Restaurants

Pan-Asian cuisine has become so oversaturated in London, it’s often distinguish between the bad and the utterly atrocious. With the opening of so many restaurants serving a mix of Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, Taiwanese and Laotian food, a great deal have roots far more British than the menus may suggest. Of these, though, chef Chris Denney’s experimental creations are some of London’s few wholly enjoyable examples. When 108 Garage opened last year, the restaurant was quickly met with rapturous critical...

“A good dinner and feasting reconciles everybody”, Samuel Pepys wrote in November 1665. Though best known for first-hand accounts of the Great Fire of London and the plague, kept within his diary, Samuel Pepys also wrote numerous passages on his favourite things to eat – perhaps most notably The Lampery Pye. Within the Apex Hotel City of London, a contemporary hotel on Seething Lane (one of Pepys’ former residences), The Lampery opened in September, serving a ‘Best of British’ menu...

When reporting on a brand new restaurant, the question of ethics is generally raised. Is it really fair to review a restaurant that’s brand new? And if not, how long should we wait – a few weeks, a few months, a year? There’s no set rule, but the issue has been raised quite frequently in recent months. Following a less than positive review of Temper City (brand new at the time), chef Neil Rankin responded with a passive-aggressive comment beneath...

Forget arid roast turkey, prosaic Christmas pudding and sprouts boiled to the point of complete submission. This year, so many of London’s incomparably diverse restaurants have created special, unique Christmas dinners. From classic German goose with dumplings to Indian spiced goose breast; Australasian-inspired fusion to South African Braai – we pick the best international Christmas dinners to eat in London this year. Hammer & Tongs Available until 23rd December, Farringdon restaurant Hammer & Tongs has launched a South African braai...

London definitely doesn’t suffer from a lack of Vietnamese cuisine offerings - and thanks to my previous living quarters in Hoxton, I’ve sampled a lion’s share. That said, London still hasn’t reached saturation, so far as Vietnamese food is concerned. A healthy walk from Kings Cross station, CoBa is the brainchild of Damon Bui and MJ Gadhavi. Built on the success of their supper club, Table for 10, and Damon’s Vietnamese-Australian upbringing, the restaurant offers a menu lifted directly from...

A delicacy synonymous with Japanese cuisine, fugu (pufferfish) is highly-prized, but potentially more deadly than cyanide. Each fish has enough tetrodotoxin (one of the world’s most powerful neutrotoxins) to kill 30 adults, so it’s hardly surprising it’s banned across the EU. In Japan, only rigorously trained chefs are licensed to prepare fugu, but the fish has still killed more than 20 Japanese diners since 2000. If improperly prepared, the fish’s tetrodotoxin begins to attack the central nervous system immediately after...

With plenty of exciting restaurant openings constantly taking place across the Capital, we pick London’s best new restaurant openings taking place over the coming month.    The Good Egg – Soho  Following the success of their Stoke Newington restaurant, and successfully crowd-funding £500,000, chefs Joel Braham, Alex Coppard and Oded Mizrachi have launched The Good Egg in Soho. In Kingly Court, off Carnaby Street, the restaurant draws on the Jewish café-culture of Montreal combined with Tel-Aviv’s street-food scene, with a menu that...

Classic British cooking is having a moment. For every ill-contrived Modern-British foam, ‘essence’ or poncey restaurant ‘concept’, there’s a smoked fish trolley, tableside flambé station, or dedicated ‘pie room’ commanding respect in some sprauncy corner of central London. And so they should. British food has a dreadful reputation, at best, but when overlooking bland roast dinners and the unspeakable things our grandparents did with offal, there’s something endearing about the undiluted glamour that engulfs restaurants such as Scott’s, Bentley’s, relative...

Just a couple of weeks after its official launch, The Sunday Times published an article declaring the Sunday roast at The Coal Shed in London to be one of the city’s best. Part of the upscale new One Tower Bridge development, which also homes Tom Simmons Tower Bridge and a new offshoot of The Ivy, The Coal Shed is the London counterpart of its sister restaurant of the same name, and The Salt Room, each operating in Brighton. Restaurateur Razak...