Archive For The “British” Category

Paramount Afternoon Tea, Centre Point – restaurant review

Paramount Afternoon Tea, Centre Point – restaurant review

Centre Point is iconic, at least for Londoners. It’s an imposing concrete and glass office building in central London and just above Tottenham Court Road Underground station. It couldn’t be more convenient for those using London’s equally iconic transport system. The area is something of a building sight just now – it’s the Crossrail development…

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Afternoon Tea at St James’s Hotel and Club – restaurant review

Afternoon Tea at St James’s Hotel and Club – restaurant review

St James’s Hotel is, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful hotels in London, a city that has some of the most beautiful hotels in the world. It’s a boutique hotel set in a Victorian townhouse but its red brick and ornate stonework make this a jewel in an already glittering city crown. St…

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Clockjack Oven, Soho, for Chicken – restaurant review

Clockjack Oven, Soho, for Chicken – restaurant review

A roasting jack was a machine popular in Tudor times. It was a mechanism for rotating meat on a skewer or spit. Often it was a kitchen menial who had the sweaty job of slowly turning the meat in front of a roaring fire, and sometimes it was even a dog on a treadmill that…

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Afternoon Tea at Fortnum & Mason – restaurant review

Afternoon Tea at Fortnum & Mason – restaurant review

London! What do we think of? Historic continuity, elegance, refinement – and tea. So much of what visitors seek in this capital city includes one or several of these qualities, and there are a few places that will enable tourist and local alike to enjoy all of them. Fortnum & Mason is just such an…

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Winter Club Sandwich at Andaz Liverpool Street London – review

Winter Club Sandwich at Andaz Liverpool Street London – review

There seems to be no waning of the popularity of afternoon tea. It was, quite a while back, regarded as chintzy and stuffy but now it is considered a real meal, rather than an event of boring obligation for your Great Aunt Betty’s 80th birthday. Andaz offers a warming version of afternoon tea. I personally…

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Restaurant Thirty Six at Dukes Hotel – review

Restaurant Thirty Six at Dukes Hotel – review

Think about Old London and what scene comes to mind? Fog, intertwined alleys and hidden courtyards, probably. Iron railings, warm brick, brass plaques. And hotels: yes, every Edwardian writer seemed to talk about hotels. They were the acceptable places in which to meet friends and to dine, when restaurants were less numerous than they are…

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Chef Matthew Tomkinson, The Terrace, Montagu Arms, Beaulieu – interview

Chef Matthew Tomkinson, The Terrace, Montagu Arms, Beaulieu – interview

He is a Michelin-starred chef and a Roux Scholarship winner but Chef Matthew Tomkinson seems untouched by his celebrity. He is a nice bloke who loves his work, and the rest is just the proverbial icing on the well-presented cake. I asked Matthew if he came from a cheffy background. Did his family have anything…

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Lotte’s Kitchen with Lotte Duncan – restaurant review

Lotte’s Kitchen with Lotte Duncan – restaurant review

There is no mistaking that this is indeed Lotte’s Kitchen. I am sure an aerial view would show this cafe as a pink blob. This pastel-coloured venue is, if you know Lotte Duncan, just what you would expect and just what you would hope for. You will likely recognise Lotte Duncan from her numerous food…

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Mercer Street Hotel and Dial Restaurant – review

Mercer Street Hotel and Dial Restaurant – review

The neighbourhood belongs to the Worshipful Company of Mercers. A mercer was a dealer in textiles and The Mercers’ Company is one of the 108 Livery Companies of the City of London, established around 700 years ago. These days the organisation is known for its charities and schools but Mercer Street still bears the name…

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Anderida, Ashdown Park Hotel – restaurant and hotel review

Anderida, Ashdown Park Hotel – restaurant and hotel review

Ashdown Forest is an ancient area of heathland about 30 miles (48 km) south of London in East Sussex. It was once a medieval hunting forest created soon after the Norman conquest of 1066. The Forest continued to be used by royalty and the nobility for hunting into Tudor times. King Henry VIII, the monarch…

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Andaz London for Afternoon Tea – restaurant review

Andaz London for Afternoon Tea – restaurant review

Originally designed by Charles Barry and his son, Charles Edward Barry, the hotel opened in 1884, after ten years in construction.  It was extended in 1901 by Colonel Robert Edis. It’s this date that gives its name to the restaurant and wine bar. The Great Eastern Hotel, for that was its original name, had its…

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Black and Blue Classic Steaks – restaurant review

Black and Blue Classic Steaks – restaurant review

It’s been a while since I had a steak. My dining companions will very often choose a hunk of meat, where I’ll go for a rather exotic or cheffy entrée. But I do periodically crave a good steak. It’s almost a comfort food. High-end admittedly but comforting nevertheless. Black and Blue does it well. All…

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Humphry’s Restaurant – Stoke Park – review

Humphry’s Restaurant – Stoke Park – review

It is indeed a park, and a world-renowned 27-hole golf course set in landscaped grounds. Lots of facilities for club members, as well as for those taking advantage of day-membership and hospitality packages. But there is a stunning little corner of Stoke Park which is open to the general public and at a price that…

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The Great Taste Menu at The Cadogan – restaurant review

The Great Taste Menu at The Cadogan – restaurant review

[This venue is now closed] The Cadogan Hotel in Sloane Street, Knightsbridge, was built in 1887. The name commemorates the Earls Cadogan, who, through their company Cadogan Estates have owned Sloane Street and the surrounding area for generations.This marvellously appointed Victorian luxury hotel was, soon after its opening, to play host to the arrest of…

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Clive Dixon at The White Oak in Cookham – restaurant review

Clive Dixon at The White Oak in Cookham – restaurant review

Cookham is an iconic and quintessentially English village near enough to London to be accessible even for lunch or dinner but far enough away to present the diner with a sense of charm and calm. The area has been inhabited for thousands of years. There are several prehistoric burial mounds and Cookham is recorded in…

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The Dorchester for Afternoon Tea – restaurant review

The Dorchester for Afternoon Tea – restaurant review

I am an unashamed supporter of The Dorchester. It’s iconic and has endured – it’s been around for decades, since the start of the 1930s, and its façade still reflects those striking and chiselled architectural features of the Art Deco era. The Dorchester is a vision of pale grey but its colourful and ever-changing front…

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Roast for Lunch – a menu by new chef Marcus Verberne – review

Roast for Lunch – a menu by new chef Marcus Verberne – review

Roast is a very aptly named restaurant in London’s famed Borough Market. That might conjure images of a steamy-windowed greasy-spoon cafe (note no accent over the ‘e’ so pronounced to rhyme with safe). Roast could not be further from that vinyl vision. The menu here celebrates the best of British food and that includes roasts…

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Bread Street Kitchen from Gordon Ramsay – restaurant review

Bread Street Kitchen from Gordon Ramsay – restaurant review

Bread Street is a ward of the City of London in the neighbourhood of Cheapside, and its name is taken from its main thoroughfare, which was originally and unsurprisingly a bread market. Historic records show that in 1302 the bakers of London were ordered to sell no bread from their homes but only in the…

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Afternoon Tea at Dukes – restaurant review

Afternoon Tea at Dukes – restaurant review

Dukes boutique hotel is tucked away in a quiet courtyard in London’s stylish St James’s.  It was the winner of “England’s Leading Boutique Hotel” at the World Travel Awards 2011 and it’s no surprise. Whilst its salubrious location is part of the charm it still stands apart from much of the local competition. It has…

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Auberge du Lac at Brocket Hall – hotel and restaurant review

Auberge du Lac at Brocket Hall – hotel and restaurant review

Stately Homes have always held a fascination. Great houses set amongst manicured lawns, and trees often grown from seedlings collected by intrepid botanists a couple of centuries ago. But now we can enjoy not only a few hours at these magnificent estates but we can stay and play. When it comes to chequered and fascinating…

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