Mediterranean, Marylebone
Alex Gunz
Mour: Left wanting

One key rule in marketing is that if you name something with a homophone then be prepared for the obvious jokes. Mour, a new Mediterranean restaurant, is not a homage to Moorish cuisine but an abbreviation of the street (Seymour) on which it is based. If its website is to be believed, “life is better with more.” Your reviewer agrees with this sentiment and did enjoy Mour but was left wanting – cue the inevitable punchline – more.

Mour: Left wanting
British, Kensal Green
Alex Gunz
Paradise by way of Kensal Green: Few fine things

If restaurants were judged on names alone, then Paradise ought to win prizes. Located minutes from one of the most famous Victorian cemeteries, the resting place was immortalised in a 1927 GK Chesterton poem. In The Rolling Road, he declaimed “for there is good news yet to hear and fine things to be seen, before we go to Paradise by way of Kensal Green.” Your reviewer was disappointed that there were not more fine things on offer at a recent visit to this W10 restaurant.

Paradise by way of Kensal Green: Few fine things
British, King's Cross
Alex Gunz
Island: Stranded

Not that your reviewer knew it at the time, but it seemed kind of fitting that DJ Seinfeld’s club classic “These Things Will Come To Be” was playing when he walked into Island on a recent evening. There is a lot to like Island, but there are also some major flaws. Island feels kind of stranded at present, in need of a more coherent gameplan.

Island: Stranded
Italian, Queen's Park
Alex Gunz
Ida: Pasta’s coming home

Italy may not be in this summer’s football World Cup, but were there a similar competition for food, then the country would be a sure-fire championship contender. For everything that is great about Italian food, diners should visit Ida, a neighbourhood gem in northwest London. A trip to this venue is like stepping into a bona fide trattoria.

Ida: Pasta’s coming home
Italian, Rome
Alex Gunz
Ristorante Sibilla: Where dining meets history

If restaurants are experiences more than merely meals, then Sibilla plays in the premier league. The approach tells you everything you need to know: perched on a hillside above the river Aniene, guests know that they are set for a show. Combine a stunning location with top-notch local cooking plus a comprehensive wine list and you have a winning formula.

Ristorante Sibilla: Where dining meets history

Marylebone

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Maroush V (November 2012)

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Go here for the food, not the atmosphere. Maroush (and indeed many of its peers) on the Edgware Road work superbly well not just because of the food but also because of the atmosphere. I (and I would imagine many other ‘western’ diners) go here because of its authenticity: the clientele is predominantly Middle Eastern, the conversation lively, the pace frenetic and the whole experience somewhat akin to being thrust into a much more local environ.