Restaurants

By Jonathan Hatchman, Food Editor, @TLE_Food Ask everybody that you know about their ideal Full English breakfast, and it’s almost guaranteed that no two answers will match. The main reason for this is the colossal number of variables that all contribute to the perfect breakfast, entirely based on personal preference. Tea or coffee? Fried, poached, scrambled, or boiled eggs? Ketchup or brown sauce? Bubble and squeak, hash browns, or even (oddly) chips? Sausages, bacon, or black pudding? Or, indeed all...

By Jonathan Hatchman, Food Editor, @TLE_Food At the start of 2012, a young chef named Ollie Dabbous opened his first solo restaurant, having previously worked in the kitchens of Raymond Blanc’s Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons, and Texture. Following some rave reviews alongside a swathe of excitement, the small Fitzrovia restaurant became an almost instant success, with tables virtually impossible to book - whereas four years later, in the present day, London’s foodie elite would be queuing the entire length of...

There are some 9,000 ‘curry’ restaurants in Britain, yet 99 per cent of them are cut from the same cloth. The Balti of Birmingham, the Tikka Masala of Glasgow and the onslaught of other salty, creamy dishes acting under the guise of ‘Indian food’ have created a unique Anglo-Indian style far removed from its country of origin, but that could be about to change. Britain is facing an unprecedented curry crisis as ageing chefs shut up shop at a rate...

If you ever want to get a taste of the vibrant multiculturalism in London, take a stroll down the backstreets of Covent Garden. Along New Row approaching St Martin’s Lane there is a French Asian bakery, Thai and Jamaican restaurants and then Italian and Egyptian street food alongside Greek and Indian eateries within a stone’s throw of each other. The West End is a microcosm of the cultural hot pot that is London, which makes it a food-lover’s dream. Murakami...

By Jonathan Hatchman, Food Editor, @TLE_Food It’s no secret that Paris is generally regarded as the fine dining capital of the Universe. With thousands of restaurants, brasseries, and patisseries located across the French capital, boasting a selection of both classic and contemporary examples of the type of French cooking that has become so universally renowned. However, a tired stereotype often accompanies the notion of French gastronomy here in the UK, with grand expectations of stuffy dining rooms with over-starched table...

By Jonathan Hatchman, Food Editor, @TLE_Food When the notion of visiting a Scottish restaurant is suggested, it’s virtually impossible to avoid vivid recollections of the world’s many terrible themed restaurants and pubs. Many of these monstrosities are thanks to Scottish expats that emigrate and attempt to bring a glimmer of Highlands charm to the land of our continental neighbours. As a result, many of the eating and drinking establishments set up are generally beacons of bad taste, designed solely for the...

Light pours in through a wall of windows; whirring fans sway - suspended from a high ceiling; banquettes and chairs are upholstered in olive green velvet and leather; fine glassware sparkles on marble tables; designer lamps and distressed mirrors adorn the walls. Doors open onto an elegant, awning-covered terrace. This is French-colonial Hanoi, recreated in a four storey townhouse in the heart of Fitzrovia - an unlikely location for a Vietnamese restaurant, and all the more fascinating for it. House...

By Jonathan Hatchman, Food Editor, @TLE_Food Located mere feet away from Piccadilly Circus, the restaurant space at The Criterion has become one of the city’s most historically significant since being built in the late 1800s by architect Thomas Verity. With its cavernous ceilings tiled with intricate mosaics, a bar area that stretches down into the main dining space and a focus on real gold leaf and marble furnishings, the restaurant space at The Criterion is truly breathtaking: offering an air of...

By Jonathan Hatchman, Food Editor, @TLE_Food With regards to eating out, the area surrounding the Greenwich Peninsula was, until last year, still very much a plot of inoperable, muddy wasteland. First popularised by the primarily pointless erection of a colossal tent stylised as The Millennium Dome, opening its doors in 2000 before eventually closing down just one year later, North Greenwich is now famously home to The O2 Arena, one of the world’s most popular live music venues. And alongside...