Test Drives

  On a recent brisk Tuesday evening we had the pleasure of test driving Joyeux Bordel cocktail bar. Joyeux Bordel translates in French to ‘happy mess’ and not ‘happy brothel’ as you may perhaps prefer to believe. We left feeling very happy, and thankfully not in a messy state. Joyeux Bordel is the sixth bar from the legendary Experimental Cocktail Club...

Ingredients you'll never have heard of and a dining room that makes you want to linger - we Test Drive the new Modern Pantry in Moorgate

We head to Kentish Town to try the new high street steak and beer joint

We head over to Connaught Village (just a little to the west of Marylebone) to check out the next from the people behind Donostia. They've expanded just across the road with Lurra, offering a new focus on Galician food - particularly steak.

We take a look at the fourth Wright Brothers in South Kensington, their first attempt at creating a seafood restaurant which focuses on neighbourhood dining.  

Le Pont de la Tour has just thrown open its doors to the public again - we head down there to see what's new.

We head to Fitzrovia to try out the new restaurant from Allan Pickett, who's cooking a very impressive menu of French cuisine using British ingredients.

Hot Dinners popped along to Oxford Street last night to one of a series of dinners being held at Selfridges for the store's Meet the Makers series. Last night was the first of a two night stint by National Chef of the Year Russell Bateman of Colette's restaurant at The Grove. Bateman was introduced by his former boss Daniel Clifford from...

Artesian at The Langham has been named World's Best Bar three years in a row, so clearly they're doing something right when it comes to cocktails. But now this world class cocktail lounge has a bar food menu to match. We reported recently on the arrival of the SNAX tapas menu, created by the hotel's Executive Chef Chris King, in consultation with Michel Roux...

We head to Fitzrovia to check out the latest pub to be taken over by The Cornish Project, the classic Newman Arms on Rathbone Street.

Wood-fired, Roman-style pizzas cooked in minutes - we went to see if Pizza Union was as good as it sounded

We head along to try the newly revamped and relocated Chutney Mary in St James and spot some familiar locals too...

As our regular readers will know, we're big fans of Bob Bob Ricard. Following on from their recent foray into Saturday lunches, they've now expanded to offer the Bob Bob Ricard Sunday lunch. Now, everything's a little bit more special at BBR, and the Sunday lunch is no exception. While the main lunchtime menu is available, it's the "Traditional Roast" that...

We head over to Hackney to try out the supper club turned restaurant from James Ramsden and Sam Herlihy. 

Patty and Bun is well worth the trip at the best of times, but if the queues at James Street aren't your cup of tea, we think you should head east for their latest, The Arch in London Fields. Where is it? Right round the corner from London Fields station - and a few arches down from the E5 Bakehouse. And it's pretty big inside (although we set...

With the opening of a beautiful terrace Ognisko has become a restaurant to take real pleasure in

Already a hit in Dalston, the second Salvation in Noodles is a very welcome addition to Finsbury Park. We head down to take a look.

Another new addition to North Greenwich, and with easy access to Canary Wharf, this is a new casual fine dining restaurant with a pretty impressive selection of wines. We head along to check it out. 

It's almost exactly a year since Barrafina Adelaide Street opened to a great response (and many awards). With the Hart brothers opening a third on Drury Lane we dodged the queues to try the new one out.

Fitzrovia wine bar The Remedy has a new menu (and wine list). We went down to check it out