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Our latest bi-weekly round-up of the latest London restaurant reviews from the top UK critics as they are added to our reviews section. This week, there's a whole heap of reviewers who have taken on the new St John Hotel, Marina gives Opera Tavern a perfect score and we get the first reviews for Bistro du Vin.
Keu - overall score 7.5/10 (down 0.5)
Nick Curtis - Evening Standard
Choice quote: "The mackerel is the best - the crisp crust giving way to a juicy, aromatic, pungent filling."
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Charmaine Mok - Time Out
Choice quote: "Despite the culinary pedigree, Kêu is not quite the Vietnamese baguette deli of our dreams."
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See all the Keu reviews
NOPI - overall score 7.5/10 (no change)
Giles Coren - Times
Choice quote: "“The thing about Ottolenghi,” said Esther... “is that he uses the same ingredients in everything. He uses wonderful stuff ...but every plateful has so many ingredients that 94 per cent of the DNA of each dish is identical, the difference between two main courses is only ever as different as a mule from a donkey.""
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See all the NOPI reviews
Brawn - overall score 7.5/10 (no change)
Zoe Williams - Telegraph
Choice quote: "...what's good here is far better than the less-good things are bad. It's fun and simple and enjoyable, and I'd come again in a flash."
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See all the Brawn reviews
Ilia - overall score 7.5/10 (down 0.5)
Marina O'Loughlin - Metro
Choice quote: "Truthfully, I can’t get wildly excited about it all: mostly safe bets for cosseted palates."
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Richard Vines - Bloomberg
Choice quote: "Ilia... is understated in appearance and that also may be your first impression of the dishes. The singing and dancing only start when the food reaches your tongue."
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See all the Ilia reviews
Tracey MacLeod - Independent
Choice quote: "...Soho now offers many more exciting places to eat well than it did when the SJH was being planned, most of them cheaper and more salubriously positioned. So I can't quite call it."
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Fay Maschler - Evening Standard
Choice quote: "Descriptions are characteristically muscular and terse but prices, both for food and wine, are a stab to yer vitals."
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Guy Dimond - Time Out
Choice quote: "Our main courses (roast pigeon, baked celeriac) were fine but pricy, and certainly not worth a two-hour wait."
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Hermano Primero - Dos Hermanos
Choice quote: "...if you're in the mood for a bit of minimalism or you want to know where it all started then the St John Hotel will pretty much do the job."
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Kang Leung - London Eater
Choice quote: "All the minimal, muscular magic in the nose to tail cooking is retained. The full St John experience had been successfully transposed to Chinatown and it was alive, kicking and very delicious."
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See all the St John Hotel reviews
Time Out Editors - Time Out
Choice quote: "...with a menu dominated by steaks, and safe options such as foie gras and liver parfait, lobster bisque or chopped chicken salad, it's not exactly at the culinary cutting edge."
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Stephen Farmer - View London
Choice quote: "Another cracking addition to an area teeming with excellent eateries, Bistro du Vin certainly seems to have enough in its locker to thrive, even amongst such exalted company."
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See all the Bistro du Vin reviews
AA Gill - Sunday Times
Choice quote: "The foie is worth a visit on its own, and the point and joy of bistros was that they were exemplars not of haute cuisine, but of honest, good ingredients, made with pride and served with nonchalance."
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See all the Chabrot Bistrot d'Amis reviews
John Lanchester - Guardian
Estimated score
Choice quote: "It all works well, and there's nothing amateur about the Fox and Grapes. If I lived locally, I'd regard it as very good news."
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Hermano Primero - Dos Hermanos
Estimated score
Choice quote: "For me the main problem with the Fox and Grapes is that whilst the kitchen is capable I'd like to experience its more creative cooking, er, chops. But it seems that may only be possible in the evening..."
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Fay Maschler - Evening Standard
Choice quote: "(There was) an unbalanced, mostly not terrifically appealing - a subjective judgment, I agree - list of dishes from which, for the main course, we ended up ordering Patrick's burger with tomato relish and blue cheese, and Cumberland sausage on buttered mash with red onion gravy."
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See all the Fox and Grapes reviews
Lisa Markwell - Independent
Choice quote: "If I wasn't reaching capacity, I'd have stuck it between a couple of slices of the fabulous, plentiful, sourdough bread for the taxi home, along with the remains of the second bottle of a remarkably good-value Barbera d'Asti."
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See all the Brunswick House Cafe reviews
Bennett - overall score 6/10 (no change)
John Walsh - Independent
Choice quote: "...until the kitchen clarifies its USP, refines its menu and stops adding otiose flavours to simple dishes, it'll be an uphill struggle."
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See all the Bennett reviews
Jay Rayner - Observer
Choice quote: "It feels as if it is targeted at those crashing the corporate plastic, or the sort of crowd who wouldn't care what they were being fed, as long as they were properly back lit."
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See all the Spice Market London reviews
Barbecoa - overall score 5.5/10 (no change)
John Lanchester - Guardian
Choice quote: "'It’s irritating to have to say this,' said my friend, as we worked our way through a decent and inoffensively priced riesling, 'but this food is much too good for the venue.'"
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See all the Barbecoa reviews
To see how more restaurants are rated, view all our restaurant reviews.
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