Nick Harman

Nick Harman

Nick Harman writes restaurant reviews and food/travel pieces for foodepedia. Suspicious of fads, unwilling to worship in gastronomic temples and heartily sick of sous vide he remains hungry for any food that has his stomach firmly in its sights.

  • Taking the high view of Flanders. Cassel in a nutshell

    Thursday May 19th, 2011

    Far from being a backwater, but a part of Europe unjustly ignored, Flanders has a lot going for it, not least how near it is to the UK and the fact that the locals speak French not the impossibly tongue twisting Flemish.

  • The Real Greek

    Friday May 13th, 2011

    The Real Greek in Covent Garden, London, just how real is it? Do I care? I’m eating lunch not writing a thesis for a sociology degree. What’s on the plate is what counts and despite dire warnings, I found the Real Greek really not bad at all.

  • A taste of Italy on the fifth floor at Harvey Nichols

    Thursday May 12th, 2011

    Valentina, a very good Italian deli with branches in West London, has set up a kind of pop-up restaurant at The Taste Lab on the Fifth Floor at Harvey Nichols until May 22nd offering a selection of deli products to eat there and then at the ten seat counter.

  • The Jam Tree. Chelsea

    Tuesday May 10th, 2011

    The menu makes no apology for offering something for everyone, the ambience is cool and the staff pleasantly unprofessional, in a good way, and relaxed. The Asian side seems to be stronger than the others, although the burgers did look good as they went past. Slightly hotter starters and I could really warm to The Jam Tree.

  • Careering around the Cotswolds

    Sunday May 8th, 2011

    Nick Harman races around the Cotswolds like local lad Jeremy Clarkson on E numbers. The challenge? To eat starters in one place, mains in another and dessert at a further place still. Why? Who knows, all he can say is that the food was great, the scenery beautiful and he's very glad he didn't have to take Richard Hammond along.

  • Eating the future at Futuroscope, France

    Saturday April 30th, 2011

    Can't afford the Fat Duck? Too late to book El Bulli? Try a taste of molecular gastronomy at Le Cristal restaurant at Futuroscope France. Not only is it affordable it's great fun and you and the family can enjoy a brilliant day out seeing stunning 3D and 4D films, dancing with robots and squirting each other. Nick Harman goes into the kitchen at Le Cristal to get a taste.

  • India Dining, Warlingham

    Monday April 25th, 2011

    They say that the Warlingham area has more millionaires than anywhere else in England, outside of London that is. There’s one less this month though after the sad demise of local lad Smiley Culture.  Apparently Mr Culture’s cash came from wisely investing the modest sums he made from his 80s hit singles like Police Officer into gold and diamond mine concessions in places like Liberia, Kenya, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

  • Pollen Street Social

    Wednesday April 20th, 2011

    What’s already apparent is that Jason has melded the elements of  inventive, creative ‘Feen Deening’ with the link so often missing in such food – real flavour.  Add to that a relaxed ‘vibe’ to the New Yorky room - we are not in The Church of Food here, you are allowed to talk and laugh - and it all just feels right.

  • Maybe I'm amazed? The 'unusual pairings menu' at Maze, London

    Tuesday April 19th, 2011

    Do we dare mention the ‘A’ word? No need, it’s done for us. One of the legions of men who pass by, almost all of whom mysteriously claim to be the chef at Maze, talks positively about the influence of Jason Atherton on the restaurant’s menu ethos. He seems almost wistful as he talks of the days when Jason and Big Sweary would stand around the Maze kitchen swapping ideas and possibly blows.

  • Wahaca-Soho

    Thursday April 14th, 2011

    You have to watch what you say about Mexico and Mexicans, as Jeremy Clarkson found out. So lest the big guns of the PC police become brought to bear on me let’s be perfectly clear about one thing – my reluctance to eat Mexican food has nothing to do with any dislike of the country or its inhabitants, but stems from historical bad experiences of the stuff.

  • Donald Russell Meat Pies

    Thursday April 14th, 2011

    After first taste trialling Charlie Bigham’s pies it was a quick wipe of the mouth, a loosening of the belt and then eyes down for Donald Russell’s new range.

  • Tuscany -Phaidon Editors

    Monday April 11th, 2011

    To look at the Michelin Stars and the 50 Best Restaurant Awards, you’d think Italian food almost didn’t exist, so under represented is it on the lists. For many people, myself very much included, it would be better to be marooned on a dessert island with an Italian chef and a magic bottomless larder of provisions than with any other chef in the world.

  • Sounds like the 70s at the Mall Tavern

    Monday April 11th, 2011

    Lord but the 70s were ugly. Truly the decade that fashion forgot. You only have to look at old TV footage of riots and other fun events to see horrors that would curdle your milk, and I don’t mean the coppers whacking hippies with truncheons either. The flared trousers the police were wearing should have been a sackable offence all on their own. The Mall Tavern loves the food style and serves it with flare(s)

  • Building a wood-fired oven for bread and pizza- Tom Jaine

    Sunday April 3rd, 2011

    I am ‘fired’ up myself by this book and have marked out the area required in my garden already. I may never get any further than that but I already feel rather proud of my efforts. The book is itself a fascinating read and one to pore over when it’s raining outside and your thoughts turn to comfort food.

  • Loving it in Ludlow - a foodie break in a foody town

    Thursday March 31st, 2011

    Ludlow is mecca for food lovers with its shops, produce, restaurants and walks to make you hungrier still. Nick Harman heads for Fishmore Hall, a Georgian boutique hotel that makes the perfect base to eat in and explore from.

  • Fear of frying? The Tefal Actifry on test

    Tuesday March 29th, 2011

    We fried with the Airfryer now we fry with the Actifry, all in search of the Holy Grail of chips without the fat and mess. Does the Actifry do it? That would be telling so read on Macduff..

  • Five Fat Hens: The Chicken and Egg Cookbook. Tim Halket

    Sunday March 20th, 2011

     This is a lovely book to read and cook from. As good to dip into on the commute to and from work as it is to use in the kitchen. So many cookbooks appear every week by people who are just after your money. Tim is after your soul or at the very least your yolk.

  • The Manor Arms

    Friday March 18th, 2011

    Maybe I’m being biased toward my own manor, but the Manor Arms is just what Streatham needs. We have wide-open spaces, we have large houses, our streets are prettily decorated with Tyskie tins and now we have somewhere to eat that isn’t Subway. If the kitchen could speed up, and the waitresses not forget things, it could be a real winner innit?

  • Red, white or green with your meal? Cono Sur Wines

    Tuesday March 15th, 2011

    If Chile is still keeping the best wines for themselves, they must be very good indeed because Cono Sur are making some remarkable bottles at a sensible price point. For the money the ones we tried trashed same price wines from other New World producers.

  • Hooray for the Upper Glasses

    Saturday March 12th, 2011

    Traiteur and chef Franck Pontais won last year’s UK Iron Chef contest, although presumably not with verrines which are not exactly hunky He loves verrines, he even has a book about them, and has popped up with his pop-up Glass Kitchen, as part of Harvey Nicks Taste Lab project.