One thing a restaurant really can’t be blamed for is having to share a dining room with a big party of cheerfully noisy people. Indeed, as they’re likely to have a storming drinks bill it’s only to be expected that restaurants would actively court such parties. The Checkers is a cosy, friendly restaurant in the …
Tag Archive: fine dining
Review: La Trompette, Chiswick
It does get difficult reviewing restaurants that are very good but not explosively brilliant. Unless something interesting happened on the way to the restaurant, or there’s something on my mind I’d like to moan about, it’s hard to decide how to make the review interesting. As you’ll have spotted, my reviewing style is not to …
Review: Medlar, King’s Road
The guys who run Medlar spent many of their formative years at Chez Bruce and other Nigel Platts-Martin establishments, so if you think that might give you a clue to the kind of meal to expect at Medlar, you’d be exactly right. Think top-notch classic French cuisine without too much fuss and with the odd …
Review: Noma, Copenhagen
Noma is all about ideas, playing with convention, with ingredients, with presentation. With an objective eye I would have to say that the results are not always conventionally delicious. Those more challenging dishes become delicious through the medium of a palate that is hungry for new experiences, possibly even slightly jaded by a thousand prior …
Muddy Michelin waters
My most unusual Michelin-starred meal must be Tim Ho Wan, a tiny restaurant tucked away in a backwater neighbourhood of Kowloon, Hong Kong. They seated about thirty, shoulder to shoulder in a room no bigger than my lounge, with décor to remind you of your local Chinese takeaway several thousand miles away. We had a …