we take a trip to the institution where haute cuisine and haute couture meet.

I was a little torn about whether to blog about this here, or to put the pictures up on my other photoblog. In the end, I thought you might enjoy abit of cake porn on a Monday.

Many many moons ago, people used to refer to me as ‘Leong’. And several moons after, I became a legend, and I galloped into the sunset with my silver stallion and lived happily ever after. No, I’m kidding, but I did (and still do) go by Kang L(eong), Leong being my surname for anybody who [...]

Hey guys, here’s a treat for ya! The Toast Festival event organisers are giving LondonEater readers 50 pairs of tickets (usually £25 each) to the UK’s largest southern hemisphere themed festival. There’s lotsa food (John Torode is gonna be there to cook for guests), wine tasting, polo matches, live music and cultural performances. It’s all taking place in Clapham Common on the weekend of [...]

Morgan M official site 489 Liverpool Rd N7 8 (020) 7609 3560 £39pp three course dinner The Islington high street is superb. It is already home to that amazing wine shop – The Sampler – which allows one to try about 80 wines at a go. Abit further tucked away, is apparently Arsene Wenger’s favourite [...]

Ok guys, here’s another chance to get on a cooking show. The premise: with the advent of secret/underground restaurants, the producers are looking to create a tv show that revolves around the idea of people opening up their homes for one night only as a restaurant and serve members of the public who then pay [...]

Tapas Brindisa official site 18 Southwark St Southwark, SE1 9 £7 Tapas Brindisa, brindisa, brindisa. Yeah, they’re on to their third one now, perhaps the most respected name in Spanish food, ‘Brindis’ is ‘to make a toast’. Something I tell everybody, Spanish is my favourite cuisine, and I was more than happy to have finally [...]

Guys, Rachel Khoo is BACK. You’ll remember a while back when I put out a post about the latest secret restaurant that is being run out of the Private dining club called The Loft, belonging to Chef Nuno Mendes. Well, Rachel is now back to put together another dinner event called a mash-up which will [...]

St John is currently the 14th best restaurant in the world (2009). Yes, ‘Worlds’. And I can confirm, they don’t use San Pellegrino. Apparently, the British can indeed cook. As usual, I am late to the party as it seems like the entire food writers guild has eaten here, wrote about it and then some. [...]

The queue was terribly long, and while I was in it, the barista came out with paper cups and a marker pen, taking our orders along the way. Such was the spectacle of Monmouth, I was rather surprised that the queue was quick and free flowing as I didn’t even have time to think about [...]

Croque Gascon official site The Balcony at Westfield W12 7GE £10 to £15 per head As much as I like window shopping (in the traditional high street sense), I also love hanging out in oversized shopping malls. There’s an Apple store, there’s a huge Jessops, M&S Food and a massive food hall. So I was [...]

Bentley’s official site 11-15 Swallow Street, London, W1B 4DGT +44 (0)20 7734 4756 Six oysters plus glass £9.95 How long does it take to shuck open twelve oysters? Forty-five minutes at Bentley’s – maybe there’s mythical preparatory work involved, but I was completely baffled on this visit. Note, this is not a review.

L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon Official Site 13-15 West Street WC2H 9NE 0207 010 8600 Set Lunch £25 for three courses; Ala carte £expensive. Photography is an addiction. The kit lens that comes packaged with a standard digital SLR is never enough, all it does is make you lust after the very best lenses either Nikon [...]

National Geographic Pincho Cafe official site 83-97 Regent Street W1B 4E1 0207 0256960 Pinchos £4 each Pinchos: Spanish inspired small dishes that allow for instant gratification….oh wait isn’t that otherwise known as Tapas? An invite to try the cafe at the brand new National Geographic store in Regent steet; folks, the window light was brilliant [...]

Singapore Garden Official Site 83 Fairfax Road NW6 4DY 020 7328 5314 Approx £25 pp There are many parts of London that remain undiscovered to me. Take for instance the Abbey road crossing. I didn’t think I would enjoy holding up traffic to emulate that famous album cover, but enjoy it I did. I’m in [...]

I am really excited to introduce my newest online venture… NOIR. Its a food photoblog that doubles as my online photo portfolio. The aim is really simple: to present the best things to eat in the city in really really nice light; think LondonEater with no words and the visuals taken to the max. Noir [...]

Swiss wines are really rare. Only about 2% of all Swiss wines made are ever exported and its quite likely that one may not even find them in major restaurants in Geneva. So when I read about an exclusive Swiss wine tasting in London, I really had to sample it for myself. Forty quid, a [...]

Metrogusto Official Site 13 Theberton St Islington N1 0QY 020 7226 9400 £40pp 3 courses no wine In the sweltering height of the April heat, I broke the unspoken code of tap water conduct and plonked for a bottle of sparkling. It was such a hot day, I just wanted something crisp, but without the [...]

Ok I will admit, there are perks to being on the other side of the blog, I get free stuff. I do try to pass them on to you lucky readers whenever I can. While I cannot pass along the free box of Cinnabons they are sending to me, I can however offer an alternative. [...]

Tayyabs official site 83-89 Fieldgate St. E1 1JU 020 7247 6400 £15pp, BYO (!) I did it, I finally did it. I went to Tayyabs for the very first time and you already know what my response is going to be like, in fact, you’ve read all the other all too positive reviews floating about. [...]

I’m going to Cafe Strudel for a charity dinner on the 25th June 2009 and I’m inviting everyone to join me there! Paula – who is doing the Ultimate Wine Wisdom column for my newsletter – is going to trek to Machu Pichu for Classic FM Music Makers (registered charity number 1091657) and she’s hosting [...]

This is the first update to my totally subjective London Restaurant Must Go list launched last month. Think of this as LondonEater’s very own all time premier league of super duper whooper deliciousness rankings meter ultimo list to defeat all lists that were ever created, and then some. This illustrious farce to the eight restaurants [...]

Community sites are starting to realise the power of the iPhone, and to an extent the Google Android platform. Lately, I’ve been test driving three free apps which can help you find something to eat in the City and their usefulness when on the move, so this might be helpful if you’re an iFoodie too.

Pop the virtual bubbles! I’ve slaved away for the past week or so getting my first issue of the Bi-monthly newsletter and I am so glad that I’ve published it today. To my first subscribers who are receiving it over lunchtime, I do hope it proves to be a great read for you – do leave some comments [...]

Dinings £40pp 22 Harcourt St W1H 4 020 7723 0666 To this day, I still think the best miso cod are the ones made in the Nobu Kitchen, particularly the Berkeley branch. Ex-Nobu Chef Tomonari Chiba has left the establishment to set up his own take on Japanese-Peruvian ponce cuisine. Comparisons are inevitable; is this [...]

Sam’s Brasserie Official Site 11 Barley Mow Passage W4 4PH 020 8987 0555 £35pp ala carte ; £17pp set – 3 courses. I have never been to Chiswick before. Some say it’s a budget version of the Kensington Boroughs – all the creature comforts sans the hefty price tag. And down we go into a [...]

This site has always been about You. I’ve set this up to help you find great places to eat in the Capital and I hope you’ve been enjoying reading my stuff so far. I’m extending that ‘mission’ and I have decided to release a bi-monthly E-mail Newsletter. The Newsletter will arrive on the 1st and [...]

High Timber Official Site 8 High Timber Street EC4V 3PA 020 7248 1777 £40pp plus wine I love to wine and dine. However, my shrinking wardrobe and bank balance doesn’t always permit my indulgences on a more frequent basis. While surfing the luminaries of foodie-interwebs, I came across the expertly written, if subdued opinion of [...]

There is a whole street of Vietnamese restaurants in Shoreditch, otherwise affectionately as ‘The Pho Mile’. My knowledge of the London Vietnamese food scene is murky at best, but I was pushed by my Vietnamese colleague – who frequents for the spicy squid – to give this a try.

How do I describe the Beigel Bake? A free standing cafe, perhaps a takeaway cafe or maybe it’s just a bakery that sells hot cakes, bagels and sandwiches of all kinds. Here’s me, West London Boy, spending some quality time with the East and getting cosy with some hot salt beef.

Hey guys, enjoying the sunshine so far? I sure am. So my bank holiday started yesterday when I ordered my 2nd pizza at Franco Manca’s. Then to digest the food, I decided to walk from Brixton to Russell Square, Franco Manca to the British Museum, Pizza to Pillar. Been a while since I did a [...]

The Fox and Anchor Official Site 115 Charterhouse Square EC1M 6AA 020 7250 1300 £20 pp of proper grub The smell of eggs and bacon fill the air as I inch closer to my lunch destination. Stumbling clumsily into the pub, The light from outside casted silhouettes on rising heads, as chatter dies down, just [...]

Terroirs, 5 William IV Street, London, WC2N 4DW £30pp Official site Left, no. Right, not there either, perhaps straight on.. hm. As you can probably tell, I’m a little lost. I’m dreaming about a spread of gorgeous food & wine but we’re not quite there yet. My iPhone is suppose to guide me toward the very latest wine [...]

And this one is just in time for Spring! Today, we have Bethany who runs the charming recipe blog Dirty Kitchen Secrets. She’s beautiful, she cooks great food and she’s sharing her recipes with the world. Hope you’re enjoying the sun and run out and get some asparagus. -Kang. I am thrilled to announce that [...]

Wet fish cafe Offical site 242 West End Lane NW6 1LG 020 7443 9222 Food £10 Coffee £2.50 “Fell in love with the idea of transforming a rundown site into a London cafe with soul and character” – Andre, A Wet Fish Tale Everything seems more vibrant in Spring. Gentle breezes send cherry blossoms into [...]

I am sure you have all heard, El Bulli unsurprisingly retains the top spot, and The Fat Duck is still the 2nd best in the world. Meanwhile Gordon Ramsay was dumped out of the world’s top 50, I wonder if it had anything to do with his pre-packaged meals? Per se at sixth only…. and [...]

Kang’s note: I have a superior treat for you today. This is Paula Sindberg‘s experience at the latest ‘secret’ restaurant to hit London, at The Loft. Paula owns the Ultimate Wine Company.  I promise you’ll like this melange of food, music and design. Over to you P. Ok, first question – what’s a mash-up? Maybe [...]

Bavarian Beerhouse Official Site 190 City Road EC1V 2QH Food £10pp £7.80 for a Stein, YEAH. I can explain. I ordered a half pint and not the full 1.8 pint glory that is the ‘Stein’ because it is technically breakfast. The beerhouse is barely just open at 1pm on a Saturday, somehow I showed up too [...]

Restaurant count: Sixty. Waist growth since blog inception, erm, lets just say I ripped two of my work trousers. Yup, time to launch my totally subjective London Restaurant Must Go list, updated monthly. Think of this as LondonEater’s very own all time premier league of super duper whooper deliciousness rankings meter ultimo list to defeat all [...]

Drumroll please …. and the lucky readers who will get a copy of the Rough Guide to Food are*…. No. 17 – Little Miss Random No. 4  – Ameea No. 32 – The Purple Foodie No. 25 – Sarah Spoon No. 8 – Gudrun *with random number generator Congratulations folks! I’ll get in touch with [...]

Legend has it that Dim Sum is meant to touch your heart, some call it ‘sipping tea’. To me, it’s brunch on a sunday, chinese style with the folks and definitely with the special peeps (that includes you). The Cantonese in me normally shoots for the classic prawn, pork, prawn pork combos be it the dumplings, the cheung funs or the buns, however, the Taiwanese of me suggests that venturing out from the comfort zone once in a while, ain’t a bad thing.

Nahm Official site The Halkin SW1X 7DJ +44 (0) 20 7333 1234 Lunch £20pp  Dinner £60 pp Nahm is the only Thai restaurant in London to have a michelin sparkle around it’s neck. The restaurant is of course Chef David Thompson’s labour of love; Legend has it that the Australian chef who was once ‘seduced [...]

Tap. 12.30pm. Tap. Text. Tap. Oliver Thring. Tap. ‘Just setting off now – see you there.’ Tap. I stopped just outside the market entrance, feeling a little jaded as I attempted to follow my iPhone’s GPS lead. And then, it happened, like a tingle in the gut, I sensed the presence of another ‘one’ who [...]

The amazing people over at Rough guides recently launched a new ’rough guide to food’ and they’ve been kind enough to offer LondonEater readers (yay, you) five free copies of the book. The Rough guide to Food aims to help average Joey Bloggs navigate their way through the wonderful world of food. There’s a wealth of useful information [...]

Ok I know you’ll like this one. As far as I know, the latest foodie craze to hit the Smoke are secret restaurants which nobody seemingly knows about, except everybody does. If you’ve not been to one yet (just google secret underground london restaurants) then this might just be the ultimate one to check out.  [...]

Salt Yard official site 54 Goodge St W1T 4NA 020 7637 0657 Tapas £6 – 8 each The moist potato paste in the salt cod fritters melted in my mouth with loads of umami goodness. The crunch in the crumbly shell, nice. I was led to the basement bit, away from the shimmering sunshine of the [...]

John Torode’s ‘BEEF’ £ 20 John Torode Published by Quadrille Publishing Ltd Quadrille kindly sent me a copy of John Torode’s BEEF to review/buzz/promote. I read through it and wrote up my first cookbook review, ever (yay). I was also kindly given permission to reproduce one of the recipes from the book; I chose the [...]

Lantana Breakfast £10 official blog I finally made a trip out to this much talked about cafe, and it was awesome. I need my breakfast, and this review is now a guest post on the blog A girl has to eat.  [Read the full review there...]

Beetroot meringue, with a little bit of goats cheese. I’m running late. The Hammersmith and city line suddenly decided to pull a district, I’m starving and I should have worn something warmer. So when I got off at Westbourne Grove station, I ran. I ran like my tummy depended on it and when I got there, [...]

So it’s six seven am on Monday. I’ve just opened my favourite excel spreadsheet and sipping down on the hard filter brew Vanessa makes for the bunch of us every morning. No it’s not. It’s Saturday afternoon as I write this. Well, it sort of came early a couple of weekends ago, the sun I [...]

Kang says: How’s your weekend going folks? Any issues with the clocks going forward? I’m doing a little post exchange with the story of how boys and girls need to eat. In this one, a girl has to eat lunch, japanese style. Hope you like this one, a boy will need to eat, breakfast next [...]

This trickled into my inbox yesterday and might be of interest to some of you. BBC Two are going to be filming a new food show called Economy Gastronomy. It’s aiming to be among the first food series to tackle the subject of the recession and  will advise British households on how to slash food bills while [...]

Cha Cha Moon Official Site 151 Queensway W2 4YN 020 7792 0088 Noodles £6 Mini eats £4 Thrist quenchers £3 One, two. Cha cha cha. Three, four. ha ha ha. And again, One, two. he ho ho. Everytime I hear the chachacha, it’s bellbottoms, big bangs and ‘Do the hussle!, du-du-du..’. So far so 1979. [...]

Mark has an interesting perspective about the world. When he contacted me about doing a guest post about food for Global Patriot, I was a little miffed about how a glutinous little bugger like me can ever be a boon to noble causes. Then he explained how he thought that food was one of the ways that connects us all, and through it – the [...]

The River Cafe official site Rainville road W6 9HA 020 7386 4200 Set Lunch £24 for 3cs £32 for 4cs ; Antipasti £10 Primi £15 Secondi £28 Dolci £7 The tides were low and the shallow waters were shimmering. The oddly perfect spring weather was blindingly surreal as I made my way toward the riverside in Hammersmith. There really couldn’t [...]

London does not always have bad weather. Sometimes, it really is awesome. Like this weekend for example. Spring came early and yes, while it’s a breezy 13C , the sunshine is just awesome. Just the colours… the vibrance… I had to do it, the internet deserves to know what a truly awesome place London morphs [...]

Bocca di Lupo official site Meal £30 One dish lunch £10 12 Archer Street W1D 7BB 020 7734 2223 Piccadilly Circus ‘The wolf’s mouth awaits you, in the heart of Soho’ said the wolf, from his mouth. Bocca di Lupo is Italian, and the latest breakout sensation to join the London eating ranks. I’m extremely [...]

The Butcher’s Block, Malmaison Hotel official site 18-21 Charterhouse Sq EC1M 6AH 020 70123700 Three courses £45 pp , wine flight three glasses £30 pp (ave) I get all sorts of food emails these days. Most of the time it’s promotional stuff, sometimes it’s a fellow foodie (or two) though the best one was when [...]

A little birdy has informed me of an online cooking competition for a new consumer event called ‘Best of Britain & Ireland 09’. They have partnered with the excellent lookandtaste.com (formerly ifoods.tv) and  have organised an online cooking competition and are asking for video recipes. The winning entrances will receive a culinary tour in the Cotswold with [...]

Coming back from a two week break can be a disorientating thing. It’s long enough for one to almost forget what home really feels like, heck even the weather seems to have changed since I was last in London. Ah yes, at least I have not forgotten how (and where) to eat (reviews coming on [...]

Yes, I do and while London has a notorious reputation for being an expensive place to dine (and by the way, it really is), I do think that out of the several thousands (I think it’s 8000 restaurants in London, but I ain’t sure) there are more than a few gems out there which are [...]

The word binge is so 2007. I’ve been off for two weeks and the sky is still falling down on London, seriously when is it all going to stop? Did anybody miss me while I was away? I did manage a couple of reviews on my break but my first London restaurant visits will have [...]

Hellew peeps, did you miss me while I was away ? My flight back to Blighty was pain-free but coming back to my day job is none the more painful. I think I must have gained at least five pounds while on holiday, yes and yes - to answer your questions, I did photograph all the vacation food (with my brand spanking new Nikon D90) and I [...]

Kang’s Note: This is the last of this series of guest posts for the £50 competition and it comes from Hillary of Chew on that Blog. This is her 2nd entry and it was originally published on her blog – I think it’s pretty cool, especially the fresh guacamole made fresh in front of you! [...]

Kang’s Note: Oliver Thring of Thring for your supper! opted to articulate a charming bashing of The Light, a nightclub, bar and restaurant (in that order) trying to do too much and ultimately failing to do any single one properly. I love a good rant ( who doesn’t right? ) especially when one is done [...]

Kang’s Note: Jude and Rosie are the London Brighton eating duo defined by the distance between the two places. The Fiftyfourfoodmiles are a road less travelled and Jude has brought back the spirit of blogging with a write-up of Brighton’s Food for Friends with nothing but the power of prose to paint you a picture [...]

Sophie’s Steakhouse & Bar Official site 311-313 Fulham Road SW10 9QH 020 7352 0088 Express Lunch 2 courses £11.50 , Ala carte £30pp I wish I worked closer to central London (or anywhere that does half decent food) because as much as I enjoy the usual paneer tikka, I do daydream about a ‘come and [...]

Kang’s Note: Alright, so Foong runs the great Food site and she makes loads of healthy but delish recipes. There’s two sides to this blogger ( log on to find out why) and she’s gone for a food quirker with this guest post. Yes well apparently they are green worms, it’s tasty stuff , really [...]

Kang’s Note: My forth guest post of the write and win fiddy competition is Hillary of Recipe4living and the chewonthatblog fame, she’s contributed her very first texas BBQ experience and if she says the food is incredible, I’m flying to Texas for it. Start salivating folks! -Kang. This weekend I had the pleasure of visiting [...]

Kang’s Note: Today we have the 5 Star foodie blazing a trail of culinary glory to sample some of the best eateries in the US of A. In this post, she is at the Inn in Virginia and it’s one of those posts which evokes a sense of holiday…… – Kang. The Inn at Little [...]

Carluccios Official Site Heathrow Terminal 5 £12pp, £8.50 set menu There appears to be two choices to eat at Terminal five. Italian cafe behind the bag drop and Sofitel which is like a gazillion miles away and tucked inside – inconveniently- a separate building altogether. My flight is in 45 minutes and I don’t want to risk [...]

Kang’s Note: Today’s guest post comes from the finance foodie who does numbers by day and eats like me by night! FF blogs about the very best five star establishments to the most modest hole in the walls in search of the proverbial gastronomical high. For this trip, she has landed at Chung Shin Yuan [...]

Kang’s Note: Im in grey italics and on the sidelines for the next couple of weeks on holiday and I have turned the virtual podium to eight guest bloggers. The first of which is Gen.u.ine.ness’s feasting at 1 michelin spot Ambassade. I shall say no more, there are 26 pictures and it’s very delish, enjoy folks! [...]

Ok, so I think it’s about time I close submissions for my ‘Write for me and win £50‘ competition and start telling you guys about what to expect next week. I received eight submissions from seven food bloggers and this is the tentative plan of release: Ambassade de L’ile (London, UK) by Kian of Gen.u.ine.ness [...]

Cafe Rouge official site £15 pp 120 High Street St Johns Wood NW8 7SG 02077 228366 For some of us, 2009 will be a year to forget. Page after page, day after day, sometimes I do wonder if the frontpage of the Times will ever smile again. As for the eternal optimist in me, 2009 will be [...]

I’ve always had this idea to use the tube map as an eating guide for anyone wanting to sample highlights of London via the underground – I just didnt really know how ( or more like when ) I could figure it onto this blog. When I was approached by Hillary who edits both Recipe4living [...]

Eat&Read is a weekly round-up of yummi-news from around london and the blogosphere, every Sunday. I take it everyone had a smashing time getting all loved up yesterday? As for myself, I’ve been a busy bee planning content for London Eater over the next couple of weeks. Yes there are a few announcements I need [...]

This is the second guest post I gave away this week and it is being hosted over at Simply Scrumptious. Scrumptious are a foodie duo writing recipes in addition to reviews in and around NY. It’s a breezy foodblog and I think makes for a great Friday read. As for the guest post: I gathered [...]

Are you feeling those butterflies in your tummy yet because V day is only two days away. If my initial valentine list didn’t help any romantic souls and you are still left scratching your head over what to do, then here are a few more suggestions which might help eek out the love … 1. Make a valentine proposal and win £1000 worth [...]

Abeno too Official site 17-18 Great Portland Street WC2H 7JE 020 7379 1160 There are seven stages toward Okonomi-yaki englighment (source: abeno). First there is the arrival, then there is the mixing, after that is the pouring. Shaping then takes place, and comes cooking before it gets the flip. Finally, we decorate for the perfect [...]

I’m excited to continue to have my guest posts kindly accepted by fellow food bloggers. This one goes out to a very dear foodie pal of mine – Jessie over at The Hungry Mouse , I’ve known her and followed her blog since my early days and she’s been an inspiration to me over the past few months. The Hungry [...]

Eat&Read is a weekly round-up of yummi-news from around london and the blogosphere, every Sunday. It has been abit of a winter wonderhell this past week, yeah the snow has been alot of fun but it completely destroyed my shoes ( I bought new clarks for work yesterday ) and forced me to take a [...]

Obika, official site 400 Oxford Street W1A 1AB +44 (0) 870 837 7377 I’m a real sucker for quirky things. I like eating in total darkness and I jumped at the chance to sample a mozzarella bar cheekily tucked away in the middle of the women’s clothes floor inside Selfridges. Before you pass judgement over [...]

Arbutus Official Site 63 Frith Street W1D 3JW 020 7734 4545 Set Lunch £16 , Ala Carte £ 40 (3 courses) I am a feeble little soul afraid to be shamed in public when discovered that what I preach is but a false pretension. Woe is me. I am always slightly nervous whenever I meet [...]

It has been a while since I last wrote about how my little blog was really doing in the wide, wide internet. I have since switched over to sitemeter and slowly overhauled the design and structure of the blog. As a consequence, my sitemeter stats only start from about mid October … I’m a number [...]

Eat&Read is a weekly round-up of yummi-news from around london and the blogosphere, every Sunday. In the month of January, I ate at ten places in London, discovered a one man bossa nova jukebox, garnered 15000 page views and finally tasted ‘that’ Great British pudding that was served to the Queen. I think it’s been [...]

I’m excited, I guest blogged for the very first time! I gave away my very first restaurant review to Gourmet Chick today. It is a visit to Rowley Leigh’s plate lickingly good Anglo-French eatery in Bayswater: Le Cafe Anglais. This darling of the critics did not dissapoint on my visit and the visit was further boosted with a FT [...]

A dollop of off-the-curb eating quirk to brighten up those midweek blues every wednesday or thursdays or both It would be injustice if I – as a food blogger – apparently independent and a rebel against the establishment did not blog about these two food gems floating about the internet at the moment. Show your [...]

I’m a hopeless romantic. I’d like to think that London has an atmosphere for love, lots of intimate hidden away places where two people can duck away from the loud lights of the urban jungle and gaze into each other’s starry eyes until the candles wither away. It’s little over three weeks to V and [...]

Incanto, Official Site 41 High Street Harrow HA1 3HT 0208 426 6767 Set Lunch £20 , Ala carte £40 Everytime I go past Harrow school, I will think of Harry Potter. The apparently (sorry Harrovians) world leading public school has produced such luminaries as Sir Winston Churchill, Julian Metcalfe … and James Blunt. Harrow is a [...]

Photo by rightee Nian Nian Yuo Yu, Mom and Dad. Happy Chinese New Year to you folks. I’m not doing much this year and I’m not going out to China Town - at least not on the first couple of days, I’m sure it will be packed to the brim with people. I haven’t been home [...]

Barraco Official Site 10 Kingsgate Place, Kilburn NW6 4TA 020 7604 4664 £4 starters £8 mains £2 puds and £2 for live music It’s Saturday and you’ve just found the bargain of the year in a Paul Smith suit on sale for £171. On the bus ride home, you decide to hop off a few [...]

Happy friday folks, I’m going to release another restaurant review tonight, but first, this is a quick reminder of my write a restaurant review competition, the deadline is Valentines Day 14th Feb 09. Here’s what you need to do to win:  Eat out Write a review about it (no obscenities please) Must be at least 250 [...]

*Post Update 23/01/2009* I should have mentioned Lantana’s Scrambling Eggs blog.  You’ve just had the meal of your life at Cambio de Tercio, it’s a fine Spanish restaurant. On their business card, they leave you a link to read the Cambio Blog. Upon opening firefox, you see that the blog is written by a number of staff, each of them giving a [...]

Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley, Official site Wilton Place SW1X 7RL (0)20 7235 1200  Knightsbridge Tube £ 75.00 ala carte, £ 35.00 set lunch In the searing heat of the 2006 summer, Jennie Bond presented the first episodes of the Great British Menu. The premise was cook-off between some of the best chefs in the country [...]

Folks, this is the first guest post on London Eater, a warm welcome to Gourmet Chick who has written this brilliant review of the First Floor restaurant. The virtual podium now belongs to the Gourmet Chick.  First Floor Restaurant Official website 186 Portobello Road, London W11 1LA Portobello Road Market is famous around the world.   On a Saturday you can wander [...]

Eat&Read is a weekly round-up of yummi-news from around london and the blogosphere, every Sunday. Gloucester Road, London It was an all too wet affair last night in London as I was entirely soaked by the time I exited Baracca, the most authentic Brazillian cafe in Londres, complete with a one man bossa nova jukebox. [...]

I have been living in and around the Kensington area for little over seven years and I’m glad to say that there are lots of sweet offerings in the vicinity. Since it’s friday, I’d like to keep this one short and sweet. Three spots to hit the next time you are feeling sweet. Your choice [...]

A dollop of off-the-curb eating quirk to brighten up those midweek blues every wednesday or thursdays or both  In London, it’s no real secret that restaurants go for the jugular when it comes to liquid offerings. As if the food is not expensive enough, ( the typical 3 course meal in London was the most [...]

Thank you to the 46 foodies who have voted in the favourite cuisine poll so far. If you haven’t voted yet, you can join in the fun here or if you scroll down, you’ll see it on the right hand side bar. I’m keeping the poll open indefinitely for the time being. So far, the favourite cuisine (s) [...]

I’m heavily promoting my ‘write for me and win £50′ competition, everybody can enter, please do tell all your friends about it, all you need to do is write a food review (minimum 250 words only!) and include at least one picture and email it to me. The best 20 will be published here on LE and put to a vote [...]

St Pancras Grand, official website  St Pancras International Upper Concourse NW1 9QP 020 7870 9900 Picture this. Wake up at 7.30am, have the Arnold Bennett at the Wolseley by 8; I’ll make a start on my copy of the Times, quickly finish up my cappuccino just in time to catch the 9.40 train to Paris [...]

I was in the middle of publishing a new ‘Why Subscribe?’ page to help new readers with RSS subscriptions and thought that the content would actually make for a pretty strong case of ’self-promotion’ . LE is still relatively young and I am always happy to see new readers subscribed to my latest articles. If you like LE, please do forward my [...]

Weekly round-up of yummi-news from around london and the blogosphere, every Sunday. Brought to you, via the magic of the tube and the imagination of Kang the LE. saatchi galleries Yesterday was -3 in London. Much too cold for a protest at Speaker’s corner, today on the other hand looks like a very warm 7C [...]

I feel it is my london foodie duty to report on any special offers which apply to food lovers in London. This the latest one from the Financial Times will give you the opportunity to have your bill halved. Details from the official website below: Have lunch (or dinner where offered*) with the FT and [...]

Tartine restaurant and bar, official website 114 Draycott Avenue, SW3 3AE | 020 7589 4981 £10.00 per tartine , £ 3.50 skinny chips £2.50 coffees A tartine is a slice of bread. The Tartine, on the other hand, is a French eating concept. The concept is simple and Italian loving Londoners familiar with the bruschetta [...]

A dollop of off-the-curb eating quirk to brighten up those midweek blues every wednesday or thursdays or both Photo by The Dana Files The Michelin guide is quite possibly the most prestigious restaurant rating system in the world. Gaining one of these bad boys is like giving a restaurant a license to charge ridiculous amounts of [...]

Some of you will know that in addition to my bloggero duties here, I also put my foodie cap on and provide short restaurant reviews and eating lists for Metrotwin.com. What is Metrotwin.com? It’s a spanking new website which provides lists of exciting places/stuff to do in both New York and London. It’s backed by [...]

 A dollop of off-the-curb eating quirk to brighten up those midweek blues every wednesday or thursdays or both Depending on which part of the far east you travel to, the Durian is actually considered the king of fruit. This is a tropical fruit, so you won’t see it growing in someone’s back garden in Croydon, [...]

I love reading restaurant reviews. Perhaps this comment from Heidi of Savory tv summarises it most succinctly: “Now you know I live nowhere close to London, so why am I reading a London restaurant review? Because I love your writing! And I get to live a bit vicariously through you, living the glamorous restaurant visiting [...]

The Square official website 6-10 Bruton Street, Mayfair W1J 6PU 44 (0) 20 7495 7100 £ 35.00 set menu , £ 75.00 a la carte three courses There is cause for abit of celebration because this is my 100th post. With that, it is only appropriate that I mark this momentous occasion with a write-up on one [...]

Weekly round-up of yummi-news from around london and the blogosphere, every Sunday. Brought to you, via the magic of the tube and the imagination of Kang the LE. Dominion Theatre, Totenham court road Honorable caretaker of the internet tubes, the most gracious LCD of your computer, Ladies and Gentlemen. It is my privilege to usher [...]

In part one, it was all about the big & fluorescent things, in part two we focused on (German) food. Today is the last day of hyde parkero wonderlando and in part three, we conclude this mini-series with a few snaps of the people.  The official site is here. (Almost) Everytime I’m out and about [...]

Square pie , Selfridges 400 Oxford Street W1A 1AB, 020 7318 2460 £5 per pie , £6.99 meal deal with mash, gravy, mushy peas and the whole nine yards. The selfridges food hall is still a thing of wonder ladies and gentlemen. It’s been there for quite a while now -square pie I mean- and [...]

In part one, it was all about the big & fluorescent things, here in part two we focus on the food. It’s almost, an all German, all Bavarian affair. Only two more days left to go. Last day is Sunday 4th Jan folks. The official site is here. At the end of part one, I [...]

Happy new year ! I’m kicking things off in 2009 with a reminder for you to get off the couch and go to Hyde Park this weekend to experience the last few days of the magical winter wonderland …. (3 more days to go before the winter wonderland disappears into thin air and won’t return [...]

This is the first article you are reading on this website (or it isnt, but just go along with it anyway ) . You’re from beyond the shores and wondering what we Brits eat , or perhaps you’re just a little out of reach from the Big Smoke and have always wondered why city wide [...]

You have been kind to me. You keep coming back to visit and you leave your comments on my many posts to lift my spirits. London Eater has been -and still is- a journey for me. I feel as if, I am just a child in the many worlds in which I am trying to [...]

Weekly round-up of yummi-news from around london and the blogosphere. Now released every Sunday and brought to you by a London eater. A snowy christmas eve‘s eve special! Good morrow fellow webbist reader, trust all is merry, jingly and that you have stocked your fridge up and someone is busy in the kitchen (as we speak) shoving all [...]

london eater is the one man eating machine chomping his way through his beloved city of smoke. Londoneater is officially 4 months old..yesterday. To mark the momentous occasion, I went on a rebranding spree and gave it a nice spit-shine. It’s all about minimalism and slickness going into the new year. From now on, I [...]

london eater is the one man eating machine chomping his way through his beloved city of smoke. You remember that song don’t you? You know, that one with Adam Levine and Maroon 5 all those years ago. The opening piano riff, the acoustic guitar coming on. I have to admit, waking up on to do [...]

……….. in case you hadn’t noticed, just a little heads-up.

a dollop of off-the-curb eating quirk to brighten up those midweek blues every wednesday or thursdays or both. (warning: this post is NC-17) This is one of the most hilarious marketing campaigns I’ve ever come across. cnn.com ran a video about FLAME today. ‘What’s FLAME ?’ you might ask; Well it is only the latest body [...]

I was struggling with this one. I think this will be my first non-review-review since it wasn’t my intention to make the trek out to Ealing specifically to eat here. I wouldn’t say that I was dragged either, but for a variety of reasons, I was the self-appointed photo-man for this year’s departmental christmas do. The decision to select charlotte’s place: [...]

You are now reading   intro | one | two | three | four | five | six | part seven It has taken me almost three months to get here, but I’m glad I stuck to my seven part guns and have wrote about one my favourite subjects: wine. In the end, when I’m reflecting on what [...]

Weekly round-up of yummi-news from around london and the blogosphere. Now released every Sunday and brought to you by a London eater. Ranting about oversalt at hibiscus, wondering why a humbug club exists in the UK and reading up on great christmas recipes. Come in and join me won’t you?

Alright, as I write this – the Girls Aloud party is on tv now before the results go live in about 10 minutes. The x-factor marketing vehicle keeps the brand turning with rossopomodoro immortalising the judges by….. pizza. Apparently, the managing director of the italian franchise absolutely loves the show and this was her way [...]

Hibiscus is the highly regarded michelin starred joint maintained by Claude and Claire Bosi. The french couple arrived on the shores of england some 11 years ago and have sinced established a name for themselves here in London. Located in the posh bit between marylebone and oxford street, hibiscus has garnered an exceptional reputation and [...]

You have a strange food fancy don’t you? Let’s face it , weird combinations can and often will turn out better than one might expect. How else could you explain michelin star chefs turning bread into jelly, or working bacon into an ice cream ? Ok, i’m going to out myself here and declare my weirdest food combo: Laksa and [...]

Weekly round-up of yummi-news from around london and the blogosphere. Now released every Sunday and brought to you by a London eater. Apologising for the lack of eater news, introducing the midweek quirkers and watching boris johnson not turn left in the reasonably priced car.

Some of you might have noticed that I missed last sunday’s edition of eating&reading. Thanks to a combination of work related issues, a notorious double charging ticketing machine at the local cinema and other non-mentionables, I was kept completely offline for the entire weekend. I’m still feeling the ripples of withdrawal. To make up for [...]

Jingle bells. It’s not long now before I break out the reindeer sleights and go ho ho ho across the London skyline… hey it’s Christmas – miracles do happen. I’m taking a break from the usual eating, because it’s chrissymas! Chrissymas is one of my favourite holidays because, well, my company is closed for 10 [...]

This review is way overdue. First of all, wild honey’s reputation precedes them, yet I feel like their presence is still relatively low-key. I think of wild honey as the new wave of modern awesome british restaurants serving exciting food and modernising the sour reputation british food carries. Did I mention their three course set [...]

The trust thing All writers want to be read and all seek the reward of trust and consequently the foundation of a loyal readership. That precarious writer-reader relationship is personal and one which I think is dependant on both the skill of the writer and his untold mojo to draw an audience. This trust thing [...]

Whose view do you warm to ? A superstar food critic who writes for the established publishing house or the  living room eater who has a passion for food equal to , if not greater than the aforementioned superstar. A pinch of salt “ Really? ” The first thought that comes to mind when I [...]

My moo cards finally arrived and I thought it’d be nice to talk abit about them. If you do a quick flickr search for moo cards, you’ll find there’s a quite a following for these super cool things. I was surfing around for an appropriate idea for abit of offline blog promotion and came across [...]

There was no way I could miss this monster of an event dubbed the ‘ultimate gourmet food show’ and I didn’t. I spend much of last saturday whizzing around london olympia, nibbling on free samples, being swayed by the latest gimmickry in kitchen technology, sipping free wine and also managed to squeeze in some food in [...]

Weekly round-up of yummi-news from around london and the blogosphere. Now released every Sunday and brought to you by a London eater. My buttons need sewing while I’m on a quest to find more burger, reading up on 25 other ways to use vinegar and blogging about guest bloggers.

You are now reading   intro | one | two | three | four | five | part six | seven I think I’ve covered most of the wine basics in five parts and feel as if this would be the perfect post to write about some alternatives to the grape staple. There is so much stuff out there to try, it [...]

the union chilli burger This is the beginning of the search for the top burgers in london. It’s no real secret that burgers have slowly been devouring the capital in the past few years and I think it’s only appropriate for me to highlight some of the burger bars which are ever-present around town. On this [...]

How is your wednesday going so far? You know, I rarely do these personal ‘bloggie’ type posts to break from the usual eating but yesterday I was tagged by Howard & co who run the excellent sydney food blog eat show and tell , and so thought it would be the perfect excuse to jump in. (wee..) What is [...]

Hello foodies, this is just a quick post, I spotted this post on moneybush about increasing your technorati backlinks and consequently increasing your blog traffic. Interested? All you need to do is copy the list from the original post here , comment on it and then post about it. Go check it out now … [...]

With the explosion of the london posh burger phenomenon at critical mass, I wonder how relatively new boys Byrons stack up against the establishments. Welcome one, welcome all to yet another entry in my loosely connected series of burger posts. Today, I’ve decided to go mini at Byrons, come join me in finding out if [...]

Weekly round-up of yummi-news from around london and the blogosphere. Now released every Sunday and brought to you by a London eater. I’m cruising & dining on the thames, running circles around Maze, thinking about a burlesque show in a seedy venue and making five minute cakes in the microwave.

Everybody does it. The first time they set foot in London, they are sure to hit the embankment area to catch the London eye, possibly the mayor’s offices and take obligatory pictures of tower bridge. After that, the thames just becomes this ‘been there, done that’ non-event. Surely such a scenic river holds much potential. [...]

After a long morning staring at that spreadsheet or coming out from yet another mind numbing meeting with the powers that be, you are greeted by yet more paper pushing. You are very much looking forward to a quiet lunch at your desk, to double check those numbers perhaps and maybe steal a quick minute [...]

Gordon Ramsay looms over British cooking like a big bad shadow. He owns no less than ten restaurants (in the UK) under his label and his formidable marketing machine is used extensively to turn those restaurants into brand names in their own right. All that gloss is seemingly a way of guaranteeing a quality fine dining experience, albeit one that feels [...]

You are now reading   intro | one | two | three | four | part five | six | seven So you’re in restaurant and you’ve ordered all this wonderful food, but looked at the wine list and got stuck. You look up and you feel the stress of a table full of expectant faces giving [...]

Weekly round-up of yummi-news from around london and the blogosphere. Now released every Sunday and brought to you by a London eater. Eating giant pancakes, thinking about the christmas lights on Oxford street and surfing the london blogging community.

The financial storm has descended upon London like a dark cloud and it looks as if it might get worse before it gets better. But you know, that’s not going to change my commitment toward finding that dish in London. I’ve decided to go on the hunt for a cheap meal with no compromise on [...]

I woke up to the BBC that the Barack Obama has brought about change to America. Wow. I have just witnessed history! I somehow feel as if the whole world was unofficially voting for Obama ( inside, we all know it counts ). It’s been so long since I last felt inspired watching a world [...]

The great thing about running a food blog is that people tell me what’s good around town. I thank them and then proceed to said recommended place to eat my heart out. Sushi Hiro is one such place, as recommended by Yenni and in her own words, this is the ‘best kept secret in London’.

A timeout from the usual eating to talk about site stats. After about 53 posts in 2.5 months, I think it’s a good time to stop, wonder and analyse the past in order to find the way forward. I’m following Krista’s lead, one of my favorite London food blogs, Londonelicious, and publishing my traffic numbers [...]

Weekly round-up of yummi-news from around london and the blogosphere. Now released every Sunday and brought to you by a London eater. Eating tapas, upping my twittering campaign and watching Daniel Craig brood his way into a quantum of solace.

The original Gourmet burger kitchen started it’s first outlet in Battersea and since then, their super-sized burgers have exploded across the country with far too many outlets for it to be countable. If you’re looking for a great meal on a shoe-string in today’s crunch-induced environment then GBK might just interest you.

You are now reading   intro | one | two | three | part four | five | six | seven Last week we talked about buying & storing wine. Hopefully you would have found the tips useful. Today, it’s going to be a relatively breezy ( though fairly contentious ) post as we move to [...]

I’m almost always unsure  i I should keep the headings simple or come up with something more elaborate to get you to click on it. If you live in London, you will have heard (and read lots of reviews) about this nice little tapas bar in soho, and if you are planning a visit to London soon [...]

Weekly round-up of yummi-news from around london and the blogosphere. Now released every Sunday and brought to you by a London eater. Reflecting on my hat-tips, rethinking frog sashimi and covering the ultimate gourmet food show to hit London.

There’s only so many ways I can photograph a business card, but that’s all Hache burgers left me with after my visit to Timeout’s best burger place. I didn’t understand their refusal for pictures but I tell you what, I might have just ate the best fish burger… ever.

I wanted to come up with a big headline, but thinking about it, there was really only one emotion. Getting awards from fellow food bloggers is just rewarding. I must say, it’s really quite uplifting knowing that there are people out there who read my posts and also enjoy reading them. I am (almost) lost [...]

Borough market is the tour de force of a food market situated in the heart of London. After much procrastination, I finally paid a visit to the famed market and started off my photo essay in part one. I last left you on a sweet and smelly note with dulce de luche & some black [...]

Graduation ceremonies in central london can be a rather colourful affair, everyone dressed up, glowing parents & excited extended family, all except the rather dreary and downright boring ceremony. Are you wondering why I’m blogging about ceremonies instead of food?

You know people often ask me where I find out about things to do in the city and my usual answer is “well I just do” . Strictly speaking, that’s an exaggeration because I don’t always “just do”. That part is alot of reading, spotting adverts, recommendations from peeps and just generally keeping my “just [...]

QGTW now reading    intro | one | two | part three | four | five | six | seven Did you manage to put your new tasting skills to good use? Cool, we are about the half-way point in this series and I hope that you’re finding this helpful. If there’s anything you’d like to have included, [...]

I love going to markets. I love independent producers who passionately pour their heart into their stock. In a world of mass-market consumerism with pre-packaged food manufactured with questionable methods; food is the last thing you want homogenised. Last weekend, I paid a visit to the ‘award-winning’ ( closer to opinion winning) Borough Market in [...]

Weekly round-up of yummi-news from around london and the blogosphere. Now released every Sunday and brought to you by a London eater  Reflecting on McCain’s eccentricity, mulling over ice skating and thinking about over-frosting cakes… all from the comfort of my brand new macbook.

Its a trend. London’s like that, stuff comes in and out of fashion. Wine bars used to be ( long long ago, in a galaxy far, far away) cool, then it kinda died but now its back and its all the rage. When I was hunting for one to write about, I thought it would [...]

It is true british food has a bad reputation. It’s so bad even british people think so too… but not everybody. There is a growing contingent ( or I should say, one that has always been there, but just very quiet ) who know that British food is more than curry chips and fried fish. [...]

Apologies guys, just let you know part 3 of the quickie wine guide is not going to be released this week, instead it’ll be published next tuesday. Since I caught the flu bug, my productivity has nose-dived like the FTSE 100. In addition, I’m in the process of shifting all my stuff to my new computer, [...]

I love visiting wine shops, most feature these cool and creaky wooden floors. A little musky and dusty, in London the shopkeepers are almost always very cheerful and friendly. I mean, you got to be if your job is to sell not just a drink, but an experience to your customer.

Weekly round-up of yummi-news from around london and the blogosphere. Now released every Sunday and brought to you by a London eater  A  look back at the past week of the eating blind,  summer revival and….

This is course number three. Seared foie gras, baby artichokes with a delicate pineapple sorbet and a salad of wild leaves. Notice the glassy looking sheet sitting on the sorbet, that’s peppered sugar. Oh yes, peppered sugar. Are you ready for this?

There are only a few places in Europe where you can find a restaurant which does this. Fortunately for us folks in London, you can experience this at Dans le Noir. No I’m not pulling your leg, this is a genuine restaurant and a very real concept.

There has been alot of talk of a UK foodblogging meet up ever since my stumble post a couple of weeks ago. Well, consider this an official shout-out to all UK foodbloggers. I know that many of my foodie pals are already on foodbuzz, and alot of you are already feature publishers. (sorry had to take off the [...]

QGTW now reading    intro | one  | part two | three | four | five | six | seven     Welcome back folks. Last week we talked about what the different grape varietals were and their fundamental characteristics. Did you try the Diablo Pinot or the Dr Loosen Riesling? If not, maybe I didnt entice you [...]

Fast-food is slowly being redressed as proper food. Take burger joints for example. They have been ‘gourmet-ised’ and have been springing up all over the capital. Smollensky’s burger shack is one of them. I get peckish when I’m out and about, so I decided to drop a visit.

Weekly round-up of yummi-news from around london and the blogosphere. Now released every Sunday and brought to you by a London eater  A  look back at the past week of Jamie’s ministry of food, the return of the British autumn (winter ?), what’s cooking and who’s eating.

Following my scoop! post a few weeks ago, I went on abit of an ice cream rush before summer ended. Ciao is smack in the centre of Leicester square..ok that’s an exaggeration, its more like behind Leicester square and yes that headline is not a joke, they really do spaghetti ice cream here. Got your [...]

Gather round guys because I want to tell you about the next best thing that’s just been unleashed on the internet.

  Foodies among you will know of this wonderful food network called foodbuzz where you can make friends with foodies and see what deliciousness is being whipped about in and around the community. I’ve made lots and lots of new foodie pals over there and generally love it! I managed to send off my feature publisher [...]

The last time I did a photo essay was my welsh monkfish tales post. Shot in the Old Kings arms hotel restaurant, I am still yet to post about my 2 1/2 month trip to southern Wales. I’ll do so soon, lots of pretty food pictures, and lots of great food.  I’m sure you all [...]

There are lots of reviews of this nice little noodle place just off Leicester Sq station. Pretty much everybody roundly praised its fresh noodles and the excellent value. Most recently, Timeout showered it with praise and bestowed upon it the runner-up for best cheap eat of 2008. Bloggers like delightful eggtarts wrote a pretty comprehensive review [...]

QGTW now reading    intro | part one | two | three | four | five | six | seven Love wine? Me too, now let’s talk about it, all about it and from the very beginning. Here’s a little index of what’s covered in this post: A brief exposition Wine is good for you Everybody loves somebody else [...]

Weekly round-up of yummi-news from around london and the blogosphere. Now released every Sunday and brought to you by a london eater Yup thats official, a look back at the past week of latest news, offers, updates, what’s cooking and who’s eating.

Wine shops in London are cool. The Sampler is particularly cool. Why? Because you get to try 80 bottles all at once. A very interesting concept that is the first ever to be implemented in this country. Yes, you are looking at the concept right now. The little metal tubes sticking out from the top [...]

I’m doing things slightly different today. Crispy fried calamaries, sliced for convenience, dressed with black squid ink and garnished with lime. Simple, effective, appetising. By now, I’m ready for oxtail and apple foam. Seven reviews in search of that dish, the question must have crossed your mind: What is London Eater’s absolute favorite? It’s time I address that question. [...]

We should stick together, I’m bringing us all in this post. This is also my way of saying a big thank you to everyone, also think of this as a little ice breaker too, I’m sure some of you have met each other, and some haven’t, either way, we are all here to to share [...]

Every foodieblogger wants to share their deliciousness with as many foodies as possible, but it sometimes can be difficult driving traffic to your blog. We do our part to keep involved in the blogosphere, thank goodness for foodbuzz and all the wonderful new foodie friends I’ve made, leave comments on other foodie blogs we enjoy [...]

So the story goes… While in college, two friends decided to pass on the usual fat & furious delights and wanted do healthy. So they wandered into a ‘specialist’ food shop, picked up hummus, olive oil and pitta bread. One of them said “I could eat a meal like that everyday”. The other one stopped talking, an idea [...]

Wow, what great weather! It’s late september but summer has finally arrived. I knew it, all those months of rain and cold have finally given way to sunshine. I understand what global warming is doing to the world now – its pushing the seasons back a few months. Its been a pretty hectic week so [...]

QGTW now reading    intro | one  | two | three | four | five | six | seven Wine. One of life’s simple pleasures. Like great food, wine doesn’t have to cost an arm or limb to taste great, it just does. I think of wine as an artform in itself, a craft that has been mastered by man, but so [...]

I removed the white padding around the page to give it a tighter look. Do you like it? Some of you, may have noticed the new logo, I’ve done away with the 960px by 240px banner and replaced it with a slim line 140px version. I’m going for the slicker look – hope its working [...]

It is friday and time to loosen those ties and go nuts. Woo. Some new upgrades going on here on londoneater, I’ve revamped the restaurant review page to add a nifty google maps feature. All thanks to Avi Alkalay for his excellent tutorial and plug-in to make it all magically work! Clicking on any of [...]

We have a shortage of good, great British restaurants. There has been so much press lately about how crap British food really is, but you know I wonder, is it really that bad? Everybody has heard about a certain Jamie ranting about how food in this country is the ‘new poverty’. Conversely, there has been positive media on [...]

Thanks to everyone who’s been visiting this site, I know it’s still alot of WIP, but I’m slowly and steadily adding more content now. The aim is to try and post something every other day in a different category. So my plan looks alittle like this so far: Day 1 - Restaurant Review Day 3 - Review [...]

I have to talk about the interior. Its got really retro, old wood that look like they’ve been up since the 70’s, and one of the things you’ll notice is the cramped space, appropriately cosy.   The red walls feature a lot of interesting items with throwback new age artwork, big vintage clocks, mandolins and the ceiling [...]

The sun came out last weekend after grim forecasts that it was suppose to be a wash-out. Life, often strange and unpredictable, always seeks to surprise doesnt it? Hot weather can mean only one thing after spending hours pounding the streets of London, ice cream.

Sushi is sometimes misunderstood as the culinary delight of raw fish when it actually refers to vinegar-ed rice and roughly translates to meaning sour. Definitions aside, sushi is one of my favourite types of food, its healthy (only 3% fat apparently), simple and tastes great.

I have a confession to make. I’m not actuallly in london at the moment. I’m sightseeing in Wales. Stopping at the township of Pembroke, featuring old castles, swans, 30mph winds and heavy rain. Did i mention the winds? fishy pictures  I was reading about photo essays on the digital photography school blog and thought it would be quite interesting [...]

Fish and chips is a national symbol. The reason I say so is because everybody has their own personal experience of it. If you ask someone where their favourite chippie is, you’ll get this long gaze (like he’s going down memory lane), with a lowered voice, they go ’i know this place…’. You can tell from their facial expressions [...]

What is your favourite meal? Doesnt have to be proper, just something that puts a smile on your face. Can you think of it? Let me give you a hand. Take a deep breath.

Royal china is a popular destination for those wanting to experience proper dim sum in London. Located just round the corner from queensway tube station, one could also manage a brisk walk through hyde park,weather permitting of course. a brief history of sunday breakfast, chinese style  For the uninitiated, dim sum is a specific chinese cuisine which is usually [...]

Fear not, londoneater.com is alive and well, I’ve not abandoned my beloved project (yet). You’ll be glad to know I’ve been hard at work putting together all the elements of this site. For the fortunate few who have been visiting lately, you will have noticed several changes. The logo has been rehashed a few times, the widgets [...]

I‘ve lived in london for six years and eaten some great stuff. But when it came time to start writing my first review, I didn’t know where to begin. And so, I do what I usually do when I’m in full contemplation – I have breakfast at Balans.

I just dugg myself. If all works well, then you should see the digg me button above, and to make sure it really works, you can digg me. Shameless publicity stunt to gain popularity, I do try. Right now, I’m in the process of adding some bells and whistles to the site. I think I’ve settled [...]

This will be the first in a series of non-food related entries. You might (or might not) be interested in following a fledgling blogger starting out. Ok, so..where do I begin. I love food. Check. I want to write about food. Check. I got WordPress running. Check. Hmm, so where do I go from here? I cannot [...]