Crocker’s Folly was my local boozer when I first moved to London.. When the venue reopened as a restaurant in 2014. I visited and was highly disappointed by the service, uninspiring food and poor value for money. With some time having elapsed, a return trip was merited. In summary, Crocker's remains as stunning as ever, while the menu now has a dedicated Middle Eastern focus. The combination of opulent Victorian architecture and Lebanese-style food may seem like an incongruous one, but it kind-of works.
Sketch – The Lecture Room & Library: Not just a meal, but an experience
Fifteen years is a long time, particularly for a restaurant in London. Yet, since 2003, Sketch has remained a unique venue, a cavern of opulence and decadence, which also serves exceptionally good food. It is no mean feat for Sketch still to be almost as trendy now as when it opened and the fact that it is only one of nine locations in London to hold two Michelin stars speaks to the quality of its offering. Diners should be prepared for an experience.
Zuma: Living the dream
Zuma has become almost an institution on the London dining scene. Even more than 10 years on from opening it can still be hard to get a table here. It would be easy for a restaurant in such a position to dine out on its success, but standards have stayed consistently high. A recent lunchtime visit demonstrated that the food remains as good as ever. The atmosphere, however, left quite a lot to be desired.
Mee Market: Casual Korean hits the spot
It’s arguably harder for a restaurant in Soho to succeed than any other spot in London. Such is the range of options that dining spots need to do something different in order to survive. Mee Market has taken an innovative approach, combining retail outlet, takeaway counter and eating space all in one location
Sea Containers: All at sea
The Harcourt: Mixed messages
It’s a puzzle trying to decide how to describe the Harcourt. Maybe as a first stab, it is a traditional English pub with Scandinavian influences offering food from the region with a modern European twist. The venue’s website (un)helpfully has the catchy moniker, “old, but new.” Confused? So were my comrade and I when we dined at the Harcourt on a recent weekday evening. There was a great atmosphere, but the food was not sufficiently impressive to justify the prices charged
Marianne: Don’t shout too loudly, but…
A Tenth Wedding Anniversary is a significant event and so choosing a restaurant in which to celebrate is no trivial matter (especially for an amateur food critic). Nonetheless, after little consideration, my comrade and I elected Marianne. This was the third time we have visited it – and we have never been disappointed yet. Arguably, it is the best place to go for an intimate fine dining experience in London...
Le Boudin Blanc: An unwelcome step back in time
The last time is visited Le Boudin Blanc was a decade ago. It felt dated then, and even more so now. Clearly the place must be doing something right since it was packed when I visited on a recent weekday lunchtime, but to my mind the place demonstrates almost everything that is bad about restaurant culture.
Hoppers St Christopher’s Place: Dream food, but menu nightmare
Do you know your hopper from your dosa; your kothu from you kari, or your chutney from your sambol? What’s the correct number of all/any of these dishes to order? And should you combine these with some ‘short eats’ or maybe a ‘rice and roast?’ By now, readers have probably got the story: Hoppers has one of the least comprehensible and potentially most unwelcoming menus in London. That said, once you do eventually get to the food, it’s pretty damn good.
C London: Opinion unrevised
Four years may have passed since my last visit to C London, but it seems little has changed: here, we are definitively in the world of moneyed Mayfair where the well-heeled and wannabee celebrities still come to dine. The food is excellent; the service somewhat less so. For mere mortals, prices remain eye-watering and undoubtedly better value (and experiences) can be found elsewhere
Bombay Bustle: Full marks
Ginger Bistro: Great expectations (December 2017)
“Voted best restaurant in Northern Ireland” runs the caption on Ginger Bistro’s website. Similarly, when we mentioned in passing to the receptionist at our hotel that we would be dining there, we were greeted with a response along the lines of ‘wow, how did you get a table?!’ Inevitably, therefore, expectations ran high for our visit. Sadly, they were disappointed...
Southam Street: Style over substance (December 2017)
Southam Street sees the transformation of a formerly grotty pub at the non-fashionable end of Notting Hill into a destination venue offering cocktails, food and a members’ club. Based on a recent visit, the owners are definitely doing something right. My comrade and I liked the vibe, but were perhaps less impressed with the food. In the end, this may not matter – the angle Southam Street seems to be going for is perhaps more style than substance...
The Peasant: More chic than rustic (November 2017)
The word peasant conjures up somewhat bucolic images of the English past; labourers and farmhands toiling away in the fields and the like. It perhaps, therefore, seems a strange name with which to adorn a pub, particularly in the trendy London district of Clerkenwell. There is nothing rustic about the venue and its prices would probably turn even many modern-day peasants away. Nonetheless, the venue is cool and offers a good range of beers and competently executed dishes.
Isabella: Bella! (November 2017)
Nestled in the centre of Old Town Hastings, Isabella is a restaurant that ticks all the boxes – lovely atmosphere, great food, friendly service and wonderful value for money. Much like the vibe of the town, the charm of the restaurant is in how despite the seemingly eclectic and disorganised nature of the place, the end-result hangs together perfectly.
Ikoyi: Jollof cuisine – not the next big thing (November 2017)
Part of the beauty of the London dining scene is that there is a plethora of choice. Like the citizens of this city, there is huge diversity. However, the darker side of the city’s culinary dynamism is that it is relentlessly Darwinian: if you don’t get it right, you will fail. The statistics bear this out: some 50% of central London restaurants shut within a year of opening. I fear Ikoyi may be one of them.
Mere: A top experience (November 2017)
Bertha's Pizza: Keep it simple (November 2017)
Bristol has seen quite a redevelopment of its dockyard area in recent years and Bertha's comprises one of a group of relatively new dining outlets located just beyond the M-Shed. Decorated in bright hues, the place sets itself up as a fun, family-friendly sort of venue. Or at least this was our view. The menu, however, suggested a severe deviation from this proposition, so much so that even the adults struggled with some of the pizza options. Message to Bertha's: keep it simple...
Gogi: Gone downhill (November 2017)
When it opened in 2013, Gogi offered something different amid the rather staid Little Venice dining scene. Based on how busy the restaurant was on a recent Friday night when my comrade and I visited, Gogi must clearly still be doing something right. However, we could not help feeling that food standards had slipped, the place was poor value for money and the service little more than perfunctory.
Flavour Bastard: Eye-catching (November 2017)
It’s a pity that the first thing any diner will think when they encounter this restaurant almost certainly relates to its name. Sure, it’s pretty silly (but surely no worse than Sexy Fish?), but that’s half the point – it gets people talking; they’re curious about the place, maybe intrigued enough to go and discover what the buzz is all about. My comrade and I were impressed during our visit, and sufficiently so that I would return.