Category Archive: Rest of UK

Outside of London

Review: The Black Swan, North Yorks

They seem to be having a good time at the Black Swan, rummaging the fields and hedgerows for wild ingredients and making all kinds of concoctions and decoctions out of them. As it was a balmy day I enjoyed a bright green and refreshing glass of apple marigold lemonade to begin with. Other enticing cordials …

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Review: Fraiche, Birkenhead

Interesting. Sometimes, as a sort of car-crash voyeurism, I like to check out the bad TripAdvisor reviews of restaurants. Not because I’d ever trust them, but because some people’s semi-literate views are hilarious. And for Fraiche I fully expected the same kind of comments I saw for Casamia; “I was so hungry afterwards I had …

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Review: Montpellier Cafe, Cheltenham

It took us a while to find our local restaurant in Cheltenham. We certainly spent our first year roaming around trying everything; the overpriced but unique Daffodil, the un-ironically retro Number Seven, the decently Swedish Svea, the zut-alors-tres-French L’Artisan, and a bunch more. We may live ten minutes walk from the 2 Michelin star Champignon …

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Review: Harry’s Place, Grantham

Blatant list-following: we only went to Harry’s Place because they got themselves into the top 10 of the annual Times 100 Best Restaurants in the UK list. And it was a unique and delightful experience, a lovely evening out, with some exceptional cooking. But I can see how your enjoyment could depend upon both you …

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Review: Turners, Birmingham

I thought Alimentum had an odd choice of location, on a main road out of Cambridge near a trading estate. But Turners has it totally beat for “least likely place to expect fine dining”, squashed between hairdressers and carpet retailers in a drab parade of local shops with a squat row of 1970’s flats above. …

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