Top 100 UK Restaurants 2013 - London

Following the announcement of the 2014 Michelin Guide, it seems strange that the National Restaurant Awards has just happened for 2013. It's a confusing industry. Either way, we have a new 100 best places to eat in the UK list. And whatever I think of it (I will give you a hint: I don't totally agree with it all), it's my obligation to report it here.

London's representation in the UK's best selection is still high but it has dropped by one to 58 out of 100. Not shabby by any means but interesting that the change has occurred. Of course some of this is down to closure. Roganic did not renew its two year lease which would almost certainly have stayed on the list, but some surprising drop-outs, from Medlar to Yauatcha have dented London's staying power a little.

Of course, the new entries have come flooding in, with 23 of them in total showing the London scene to be ever-changing and constantly positive. The Clove Club of Shoreditch is an impressive new entry at five whilst Bruno Loubet's Grain Store premiers at nine. This list has certainly added several venues to my list of places to go which may make for an expensive end of year.

Finally, at the very top, The Ledbury has been knocked off its perch by The Hand & Flowers of Marlow. I have been to both and I do prefer The Ledbury (despite the fact it is more expensive) but there is much to be said for the charm of a full-on pub restaurant leading the way. Pollen Street Social continues its excellent stay near the top of the tree and The Square's irrepressible consistency remains.

This year I have added the 2012 position of each restaurant (or listed as a new entry) in order to provide some comparison and context. Enjoy!

2 The Ledbury (1)
3 Pollen Street Social (2)
5 The Clove Club - New Entry
8 The Square (7)
9 Grain Store - New Entry
10 Dinner by Heston Blumenthal (10)
11 Dabbous (31)
14 Hedone (52)
15 Bocca Di Lupo (23)
16 Brasserie Chavot - New Entry
18 10 Greek Street (12)
19 Le Gavroche (63)
21 Hibiscus (26)
23 Quo Vadis (9)
27 The Quality Chop House - New Entry
29 HKK - New Entry
30 L'Anima (25)
32 Hawksmoor Air Street - New Entry
33 Social Eating House - New Entry
34 Chez Bruce (30)
38 Kitchen Table at Bubbledogs - New Entry
39 Alyn Williams at The Westbury (15)
41 Viajante (43)
42 St John (22)
44 The River Café (37)
46 Barrafina (80)
47 Polpo (88)
48 Galvin La Chapelle (18)
49 Zuma (14)
52 Koya (35)
53 Bar Boulud (65)
55 Zucca (27)
56 Bistrot Bruno Loubet (77)
58 La Petite Maison (59)
59 Locanda Locatelli - New Entry
61 Green Man & French Horn - New Entry
62 Restaurant Gordon Ramsay (69)
63 Jose - New Entry
64 Arbutus (46)
66 Bone Daddies - New Entry
68 Lima - New Entry
70 Pitt Cue (86)
71 Galvin At Windows (58)
73 Hix Soho (67)
76 Tom Aikens Restaurant - New Entry
77 MeatLiquor (75)
79 Balthazar - New Entry
81 Duck & Waffle - New Entry
85 Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester - New Entry
88 Hutong - New Entry
89 Cinnamon Kitchen - New Entry
91 Galvin Bistrot de Luxe (76)
93 Goodman Mayfair (96)
94 Hereford Road - New Entry
95 Restaurant Story - New Entry
96 Dinings - New Entry
97 Newman Street Tavern - New Entry
100 Roka (73)

Michelin Guide 2014 - London Restaurants

The Michelin Guide has been released again. And London has sxty-four Michelin-Starred restaurants to report. A staggering number and one which further proves our fine city's status as a true gastronomic world capital. There are movers and shakers, losers and winners, and in keeping with tradition, they're all here.

Perhaps the biggest news is in the two-star section. Dinner By Heston continues its elevation as one of the world's most top-end eateries, whilst a stalwart of the London scene (and somewhere I'm still yet to go) The Greenhouse also gains a second star. In more surprising news, L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon loses one of its stars to drop down to the 'one' bracket for the first time in many years. The food there is exquisitely, opulently high-end French but it can be over-expensive and it's possible they have become a little complacent.

There are new first stars aplenty across the capital, with an Asian representation in Bo London and HKK. Both places look to use European themes within their authentically oriental outlook and it appears to be working. Jason Atherton continues his rise with Social Eating House of Soho adding another star to his belt. Two star chef ventures in the capial, Ametsa and Outlaw's, also obtain unsurprising first stars.

Several stars have been lost throughout the capital but most of these are down to closures rather than losses of form. The theme of this year is ambitious, impressive chefs bringing more and more recognition to the capital for excellent food. Whilst some of the stars are debatable, it's no bad thing that London continues to fly the flag for some of the most internationally-renowned cuisine in the UK.

Three Stars

Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester, Mayfair
Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, Chelsea

Two Stars

Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, Hyde Park & Knightsbridge - One to Two Stars
Greenhouse, Mayfair - One to Two Stars
Hélène Darroze at The Connaught, Mayfair
Hibiscus, Mayfair
Le Gavroche, Mayfair
Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley, Belgravia
Sketch (The Lecture Room & Library), Mayfair
The Ledbury, North Kensington
The Square, Mayfair

One Star

Alyn Williams at the Westbury, Mayfair
Amaya, Belgravia
Ametsa with Arzak Instruction, Belgravia - New Star
Angler, Islington - New Star
Apsleys, A Heinz Beck Restaurant, Belgravia
Arbutus, Soho
Benares, Mayfair
Bo London, Mayfair - New Star
Brasserie Chavot, Mayfair - New Star
Chez Bruce, Wandsworth
Club Gascon, City of London
Dabbous, Fitzrovia
Galvin at Windows, Mayfair
Galvin La Chapelle, Spitalfields
Hakkasan Hanway Place, Bloomsbury
Hakkasan Mayfair, Mayfair
Harwood Arms, Fulham
Hedone, Chiswick
HKK, Shoreditch - New Star
Kai, Mayfair
Kitchen W8, Kensington
La Trompette, Chiswick
L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon, Strand & Covent Garden - Two to One Star
Launceston Place, Kensington
L'Autre Pied, Regent's Park & Marylebone
Lima, Regent's Park & Marylebone - New Star
Locanda Locatelli, Regent's Park & Marylebone
Maze, Mayfair
Medlar, Chelsea
Murano, Mayfair
Nobu Berkeley St, Mayfair
Nobu, Mayfair
One Leicester Street, Soho - Replacing St. John Hotel Restaurant
Outlaw's at the Capital, Belgravia - New Star
Pétrus, Belgravia
Pied à Terre, Bloomsbury
Pollen Street Social, Mayfair
Quilon, Victoria
Rasoi, Chelsea
Seven Park Place, St James's
Social Eating House, Soho - New Star
St John, Clerkenwell
Story, Bermondsey - New Star
Tamarind, Mayfair
Texture, Regent's Park & Marylebone
The Glasshouse, Kew
The River Café, Hammersmith
Tom Aikens, Chelsea
Trishna, Marylebone
Umu, Mayfair
Viajante, Bethnal Green
Wild Honey, Mayfair
Yauatcha, Soho

Opera Tavern: Covent Garden, Tuesday October 2nd, 2012

As I reflect on what a laboured, late and lackadaisical venture this blog is becoming, I start to regret the fact that I have vowed to myself that I'll be totally up to date by the end of this year. Whether that happens or not, at least I'm honest enough to admit that it was a promise I made. And honesty is a large part of what this sort of thing is about. Without memory, notes, photographs and ideas, no late reviews get posted.

Fortunately, I have a great memory for fairly useless information which includes food. I suppose it's not so useless in terms of writing a restaurant review blog, but it takes up a lot of brain power when there is probably more relevant information that should be using it. Yet, at the expense of my job performance, while my blog performance suffers because of my job, the show goes on.

A year ago, the wife and I joined two friends for some dinner at the Opera Tavern, renowned Spanish eatery and sister venture of the famous Salt Yard. Whilst there are Italian influences in the food, it remains an Iberian franchise in my mind, and that's down to the tapas. Four of us ate a whole host of dishes throughout a frantic, excessive dinner service. Whilst I will touch on all elements of the dinner in this review, I would find it somewhat disingenuous to methodically dissect the meal since it was a delightful, sprawling dinner punctuated with excellent food.

Now that the cat's out of the bag I can relax a little. Whilst the memory of each dish remains, the overriding recollection I have of the evening at Opera Tavern is one of enjoyment. The scallops, served in the shell with celeriac purée and smoked butter were a real treat to start with (left). These were perfectly cooked soft sea pearls, seasoned exceptionally. At £4.50 each they justified the price tag.

Continuing the theme of excellent combinations, the pan-fried pigeon breast with figs and herbs was another treat (right). Figs can be a tricky piece of food to get right, but when they're on the side of perfectly gamy piegon, they make sense. We also ordered a trio of the signature dish, the Iberico pork and foie gras burger (below left). The only thing that needs saying about this is it's as good as it sounds. Moist, flavoursome, rich... An utter delight.

To stop myself going into things too much here - especially since I promised I wouldn't - some parts of the meal need only a mention and a verdict... The chips with alioli and bravas sauce were a delicious sharing snack. The 'classic tortilla' was exactly that. Spring lamb cutlet with garlic purée, tomato, courgette and cumin was an elegantly presented dish with well-defined taste (right).

A feature of the Tavern (the name, by the way, comes from the fact that it is a converted pub in Theatreland) is their charcoal grill downstairs. The mini-burgers had been cooked on it and so was our Iberico Secreto with cider, apple and sage (left). It was a miniature portion alright but the flavour and moisture of the meat was excellent. And at £3.75 I was pleased enough. Continuing the meat theme (we really didn't bother much with fish) some slow-cooked beef shin with charred onion purée and girolles, topped with salsa verde was a triumph of less European than local proportions. Grilled Iberico pork shoulder with capers and a thick, sweet sauce was enough for all of us to dig in and enjoy.

Desserts continued in the sharing theme, with three being ordered between the four of us. In fairness, this was the most uninspiring part of the evening. A lemon tart was as it should have been, though the honeycomb & rosemary cream helped elevate it slightly (right). A chocolate fondant was well-executed other than the strange idea of serving it cold. Some roasted peach on top of what seemed like undercooked polenta was certainly the low point of the evening. Strawberry and mascarpone on top of the dish served only to confuse it more.

As a more brief review than most I have posted in recent times, I think this does get the message across. Only one dish out of twelve wasn't much cop and the rest all hit home with either marginal or total success. I think the best way to approach somewhere like the Opera Tavern is with a hungry group of sharers and to dive in without much thought for table manners or the cost. In this case it wasn't too pricey and we were all relatively pleased with our share of the bill.

A converted pub it may be, but the Opera Tavern is serving up some of the most creative, modern and enjoyable Spanish (and I do believe it should be pitched as Spanish) fare in town. I certainly enjoyed my meal there and the memory remains. Thank goodness...

Opera Tavern

Le Café Anglais - Bayswater, Thursday September 27th, 2012

Picture Stockholm on a mild late-summer evening. If you haven't been there it's not hard, just picture pristine urban cleanliness and relaxed hubbub. Imagine strolling the quayside of a sun-soaked harbour, past verdant flowerbeds and parks, until you get to the most opulent-looking restaurant. It's refined, elegant and grandiose. You're prepared for some seriously authentic local fare. And you get Asian food.

The restaurant itself, part of the Berns Hotel, was actually pretty nice. On a business trip, our generous and welcoming hosts had arranged dinner for us at one of the more exclusive spots in the city. In the event, the food was rather good. For Asian fare it was competitive with some of the better places in London. Where at first I felt surprised, I eventually felt quite satisfied.

Such incongruity is more common in London than many other European cities in my experience. Probably because we are so ashamed of our own cuisine. How many times have you been inside a beautiful-looking local venture to find the menu advertising something totally different to what you expected? Thai restaurants inside local English pubs are a common example.

With this sort of experience in mind, you would expect Le Café Anglais to be something of a play on French or modern European food inside a place purporting to be English in name only. It is too big, too polished and in too nice a part of town to be something genuinely English, surely? It turns out the name is no misnomer. Set up by Rowley Leigh, Le Café is indeed English in its roots, its ethos and its menu. More or less...

A friend was in town and she, the wife and I wanted some proper English grub to celebrate. The menu at Le Café is a confusing read because it's one of those spread across an enormous sheet of card. Any menu this size usually suggests the meal to come is not going to be the best but when you take a look at what's on the menu here, it's another story. My starter was a triumph of Englishness: smoked eel and bacon salad (left). Silkily smooth cold fish with some dressing to balance, topped with crispy bacon over a bed of crunchy bitter leaves is something that works a treat as long as the produce is fresh and this certainly was.

Both the wife and our friend opted for the less local-sounding cep mushroom risotto (right). Nothing wrong with a bit of risotto, of course, but does it really fit the bill on a night like this? I have pondered this question since the meal and the answer is: it does. Risotto doesn't have to be Italian in every way, especially if it is made with local produce, as this was. The rice itself was lovely. Both ladies enjoyed it immensely and there is little more to say than that.

To go with our starters, I practically insisted we sample some of the enticing hors d'oeuvres as they were listed (again, the message was lost at times with all the French on the menu). Parmesan custard with anchovy toast (for the sheer audaciousness of it alone) and kipper paté with soft-boiled egg (for the absolute traditional allure) were both ordered to come with the starters (left). The custard was a strange one, with perfect consistency and texture almost ruined by the fact that it was parmesan-flavoured. It tasted pretty good but this was a dish where the idea had overtaken the taste. Not bad but not much to write home about. The paté was better, having a more robust punch to it, combining nicely with the egg and melba toast on the side.

Several options on the main course menu appealed and the wife went for something as perfectly English and suitable as one could order from such a menu in September: grouse with bread sauce, game chips and gravy (left & right). I might not usually reserve space for a photo of a side dish but the chips themselves (as game chips should be, closer to crisps) with perfect bread sauce really made this dish. The wife enjoyed the bird, stuffed with watercress. I think the idea of the greens is to counter the strong, gamy flavour of the grouse but I always find it something of an inconvenience.

Now our friend unfortunately did indulge in some total incongruity with her main course. Clearly the most outlandish choice on the menu was the roast duck with bok choy, pineapple and chilli (left). Almost an entirely Asian dish in terms of construction and flavour profile, it made little sense to have it on the menu. In the event, she was a little lost as the dish arrived. It was a very nice piece of duck but with the accompaniments it seemed a waste of the restaurant's strengths and tradition.

My main course was one the restaurant should have delivered with flying colours and I was impressed with the rustic autumnal wholesomeness of roast partridge with cabbage and bacon (right). Beautifully carved and somehow delicately plated to allow the vegetables to soak in the rich game juices, this is British eating sadly less common than it should be in modern London. Everything was cooked expertly and the flavours were a comforting mixture of salty, savoury and rich.

Desserts (as should be the case on any British menu) were enticing and a lemon tart was a perfectly reasonable place to start (left). This was just about right in terms of gelatinous consistency, sharp-sweet flavour and crumbly crust. There is a pure, beautiful simplicity to a proper lemon tart and this was certainly one.

My dessert was one which stood out on the menu: raspberry soufflé with red berry sorbet (right). I tend to think raspberry is about the best type of soufflé one can order because the dessert itself - an innately sweet thing - needs that slight hint of acidity and sourness to balance it. This was perfectly even, with the pudding risen excellently, the flavour of delicious red fruit a divine constant. Whilst I would usually always prefer an ice cream over sorbet, this worked perfectly with the extra water content in the side dish allowing for a more potent punch of fruit flavour. It was a memorable and wonderful dessert.

The wife was instantly drawn to the panna cotta as she tends to be whenever it is on the menu (left). This was supposed to come with roasted figs but she is not a fan and so asked the restaurant to change the accompaniment. Chocolate ice cream was the substitute choice and a damn fine one it was too. The panna cotta itself was a little too firm for me but she enjoyed it wholeheartedly and whilst not totally British in its conception, it complemented the meal as a naturally lighter dessert.

Having tried ten separate dishes between us, it was a pretty good evening's work. We were all happy with what the restaurant had turned out and it generally trod the line between traditional British cuisine with more modern interpretations of British ideas very well. The duck was a red herring (metaphorically) but all else varied between enjoyable and excellent.

The clever name and swanky location are both slight misdirects for Le Café Anglais. It is a very properly-run, laid back restaurant. There is much to be said in upmarket London for restaurants serving genuine British food at affordable prices. It might be the simplest idea in the world but that also makes it hard to get right. On balance, Le Café Anglais is certainly doing so.

Le Café Anglais