Food and Drink

Walk in to any Sam Smiths pub and you'll enter a time machine that exports you back to the same drinking environs that would have been enjoyed by your grandparents in their heyday. The decor is antiquated, the cost of a pint is rounded to the nearest penny and there's a resolute ban on sport and music blaring out from sound systems. And following a recent announcement, swearing will also be banned in their 300-plus pubs after their owner, Humphrey,...

Launched this week, Waterloo Food Month runs through July. A month long programme of food and drink-based events around Waterloo, featured events will include immersive workshops, master classes, talks from experts and various tastings. Culminating with the event, Bridget Virden from the community-focussed Meanwhile Club in Waterloo held a ‘Make, Do & Mend’ workshop, focusing on herbs as a key ingredient in summer cocktails. Sharing a wealth of knowledge with participants on creating a simple kitchen herb garden, the drinks...

Currently experiencing a monumental surge in popularity, research company EuroMonitor suggests that gin will overtake whisky as the nation’s favourite spirit by 2020. The same report reveals sales of gin and Scotch whisky almost broke even last year, but it’s hardly surprising, considering so many whisky distilleries have begun to experiment with gin. Taking far less time to produce, ultimately leading to faster turnaround and higher profit margins, most of the gins enjoyed in the UK (more than 70 per-cent)...

We all recall when Thai food was the ‘thing of the moment’ a few years ago. I even remember my local pub at the time serving Thai food rather than classic pub grub, so it’s hard to imagine that any of us are strangers to Pad Thai. Thai Square has been bringing Thai food to the UK for the last 21 years. After opening its first restaurant in 1996, the group now boasts 13 restaurants, each still promising authentic, balanced...

Strength: 5.8% ABV Brewed: Chicago, Illinois Inspired by his travels of Europe, through which he managed to experience some incredible tasting beers from the continent, John Hall launched Goose Island Beer Company in 1988. Now one of America’s most popular craft breweries, Goose Island operates from Chicago, a city that was at the time an ideal start with plenty of rapidly evolving tastes, also aided by the the largest fresh water system on the planet. Launched as a limited release earlier...

How many ducks must needlessly suffer to sate Dan Doherty’s ego? Following the colossal success of Duck & Waffle a ‘local’ version of London’s highest restaurant has recently opened behind Piccadilly Circus. If the ‘local’ tag is anything to go by – this new space is specially targeted at the fourteen people wealthy enough to boast a Westminster postcode. Looming over the square mile - on the 40th floor of Heron Tower - the original Duck & Waffle’s panoramic views...

Brits will spend 18 months of their lives mulling over what to eat, a study has found. A poll of 2,000 adults found the nation’s love of food means an average of around 35 minutes every day is spent thinking about, choosing, or discussing what to eat. That amounts to around four hours a week or the equivalent of almost nine days over the average year. On top of that, the average adult will also spend 46 minutes a month...

Until recently, I felt like the only person in London with an Instagram account, still yet to visit The Ned. Quite honestly, I could have probably lived without a trip to Soho House’s new landed cruise ship, if not for the torrent of social media photographs from a tribe of pretty people with unexciting jobs and unlimited access to the rooftop infinity pool. Suddenly I'd become affronted with serious fear of missing out, so decided to visit for dinner with a...

A vast melting pot of cultures, London is filled with an eclectic mixture of restaurants experimenting with various national cuisines – some classic, others contemporary. Within the past five years, Peruvian food has become hugely popular across the city, with a continuous stream of exciting new restaurant openings. One particular Latin American dish to have found international acclaim – ceviche - typically features raw fish cured with citrus juice and spiced with chilli peppers or ají (a pungent chilli generally...