White linen, silver service, but not in Mr Michelin's book
We had one of the best Indian meals ever at Aktar Islam’s restaurant Opheem in Birmingham back in 2018 – another one of our lucky finds, a good year before he picked up his first Michelin star. Strange to read reviews from only eight years back and see £38 as the price for three courses …
Vanderlyle try pretty hard to emphasise that they are simply a fine dining restaurant (and, sotto voce, by the way they don’t use meat or fish). I completely understand why they take this slightly convoluted approach. When I’m thinking about going out for a nice meal, I can feel myself almost automatically skipping my gaze …
They do a good thing at The Water House Project, a small touch but it feels generous and indulgent; with each of the wine pairings, they come along after and ask if you’d like a little more of the wine. Don’t mind if I do! Although, of course, it’s daft to overdo it on the …
Annwn might be a bit of a marmite restaurant: some will love it, others will leave bemused. For the record, we loved it, but that’s because it ticks all our culinary buttons. Chef Matt Powell cares deeply about place and provenance, loves using obscure and unfamiliar local and foraged ingredients, isn’t scared of strong flavours, …
AngloThai has taken on one of those tough challenges: trying to marry the bang, zip and pow of Thai flavours with the requisite richness and finery of a fine dining tasting menu. I’ve not had very many truly great Thai-inspired fine dining dishes over the years, they often either de-power the flavours to insipidness, or …
