Value for money and unassuming decor – no wonder Jeremy Corbyn is a fan of...
This cheap and cheerful joint couldn’t be further from New Labour’s glamorous Granita – and it is perfectly suited to today’s leftwing leaderLike the company they keep, you can tell a lot about a...
View ArticlePlates v slates: the backlash against gimmicky serving dishes
We Want Plates, a Twitter campaign against the restaurant trend for serving food on breadboards and miniature shopping trolleys, launched six months ago. Now some chefs are scrapping their slates. We...
View ArticleWhy the chef shortage could change the way we eat
Kitchens have always had a high turnover of staff, but inflated salaries, lack of skills and unrealistic expectations are all to blame for a growing crisis in the catering industry. And it’s having an...
View Article111 By Nico, Glasgow – restaurant review
‘Nothing causes me more anxiety than a restaurant with a good cause’I am, frankly, fretting about 111 By Nico, a small restaurant in an undistinguished shopping strip (dry cleaners, wee barber’s, Spar)...
View ArticleThe Brass Rail: restaurant review | Jay Rayner
Jay has been coming to Selfridges’ salt beef bar all his life. Will the sandwiches be as good now there’s been a refit?The Brass Rail, Selfridges, Oxford Street, London W1. Meal for two, including...
View ArticleThe DIY chefs: ‘You’re making something you just can’t get elsewhere’
Five cooks who are using their restaurants to churn their own butter and cure their own salumiFormer head chef, Aumbry, Manchester, makes her own curd and cheese‘You’re making something that you just...
View ArticleE coli struck 142 takeaway customers after staff did not wash hands
Owners of Khyber Pass in Hyson Green, Nottingham admit hygiene offences after court hears that staff did not wash after going to the toiletMore than 100 takeaway customers were sick for up to two...
View ArticlePlantwatch: Mushroom madness – fungi finale?
Harmful foraging? So long as there’s cash in harvesting wild fungi they face being stripped away, so they need protectingPlenty of rain has brought out lots of mushrooms, including giant puffballs,...
View ArticleLas Iguanas changes controversial tipping policy
Restaurant chain bows to pressure following Observer exposé to remove its ‘administration fee’ on staff tipsRestaurant chain Las Iguanas has bowed to pressure from thousands of disgruntled diners and...
View ArticleTwo Cats Kitchen, Birmingham – restaurant review | Marina O’Loughlin
‘What the hell is “new Baltic cuisine” when it’s at home? No idea, but when it’s this good, who cares?’What the hell is “New Baltic Cuisine” when it’s at home? If what we eat at chef Niki Astley’s (no,...
View ArticleThe Talbot: restaurant review | Jay Rayner
You’d have to be a ‘hard-hearted, self-regarding, po-faced schmuck’ not to like the Talbot, says Jay. Praise indeed…The Talbot, Knightwick, Worcestershire (01886 821 235). Meal for two: £30-£80Inside a...
View Article£255 to eat in the Fat Duck? That’s indefensible
Only the wealthy few can afford a meal at Heston Blumenthal’s reopened Bray restaurant – but we’ve got some ideas for how the place might be democratisedAfter a six-month stint in Australia, Heston...
View ArticlePlating up: how crockery has become one of the hottest dishes on the menu
Restaurants are splashing out on handmade pottery, with chefs and artists collaborating to match plates to particular mealsSometimes in a restaurant, when my meal is delivered, I touch the plate, not...
View ArticleFancy Nance: Adriano Zumbo's high tea on steroids – review
The pastry chef is known for his colourful creations. His latest venture in Melbourne is a fantastical high tea salon, where too much sugar is never enoughHigh tea has never been my cup of tea (so to...
View ArticleJamie Oliver's Italian restaurant chain under fire over tipping policy
Waiting staff say changes to tipping policy at Jamie’s Italian have left them out of pocket, a claim the chain rejectsWaiting staff at the Italian restaurant chain set up by Jamie Oliver are in dispute...
View Article10 of the best railway station restaurants: readers’ travel tips
Inspired by our Top 10 on station dining in Europe, Guardian readers added tips for other railway station restaurants to savour. Here’s a selection of their fine dining workIt seems readers love...
View ArticleLurra, London W1 – restaurant review
‘This is quite emphatically the year of the old cow. And no, I don’t mean me’The last time I suggested that something was the taste of 2015, I ended up in Private Eye’s Pseuds’ Corner. (I blame The...
View ArticleMexican-style Wahaca is latest food chain to be accused of unfair tipping policy
Wahaca waiter says he was effectively being asked ‘to pay rent’ to work at the restaurant, which was founded by MasterChef winner Thomasina MiersFirst it was Pizza Express, then Las Iguanas, Côte and...
View ArticleCongrats on the stars, but Birmingham’s not great for everyday eating
Five Michelin-starred joints notwithstanding, Birmingham has a distinct lack of independent places that feed you well and affordablyNo one who has visited Birmingham regularly over the past 20 years,...
View ArticleSackville’s: restaurant review
Silly truffle dishes and overpriced beef dominate the menu here – and the puddings are just unpleasant. AvoidSackville’s, 8a Sackville Street, London W1. (020 7734 3623). Meal for two, including wine,...
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