Restaurant Reviews from March 2011
March 2011 Restaurant Reviews Archive from Foodepedia
-
Blacks private members club, 67 Dean Street, Soho
Tuesday March 29th, 2011My first taste of the exclusive Soho private members club Blacks was when a snooty man with a stuck up nose said snottily that I was ringing the wrong doorbell to get in. So exclusive are these PMCs that it’s impossible to find them. In fact, the entrance was in the cellar. And once in, what a charming bar that welcomed us with blazing hearth.
-
Harrison’s, Balham
Friday March 25th, 2011
Among the array of eateries in Balham, just off the High Street is Harrison’s, which can best be described as a bar/brasserie/restaurant. It's a great local restaurant, that was very popular the evening we were there; they give excellent value for money and absolutely deserve to do well, serving very good food in a great atmosphere that compliments the trendiness of the area. -
Black and Blue, London
Wednesday March 23rd, 2011Black and Blue is a no-nonsense chain of steakhouses, loitering somewhere between an upmarket TGI Friday and a downscale Gaucho. Still relatively young, with seven branches already open across London, so far, so good.
-
The Bolingbroke, Wandsworth
Monday March 21st, 2011
Named after a legendary politician and rake, the Bolingbroke feels very much part of its environs; large fronted and smartly decorated, it spreads a warm glow on a frankly nippy evening. Regular readers will know that we are fans of the Renaissance chain and The Bolingbroke certainly has enough good stuff to make it worth a visit if it’s in your neck of the woods. -
The Velvet Lobster
Sunday March 20th, 2011There's a kind of mutual osmosis between The Lobster and its diverse clientele, and this stops the place being hijacked by cliques; not everything is fair-trade or organic, not all the staff have dredge locks, and it's unlikely that someone will start strumming the guitar or free-styling poetry while you attend to your bagel. You can plug into the low-key buzz, or spread yourself out with the paper, a piece of coconut cake, and a view straight out of a great seafaring yarn.
-
The Manor Arms
Friday March 18th, 2011Maybe 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?
-
Eight course Menu Legumes tasting menu at Roussillon
Monday March 14th, 2011Losing its Michelin star this year will not deter Roussillon, say the staff of the genteel French Chelsea restaurant. They’re hoping fresh blood and head chef Dan Gill will win it back. The twelve-year-old menu is apparently a stalwart with vegephiles and it’s certainly rare to find such a thing in restaurants.
-
Boundary Restaurant
Saturday March 12th, 2011There’s a fine line, a boundary if you like, between cool and kitsch and in Shoreditch that line is a tightrope. Terence Conran’s Boundary escapes the issue by almost ignoring the Shoreditch vibe altogether. Rather than try and dance with the young ‘uns, TC has created a place that is all him and nothing else.
-
Chilango!
Friday March 11th, 2011This busy eat in/takeaway café on Fleet Street belongs to a small chain of four regional restaurants serving up a tasty range of the best Mexican street food. There aren’t many places in the UK where real Mexican food joints like this can be found. Everything is freshly prepared in front of the customers and the chefs are consistently grilling and chopping away in the open view kitchen.
-
Pearl, High Holborn, London
Thursday March 10th, 2011
Pearl has a lot going for it, wonderful surroundings and great service carried out with a quiet and efficient elegance, setting the scene for the amazingly good creations from the kitchen led by Jun Tanaka. These three elements come together to deliver the special experience you anticipate when you initially walk through the doors . -
The Roost Restaurant, Bridge of Earn, Perth
Tuesday March 8th, 2011
The dishes are bursting with flavour and prompt that delightful experience where you not only marvel at the resulting combination but want to analyse each and every one of the ingredients on the plate that bring the whole thing together so deliciously. -
Cafe Luc, Marylebone
Monday March 7th, 2011Café Luc is open all day and serves very good food from breakfast to dinner. The menu is strongly French with Mediterranean hints. This is the sort of place you might take your mother after a morning of shopping in Marylebone if you wanted something a bit more special in a brasserie style environment.
-
Tapas Revolution, Westfield, Shepherds Bush
Saturday March 5th, 2011
The brainchild of chef Omar Allibhoy, it’s the first in a planned series of Madrid-style all day tapas bars. Allibhoy, head chef of El Pirata Detapas, was recently described by Gordon Ramsay as the Antonio Banderas of cooking and was trained by Ferran Adrià of the über-fêted El Bulli, so our expectations were high. -
ORA, Little Portland Street, London
Thursday March 3rd, 2011
You can see ORA’s shocking pink neon sign from a good distance away, so vibrant is it that it seems to throb. This new Thai restaurant tucked away in Little Portland Street is otherwise quite unassuming from the outside, but as you enter it’s a different story. It’s smart and comfortable, a great space to take your time and enjoy a meal, but don’t just take my word for it, check it out for yourself. -
Inamo St James London
Wednesday March 2nd, 2011Anita Pati finds that ordering her meal off a touch screen is a touch odd, but warms to the food at Inamo St James the second branch of a concept that's had a mixed reception for it's Pan-Asian cuisine and futuristic concept.