Restaurants

There’s no such thing as a perfect restaurant. There are good restaurants and bad restaurants – truly exceptional ones, even; but perfection is impossible to grasp with each dining experience being so subjective. Many meat-enthusiasts believe Hawksmoor is the perfect meat restaurant, for instance. They’re entitled to their opinions, of course, yet my personal idea of perfection doesn’t include eating carelessly-cooked steaks, suffered in an atmosphere beleaguered by toxic masculinity. The menu at Flank – a new addition to Old...

Against all odds, South London is firmly the place to be in 2017. Once criminally best known as the setting for Only Fools & Horses (actually filmed in West London and Bristol), or as an area plagued with violence – Peckham has topped The Sunday Times’ list of the best places in London to live, this year. At long last, SE15 is cool again, but hasn’t (yet) been developed to the sterile peaks of Shoreditch and Dalston, even though so...

To celebrate their first Christmas since opening, award-winning restaurant Hammer & Tongs, in Farringdon, has announced plans to launch a special South African Braai menu – an African style of cooking that uses an open fire, generally fuelled by wood. Slow-cooked entirely over Sicklewood and Blackthorne, on an open fire, the menu will offer guests the chance to enjoy two courses for £20, or three courses for £25. With the possibility of accommodating groups from two to 80, the restaurant’s...

When Hoppers opened in 2015, the tiny Sri Lankan restaurant became an instant success. In the heart of Soho, the excitement behind the launch can be attributed to a number of factors; notably the welcome introduction to a South Asian cuisine previously quite unexplored in London. JKS Restaurants’ rich portfolio also helped, I’m sure, also including Gymkhana and Trishna. Then there’s the whole ‘no-reservation’ policy, allowing the restaurant to turn tables quickly and keep costs down, alas removing certainty of...

While Donald Trump continues on his personal mission to make America grate again, Britain has – if anything – completely fallen in love with all things Mexican. While various avenues of Latin American cuisine have been explored extensively in London, authentic Mexican food is finally having its moment. Critically lauded Santo Remedio has re-launched with a new home south of the river, while Mexican celebrity chef Martha Ortiz has opened Ella Canta – a fine dining Mexican restaurant within the...

Scientific research suggests sound (music, in particular) can enhance the ways in which we perceive flavour. High-frequency sounds can enhance sweetness in food, while lower ones can accentuate bitterness. As a result, Pied a Terre – one of London’s longest-running Michelin-starred restaurants – believes music played in restaurants could be manipulated to replace unnecessary ingredients (sugar, fats, etc.), or could essentially contribute to devastating your experience. Experimenting with this theory, the restaurant is currently collaborating with BBC Manchester DJ Karen...

Tired of Anglicised Chinese and Japanese food, Taiwanese cuisine has become big business in London. Always on the hunt for something new and exciting, the city’s food fanatics became obsessed with BAO when it opened its first permanent site in Soho a couple of years ago – and rightly so. Since then, Shing Tat Chung, Wai Ting Chung and Erchen Chang have become the authority on Taiwanese food in London and steamed bao buns are available just about everywhere. Much...

One of the city’s best British restaurants, Chamberlain’s of London has been operating from a site in Leadenhall Market for the past 16 years. Still going strong, Chamberlain’s served fish and chips from their new standalone fish and chip shop (adjoined to the restaurant) for hundreds of service men and women in support of the Royal British Legion last week. Owned by fourth generation fishmongers Chamberlain and Thelwell – with the kitchen headed up by chef Andrew Jones – the...

Tucked between Notting Hill Gate and Kensington Palace, The Shed offers a convincing retreat from the middle of the city. Still within zone one of the tube map (only just), The Shed is poised similarly to that of a countryside garden centre café – charmingly rustic, yet intent on serving rousing food: the best of British. Launched in 2012 by brothers Richard, Oliver and Gregory Gladwin, the restaurant is very much a family-run operation. Having previously worked in London and...