Tag Archives: restaurants

Delhi Grill

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Paneer

Walking into Delhi Grill I felt something of the real Delhi, in all it’s chaotic glory, about it. So the meal wasn’t eaten to a background of baring horns, shouted conversation and sacred cows. But there was still something undeniably sub continental about both place and taste.

There has been a lot of buzz about Delhi Grill, more than you would usually get for a new Indian restaurant. A lot has been said about the fresh flavours and home made rotis. If there’s one thing a lot of sub-continental restaurants fall down on, it’s rotis and chapatis – so often bland and greasy. But when you walk in to see a young man spinning and rolling fresh dough, you know you’re know they should be good. Continue reading →

Caravan on Exmouth Market

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Triumphant cornbread at Caravan

For centuries great caravans crossed the shimmering sands of the Sahara, laden wonders bound for the great trading cities of the Mediterranean: Istanbul, Tripoli, Venice and Cairo. It was a hazardous and hot route and inevitably some of the goods didn’t quite make it.

And that was what happened when we ate at Caravan, a bar-restaurant kind of place the in foodie oasis of Exmouth market. There were some winners and some duds. Some humble dishes that revealed wonders, and some exotic sounding creations that were a let down. Continue reading →

Koya

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Koya udon

If Koya had ears, they would’ve been incandescent in the months since its low key opening back in April this year. Quiet the opening might have been, but within days cyberspace was awash with excited chatter as foodies across the capital and beyond sampled the deceptively simple noddle-centric menu.

Of course, the worry is, when you hear so many good things, can the place itself actually live up to the hype. And so it was with some excitement, tempered with more than a dash of trepidation, I found myself in a queue with a group that included Mr Noodles, Tom and Jen, Uyen and others, patiently waiting for table. Continue reading →

Vinoteca

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Morcilla & a poached egg at Vinoteca

Vinoteca. Vino Teca. It’s all in the name really. Vino, wine, the glorious grape. Rightly known and talked about for it’s fabulous choice of wines by the glass, this simple wooden floored winebar has a (albeit widely known) secret. The food here is pretty damn good too.

These guys pay a lot of attention, not just to the food and the wine, but to how the two combine. Their daily changing menu has glasses of wine matched to each dish that you are free to select should you want. And the cooking, like a good wine, is full of clear, well balanced flavours. Continue reading →

Giant Robot

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Tortellini in Giant Robot
45 Clerkenwell Rd, London EC1M 5RS, 020 7065 6810, www.gntrbt.com

C’mon guys, where’s the fricken robot? If you’re going to call a place ‘Giant Robot’ you’ve gotta have a big old metal beastie in there somewhere. On further questioning, it seems like this Match Bar facelift was named for a robot that appeared in the square opposite for a while, before marching off to terrorise biological lifeforms elsewhere.

So, there is no robot in Giant Robot, but there are plenty of other attractions. Not least some tasty old balls, giant prawns (almost as good as a robot) and cucumber flavoured water. Continue reading →

Cellar Gascon

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Squid

This wine bar attached to the feted Club Gascon of foie gras fame is a bit like a virgin visit to France after seeing loads of nouvelle vague films. It’s as smart, swish and chic as you expect, with the odd seemingly familiar thing that turns out to be not quite what you think.

So there we were, the estimable Meemalee, Chris and myself, perched at a high table in an almost empty bar eyeing the specials speculatively. I, for one, was feeling terribly decadent. This is not the sort of place I usually head for a Friday lunch. And it all seemed rather good, in a cool Alain Delon kind of way. Continue reading →

Clerkenwell Kitchen

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Asparagus farfelle
The Clerkenwell Workshops, 27-31 Clerkenwell Close, London, EC1R 0AT 020 7101 9959 www.theclerkenwellkitchen.co.uk

This is a very “Clerkenwell” place to eat. A stripped back factory/workshop space all exposed brick and wooden floors, full of media types in their converse shoes and pinstripe jackets earnestly chatting over a latte and custard tart. And every lunchtime it’s packed out.

The reason is that the food is fresh and fabulous, the cooking simple and unfussy. The menu shifts chameleon like with the seasons, depending on what the chefs find that morning. One day might see onglet and chips, the next beetroot cakes and salad. Those converse clad media people obviously know when they’re on to a good thing. Continue reading →

The View

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Turbot with a lobster sauce and fennel mash
Treninnow Cliff Road, Milbrook, Cornwall, PL10 1JY 01752 822345 www.theview-restaurant.co.uk

Perched atop a cliff looking out over waves rolling in to Whitsand Bay in Cornwall, The View was a most unexpected gem. Forget Jamie’s 15 in Newquay, or Steinsville in Padstow, this remote restaurant is where you’ll get the best of Cornish cooking, and in a setting that knocks the socks off any other.

Housed in cabin, rather nondescript from the outside, are a scattering of plain tables on a warm wood floor, surrounded by white walls hung with local art. And some of the most consistently well cooked – and freshest – fish I’ve eaten in a long time. Continue reading →

Ozlem

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Grilled onions a Ozlem
Prince George Road, London, 020 7275 9974

You know when you have a box full of sweets but you’ve lost the key to the flavours? You dig a hand in and grab a couple of lurid foil wrapped choccies and the first one is one of those luscious caramels, but the next is a fruit cream tasting of detergent. It’s a horror we’ve all had.

That was what eating at Ozlem was like. Lurching from the good to the crap via the decidedly average, dinner at this Dalston Turkish joint threw up a really really mixed bag of a meal. Continue reading →

Cafe VN

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Deep fried squid
144 Clerkenwell Road, London, EC1R 5DP 020 7278 4123 www.cafevn.co.uk

Like the proverbial buses, Vietnamese restaurants seem to be appearing all at once. For a long time, you had to travel to Shoreditch or Mare Street to get your Pho fix but now you can score a summer roll all over London.

Cafe VN is emblamatic of the new breed of Vietnamese style cafe-restaurants. Following the lead of Pho restaurant they are eschewing the canteen-like and or mock Indochina decor you find in most established joints in favour of a more contemporary feel. The menus are shorter too, but still cover the basics of summer rolls, bun cha and pho. Continue reading →