Category Archive: Restaurant Reviews

Restaurant reviews

Review: Akara, Borough

I’ve said it before, but I love London for its wealth of food. I’d lay good money that there is nowhere else in the world where so many different global cuisines are on offer at both the cheap-and-authentic and top-drawer-reimagined-dining ends of the spectrum. Borough Market, despite its earthy origins, is now a great place …

Continue reading »

Review: A Cena, Richmond

I remember going to A Cena a couple of times when we lived in Richmond; it was a high-end Italian restaurant just over the bridge in East Twickenham, serving up truly delicious Italian classics in an elegant but convivial dining room. So needing a table for six in Richmond, we decided to return. It’s still …

Continue reading »

Review: Rock-a-Nore Kitchen, Hastings

Old Hastings is a bit of a discovery – a beautiful little coastal town scattered with old buildings, tucked into a deep valley on the south coast. Not to be confused with plain-old-Hastings, the newer and very ordinary coastal town that sprawls to the west of Old Hastings and eventually turns into St Leonards. Of …

Continue reading »

Review: Pine, Northumberland

There’s a strong breed of restaurants now with some shared characteristics and in need of a catchy name. Wish I was good at catchy names. They are emphatic about local sourcing of excellent produce, usually with a strong element of foraging mixed in. They embrace seasonality and delve extensively into ancient, and particularly Japanese, techniques …

Continue reading »

Review: Solstice, Newcastle-upon-Tyne

How has it taken me so many years to visit Newcastle? It’s a lovely place. Handsome centre and riverside, lovely revitalised ex-industrial art district, loads of friendly people, lots of good food ‘n drink. Recommended: Deep North for ace doughnuts and coffee. It also has a blindingly good restaurant in Solstice. I’ve meant to visit …

Continue reading »