Restaurant review charts - week ending 21 November

Marina O'Loughlin - London Eater

Choice quote: "The dry-aged Longhorn steaks, via super-butcher Ginger Pig’s Yorkshire farm, are the bomb. Huge, thick, breathing smoky fumes from their punishment on the charcoal grill, they manage the remarkable feat of being perfectly black outside and evenly pink within."
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Anon - City AM

Choice quote: "The steak was a glorious hunk of drippingly pink, charcoaly flesh – with none of that obnoxious chewiness that comes from poorly integrated fat and bad cuts. I’m not sure I’ve tasted anything better – even in the US."
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See all the Hawksmoor Seven Dials reviews

Hermano Primero - Dos Hermanos

Estimated score

Choice quote: "The other stuff going out looked pretty good too but for me it’s always going to be about the Oysters."
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See all the Wright Brothers Soho reviews

Giles Coren - Times

Choice quote: "Everything was hot, fresh, delicious and not overpriced."
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See all the Homa reviews

Tracey MacLeod - Independent

Choice quote: "The slow-cooked ox cheek with parsnip purée main is perfect – glossy and dark meat, smooth-as-silk purée and a side order of gratin dauphinoise that requires protection from the other diners with a sharp knife."
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See all the Les Deux Salons reviews

Giles Coren - Times

Estimated score

Choice quote: "Tinello will be one of the big successes of this year. It takes the new Italian ball from Bocca and Polpo and the rest, and runs with it in a new direction."
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See all the Tinello reviews

Jay Rayner - Observer

Estimated score

Choice quote: "I suppose I should apologise for ordering the pork belly. But this one was so good, the crosshatched, crisp, honeyed crackling giving way to completely rendered meat, that I'm not sure who I'd be apologising to, other than the pigs."
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See all the Entrée reviews

John Walsh - Independent

Choice quote: "My date Angie's carpaccio of veal looked like salmon and was of such unearthly tenderness, you didn't need a knife to cut it. The accompanying rocket was crispy, the capers were tart and the three swung along together as though performing "All the Single Ladies" with the hand actions."
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Richard & Peter - Harden's

Estimated score

Choice quote: "The food is not bad, but – like the décor – we couldn’t help wondering if it is 'right’. The bread, a selection, was OK, if not at all remarkable, but the overwhelming impression of a bowl of Provençal vegetable soup was that it was rather a lady’s portion."
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See all the Cigalon reviews

Fay Maschler - Evening Standard

Choice quote: "One [appetiser] not to miss is kaisonosumisoae, a salad of different varieties of seaweed, some with the slithery texture you might anticipate, another done to a crisp. The white miso-based dressing adds to the sensation of vitamins dancing on your palate."
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Chamaine Mok - Time Out

Choice quote: "The sushi is well made, and a benchmark dish of uni (sea urchin) spoke reassuringly of decent sourcing - the creamy roe lacked the musky, fishy odour of less-than-fresh versions, and tasted clean and sweet."
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See all the Nizuni reviews

Amol Rajan - Independent

Choice quote: "My braised halibut is muscular and pungent, and though it sits on an irrelevant wedge of baby gem, the accompanying hand-rolled macaroni with mushroom vinaigrette – Cooper clearly loves his fungi – is superb."
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See all the Bingham reviews

Andy Lynes - Metro

Choice quote: "The menu mentioned the crab having come from Devon, but that just underlined how neutral the dish was, evoking neither English seaside nor French finesse. It conjured up no atmosphere beyond professionalism."
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See all the Brasserie Joel reviews

Marina O'Loughlin - Metro

Estimated score

Choice quote: "Mountain seems an accomplished guy, committed to turning happy pigs from Goodwood into good food."
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Richard & Peter - Harden's

Estimated score

Choice quote: "It may be a positive sign of the times, though, that even in such an unlikely location you can find really good food nowadays. Everything from the scallops to the pork belly was robust and tasty: just the sort of fare your typical City punter probably wants."
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See all the English Pig reviews

Guy Dimond - Time Out

Choice quote: "Yet The Portman didn't quite come together. The service on our visit was a muddle, with orders either slow or forgotten. The dishes were adequate, rather than good."
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See all the Portman reviews

Marina O'Loughlin - Metro

Choice quote: "Yes, folks, this is little better than Café Rouge food but at River Café prices."
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See all the Café Luc reviews

Fay Maschler - Evening Standard

Choice quote: "The welcome managed to be both confused and glacial. Service flailed. Food, when it arrived, was tepid. Quantities veered between miserly for the high-end pricing and too much."
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Guy Dimond - Time Out

Choice quote: "Booking system apart, Barbecoa does many things right. It's a big, smart, City barbecue joint that proudly serves top-quality British meats from the attached butchery downstairs."
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Hermano Primero - Dos Hermanos

Estimated score

Choice quote: "Anyone expecting anything to evoke BBQ from the US is going to be seriously disappointed."
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Stephen Farmer - View London

Choice quote: "The stunning views of one of the capital’s finest landmarks will probably get the majority of the plaudits but the quality of the food is every bit as impressive."
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See all the Barbecoa reviews

AA Gill - Sunday Times

Choice quote: "This isn’t svelte or sophisticated food. It’s outdoor, booted and quilted food, to be consumed on felt blankets in a biting wind, drinking small glasses of salty black tea. And that, I suspect, is why the Russians like it."
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See all the Samarqand reviews

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