Matthew

Author's details

Date registered: 11 September 2011

Latest posts

  1. Review: Row on 5, Mayfair — 5 February 2025
  2. Review: Asador 44, Cardiff — 13 January 2025
  3. Review: Heaneys, Cardiff — 13 January 2025
  4. Review: Crispin, Clapham — 22 December 2024
  5. Review: Cinnamon Bazaar, Covent Garden — 13 December 2024

Most commented posts

  1. TripAdvisor gives me indigestion — 13 comments
  2. Spicy beetroot soup — 11 comments
  3. Review: Noma, Copenhagen — 10 comments
  4. Spaghetti alla carbonara, essentially — 10 comments
  5. A gourmet and his gout — 9 comments

Author's posts listings

Review: Pivot, Covent Garden

Categories:

London, Restaurant Reviews

1 October 2023

The terrine

It’s always useful to know about good casual dining options near Covent Garden. So we stopped in post-ROH for a meal at Pivot early Sunday evening. Maybe we didn’t catch them at their best? The decor is “down-at-heel central London pub with unironic UK pop culture wall art for tourists” which may be very deliberate …

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Review: Lao Cafe, Covent Garden

Categories:

London, Restaurant Reviews

26 August 2023

Lao Cafe

My only brush with Laos up to now was three nights in Luang Prabang as part of a trip down the Mekong a few years ago. I remember the food as very fiery, strong on herbs, not using coconut milk and fairly distinct from neighbouring countries. I also remember wandering around the market and finding …

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Review: Ploussard, Clapham Junction

Categories:

London, Restaurant Reviews

26 August 2023

Lamb crumpet

Ploussard is a new small-plates-and-natural-wine joint a few minutes from Clapham Junction at the foot of Northcote Road. This is obviously the classic hipster combination and of course there’s negroni on the menu and lots of natural wood on the walls, while the floor is distressed painted concrete. You get the vibe. We picked five …

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Review: Thomas, Cardiff

Categories:

Fine dining, Rest of UK, Restaurant Reviews

19 August 2023

Them potatoes

I’m writing this review a bit late, really. It’s a good couple of weeks since we ate at Thomas – Tom Simmon’s Cardiff restaurant – and I didn’t take notes at the time. But! It was too good a meal not to record, so here are just a few thoughts and recollections… It’s got a …

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Review: Lasdun, Waterloo

Categories:

London, Restaurant Reviews

19 August 2023

Stylish Lasdun dining room

I’ve seen a couple of reviews of Lasdun that are very pleased to finally discover a better place to eat around the South Bank. I mean, obviously, the area has been a desert of good dining options forever. Unaccountable, given all the entertainment in the area. But based on our meal last week, this feels …

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