Bombay Brasserie Dining Room
First opened in 1982, Bombay Brasserie is a Kensington institution. It was one of the first in the UK to ditch the flocked wallpaper and sticky carpets of the traditional British curry house, and instead offer modern Indian cuisine in a grand dining room. Read more…
The dining room
Heinz Beck’s new restaurant, Beck at Brown’s, has been highly anticipated. Each person I spoke to before my visit had a different Beck story; one said that ‘dinner at Apsley’s was the best dining experience’ they had ever had, and another raved about his Portuguese venture: Gusto by Heinz Beck. I too had my own story. Read more…
Dining Room – La Ferme Primrose Hill
It’s been a long time since I studied for my French GCSE, which was apparent when I became confused with La Ferme’s name. I remembered ‘ferme la bouche’ meant ‘shut up’, which I thought was maybe a bit harsh on potential diners. Read more…
The Dining Room at Bunga Bunga – Battersea
If you like your Italian culture authentic and your dinners subdued Bunga Bunga in Battersea is probably not for you. Read more…
In the cobbled backstreets of the City, you’ll find the Old Bengal Warehouse. Built in 1771 for the East India Company to store spices, tea, cigars and port, it now houses British steak restaurant New Street Grill and its neighbour, Old Bengal Bar. The restaurant and bar venture has meant that the building is brilliantly preserved. Read more…
Eneko at One Aldwych – dining room
Eneko Atxa is world renowned for his three Michelin-starred Azurmendi Restaurant, a hillside restaurant in Larrabetzu with floor-to-ceiling windows looking onto the beautiful Basque landscape below. But his second venture, the eponymous restaurant at One Aldwych, is literally and figuratively hundreds of miles from the famed sun-drenched spot in Spain. Read more…
Galvin La Chapelle – dining room & ceiling
In amongst the tall, cold glass and steel buildings of The City, a stone’s throw from Spitalfields Market and Liverpool Street station is Galvin La Chapelle; so-called because it is housed in a grade II-listed Victorian parish hall. Read more…
Blink and you’ll miss it. Much like the Leaky Cauldron, the magical inn that inhabits J. K. Rowling’s wizarding world, the entrance to Bao Fa Garden Restaurant is hidden in plain sight on one of London’s busiest pedestrian thoroughfares. Read more…
The dining room – Osteria
Last year I was lucky enough to visit Rome where there are a multitude of ‘osterie’; cosy and simple restaurants serving cheap, traditional dishes to locals. So, I was intrigued when I learned that this Osteria had more avant-garde origins. Read more…
Big Green Eggs in the kitchen
For a few years now I’ve been dreaming about the day I could get my hands on a Big (or small) Green Egg, the now ubiquitous ceramic Kamado-style grill that you’ve probably spotted on episodes of Great British Menu or at your local gastropub. These smoker-cum-barbecues are things of joy that can imbue food with the magical smoky taste of a summer barbecue. Read more…
On a tree-lined street in well-heeled Belgravia, a stone’s throw from the hustle and bustle of Hyde Park Corner, sits the 5-star COMO The Halkin hotel. Since 2013 this discreet Georgian building has played host to the Michelin-starred Basque restaurant Ametsa with Arzak Instruction. Read more…
In the last decade the UK has seen a massive shift in eating habits: from the 350% rise in veganism, to the growing ubiquity of gluten-free and lactose-free products in restaurants and supermarkets. Speciality diets and meat-free eating are now in the mainstream and consequently are no longer being ignored by the restaurant industry. Read more…
Restaurant at The Mandolay dining room
On a leafy section of London Road sits The Mandolay, a gleaming cream-coloured hotel a few minutes’ walk from Guilford’s historic town centre. The restaurant within the hotel is well known locally for their afternoon tea, which has won them devotees. Read more…
inamo Covent Garden dining room
inamo has been on the scene for a few years and is well-known for being technologically innovative with its interactive dining rooms. So it was with real anticipation and excitement that we battled through Storm Katie to reach the new inamo venue behind the Royal Opera House in a quiet backstreet of Covent Garden. Read more…
Cocktails
Arriving at Babylon at The Roof Gardens early, we were first shown to the roof terrace to sip on a couple of refreshing gin cocktails and enjoy the last of the evening’s sunset. Read more…
Arriving after dark, when the cold had started to bite, we entered Eastway. The building used to be part of the old station hotel and as such the restaurant has retained and updated some of the original cast iron features like the old-fashioned radiators and columns, which are painted in muted colours. Read more…
On a quiet stretch of leafy Chiswick High Road lies Villa Di Geggiano, an impressive London-based extension of a fourteenth-century Tuscan estate. The restaurant is named after, and its appearance modelled upon, the grand villa near Siena, which is famed for being one of the first to export Chianti to the British Isles. Read more…
Brand new restaurant Ma’Plucker promises its own offbeat chicken-inspired take on the traditional afternoon tea. Fittingly nestled on Beak Street in the heart of Soho, this small and quirky venue still feels light and airy as it’s decked out in natural wood and bright retro wallpaper with small ice cream-coloured tables reaching to the back of the narrow dining room. Read more…
I remember my first taste of Mexican food was at my best friend’s 7th birthday party, at a shabby chain restaurant tucked away in a bowling alley. There I struggled to tackle the sloppy tacos, as most of the chilli ended up sliding down my elbow and onto my Land Before Time shorts – needless to say I was devastated. Read more…
Born in India, trained in Goa and now based in the UK, television’s Cyrus Todiwala’s latest venture Assado (which means ‘roast’ in Portuguese), embodies Todiwala’s international and eclectic approach to food. Billed as a Goan canteen, the menu has Goan staples such as vindaloo and seafood curries. Read more…
