Posts Tagged “Soho”
Chinatown in Soho London throngs with tourists and locals every day of the week. This isn’t, however, the first Chinatown in London. The original Chinese area was in the East end of the capital in Limehouse. That run-down neighbourhood suffered severe bombing during the Second World War, forcing many Chinese to find another home. The…
This is my second visit to this small but perfectly appointed chain of Japanese cafés. Kanada-Ya presents a casual den for those who love noodles. You can read my first article here …and it’s glowing. http://www.mostlyfood.co.uk/index.php/kanada-ya-or-how-i-found-my-noodle/ Specialising in authentic Tonkotsu ramen, the brand was founded by Kanada Kazuhiro in Yukuhashi, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan, in 2009. …
Chotto Matte is one of my favourite Soho restaurants. It’s original, reasonably priced and the food is always exceptional. I have previously visited for dinner (read my review here) and this second visit for Brunch did not disappoint. Each brunch booking allows the diners (minimum of 2) a couple of cocktails and prosecco, beer or…
Ember Yard is the fourth restaurant from the celebrated Salt Yard Group. It has an enviable location off Oxford Street. Yes, ‘off’ is preferable to ‘on’ in this case. These streets are for those in the know rather than those who are lost on the way to Primark. There is great food to be had…
Hot Pot: a sumptuous DIY event Hot Pot is a sociable activity that allows family and friends to gather together around the pot to celebrate the tradition of sharing – the tradition of Hot Pot. With over 150 Hot Pot restaurants in Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, this particular branch in London’s Chinatown has won me…
Chotto Matte is Japanese for ‘please wait a minute’. No, dear reader, don’t go thinking that this is a veiled threat of slow service. It’s surely more a statement that dishes are freshly prepared. It’s not a matter of waiting but more like allowing yourself a little time to anticipate. Having said that, Chotto Matte…
I don’t often cover pop-ups. It’s not that I regard them as any less worthy than an established restaurant but it’s just that they are around for only a limited time. The Test Kitchen, although a pop-up, will be around for a while and it’s the prequel to a hopefully enduring restaurant in 2018. The…
This is a PopUp so don’t spend time reading the rest of this piece. Just go before it closes! One might think that sparkling wine is for the connoisseur, those with money and a dictionary of posh wine terms. Fiz Bar aims to encourage a new generation of sparkling-wine lovers – those who aren’t interested…
The name might not entice the uninitiated across the threshold, that’s true. One might suspect that it’s only salad on offer: well, that’s chow for rabbits, isn’t it? But on the other hand it could be a menu of dishes made out of bunnies with perhaps an associated gift shop selling rabbitty memorabilia such as…
It’s a part of Soho that has been the haunt of those seeking dubious nocturnal delights down the centuries, but also those associated with the arts and literature. Greek Street, running from Shaftesbury Avenue to Soho Square, might take its name from the Greek Church (later St. Mary’s) built in 1677. The church was on…
London’s Chinatown is broadly found between Shaftesbury Avenue to the north and Lisle Street to the south. It’s not far from Leicester Square and Theatreland. It’s a neighbourhood with a long history stretching back to the Great Fire of 1666 in which much of London was destroyed. In 1677 Lord Gerrard, the owner of the…
Soho in general and this street in particular became the refuge of Huguenots, French Protestants who fled to England in the early 1680s. The street was named after Henry Compton who raised funds for a local parish church which eventually became St Anne’s Church. Now there is The Patty and Bun at No.18! By the…
Vermouth has been ubiquitous in and on cocktail bars since mixed drinks became popular more than a century ago, but many of us have no idea what it actually is, apart from being the bottle that stands at the back collecting dust. Now it’s enjoying something of a revival since the days of the ubiquitous…
Mele e Pere opened in the heart of Soho in February 2012, but that neighbourhood dates back centuries. In the Middle Ages, what is now Soho was known as St Giles Field, land belonging to the Convent of Abingdon, with its leper hospital. In 1536, the land was taken by Henry VIII as a royal…
Dean Street is in the heart of Soho, central London. It runs from Oxford Street south to Shaftesbury Avenue and has a long and colourful history, as has much of this neighbourhood. In 1764 the young Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart gave a recital at number 21. Admiral Nelson lodged here the day before setting sail for…
Mele e Pere is a little cracker of a restaurant and I am almost reluctant to publicise it any further for fear that the prices will go up and the chances of me getting a table will go down! This is an authentic northern Italian, casual dining restaurant smack in the middle of the very…
[This restaurant is now closed] Kettner’s, I used to feel, seemed somewhat out of place in this corner of the great metropolis. It’s a genteel establishment and that’s not for which this corner of town had once been noted. This old Soho had evolved from a bolt-hole for religious-refugee Huguenots to the haunt of far…
Carom the restaurant: named after the Indian spice. Carom seeds have a taste similar to thyme and are popular in Indian savoury snacks, so even the restaurant’s name invites the visitor to expect something delicious. Carom is a part of the D&D London restaurant group. They operate over 30 leading restaurants in London, Leeds, Paris,…
Shoryu Ramen launched in November 2012 and has already been recommended in the Michelin Guide of 2014 and 2015. It has fast become a small but reputable London chain. They specialise in, well, ramen of the Hakata tonkotsu style originating in Fukuoka, Kyushu, Japan’s southern island. Hakata tonkotsu broth is a classic thick and rich…
The second Flat Iron opened last July. This could be the start of something big, or at least lots of little somethings if the size of the Beak Street branch is anything to go by. Flat Iron fits perfectly into its environment. The area has long been trendy, bohemian and edgy. Carnaby Street is just…