Test Drives

Forget Hastings. Forget Trafalgar, and Waterloo. From the 29th November 2011 the lines are drawn for one of the greatest battles ever fought. Swords and guns will be replaced by bottle-openers, glasses and foot long pork scratchings, as Draft House founder Charlie McVeigh takes on Wine Chap Tom Harrow in the ultimate showdown between beer and...

What can you tell us about Bonnie and Wild? If you’ve ever seen a group of market tradesman in kilts hawking venison and duck on Saturdays at Broadway Market, you’ve already had a glimpse at the team behind this weekend-only pop-up restaurant in North London. Based on a collaboration between Bonnie Gull Ltd – a seafood specialist caterers – and...

What can you tell us about The Balcon? The restaurant attached to the Sofitel on Pall Mall used to be a Brasserie Roux but has recently changed hands and undergone a major refit. The chef is Vincent Menager who was sous chef in the previous incarnation and the room has been completely redesigned under the auspices of Russell Sage, recently famed...

Why's Thirty Six by Nigel Mendham of interest? In tandem with general manager, Debrah Dhugga, chef Nigel Mendham has brought the restaurant at much-loved five-star, Duke’s of St. James up to the standard of its attendant bar. It’s long been a favourite on account of its balanced but - if you’re not watchful - unbalancing martinis. Where is it? Following a...

What can you tell us about Bread Street Kitchen? It's the first new opening from Gordon Ramsay since he relaunched Petrus and sees the TV chef opening in the One New Change shopping complex just across the road from St Paul's.  The restaurant has been a long time in the offing, so expectations are high. The entrance to BSK is right opposite Jamie...

With the notable exception of the Harwood Arms, there isn't much in the way of decent restaurants that would tempt non-residents to head down to Fulham in search of good tuck. But a meal Hot Dinners had at Manson last week made us think that might be about to change. Manson's owner, Eamonn Manson - who also owns nearby gastropub Sand's End - has...

What can you tell us about Joe's? Smack bang in the middle of the ritzy Brompton Cross area, there's every chance you might walk by Joe's without noticing it at first glance. A breezy bar takes up most of it's front, making it almost indistinguishable from the other bistros that dotted around this expensive shopping area.  On closer look, a...

What is Cut? This is the first London restaurant for American celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck - the man behind Spago and the chef who's the official caterer for the Academy Awards. On paper it's a steakhouse in a luxury hotel, in practice our lunch here was one of the best meals of the year. Where is it? Cut is the hotel restaurant for 45 Park Lane,...

What can you tell us about the The Northall? It's one of two restaurants in the new Corinthia hotel (the other being Massimo), the huge new hotel near Whitehall. It focuses on sustainable British food (the menu shows the provenance of all the ingredients) and is under the direction of Michelin-starred Executive Chef Garry Hollihead (who has...

What can you tell us about the Admiral Codrington? Once the roaming ground of the determined and thirsty Sloane ranger, the Admiral Codrington has somewhat sobered in its reputation, and clientele of late, and adopted a much more tranquil and food-focused approach. Still first and foremostly a pub, The Admiral’s front bar area is nicely decorated with...

It's our favourite bar in London at the moment, so when Hot Dinners were invited to try the new cocktail selection at the ZTH bar in the Zetter Townhouse, we were more than eager to rush down to the Clerkenwell bar. The new cocktails have been designed by Zetter/69 Colebrooke Row master mixoligist Tony Conigliaro and stick to the ZTH's mantra of...

On a balmy London evening, Hot Dinners were invited to try out the Pichounettes at West London's Angelus, the fine dining restaurant just a few minutes walk from Paddington station. What on earth is a pichounette? Essentially it's a bunch of small dishes combined to make one great big plate. The Chef at Angelus, Martin Nisbet, has pulled together two...

What can you tell us about the Devonshire Arms? As an ex-Gordon Ramsay location ‘at the wrong end’ of a leafy Chiswick street, new gastropub The Devonshire Arms may have some cynics to convince. Stocking the kitchen with a heavyweight in the form of David Philpot, previously of Le Caprice and Dean Street Townhouse, was the first step to...

What's so interesting about Baity Kitchen? Described as a ‘mood food’ deli , Baity Kitchen is quietly turning heads with a simple, middle Eastern based menu in well-heeled South Kensington. Although this casual spot’s deli offerings may not immediately turn heads, this is more than run-of-the-mill grab-and-go eaterie.  Baity Kitchen is taking a...

Why's The Mall Tavern of interest? The Mall Tavern has quietly grown in reputation as a neighbourhood joint worth travelling to. Chef Jesse Dunford Wood has trained up under some top names including Sydney's Mark Best, Michel Roux Jnr and Rowley Leigh. This year he was named Rising Star in the Tatler Restaurant Awards and when he invited Hot...

Street Kitchen, the travelling gourmet Airstream van dishing up lunch for Londoners has a new pop-up home nestled in the heart of the City, and Hot Dinners was invited along to check it out. A breath of fresh air for workers tired of Pret A Manger salads, Street Kitchen first caught everyone’s eye at the London Restaurant Festival. Since then,...

What is Roganic? Simon Rogan is best known for his Cumbrian restaurant L'enclume, a Michelin-starred restaurant which has carved out a serious reputation for serving challenging food from locally sourced ingredients. It's a restaurant praised highly by foodies and one which most recently made an appearance on Coogan and Brydon's The Trip. Roganic is...

What is Massimo?It’s a new London Italian restaurant run by Massimo Riccoli, who also runs the fish-only Rosetta in Rome. Where is it?Just near Embankment tube – inside the new Corinthia Hotel, another of the surprisingly numerous five star hotels to open in London in the past few months.  The Corinthia itself looks every bit the star, with plenty...

What is Adam Simmonds at Danesfield House?Adam Simmonds is the fine dining restaurant at Danesfield House, a luxury hotel situated in a massive 19th century mansion overlooking a bend in the Thames just outside Marlow. As you'd expect in this neck of the woods fellow diners are either hotel guests or local well-to-dos, but they should include...

Why are you trying Maze now? Isn’t everyone else headed in the opposite direction to Pollen Street Social? Well yes, the departure of Jason Atherton to open his own restaurant has meant the spotlight’s been off Maze recently, but new chef Alex Marks has put together an Unusual Pairings menu he wanted us to try and we’ve never liked following the...