Discovering the Orient
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...
Kanada-Ya Panton Street – Haymarket
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....
Chotto Matte for Sunday Brunch – restaurant review
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...
Ember Yard for a Sunday Feast – restaurant review
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...
Hot Pot in London’s Chinatown – restaurant review
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...
Chotto Matte, Soho – restaurant review
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...
The Test Kitchen – restaurant review
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...
Fiz Bar – review
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...
Bunny Chow, Soho – restaurant review
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...
Bó Drake, Greek Street – restaurant review
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...
Opium Cocktail and Dim Sum Parlour – bar review
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....
Patty and Bun, Old Compton Street – restaurant review
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...
Mele e Pere for Vermouth with a Master – bar review
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...
Mele e Pere – a steak in Soho – restaurant review
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...
Forty Dean Street, Soho – restaurant review
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...
Mele e Pere, Soho – restaurant review
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...
Iconic Kettner’s of Soho – restaurant review
[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...
Carom Indian Restaurant, Soho – review
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...
Shoryu Ramen, Soho – restaurant review
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...
Flat Iron, Beak Street – restaurant review
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...