Reviews

Pollen Street Social, 8-10 Pollen Street, London W1

Jason Atherton might be out of Maze, but his new venture is truly hard to navigate

Inside Reviews

The Hoops Inn, Perry Green, Much Hadham, Hertfordshire

Saturday, 30 April 2011

Henry Moore spent the last 45 years of his life in the hamlet of Perry Green, in rural Hertfordshire, living as simply as his mighty international reputation allowed. The artist's home, Hoglands, is now preserved as a museum and sculpture park, where visitors can commune with his figures in a natural setting, and wander through lovingly-maintained studios and galleries.

Opera Tavern, 23 Catherine Street, London WC2

Sunday, 24 April 2011

Can Opera Tavern add to the capital's reputation for austerity-friendly tapas treats?

Ilia, 96 Draycott Avenue, South Kensington, London SW3

Saturday, 23 April 2011

The area of London known as Brompton Cross is notable for two things – fine dining and tribalism. It's well served with restaurants, and they're always full of locals. From Brasserie St Quentin to the oyster bar at Bibendum, from Daphne's to the charming Malaysian Awana, there's a lot to choose from – and the denizens of SW3 pack them out, night after night. Don't these people ever stay home and cook for themselves? Do they ever think of throwing caution to the winds and eating in other parts of London?

The Ledbury, 127 Ledbury Road, London W11 2AQ

Tuesday, 19 April 2011

An understated alternative to Gordon Ramsay

Brunswick House Cafe 30 Wandsworth Road, London SW8

Sunday, 17 April 2011

Everyone's talking about this south London café (or they're trying to over the music)

St John Hotel, 1 Leicester Street, London WC2

Saturday, 16 April 2011

The new St John Hotel has been a long time coming. The original autumn opening date passed, seasons changed, bookings were accepted for March and then cancelled, and still the builders laboured on. All we needed was for Kevin McCloud to pop up murmuring "if only Fergus and Trevor had employed an architect..." and it would have made a perfect episode of Grand Designs.

St John's Tavern 91 Junction Rd, London N19

Sunday, 10 April 2011

"I have dined in the world's finest establishments," Sergeant Bilko tells a chef, in an episode of The Phil Silvers Show. "When I say 'dined'... I thought I was dining. But since I ate at your restaurant, I realise that I was merely grazing, like an animal."

Bennett Oyster, Bar & Brasserie, 4-9 Battersea Square, London SW11

Saturday, 9 April 2011

The uncertainty that characterises everything about Bennett's Oyster Bar starts with a telephone call. I rang to book a table and said, "I grew up in Battersea and I've never heard of Battersea Square. Where exactly is it?". "It's off Northcote Road," said the voice. Just to check, I looked it up on urbanspoon.com, the food lover's website, where it seemed to be located somewhere off Lavender Hill. A second phone call to the restaurant established that it's half a mile from either road, in the little riverside enclave off Vicarage Crescent.

Bluebells Restaurant & Bar, Shrubbs Hill, London Road, Sunningdale, Berks

Sunday, 3 April 2011

Flowers, chocs? Lovely, thanks. But if you really want to treat your mum today...

Fox and Grapes, 9 Camp Road, Wimbledon Common, London

Saturday, 2 April 2011

Underground, overground, hurrying to Wimbledon Common, here come the foodies. Their destination, a gastropub on the common's edge which recently reopened under new management. Clearly the Fox and Grapes isn't just any gastropub. You could call it an astro-pub, given the two Michelin stars held by co-owner Claude Bosi, the hugely talented chef-proprietor of Hibiscus.

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