Restaurants

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor If I’m honest I have never seen an episode of Sex and City, but the idea of the glamour and glitz of dining and drinking in Manhattan does appeal, but I guess it does for almost everyone. Well, The Avenue restaurant on St James’s Street, just off of Piccadilly offers just that. The building looks the part, to be fair it already did, as it was originally designed by American architect Rick Mather in 1996....

By Jonathan Hatchman, Food Editor, @TLE_Food As Aristotle wrote, Truffles were “a fruit sacred to Aphrodite”. The luxurious Fungi may have become the Foodie equivalent to Bread and Butter in recent years, but Truffles have a deep Historic lineage and have always been a highly prized ingredient. Many fine restaurant kitchens will use the odd shaving here and there, yet Tartufi & Friends have always been dedicated to celebrating the Truffle, used munificently in almost every one of their dishes....

By Jonathan Hatchman, Food Editor, @TLE_Food Their delicious Burgers and colossal portion sizes have most probably taken over your Instagram feed over the past three years, so if you still haven't visited MEATliquor, you're most certainly missing out. Situated just behind London's busy Oxford Street, it's no surprise that the London branch of the Restaurant has become hugely popular in recent years. So busy, in fact, that you're likely to have to queue around the block for 90 minutes, just to...

By Jonathan Hatchman, Food Editor, @TLE_Food With plenty of exciting restaurant openings constantly taking place across the Capital, here’s our pick of the best new restaurants and bars arriving in London over the coming month.   The Ivy – Covent Garden Iconic celebrity favourite – The Ivy is set to reopen this month, following a five-month closure for renovation. This re-work ties in with the 100th anniversary of the restaurant and internally we can expect quite a bit of change. Everything apart from the...

By Nathan Lee, TLE Correspondent This summer a Chelsea restaurant will bring a taste of the countryside to the city by offering foraged food to go. Brothers Rich and Oliver Gladwin, behind the acclaimed wild food restaurants Rabbit on King’s Road and The Shed in Notting Hill, will take to the road to bring foraged food to the rest of the country. 'Rabbit in The Shed' will serve up a slice of Richard and Oliver's rural lifestyle back in West...

By Jonathan Hatchman, Food Editor, @TLE_Food “Would you like me to pair some Wine with your chosen courses, monsieur?” our zealously competent sommelier asks of us upon ordering our meals. And although having already partaken in a few pre-dinner drinks at next door’s rather luxurious Polo Bar that’s situated within The Westbury Hotel, in the spirit of eating out, the sommelier’s offer does seem hard (and slightly rude) to refuse. Yet as is – thankfully - proven during our visit...

By Jonathan Hatchman, Food Editor, @TLE_Food With over 30 awards to its name, as well as having retained its prestigious Michelin Star every year since 2009, our expectations of Galvin at Windows were already sky high, before even arriving at Park Lane’s Hilton Hotel. Opening back in 2006 (9 years to the day, on our recent visit), after ascending to the hotel’s 28th floor, the sweeping panoramic views are the first experience that’s on offer from the restaurant. However, although...

By Jonathan Hatchman, Food Editor, @TLE_Food Since opening way back in 1982, Bombay Brasserie’s mission has always been to present London with the authentic food of Bombay in all its ethnic variety. And having dined at the recently refurbished restaurant last week, it’s safe to say that the restaurant manages to deliver that promise, as well as much more. In recent years, there’s been a huge increase in competition when it comes to fine Indian cuisine within the city, however,...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor Nestled along Kingsway a few moments from High Holborn tube lies this well-kept secret. Rocket is a chain of high end and trendy restaurants with sites across the City, Docklands, the Holborn site of course and even one venue in Nottingham. The restaurant is down a flight of stairs and the feel is sleek but also had a relaxed feel. For a Wednesday night it was pretty busy and we took a table towards the...