Test Drives

City of London diners have plenty of choice on their doorstep, so it's interesting to see how some restaurants manage to stand out from the crowd. We visit Straits Kitchen at the Pan Pacific London which does just that.

There are changes afoot at impressive Covent Garden hotel NoMad. We went down to try their newly relaunched restaurant, as well as sample a celeb-created taco.

Marjorie's in Soho combines a wine bar with a menu of French small plates and is just what Soho needs. We went down to try it out...

Ex-Pied à Terre chef Asimakis Chaniotis has launched his own Greek restaurant in South Kensington. We went down to check it out. 

Directly opposite Dorian, and from the same owners, you'll find Eel Sushi - a sushi bar that comes with bragging rights for those who get a seat here.

Featuring the lunar cycle as its theme, this high rise omakase restaurant turns out to be a lot of fun for the dinner guests.

  On our latest trip to Paris, we checked out a new hotel, a newly Michelin-starred restaurant, a new French bistro that looks like it's been there for an age and lots more...

One of the most glamorous arrivals on the Covent Garden dining scene is Stevie Parle's Town. We went to try both its bar and restaurant. 

Taking over the old Trader Vic's spot downstairs at the Hilton on Park Lane is a shiny new steakhouse Mr Porter. We descended the spiral staircase to check it out.

Looking like it's been a part of the Marylebone dining scene for years rather than freshly opened, Claude Bosi's new Parisian-style brasserie turns out to hit all the right notes. 

For their third restaurant, Bubala bring their vegetarian take on Middle Eastern cuisine to King's Cross for the biggest Bubala yet. We went to check it out.

Jason Atherton's new flagship restaurant is Row on 5 on Savile Row, which earned a Michelin star in almost record time. We went in to try it out and left thinking a second star seems all but inevitable. 

Bright, welcoming and with a food menu that makes you want to order everything - the arrival of The Kerfield Arms in Camberwell turns out to be very good news for locals. 

A dream restaurant team are trying to bring a bit of NYC energy to Shoreditch. We booked a table for dinner to see if they'd succeeded.

Tom Brown has returned to the dining room where he got his first big break in London. With his name now on the door, we went to Knightsbridge to see what the chef was cooking up. 

An extremely talented duo are behind Tasca, the first, year-long residency to take over the kitchen at new Bethnal Green bar Cav. We went down to be wowed by the food and drink on offer there.

Perilla is getting close to being on Newington Green for a decade. Since our first visit, we've heard nothing but high praise for this restaurant so it was clearly time for us to revisit.

Longstanding London BBQ restaurant Bodean's has been given a makeover with the arrival of legendary meat man Richard Turner. We went down to see how much things have changed.

South Kensington is the unlikely location for the arrival of an interesting new restaurant in a historic old building. We went down to try out The Lavery.