Latest favourites and wishlist by Cedric

Delicatessen Yoshino - review by emmanx

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 12:11:05 +0000

Delicatessen Yoshino - review by emmanx

Rating: 4.7

Location: Japan Centre, W1J 9HG, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7434 3610

Website: http://www.yoshino.net/delica

I have a slight sushi obsession and this place was walking distance from work so I'd say I've spent the majority of my take-away lunches munching away on their sushi.

Unfortunately, Yoshino has been kicked out of the Japan Centre basement but they are promising to re-open it somewhere 'close' in October. In the meantime, the delicatessen is operating out of their restaurant just down the road from the Japan Centre so I guess not all is lost....

The Gate Vegetarian Restaurant - review by hither

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 22:22:48 +0000

The Gate Vegetarian Restaurant - review by hither

Rating: 4.0

Location: 51 Queen Caroline Street, W6 9QL, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 8748 6932

Website: http://www.gateveg.co.uk

Tags: lively, good value

My husband used to be a vegetarian so we ate here a lot when courting, and have continued to do so even though he has slipped back into meat-eating.

The experience starts with lovely bread and flavoured oil, and continues with an ever-changing menu of delights. Accompanied by a range of wines (and I always think that you don't get a hangover with organic wine, so we always have plenty!)

In the autumn of each year they do a Mushroom Feast which has six or seven courses all containing mushrooms - even the dessert. It is a culinary masterpiece and a great experience.

We also have the Gate cookbook which has provided us with some interesting dinner party options.

L'Atelier De Joel Robuchon - review by Brodule

Sun, 17 Aug 2008 22:50:18 +0000

L'Atelier De Joel Robuchon - review by Brodule

Rating: 4.6

Location: 13-15 West Street, WC2H 9NE, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7010 8600

Website: http://www.joelrobuchon.co.uk

Tags: french, pretentious, expensive

Dined here as a guest of someone so can't really comment on the cost, but it gave me the feeling of unlimited expense. Personally I was not comfortable with the interior design and the slightly exposed feeling I got with my particular place. Staff were quite professional but somehow distant. It's a tricky thing at this price level and perhaps they are too busy to pull off the 'welcome back' that you get even on infrequent dining at some better places. The food was well above average and certainly qualified for more than one Michelin star, though in the couple of months since I was there memory of particular dishes has faded. As I did not choose the wines either, I can only comment that they were good without being truly outstanding but of course they may well have just been not my style. The whole experience did not create that 'must return' feeling, but it was sufficiently good that a return match must be arranged.

Yoisho - review by Hugo

Sat, 03 May 2008 08:55:15 +0000

Yoisho - review by Hugo

Rating: 4.5

Location: 33 Goodge Street, W1T 2PS, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7323 0477

Tags: lively, wonderful, scruffy, crowded, japanese

Yoisho is stealth Japanese food at its best. The restaurant itself is low key, scruffy and about as posh looking as a chippy. However, absorb the details. It is full of Japanese, it looks like it has been going for ever, it is packed and the menu is stuffed with intriguing things I have not seen on most normal Japanese menus.

Apparently the restaurant is run by a famous ex-boxer who likes his grub, straight up, rough-ready but seriously tasty.

The waitress was fantastically helpful saying that the food style was like Japanese tapas and that if you are drinking then it was not the done thing to eat rice (after all Sake as your rice quotient in it).

The result was a heavenly journey into Japanese food: seaweed soup, crispy tofu, prawn and ginger crispy things (like a japanese pizza?), salmon belly, sashimi (I know this sounds implausible but I have never eaten such fresh sashimi, it was a whole new level of freshness that makes me suspect they have a small artificial ocean underneath the restaurant) and much more. I am almost fainting with pleasure just thinking about it.

Eating here is a touch dangerous because the tapas are small and so delicious that it is hard to stop yourself from feverishly ordering more and more.

The person I was with, who found out about this place from a Chelsea street flower seller and has recently been to Japan said that this more closely reflects the local experience. It won't be for everyone, it is noisy, not smart, a little chaotic (all of which i quite enjoy from time to time) but yoisho's raison d'etre is its sheer tastyness.

The Gate Vegetarian Restaurant - review by Izabel_blue

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 13:11:38 +0000

The Gate Vegetarian Restaurant - review by Izabel_blue

Rating: 4.0

Location: 51 Queen Caroline Street, W6 9QL, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 8748 6932

Website: http://www.gateveg.co.uk

Tags: lively, international, good value, crowded, vegetarian

I've been to the Gate about twice a year for the last 5 years with my veggie husband and the food is almost always great.

Unfortunately the rest of the world seems to know this too, and it tends to get very busy, especially at the weekends. As it's a small noisy room, I'd not recommend it for an intimate first date, unless you go on a Monday or a Tuesday night!

The food is very eclectic with influences from all over the globe, especially Asia and the Middle East. Omnivores will be so overwhelmed by the interesting choices that they'll barely notice the lack of meat on the menu. Expect to spend around Â£80/couple for three courses with wine.

Oh, and be sure to save room for pudding - especially the house crumble or (even better) the chocolate fondant if it's on the menu.

The Gate Vegetarian Restaurant - review by sue

Sat, 05 Apr 2008 18:41:54 +0000

The Gate Vegetarian Restaurant - review by sue

Rating: 4.0

Location: 51 Queen Caroline Street, W6 9QL, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 8748 6932

Website: http://www.gateveg.co.uk

Tags: friendly, vegan, organic, vegetarian, expensive

I ventured to Hammersmith one mild spring day to lunch with a friend. The venue was The Gate, an upmarket and well renowned vegetarian restaurant in an unlikely location next door to a council estate. I had eaten at The Gate several years earlier and was pleasantly surprised by the food back then, so willing to return and see if the standards had been retained.

I am not a big fan of the room, it is attractive enough, but the tables are too jammed in and the atmosphere is not good when it is quiet, as it was when I arrived. Thankfully, plenty of other lunchers arrived and perked things up a bit, though I was surprised when they seated people right next to us when there were plenty of other empty tables available.

To eat I had the Tortillas - wheat tortillas filled with sweet potato, sweet corn, goats cheese, coriander & chilli, served with guacamole, sour cream & a black bean & red pepper salsa. The dish was attractively presented (apart from the burnt edges of the tortilla) and all of the flavours worked well. For dessert I had some Ice cream which is made in house - coffee, maple and coconut lime - nice and refreshing, but nothing special.

Not being an experienced vegetarian restaurant visitor, I'm not sure how the menu compares to other veggie places, though there were plenty of interesting options which sounded good to this meat-lover.

L'Atelier De Joel Robuchon - review by Cedric

Tue, 26 Feb 2008 10:20:34 +0000

L'Atelier De Joel Robuchon - review by Cedric

Rating: 4.6

Location: 13-15 West Street, WC2H 9NE, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7010 8600

Website: http://www.joelrobuchon.co.uk

Tags: french, cuisine, expensive

The best restaurant I have ever gone to. As clearly explicited above, the Atelier is a semi-formal restaurant where you sit around the open kitchen. You can thus appreciate the ballet of the cooks around the plancha, slicing, cutting, seaming...

For your dinner, it is suggested to select two starters and a main. I personaly opted for (sorry if I don't phrase it properly):
- Smoked salmon
- Hot foie gras on seasonal fruits puree
- scallops with truffle and leeks

Everything was extremly delicate and beautifully presented. The savours and scents of the food are enchanting your sense. It is amazing to be able to catch hints of ingredients without them overwhelming the dish.

Since the chef has a direct view on the customers, and vice-versa, he decided to come over and have a word with the two of us who simply extatic... The concept of the exchange and demystification of the cuisine works very well. It becomes accessible, whilst keeping its entire premium.

Since this was our first encounter with Joel Robuchon's cuisine, we were offered a small portion of his iconic truffled potatoe puree which is fucking good (excuse my French).

As a desert, I managed to resist to the temptation to go for a chocolate cake and opted rather for a Chartreuse souffle with Pistacchio ice cream. The liqueur is produced a few kilometres away from my home town... And this is the first time I enjoy it in a souffle. What a surprise, and fireworks of flavours again.

Overall, this was a fantastic culinary experience to celebrate a big event. But no doubt that we will come back again, even if the bill is on par with the heights of culinary arts, it was totally worth it.

And it even inspired me a blog post to be read here: www.mountaindwellerviews.blogspot.com/2008/02/cuisine-like-no-other.html

Yoisho - review by LondonistHazel

Mon, 07 Jan 2008 10:59:56 +0000

Yoisho - review by LondonistHazel

Rating: 4.5

Location: 33 Goodge Street, W1T 2PS, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7323 0477

Tags: japanese, family & home feel, good value

This place is... mad. You step off Goodge Street and walk straight into a traditional little Japanese izakaya - not really a restaurant, more a tapas bar and it's clearly a Japanese place for Japanese people.

Not that we were made to feel unwelcome or awkward. Though we were clearly not Japanese, we were invited to sit at the counter where the chef leaned over the hot grills to guide us through the menu and give us subtle tips on how to treat the place. Like a tapas bar. Looking around, it was all about having a few drinks, reading the paper, chatting to your neighbour and ordering a small dish or two then repeating the process until the bar had shut and the tube stations were closed.

I was taken in hand by an extremely polite and friendly chap in London on business who helped me pick a few things from the specials list which was a hand-written slip of paper all in Japanese. My companion was being helped by the waitress who wanted to make sure we got things we would 1) actually eat and 2) despite our adventurous nature, she didn't want us to be totally freaked out or end up ordering too much / ordering too little.

We got just the right amount and were befriended by a rather over-excitable chap who was looking after a flock of extremely good looking female colleagues. Free beers with the chef after the place had officially closed and a sense that the party was only just starting as the bins were being taken out at 1am really sealed this place as somewhere special.

It wouldn't be like this for everyone, and not every trip is going to result in a slightly disorientating "I think I'm in downtown Tokyo, how do I get home?" blurry phonecall from a bus stop in Soho but just knowing something this authentic is in London restores my faith in London's capacity to host the finest food and people.

Delicatessen Yoshino - review by Mattweir

Fri, 30 Nov 2007 12:26:54 +0000

Delicatessen Yoshino - review by Mattweir

Rating: 4.7

Location: Japan Centre, W1J 9HG, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7434 3610

Website: http://www.yoshino.net/delica

Tags: Sushi

The Sushi here is fresh and delicious - sometimes handed over as it's made. You won't find Sushi at a better price in central London, and you only need to see the number of Japanese here at lunch time to realise this is the 'real deal'. I've been enjoying it for over 2 years, but it is now becoming incredibly busy at lunch time.

The Gate Vegetarian Restaurant - review by Cedric

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 17:06:27 +0000

The Gate Vegetarian Restaurant - review by Cedric

Rating: 4.0

Location: 51 Queen Caroline Street, W6 9QL, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 8748 6932

Website: http://www.gateveg.co.uk

Tags: lively, family & home feel, good value, vegetarian

For me veggie was an equivalent of healthy but also boring... Until I discovered The Gate. They are providing you with some outstanding dishes that make you enjoy your meal like rarely before. The funny thing: it is so good that I even forgot that it was a vegetarian restaurant. The location is a bit akward, as you seem to get into someone's house. The restaurant room turns out to be really noisy when full (well, it is always full), but it does not disturb you from your food. However forget it if you want a cosy, romantic place. You are there for the cuisine, not for the ambience.

Delicatessen Yoshino - review by Mez

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 14:07:08 +0000

Delicatessen Yoshino - review by Mez

Rating: 4.7

Location: Japan Centre, W1J 9HG, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7434 3610

Website: http://www.yoshino.net/delica

Tags: cheap, cheapest, bargain, rare finds, delicatessen, sushi, shop, japanese

This place is tucked away, in the Japan Centre, itself a 2 seconds walk from Piccadilly circus.

The Japan centre houses a restaurant on the ground floor (which is always busy, offers good food albeit pricey, but that's a review for another day!), and a Japanese delicatessen/shop downstairs - the subject of this review.

The sushi @ Yoshino's is the cheapest I've found. It's of a decent quality and variety too (to give you an example, you can get a pack of 8 Salmon & Avocado maki/roll for Â£2.95. BAR-GAIN!).

The place is always full of people, esp. during lunchtime, but their super efficient order processing system won't make you wait for more than a couple of minutes.

It's THE place to go to pick up a packed sushi lunch at more than an affordable price.

NB. When I went today (29th Nov 07) the shop was being revamped. Not sure what they're planning there but it used to offer everything you needed to make your own Japanese meals. I'll try to update when I find out what they've got in store (pun intended ;)

L'Atelier De Joel Robuchon - review by claypole

Thu, 13 Sep 2007 17:05:52 +0000

L'Atelier De Joel Robuchon - review by claypole

Rating: 4.6

Location: 13-15 West Street, WC2H 9NE, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7010 8600

Website: http://www.joelrobuchon.co.uk

Tags: Expensive

This is one of the best restaurants I have ever been to, and I've been to most in this class, both in London and abroad.

The decor and ambience was perfect, the service excellent, all the food was outstanding, my favourite being the quail stuffed with fois gras. Our initial wine recommendation was lighter than I had hoped based on my preferences, but did compliment our starters, which were predominantly seafood based. The next choice from a decent, mainly (if not all) French wine list was excellent. After our meal and on contemplating the mayhem of a Saturday night in the heart of the West End, we were directed to a fantastic private bar and were the last to leave at some point early Sunday morning. The cocktails were spot on, the Jamaican Mule being a staple, but there were no bar snacks of any kind, which was unfortunate. The bill was outrageously expensive but along with the company this was a great night out and worth every penny.

L'Atelier De Joel Robuchon - review by Browners

Wed, 06 Jun 2007 22:18:40 +0000

L'Atelier De Joel Robuchon - review by Browners

Rating: 4.6

Location: 13-15 West Street, WC2H 9NE, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7010 8600

Website: http://www.joelrobuchon.co.uk

Tags: tapas, tapinyaki, l'atelier, workshop, expensive, french

My God L'Atelier is good. Cowie and I had a spellbinding meal sat at the bar overlooking the immaculate chefs making perfect cooking look like a piece of piss. We'd been planning to go here for a while.

Imagine a tepanyaki combined with a tapas restaurant which serves excuisite French food and you're there. It was such a chic restaurant that we felt like we were both multi billionaires. Our next door neighbour spent 2 hours telling her desperately unfortunate companion about her 5 million dollar divorce settlement and her alcoholic estranged husband who she still lives with... If you're reading this, you are a digusting, but enthralling individual!

We shared 4 mini starters which were all sublime. My favourite was the ravioli of langoustine and the 4 minute frogs legs. The ravioli was perfect. Silky, fine pasta and a rich, unctious sauce that encased soft, juicy scampy. Incredible. Frogs legs were battered and sat on little dabs of garlic and parsley sauce. I ate them bones and all which is how good I thought they were!

Our squid was delicious too. A tomato water sauce flecked with rich chorizo made for an excellent combination and looked very pretty on the plate whilst the vegetable confit was deep and flavoursome too.

Then things got fun. Our waiter wondered over to us with an entire side of sirloin and asked Cowie how much she wanted. Cowie gestured that she wanted a slice of beef the thickness of a forearm and that's what she got! Massive... but utterly gorgeous piece of rare steak. I challenge anyone to cook a better steak.

My quail was something else though. Stuffed with foie gois and seared on the hot plate it was tiny but filled me with the most fantastic feeling. It made life feel good. The whole world became a better place. Even the horrific woman next to us sounded like an angelic nun. And it got even better when I tucked into Joel Roubechon's famous mashed potato. Rumour has it it's 70% butter. Wow.

A plate of profiteroles saw me off for dessert. My teeth still haven't forgiven the fiendishly cold ice cream. Now, I don't want to offend my Dad who makes very good profiteroles, but, these were the best I'd ever had. Watching them pour an un civilised amount of chocolate on top of the mini mound made me feel like doing a lap of honour. Cowie's Chantreuse soufle was so spectacularly good I only allowed myself one mouthful. That was all I needed. Perfect.

What a brilliant restaurant. I utterly loved every moment we were there. Despite the most annoying woman in the world sitting next to us!

L'Atelier De Joel Robuchon - review by robcarter

Tue, 06 Feb 2007 14:36:31 +0000

L'Atelier De Joel Robuchon - review by robcarter

Rating: 4.6

Location: 13-15 West Street, WC2H 9NE, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7010 8600

Website: http://www.joelrobuchon.co.uk

Tags: romantic, still good, let down, business, sexy, crowded, brasserie, expensive

This catchily named-restaurant will be reviewed in two parts; the prologue being the restaurant and the epilogue, the bar.

Prologue: Joel Robuchon was voted the "Chef of the [last] Century" by the other great chefs of the world. "This is going to have to be amazing", I thought.

London is M. Robuchon's newest Atelier (workshop; he IS French). To add to his collection of New York, Vegas, Paris and Tokyo. By all accounts - they are all the same thing. Like a monumentally expensive McDonald's you know what you are going to get when you walk in: from your Rolls Royce parked in the street.

It should be noted that his choice of location, really IS a declaration of intent. The next door restaurant is The Ivy. The luvvies' favourite; the choice of the nouveau riche and ill-informed. Its where Tess Daly and Vernon Kay eat. With Chris Moyles.

L'Atelier will take on the role of The Ivy easily; it may be dark but it is hugely small and cozy; you would not be able to hide here.

To the decor. This place is like a japanese health spa meets an 1980s nightclub. Its dark, chic, shiny, black marble, dark wenge wood, red leather on the seats, red glassware at the table settings and hanging baskets of fresh chilis. This is not really to my taste but feels inviting, strangely.

However once sat at the bar - where you eat cheek by jowl with the next party of people talking self-consciously quietly - the flashiness and the shininess makes a bit more sense. As your eyes adjust to the lighting you see that you are in full view of the kitchen. This is again small but over-full with silently moving shadows all dressed in black, mutely slicing, dicing and, interestingly, repeatedly needling food with toothpicks until the presentation was just so.

Most of the cooking (apart from some preparation and pastry making - which is banished to the basement) is straight on the hotplate (teppanyaki) - again in eerie silence.

It is this cooking method that intrigues me along with the whole concept of the place. The intimacy of a japanese restaurant has been [con?]fused with the popularity of french buttery cooking. Sounds like a great concept. But the seating is too intimate, the atmosphere too quiet (Friday lunch should be one of the busiest times of the week!), to let you speak with confidence that others aren't listening. This is bad for a business lunch anywhere but the Brits hate to hear themselves talk so we end with a competion to speak almost inaudibly; desperate not to let our neighbours hear a thing.

If you come with a party greater than 2 the above gripe is irrelevant as the 3 or more of you will be sat in a line along a bar, unable to communicate in any other method but chinese whispers.

You choose much like Ramsay's Maze (see another one of my reviews - current favourite restaurant!) with either main course sizes or tasting menu size (a third of the food at half the price but you get to sample a load of the menu).

At 'The Workshop' however, this leads to smaller portions than any more than one person can enjoy and surely the point is for everyone to 'try'. No? You think its vulgar to share food? Off the same plate? Ok then, well you're entitled to your opinion...

The food. In short a bit of a let down. The problem being that the is the Chef of the Century here - surely it should 'blow your mind'. The Pied De Cochon was the stand out favourite for me, that's French, it was really great. As was the quail, even the main course size of this was tiny. The mash here is simply barely textured butter, but you convince yourself its mash and that it is the best mash you have ever had; mildly flavoured with truffle. But for instance the Lentil Veloute was just good - not amazing.

Thats the problem here. The place is too hyped and expensive for there to be a moment of disappointment.

Lets hope Tess and Vernon don't stop posing for long enough to taste anything properly.

Above the restaurant there is the second restaurant - La Cuisine - the same but not as well designed by all accounts and above that, high above Soho, is the bar...

Epilogue: We needed somewhere to discuss the lunch. We were both a tiny bit let down and needed to talk through it. We had heard about the bar. We were not disappointed.

This was perfect. The blackout curtains stopped the obtrusive daylight, the leather bucket seats allowed for a perfect chat, the service slightly too slow but inobtrusive the cocktails lovingly prepared, the fire and light music allowed for the chat to venture to a louder volume than the restaurant had afforded us. They also transferred the bill upstairs which just made life easier.

This place would look the same at 1pm as it would at 3am - decadent isn't a strong enough word for the decor; it verges on the pornographic. Plush, sensuous and intimate.

The bar totally makes up for the restuarant - maybe enquire and do your pre- or post- dinner drinks here and go somewhere else. Or perhaps before the show, stop into the bar.

Superb.