Posts Tagged “restaurant”
Indian food has long been a favourite in the UK. Chicken Tikka Masala is said to be our national dish! But these days Indian restaurants fall into one of several categories. There are the high-end tapas-style of restaurants; we have Indian fine-dining; and we have those restaurants that offer a combination of both traditional and…
The Petersham Hotel Richmond is a perfect gem of a hotel and I am delighted to say it’s within walking distance of my home. OK, that walk would be a healthy trot of several miles but the hotel is near enough to be called local, and I am so pleased. This impressive building is perched…
This is, at least for me, a box-ticking restaurant. I guess we all have our own individual preference boxes, but there can’t be too many of those that wouldn’t be garnished with a big golden tick after a visit to Pied à Terre. This Michelin-star restaurant was established in 1991, with the support of the…
Yes, London is a city, but then within that there is ‘The City’. Known as “Londinium”, the Romans established a settlement on the current site of the City of London around AD 43. By the late 16th century, London had become a major centre for banking and trade. The Royal Exchange here was founded in…
Opera Tavern is a beautiful two-storey bar and restaurant in the heart of central London’s theatreland. Located on Catherine Street opposite the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, and seconds from the eponymous Opera House, it’s a stone’s throw from The Strand. Read my dinner review here. Catherine Street has been a thoroughfare since the 1600s. Its…
This deceptively large hotel couldn’t have a better location. Hotel Bon Sol Resort and Spa is in Illetas, which is only 8 km (5 miles) from central Palma. One doesn’t need the extra expense of car hire: the bus stop is only a few yards away and an attractive €1.50 for a short ride into…
The Beaverbrook Estate is vast. The main house (to be completed as a hotel of distinction later in 2017) is baronial. But there is another hotel which is part of this well-appointed complex and it’s unique. The Garden House is on a more human scale than the main house which was once the home of…
I have met François Geurds on a few occasions now. A couple of times at his eponymous FG Restaurant and also at the newer Food Lab. For once, the Michelin judges have awarded their coveted stars with logic and insight. But it wasn’t just the food that impressed me, it was also the man. I…
Kiku is a Japanese restaurant conveniently located near Green Park station in Mayfair, and at the top of Half Moon Street. It’s one of the quieter thoroughfares, but popular with ‘them in the know’ as it’s the home of this exceptional eatery. I wonder why it isn’t more celebrated, but perhaps those regulars have the…
Britain is an island. So it goes without saying that we are surrounded by water and have had a close relationship with the sea. Surprising, therefore, that are still so many of us who are not fish eaters. Home cooks have not had a good reputation for preparing tasty fish, and we so often resort…
He hasn’t got a ‘serious’ chef persona. Willin rushes in and tells me to wait right there. He has some curry puffs that he wants me to taste. Just simple food and not even his, but Willin Low has not only talent but real passion for taste and texture. We settle in the courtyard of…
This is the fourth volume in the Leon series, but it isn’t a traditional restaurant book. The clue is in the name, and then in the recipes. Leon – Family & Friends offers a diverse and eclectic collection of recipes in a book that has that old-fashioned feel of a Christmas Annual. You remember that…
Sonning! It sounds ancient and smart and indeed it is just that. It’s a chocolate-box pretty spot that is so quintessentially English and timeless. That same quality is found at The French Horn. St Andrew’s Church, in the centre of the village, was founded in Saxon times – probably by Birinus, first bishop of Dorchester-on-Thames….
The French Horn is iconic, quintessentially English and has a celebrated restaurant. The chef has an equally enviable reputation but she isn’t English. This is, after all the ‘French’ Horn. The owner is Michael Emmanuel and he knows what makes a good chef. “We’ve always been about good food cooked well and delivered properly. I’ve…
It was a hot evening, a rare one in England this summer, when we walked into The French Horn. This is perhaps one of the most beautiful of country inns on the banks of the Thames. There was blazing sunshine outside and a roaring log fire inside. In fact the hotel (it’s described as a…
I had my first visit to Wahaca – the restaurant, that is – just a few weeks ago. The place was vibrant and exciting and so was the food. This book is a paper teaser to help limber up the taste buds. Simple dishes to prepare that will give you a hint of what real…
In truth this isn’t an ancient plot cultivated and tended by legendary Mediterranean traders, but the land does belong to the celebrated Hotel Phoenicia in Malta. All good chefs will agree that freshness is key to good dishes. That philosophy cuts across all ethnic culinary persuasions. Malta has a climate that any keen gardener would…
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…
Andrew Wilson has returned to Ashdown Park Hotel in Sussex for the third time and he is now executive chef. It’s not difficult to understand the appeal: it’s the quintessential English country house hotel – Gothic Victorian architecture and more than 180 acres of grounds. Andrew heads a team of 25 in the kitchen at…
There are few restaurants owned, run by, and named after a sommelier but Singapore’s iconic “Iggy’s” is just that. Ignatius ‘Iggy’ Chan is an immensely likable, warm and animated restaurateur who has given his name to one of the most celebrated destinations for food lovers across Asia and indeed the world. “When I’m in a…