Dip & Flip

I very recently moved to South West London and have suddenly discovered the Bossam oasis that is New Malden. Dip & Flip has also recently moved into the area with the opening of their Wimbledon outpost. This follows the success of the Clapham shop –…

Quality Chop House

I’m doing things in reverse which is sometimes a good thing. Some restaurants do dip in quality after the initial opening buzz dies down, but those that hang around do get better with sharper recipes and evolutionary innovation (Did I just write an oxymoron?). This…

Le Chabanais (CLOSED)

10.30pm. Out from Goncourt station to Le Chateaubriand, the coolest bistro in Paris. The mysterious appeal of the quintessential modern bistro. It has those lived-in, well-maintained features from before Inaki’s time like those mosaic tiled floors, wood panels, yellowing white walls taking on a patina…

Social Wine and Tapas

So here we are at Jason Atherton’s next in his vastly expanding campaign for global dominance. This would be number 19 or 20 since 2011, I think? You already know about his trail blazing from his Maze days, through to Pollen Street, the diffusion Socials…

Engawa

Yes, Wagyu is back in Britain, but at what price and what sort of quality? Skepticism was the immediate reaction to Engawa’s Kobe beef claims. A regular misnomer claimed by some restaurants to generally describe fatty beef of questionable provenance. But this is apparently the…

Bao Soho

Get ready to queue up again.. What a fairy tale success story this has been! No doubt, you will have followed the entrepreneurial trio’s humble starts from their KERB days, then through to their growth at Netil market with a cosy, steamy clean-cut wooden six…

Portland

LondonEater in HD. It might take longer to load (sorry) but these are purer visuals (no sidebars). So what’d you reckon? Can you believe these are from Leica glass made in the 1950s ? Can you spot which are from the iPhone6 ? So I…

HKK CNY 2015

DISCLAIMER : RESTAURANT INVITATION. I DID NOT PAY FOR THIS MEAL. A couple of weeks ago, I received an email from Hakkasan’s marketing peeps for an invite to try their 2015 Chinese New Year Menu at Chef Tong’s HKK in the city. And since it’s…

Zi Yat Heen vs Ming Court

Since Chinese New Year is here, I thought I’d put up a mega post. Firstly though, I would like to wish you 恭賀新禧, 龙马精神 and hope you have a smashing 年夜飯. My dad celebrated a milestone last year, and the family decided on a massive…

Berners Tavern

I can’t believe it took me over a year, but from now on, I’m going to make it here every Friday. Look at the dining room; This is heaven. Forget C&K, McNally or Caring, because the once Le Protege has outdone them all. This has…

The Manor

The people behind perhaps the most exciting restaurant of 2013 have opened The Manor in late November this year, and along with the opening of The Delicatessen soon, these guys look set to take 2015 by storm. Actually, I still haven’t been to The Diary,…

Lyle’s

Yup, exactly like Marina said, this is baby St John, but maybe I’d go a bit further and say St John with Japanese influences. It probably comes as no surprise since James Lowe and John Ogier had cut their teeth at St John Bread & Wine.…