Why is flat-hunting so tiring? You’re just spending a day trotting from place to place, being shown around a variety of living spaces ranging from stunning to sadly dilapidated by a variety of letting agents ranging from tooth-jarringly perky to pinstripe sleazily urbane. By the end of it you feel like you’ve done a marathon. …
When you go all-out for flavour and innovation, you won’t hit perfection every single time. Some dishes will be a bit OTT or just plain weird. For me, that’s part of the joy. I’d rather have food I can talk about and maybe a couple of dishes I can absolutely rave about, than several courses …
Core is proper fine dining. The elegant room filled with soft lighting on white linen, the miracle thin glassware, the shimmying clusters of waiters bearing the next remove, it’s all there. This is not “casual fine dining” or “modern fine dining”. And that’s lovely. This is exactly the place to come if you want to …
We’re not sure how to pronounce Monica Galetti’s restaurant, Mere. It’s certainly not “meer” as in a watery marsh. It seems more likely to be “mair” if it’s French for mother. But the website confirms that it should be “mary” which is a Samoan pronounciation. The restaurant also aims to be French with South Pacific …
Jamavar has recently had a change of chef at the top. I hadn’t realised, but it’s actually the first UK outpost of a small group of exclusive Indian hotels. The interior is very clubby, all mirrors and dark wood and little brass lamps. Comfy too. Service was decent and friendly. We went all-in for the …