Restaurants

For as long as I can remember, I’ve always been succumbed with an irrational fear of snails. It’s embarrassing. More common, less hilarious fears (spiders, snakes, rats, death) have never phased me, but something about those lettuce-munching bogies in crash helmets would always plague me with fear. As somebody who dedicates such a portion of my life to writing about restaurants, I appreciate that it’s crucial for me to eat just about everything. So much so that over the past...

"Ramen," somebody recently probed as I gushed adoringly about the food of Japan (again), "that's just noodle soup, isn't it?" Like a besieged tom cat ready to challenge the neighbours' pit bull, my back arched instinctively and I cascaded into an explosive rant. Ramen is far more than just noodle soup. The exact origins or ramen are unclear. There’s a great deal of speculation that links ramen to China, gastronomically speaking, but its Japan that’s generally regarded the rightful home...

Though so many of London’s Thai restaurants are unapologetically bad, the popularity of Thai food (as well as Vietnamese) is currently booming. So, considering London has one of the world’s most diverse restaurant scenes, it’s astonishing that Laotian food has taken so long to become established throughout the city. It’s undeniable that Lao cuisine has contributed significantly to Thai food becoming an international phenomenon, yet so few menus throughout Europe give the landlocked country between Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia any...

By Maggie Majstrova, @Foodstrova Despite British food historically having a stereotypically negative image (think overcooked vegetables and a repertoire of bland dishes), the last few years have seen a complete revival, with so many traditional dishes being re-worked into something more contemporary and, ultimately, flavoursome. Still, when a restaurant is described as ‘Modern British’, it’s impossible to be 100 per-cent sure of what to expect. Just consider, Despite British food historically having a stereotypically negative image. On the other hand,...

In my constant search for the perfect restaurant, commenting on my findings along the way, I’ve eaten at a swarm of completely conflicting venues. Frankly, so long as the food is palatable and isn’t served on slate, chopping board or miniature shopping trolley; I don’t care whether I’m sitting at a plush table with 36 forks, or on the floor of a shack, packed in alongside hundreds of personal space invaders. Fine dining is fine, but sometimes the associated stuffiness...

With plenty of exciting restaurant openings constantly taking place across the Capital, here’s our pick of the best new restaurants arriving in London over the coming month. Bōkan – Canary Wharf Joining the city’s constantly growing list of sky-high restaurants, Bōkan will open at Novotel London Canary Wharf this month. Set across the 37th, 38th and 39th floor, the restaurant, bar and open air terrace will boast panoramic views of London’s skyline, with Head Chef Aurelie Altemaire (having previously held the same position at...

Shrove Tuesday (or Pancake Day) has become an extraordinarily big deal in recent years. So it’s hardly surprising that so many restaurants are getting involved, creating appropriate specials to add to their menus for the evening. Other restaurants, however, have been serving incredibly good crêpes for years and have, coincidentally, become pancake day destination restaurants. If you don’t fancy whisking furiously or tossing sheets of fried batter at home on Tuesday (28th February 2017), we’ve compiled a selection of the...

It’s something I’ve written about before, but even so, I adore Japanese food. Over the past ten years, the UK has become far more accustomed to the land of the rising sun’s national cuisine. And with so many specialist restaurants constantly opening across London, I couldn’t be happier. There’s just something so heart warming about giant bowls of ramen noodles in silky bone broth, demanding to be slurped; slivers of fresh raw fish; dominoes of sticky rice laced with sugar...

It’s generally accepted that the best Turkish food in London can be found north of the river. Over the past two years, three “authentic Turkish restaurants” have opened contiguously in Greenwich, just around the corner from my house. As well as promising to be authentically Turkish, another thing these venues hold in common is the inane ability to cook astoundingly bad food yet manage to entice herds of customers. When I think of great Turkish food in London, I think...