French waiters aren’t rude, they merely demand respect | Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett
France’s ‘welcome deficit’ may have more to do with British and American attitudes to service, than any perceived rudenessHow do you solve a problem like rude French waiters? The impolite maître d’s in...
View ArticleLeicester House: restaurant review | Jay Rayner
In a corner of Leicester Square that is forever Manzi’s, a new Vietnamese has moved in. But for how long, asks Jay Rayner1 Leicester Street, London WC2 (020 3696 6460). Meal for two, including drinks...
View ArticleCraft London, London SE10 – restaurant review | Marina O’Loughlin
‘With its tender, rosy flesh, sticky skin, all suffused with subtle smokiness and sweetness, I’d almost swim to Greenwich for Stevie Parle’s clay-baked duck’Stacey, my new favourite front of house...
View ArticleThe Marksman: restaurant review
Simple, well-cooked food served without fuss in a proper pub in east London really hits the spot254 Hackney Road, London E2 (020 7739 7393). Meal for two, including drinks and service: £90If there’s a...
View ArticleWe’ve had our fill of fussy fine dining | Jay Rayner
Why pay for a spotty teenager to ferret about in your lap with a napkin? The casual revolution has been a long time comingSpare a thought for Britain’s high-end laundry businesses. For decades they...
View ArticleHenry Dimbleby: it took a long time to get Leon’s business model right
The co-founder of the healthy fast food chain reveals his business struggles, his career highlights and his plan to launch 16 street food markets in LondonThat the most important thing is to be focused...
View ArticleSo long, Sizzler – your all-you-can-eat cheese toast made me so happy
With news that Sizzler’s parent company have suffered losses and restaurants will close, Mark Humphries recalls a 90s Australian favouriteWe’ve known for some time that Sizzler is dying. But on...
View ArticleThe Duke William, Ickham, and The Compasses, Crundale, Kent – restaurant review
One pub’s run by a ‘name’ chef, the other’s more a labour of love. No prizes for guessing which one our critic prefersThis is a tale of two pubs. On the surface, very similar: both deep in the...
View ArticleEnd of the party: how police and councils are calling time on Britain’s...
From London’s Vibe Bar to the Arches in Glasgow, some of the UK’s most popular bars and clubs are closing in the face of ever-more stringent licensing rules – but the entrepreneurs behind them won’t go...
View ArticleBonhams: restaurant review| Jay Rayner
Tom Kemble’s cooking at Bonhams is exquisite… It’s so good Jay almost didn’t want to tell you about itA restaurant of quiet ambition, located within a fancy auction house, is a whole bunch of dreadful,...
View ArticleDeath of the quick pint?
As a new report suggests that more than 90% of pub visits involve the eating of food, is the age of the quick pint and boozy drinking den over?There are certain statistics that stop you in your tracks....
View ArticlePricey New York restaurant Per Se settles complaint that it stiffed waiters
Attorney general says Per Se added a 20% service charge for private banquets that should’ve been paid to waiters but instead went back to the restaurantOne of New York City’s most expensive restaurants...
View ArticleWhat a dish: the UK’s most beautiful plates of food
Restaurant plates have never looked more lovely. But do they have to be so complicated? The Guardian’s restaurant critic considers five modern masterpieces, from the Ledbury and Sat Bains, to Hedone...
View ArticleSaltwood on the Green: restaurant review | Jay Rayner
The late Alan Clark’s castle is close to the pleasing Saltwood on the Green. But would they have let him in?I have always associated the village of Saltwood near Hythe in Kent with a certain kind of...
View ArticleCurry on cooking: how long will UK's adopted national dish survive?
With immigration policies hitting new chefs, and social mobility among second-generation Indians and Bangladeshis, Britain’s curryhouses are in troubleIt’s Monday lunchtime on Brick Lane, east London,...
View ArticleThe Cross Keys, London SW3 – restaurant review | Marina O’Loughlin
‘Alarm bells are set off by veal tonnato delivered with a “Watch out, the plate is very hot”’It’s an open secret among restaurant critics that we – every bit as much as other hacks, with normal BMIs...
View ArticleRound-the-clock London: what it’s like to live and work in city that never...
Strikes over all-night tube service highlight the changing nature of a capital where you can eat, drink and even have your hair done from dusk till dawnFinn Brennan was a driver on the Northern line...
View ArticleSmith & Wollensky: restaurant review | Jay Rayner
Smith & Wollensky is the latest big-name steakhouse to cross the pond. Pity it didn’t sink on the way…Cooking a steak well is tricky, because you cannot see inside the meat. It takes experience and...
View ArticleMoro, London EC1 – restaurant review | Marina O’Loughlin
‘The first restaurant my husband took me to was Moro, and thus his fate was sealed’I kept meaning to go back to Moro. I meant to go back last year, when the former editor of the Daily Telegraph wound...
View ArticleFischer’s at Baslow Hall: restaurant review | Jay Rayner
Fischer’s is all Alice bands, chintz and over-stuffed pillows. It would be funny if the food wasn’t so damn goodBaslow, Derbyshire (01246 583 259). Meal for two, including drinks and service: £120How...
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