• Added: 13th of January 2008
• Area: Chelsea
• Category: Restaurants

London SW3 3QP
020 7349 0202

herrylaw said
Pricey trendy noisy - but good!
Went with daughter's friend who had worked there and were welcomed and given the star table (in the window, behind the coats where people can't easily see you, as opposed to the celeb tables where everyone can gawp at you to your heart's content) and had a pretty flawless evening. Good manhattans and cosmos (for the daughter) and a decent coupe for me followed by fois gras with eggs and bacon - amazingly delicious! We had to order bread - ok and baked on the premesis - to soak up the juices, pointing to the fact that you don't automatically get it when you sit down. I suspect that reflects its high quota of slender young things who try not to nibble....). The restaurant is strong on meats of the heartier variety and the party had roast belly of pork, which was just that - very tasty with plenty of crackling. My lemon sole was a disappointment - rather small and undistinguished, but they usually are so it was my poor choice. Daughter had a beautiful birthday dessert without the awful knot of waiters singing tunelessly but calvados was third-rate and only good for cooking. We had a fine Australian pinot noir from the short list and the whole meal ran out at about £6o a head....not bad for a noisy brasserie!

• Added: 5th of December 2007
• Area: Herne Hill
• Category: Restaurants

London SE24 9HU
020 7095 9922

herrylaw said
A Special Spanish in Herne Hill
Going to a restaurant a second time is always instructive as the first occasion might have been an aberration - good or bad. Number 22 was already high on my return list, but as I am rarely in the Herne Hill area the need to entertain an old friend who lives on Half Moon Lane gave me the opportunity I needed. Booking on-line elicits an e-mail from the owner and the cheery open fire which greets you on a dark winter lunchtime raises one's expectations still more. The menu is tapas-orientated with a few more substantial plates. We nibbled on perfect breads and olive oil and had manchego and quince toasts (which were a little light on the quince), succulent pan-fried bass with mediterranean vegetables, clams in saffron sauce and a most delicious paprika and oregano pork dish. The only disappointment is that they only serve rather ordinary Serrano ham and not the beautiful - but admittedly very expensive - Gran Reserva ibérico ham - which would be worth coming to Herne Hill alone for. Number 22 has a pretty garden / terrace which would be a delight in the warmer months. There is a short but impressive wine and cocktail list from which we chose a beautiful Finca Valpiedra Reserva from the friendly and knowledgeable waitress and which kept out the chill wind on the walk home.

• Added: 30th of September 2007
• Area: Mayfair
• Category: Restaurants

London W1K 4EG
020 7495 4774

herrylaw said
New French Makes the Grade
Eagerly anticipated my first visit to La Petite Maison, being a fan of its parent in Nice (and the scary patronne, Nicole) and went for an early lunch - which was just as well, as the place had been booked up for later sittings several days before. The signature dish - poulet aux fois gras - is a large black-leg chicken stuffed with fois gras for two and must be ordered in advance, which I duly did - and then fielded no less than four calls on my mobile before I reached the restaurant, to determine if I was still coming (I was - and on time) and then the exact time that it should be served. Very correct - but a touch uber-enthusiastic nevertheless. We started with the famous salade d'artichauts - roughly chopped artichoke with parmesan - perhaps a little too much parmesan this time - washed down with a first-rate Sancerre Prestige. When the poulet came it was superb - and impressively substantial (see photo). I remember little of the rest of the meal as my companion is invariably entertaining but I noted that the menu was a replica of the Nice carte and had on it such dishes as loup de mer en croute de sel for which one formerly had to invest in ticket on the Blue Train to consume. The service was accomplished if not as memorable as in Nice, and the large bright room bore a contented lunchtime buzz and the smell of success.

• Added: 12th of August 2007
• Area: Brompton
• Category: Restaurants

London SW1W 8LL
020 7730 5712

herrylaw said
Exceptional Chinese Cooking in Pimlico
Most Chinese restaurants in Europe serve Cantonese food - the food of Southern China and Hong Kong - and although generally light and fresh, it can also be rather bland. Other regions of China feature more robust and spicy dishes . particularly the Sichuan and Hunanese styles. Hunan is an outstanding example of the latter and an entertaining experience as well. We began our evening with a glass of champagne at Carole Bamford's Dayleford Organics deli-cafe opposite the restaurant and arrived at Hunan smartly on time, as the owner, Mr Peng, is known to chew his guests up for breaches of etiquette. In fact he wasn't in attendance the night we went, but his son, who maintains his father's old-fashioned courtesy, was.

As recommended, we didn't ask for a menu, but said that we would leave it to him to bring us whatever he wished, save only that one of the party prefered vegetarian dishes. This is also to be recommended since they excel at vegetarian cooking and as all dishes can be shared, all can try everything. A eight-course banquet followed that was some of the best Chinese food I have ever had - even in China.

Fortunately somewhat 'nouvelle' in portion and style, the dishes flowed smoothly one by one (rather than being piled up on the table all at once) from our attentive waitress, with the spicing light and interesting and never fierce. Superb lamb, minced pork, salmon and seabream rolled together, double cooked pork, crunchy tofu and superbly sauced vegetables made for an outstanding meal. There was a full wine list, and Mr Peng is known to be an expert, but we washed the meal down with tea, the Chinese way.

The room is quite small and simply decorated with paintings of Chinese emperors and empresses and the atmosphere more French than Chinese, so don't go for a noisy convivial evening; just appreciate the superlative cooking and courtesy. Young Mr Peng shook our hands on leaving and wished us to return, which we certainly will.

• Added: 2nd of August 2007
• Area: Knightsbridge
• Category: Restaurants

London SW7 1DL
020 7584 1010

herrylaw said
The best modern Japanese in London
Zuma is where we go for our extra-special-sod-the-wallet celebrations. Ayako, my wife loves it for the truly excellent modern Japanese food (generously overlooking the fact that the chef is German) while our daughter loves it for its high-class buzz and celebrity pulling-power (Russell Crowe et al). Service is exemplary; the waiters are brilliant at explaining the frankly rather complicated menu and recommending dishes - so that you end up with a smooth and seemingly endless feast that has to include: asparagus tempura, crispy fried squid with green chilli, mouthwatering wagyu beef, black cod with miso, superb sushi and sashimi (very unusual in London) and anything with wasabi mayonnaise. Everything should be shared and is, except, unfortunately, the bill. The wine list is long on spicy or smoky wines that go well with Japanese food, like the Franz Haas Traminer from Alto Adige. The sofa seating behind the bar is a good place to chose to eat and watch the parade of London's fashionable young things

• Added: 31st of July 2007
• Area: Twickenham
• Category: Restaurants

Twickenham TW1 3EJ
020 8892 0602

herrylaw said
A Gem in Twickenham
In an unexciting street near St Margaret's Station, rather than near the Thames, Brula nevertheless overcomes its location by consistent high standards of cooking and service. On all ill-favoured Monday in the holiday season only three tables were taken at lunchtime, but the atmosphere was friendly and comfortable and the food of a high quality. I had a first-rate salad and a serviceable dourade royale (my fault for ordering fish on a Monday) but my colleague was ecstatic about his 'onglet' steak and I was able to pinch most of his chips while he was enthusing about it. We shared an excellent plate of regional cheeses and were only prevented by our car keys from having more of (in my case) a delicious Premier Cru Chablis than necessary.

• Added: 26th of July 2007
• Area: Broadgate
• Category: Bars and Pubs

London EC3A 8BF
020 7929 3641

herrylaw said
Social hub of the City
The Sterling is my 'local' when in the City and stands where my office used to be before the bombing of the Baltic Exchange. It's a slightly unprepossessing place squeezed along one 'side' of the Gherkin (officially the Swiss Re building), with its entrance rather lost behind one of the gigantic girders that support the now iconic edifice. The Sterling is redeemed by three things: the maitre d' and her staff, the food and the terrace. Naimh Stanford ('pronounced 'Neame') is a dream of Irish charm and enthusiasm and she hangs onto a friendly and efficient brigade as well as chefs who above all buy and cook fish exceptionally well. I can still remember the absolutely delicious haddock from one of my first visits and have never been disappointed since. Wines are well-chosen , but the coffee comes in mugs - a bit of a turn-off. The terrace, in the shadow of the tower later in the day, is huge and hums with life whenever the weather is clement - and often when it's barely tolerable (the wind can be savage). On a good day they have to cope with up to 500 people, which makes it 'the' City social hub, at least for the insurance quarter.

• Added: 24th of July 2007
• Area: Dulverton
• Category: Bars and Pubs

Dulverton TA22 9AZ

herrylaw said

Much improved food and atmosphere, according to the locals. It's a bit unfair to order Indian food in a pub, but it was up on the wall - and it tasted fine (though it could have done with more spice). A new dining area has been added at the back but we sat in the cosy front bar and were quite happy

• Added: 23rd of July 2007
• Area: Dulverton
• Category: Bars and Pubs

Dulverton TA22 9AU

herrylaw said
Excellence in Exmoor
Dulverton is a charming but tiny country town at the foot of Exmoor, which despite outraging my animal-loving wife by advertising 'duck racing' at the local fete, provided an exceptional evening at an unexpectedly good restaurant. Woods is great: a rustic bar at one end (complete with wise-cracking locals) and a restaurant at the other with a good British menu (eg 'samphire') of very high-class food. I had a delicious green salad (an infallible test) and a Cornish lobster that was unusually succulent. My wife's dish of plaice was constructed in the approved 'on a bed of' form and was perfect. I was also able to scrounge enough of my nephew's steak to know that it one of the best pieces of meat I have had in ages. The wine list showed an unusual range including some of my favourite Central Otago Pinots. We had the Carrick (2003) and it was absolutely delicious. But the astonishing highlight of the night was being given quite the best Calvados I have ever tasted - Reserve d'Adrien from Adrien Camut. It was worth driving the 200 miles from London just to snuffle some up!

• Added: 14th of July 2007
• Area: Woodstock
• Category: Restaurants

Woodstock OX20 1SZ

herrylaw said
One of the great inns of England
The Bear is famous - almost as famous as Blenheim Palace at whose gates it has sat since the 13th Century. An arcetypal coaching inn covered in ivy and exuding warmth and conviviality, the decor has been carefully updated (the bedrooms are very comfortable if rarther too hot) and business meetings catered for. The large but cosy beamed restaurant (seats 80+) serves excellent modern Britsh grub. I went in the evening when there was noisy fair in the street outside where pigs were being roasted on spits, so the ambience was exceptionally mediaeval - but the delightful maitre d' was from Latvia. It's not cheap, but a great get-away from London (1.5 hours) and you can climb upstairs to bed