Archive For February 2011
It’s a book to bring a smile. Food served on skewers: mouthwatering titbits stuck with delicate picks or substantial chunks on batons. Everything here is poked and presented in stylish fashion, from bits one nibbles in polite company to deep-fried and delectable munchies that one would prefer not to share. Food is so often the…
The Phoenix is an attractive and traditional pub. Just the sort that tourists long to find and locals want to have as their local. These establishments were becoming thin on the ground but thankfully there are many pubs now that are returning to those old-fashioned values that made British public houses so celebrated across the…
Sarkhel’s was a celebrated Indian restaurant in Southfields, between Wandsworth and Wimbledon. That restaurant has now closed but it’s a strange irony that some of the staff from Sarkhel’s have opened their own restaurant. The coincidences continue: Triphal, the heir presumptive to Sarkhel’s, is right next door to the original restaurant. It’s unfortunate that the…
Opera Tavern was built in 1879 by the then celebrated public house architect George Treacher. Those were the days when there was a traditional pub with tiled facade and etched glass windows on almost every street corner. This more ornate example was considered the most striking of his 1870s buildings. Catherine Street, under that or…
Wardour Street is celebrated as one of London’s night-owl alleys. Its selection of clubs and eateries is legendary so it’s no surprise that it also hosts one of the world’s few computerised restaurants. No, a robot doesn’t make the food and each table isn’t supplied with a microwave. Your table is, however, equipped with an…
Yes, it’s true. I hate to admit it. I know I am alone with this one. I am not keen on MasterChef. There, I have said it and, strangely, I feel better for getting it out in the open. Having said that I should confess that this companion book to the show, MasterChef at Home, is…
Loose Birds and Game! Well, that’s a book that’s sure to be popular. Aging and anorak-clad men will be leafing through this volume and might possibly return it to the bookshelf disappointed. It’s not a tome of risqué stories of ladies of low virtue, nor a collection of anecdotes concerning women who might be described…