Category Archive: Restaurant Reviews

Restaurant reviews

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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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Review: Joia, Battersea

Joia has one very good thing going for it: huge floor-to-ceiling windows with 15th storey views out over Battersea Power Station and beyond. It’s a light and spacious dining room and it feels lovely to be here. That said, on arrival we had a similar experience to La Goccia: the lady on the door took …

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