It is very rare for any restaurant to gain a Michelin star within less than a year of opening. It’s even rarer in Cardiff. Tom Waters and his team have, however, done so – at Gorse. The Welsh capital now has its first starred venue. The recognition is deserved, as a recent visit confirmed.
In the culinary desert that is Paddington Basin, Ayllu offers a rare bright spot. Even if not quite yet the finished product, the venue is on the right track. The premise of ‘affordable fine dining’ – the restaurant’s self-defined pitch – is a laudable one. Go, if not for the food and service, then certainly for the atmosphere
A visit to La Rei Natura was one of the most memorable your author has experienced anywhere recently. Sure, truffle was in abundance, but chef Michelangelo Mammoliti showcased a master class in daring to be different. His restaurant’s two Michelin stars were richly deserved. At the age of 40, he may not be at the peak of his culinary excellence yet – and a third star could be imminent.
Anyone who eats out regularly will know that after a while all meals begin to merge into one. It takes something truly astonishing to be memorable. The suckling pig cooked by Nieves Barragán at Sabor is one of those dishes. Your reviewer still dreams of it regularly. It was therefore with excitement that he visited the chef’s second restaurant. However, if Legado is intended as Barragán’s ‘legacy’ (the word translated from Spanish), then it is a disappointing one.
In a world where dining is so often about the next hot trend, experiments with fusion and Insta-friendliness, it’s a reassuring thing of beauty to find a classic French brasserie. Located in a leafy Oxford suburb, Pompette is the sort of place where you could happily go for lunch and never leave. This is perhaps the aim of the owners, since translated, the name means ‘tipsy.’ Crack on with the wine and leave happy.
In the culinary desert that is Paddington Basin, Ayllu offers a rare bright spot. Even if not quite yet the finished product, the venue is on the right track. The premise of ‘affordable fine dining’ – the restaurant’s self-defined pitch – is a laudable one. Go, if not for the food and service, then certainly for the atmosphere
A visit to La Rei Natura was one of the most memorable your author has experienced anywhere recently. Sure, truffle was in abundance, but chef Michelangelo Mammoliti showcased a master class in daring to be different. His restaurant’s two Michelin stars were richly deserved. At the age of 40, he may not be at the peak of his culinary excellence yet – and a third star could be imminent.
Anyone who eats out regularly will know that after a while all meals begin to merge into one. It takes something truly astonishing to be memorable. The suckling pig cooked by Nieves Barragán at Sabor is one of those dishes. Your reviewer still dreams of it regularly. It was therefore with excitement that he visited the chef’s second restaurant. However, if Legado is intended as Barragán’s ‘legacy’ (the word translated from Spanish), then it is a disappointing one.
In a world where dining is so often about the next hot trend, experiments with fusion and Insta-friendliness, it’s a reassuring thing of beauty to find a classic French brasserie. Located in a leafy Oxford suburb, Pompette is the sort of place where you could happily go for lunch and never leave. This is perhaps the aim of the owners, since translated, the name means ‘tipsy.’ Crack on with the wine and leave happy.
Even three years after opening, it is still very hard to get a table at the Tamil Prince. And rightly so. The restaurant may be off the beaten track, located in a restored pub in Barnsbury, but perseverance pays off. Get lucky with a booking (they can only be made 28 days in advance for a venue that has just 40 covers) and make the visit. Diners won’t be disappointed.
Pubs were pretty grim places to eat forty years ago, when Tina Turner sang “we don’t need another hero.” Fortunately, a lot has changed for the better in the world since. To witness the pub in 2025, diners should check out the Hart in Marylebone. Brought to London by the same team behind the Hero (and the Fat Badger), we need more pubs like this.
There is something wonderfully comforting about a roaring log fire, particularly on a blustery day. The one at Hartwell House, a Jacobean pile now owned by the National Trust on the edge of the Chilterns, was a particularly good and warming one. It was also, arguably, the highlight of our recent visit. Food was forgettable and service left quite a bit to be desired.
If Soho’s Kingly Court dining complex is an incubator for restaurants, then Goldies is destined for bigger things. Perhaps we should not be surprised, since it is backed by the team behind the now sadly closed Blanchette. The angle at Goldies is comfort food in a casual dining format. Guests might not want to leave.
If you wanted to create “the most accomplished and ambitious project devoted to Spanish gastronomy in Europe,” then the City of London with its staid suited bankers might not be the first location that springs to mind. Regardless, Hispania – whose website is the source for this quote – is a gem of a venue. Décor, food and ambience all provide a reason to visit.
“But why do you always choose new restaurants?” The question was put to your reviewer by a long-standing friend and sometime dining comrade recently. He continued, “surely if you rated them previously, then they must still be good.” We’re all fascinated by the novel, and there is a certain imperative as a reviewer to check out hot new openings. However, return visits to a pair of old favourites – coincidentally days apart – confirmed that sometimes it is best to stick to the tried and tested.
Drive 120 miles southwest of London and you reach the bucolic Somerset town of Bruton. With several top restaurants (including one Michelin-starred venue – Osip), it’s been a foodie destination for some time. For a taste of the region lazy Londoners can journey just to Mayfair. Farm Shop is a cool venue – both retail outlet and restaurant.
A venue without either a formal entrance or a menu might not be everyone’s idea of a fun experience. But this is precisely the point. Create a mystery and you make things kind of cool. There’s a cachet value – you’re either in on it, or you’re not. Such is the zeitgeist of 2025 London. Overcome your prejudices and visit the Fat Badger. You will not be disappointed.
The Brighton dining scene seems to go from strength to strength. Kindling, open now for just over a year, is a worthy addition. Its frontage leaves nothing to the imagination, with the words ‘simply steak’ written just below the venue’s name. This, however, does Kindling a disservice. There’s more than meat on the menu and execution elevates the restaurant.
If you want to lunch with Lucien or dine with Damian (Freud and Hirst respectively), then Mount Street Restaurant might be the place for you. Rumour has it that £50m worth of art hang on its walls. If only the kitchen produced food that was sufficiently exulted to match the quality of the paintings. Mount Street might look impressive, but the food felt to us like posh pub grub – at Mayfair prices.
It would be easy enough to live in London and never know of the existence of Violet Hill. Once in this small district nestled between Maida Vale and St John’s Wood with a cute park, it would equally be quite possible to walk past Kotta Sushi without appreciating it. Your reviewer has lived in the area for over 25 years and yet a recent visit was his first. It won’t be his last.
There should be a lot to like about Chewton Glen. A 5-star hotel dominated by an 18th-century manor set in 130 acres of impressive grounds on the coastal side of the New Forest. The main room where guests dine is beautiful too – light-filled and spacious with a pleasant hum of atmosphere. Although a lovely experience, neither the food nor the service quite hit London standards – a curse that so often afflicts posh country hotels.
It started with a faint twitch, or nervous restlessness. There was an almost involuntary desire to pull out the phone and snap away. Your author even managed to resist the temptation to quiz the servers about what made their dishes special. As an (unintentional) experiment, Gourmand Gunno spent two consecutive nights in restaurants without a plan to review either.
Carthusian monks were onto a good thing 900 years ago when they settled in Priorat. Located in the foothills of Catalonia, this remote region was the source of a monastery called Scala Dei. Translate the Latin to English and you get ‘stairway to heaven’, an apt metaphor for the dining delights of the area. A burgeoning boutique food and wine scene is underway in the region, as your reviewer and his comrades discovered on a recent trip.
