Escape to the past at the Spread Eagle in Midhurst
A truly romantic, ancient hotel but with all mod cons including a state of the art spa, the Spread Eagle in Midhurst offers all you need for a romantic and relaxing weekend break in the heart of the English countryside. Nick Harman donned his wellies and went down to kick back.
Word on the Street
The London Restaurant Festival isn't all fat cats revolving in the Eye. Jun Tanaka and Mark Jankel will be feeding the masses fine food from a converted Airstream trailer as they trundle around London. We went for a pre-tasting of their mobile munchies.
Monarch in waiting. The Prince Of Wales in Putney
On the Upper Richmond Road in Putney, lobsters meet their maker and chef Dom Robinson makes them into dishes that defy standard gastropub cliches. Nick Harman squeezes into the royal kitchen to hear a bit more about the Prince's philosophy.
L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon
Why anyone would want to traipse out to East London to eat pompous self-indulgent food when Robuchon is in town is beyond me. At L’Atelier the balance of creativity with common sense and clear cooking skills is perfect, the room delightful and the staff, even when wielding fire extinguishers, cool and solicitous.
Dishoom
Inside Dishoom it's as false as any other themed place in London. Packed with patina that you pay for and then install in great swathes. So what though? The pictures are actually rather interesting, the interior clean and bright and I am not eating the décor, even if some critics appear to be chewing the carpet.
In a state of Yuforia - frozen yoghurt is hot in Soho
Frozen yoghurt. Is this the guilt-free fix you've been looking for? Nick Harman holsters his prejudices and heads to Yuforia to meet Yuforia founder and frozen yoghurt evangelist Leo Bedford
Polpo, Soho
I like Polpo a lot better now it’s got over the initial trendy phase and settled down to simply feeding people. This is the sort of place that only Soho can support, a postcode where dodgy expenses are still signed off and the locals more mature and less fickle than out East. You need eight arms to tackle all the dishes as they pile onto your small table though.
Geetie's Cookbook - Recipes from the Duke of Cambridge Organic Pub
Packed full of eco friendly organic recipes and cheerfully free of ego, this cookbook brings the taste of this pioneering Gastro Pub to those of us unlucky enough not to live near to it. Seasonally laid out, it delivers plenty of food for thought.
The Great British Beer Festival at Earls Court
The ghost of Oliver Reed hangs over the The Great British Beer Festival at Earls Court. Far from being a middling actor who surrendered his career, and ultimately his life, to alcohol, here he’s a demi god, although of course he never did things by halves. It was always pints. Boom boom!
Opera at Courtyard 51
The Covent Garden Strings are that rare thing nowadays, a musical comedy act and collective. Tonight Sid Bowfin, who is clearly channelling the spirit of Bill Hall the legendary comedy violinist, leads a crack team of four in a performance that mixes excellent fiddle playing with clever crowd control through smart ad libs and polished comedy routines.
Terminal 5 food. Plane and simple?
Plane Food as a restaurant name is obviously tempting fate. You can imagine the worried discussions around the table when the idea was first mooted - what if the food's boring? What if it fails to 'take off'? What if it crashes? No doubt Gordon overruled them all, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet, chopping one hand into another and saying 'yeah?' at the end of every sentence. It's just part of T5's first-class food offering for travellers.
Big game? Hunting down sustainability on a food safari in Clerkenwell
I’m ambivalent about the idea of starter in one restaurant, mains in another and dessert in a third. On the one hand it means I can have a fag between courses, a pleasure crudely curtailed when the smoking ban came in. On the other it means getting out of my seat and walking, which may be good for the digestion but not for my bonhomie.
NOW
NOW is that what I call Chinese? It's Chinese street food for the masses, who probably didn’t know they wanted it until now, not living on Chinese streets themselves.They really do seem to want it NOW though; the queue is snaking out the door. There is no snake on the menu; no doubt someone thought that might not suit the tastes of a customer base largely dressed in Marks & Spencers' suits.
Above and Beyond - Singapore Airlines in flight meals take taste to new heights
Singapore Airlines is so proud of its in-flight food that they've published an all-star cookbook to celebrate. Nick Harman flies Business Class to Singapore and back in just 48 hours to taste the food and to find out how it's all done. Jet lag what let jag?
Le Cafe du Marche
Inside Le Café du Marche you don’t feel lost, you feel right at home; this is a tranche of France that is as Gallic as surrendering without a shot. The walls are bare brick and you can scent the cooking on the air, something sadly lacking in restaurants where the trendy chef is cooking via Twitter.
Entree, Clapham
'You know that you can see right up the girls' skirts when they climb those stairs?' asks P, pausing for a moment from sucking on her colourful cocktail. Really dear I hadn't noticed. Well, actually of course I'd noticed, that's why I was busy looking anywhere but in that direction. Being thrown out of a restaurant for noncing before the starter could be viewed as unprofessional behaviour in some quarters.
My Kitchen - Real food from near and far - Stevie Parle
As opposed to fake food perhaps? No we know what Stevie means, he’s talking about food that is not restaurant style, not prettified, petrified, emulsified and self-satisfied. Well it’s hard to argue with that
Riddle and Finns, Brighton
I was worried from its name, look and location that Riddle and Finns would be a bit too cutesy, too in love with itself, but instead it was a friendly place with breezy staff and generally tidy cooking for a fair price. I can’t recommend the whelks though, I think mother is still gamely chewing hers three days later. Keep calm and carry on!
The full Brazilian - José Baratino cooks at Skylon
Meat is not the only thing on the menu from Brazilian star chef Jose Barattino. As part of Festival Brazil on the Southbank, Jose has come over to inject Brazilian modern and traditional cooking onto the menu at Skylon. We meet him and have a taste of what's on offer.
Babur, London
‘Worth making the trek across town for.’ You know what that means? It means ‘located in South London.’ Why do so many reviewers make readers feel that when you cross the Thames heading south the map should be marked ‘here be dragons’ and illustrated with drawings of 4x4s being consumed by sea serpents?
