Time was when Worship Street was probably just outside the fringes of the City of London proper and was where the light industrial sector of this part of London began, but now it has changed drastically. The initial impact was perhaps due to the Broadgate development which extended north from Liverpool Station to Worship Street and nowadays restaurants and bars are springing up all along the street. It is becoming trendy all of a sudden. And it is due to become even more so with the development of Principal Place on what used to be a derelict piece of ground to the east of Curtain Road. … [Read more...]
Mark Hix gives us his views on game and British Oysters – both now in season
October 7, 2017 by
The game and native oyster season is upon us and aside from other great British ingredients like asparagus and strawberries and gull's eggs, our native oyster and game bird season is probably the most significant of all amongst serious foodies. I shoot game birds myself but not in an en masse, shoot everything in the sky kind of thing on these big driven shoots, which I find a tad shocking and irresponsible as most of the birds shot don't really end up anywhere and get buried. I'm a believer in cook what you catch or shoot which makes the whole thing more sustainable and enjoyable. There's … [Read more...]
The Full English Ruby Murray
October 6, 2017 by
The Full English Ruby Murray Will Bowlby of Soho’s modern Indian restaurant ‘Kricket’ will join Mark Hix for a one-off dinner at HIX Oyster and Chop House on Monday 16th October. Sharing a love for Indian food and a passion for spice, we will be celebrating the humble ‘Ruby Murray’ at our Smithfield restaurant with a 4-course meal and drinks to match during National Curry Week. With plenty of time to chat to Mark and Will, they will share stories of their experience with Indian food revealing how British ingredients work in Indian cookery. Expect to feast on Will’s classic Samphire … [Read more...]
D&D Butler’s Wharf end of Summer Party
August 31, 2017 by
D&D London’s Butlers Wharf restaurants are providing the perfect way to close the summer, with a glittering party of food, refreshing tipples, live music and entertainment. Just before London settles into the new season, this will be the city’s final hurrah for those not willing to let the summer go quite yet, on Saturday 9th September from 12-3pm. All four restaurants will open their doors for the party, with each curating its own sun-kissed celebration menu of food and drinks. You can expect Butler’s Wharf Chop House to stay true to its meaty roots with Baby-back ribs and burgers, … [Read more...]
Bird’s summer menu and Spritz garden
August 14, 2017 by
Bird of Smithfield’s relatively new Head Chef, Tommy Boland, has now been successfully cooking there since October 2016. He has a strong background of working at Michelin starred restaurants and this is reflected in his delightful dishes. Tommy’s summer menu includes starters such as Cured Cornish Mackerel, kohlrabi, dill, yoghurt, cucumber, followed by a main course of Roasted Loin of Cornish Cod, ‘nduja, cockles, samphire, coco beans. Cleanse your palate with dessert such as Lemon Curd, agrumes, arlette biscuit, orange sorbet or Fresh Charentais Melon, lime, mojito granita, … [Read more...]
Disappearing Dining Club’s Little Quiet
August 11, 2017 by
Little Quiet – a new restaurant on Newbury Street (a short and very lightly trafficed street running parallel to Long lane and about 50 metres to its south between Cloth Street and Kinghorn Street) – probably takes the prize as being the area’s smallest. It seats only 16 guests (it’s licensed for 18 so might be able to squeeze a couple more in) and will only survive if it can pretty much fill it every day it is open – currently Wednesday to Saturday evenings between 6pm and 10.45 pm (local residents are probably even more noise conscious than those of the Barbican). Currently it is close to … [Read more...]
Eating on the Ned’s rooftop
August 5, 2017 by
The brand new Ned hotel, which has been opened in the old Grade 1 listed Midland Bank HQ building and which occupies a big area opposite the Bank of England between Princes Street and Poultry, has no less than nine eating options. The Ned (named after the building’s original architect, Edwin (Ned) Lutyens) is both an exclusive club and a 252 room five star hotel. (One hopes that Scottish visitors are not put off by the name as Ned is something of a derogatory term north of the border!) Two of its nine restaurants are only available for use by club members and hotel guests, which is a … [Read more...]
Piano Works in Farringdon – one for the bucket list
July 26, 2017 by
The Piano Works is on Farringdon Road a short walk up from the tube station and on the left hand side in a listed Victorian basement. It is perhaps as much a night club as a conventional restaurant but is definitely a fun venue and around a 15 minute walk from the Barbican. Before starting to read this review and just in case you don't get to the end, I urge you to visit at least once. The place is enjoyably different in that the music takes centre stage. As you go downstairs from the entrance, you enter into an abyss of a basement with lots of types of seating and zones to get … [Read more...]
Rabezzana revisited
July 23, 2017 by
We last reviewed Enoteca Rabezzana on Long Lane a little over 2 years ago (See Enoteca Buonissima) but were tempted back with the news that the Wine Bar/Restaurant was now under new management with a new chef and a new menu. It is still an Enoteca with a great range of Italian wines on offer, together with reasonably priced food. For Barbican residents it is only around 250 metres from the west end of the Estate, and will be conveniently located too for the Elizabeth Line when it opens at the end of next year being almost opposite the Farringdon Long Lane station entrance. We went on a … [Read more...]
The Localist
July 7, 2017 by
The Localist is a larger bistro and lounge bar, restaurant and cocktail bar on St John Street on the right hand side as you walk up the road from Smithfield Market, about 50m past the Michelin starred St John. This is the location of the original Vic Naylors, a bar and restaurant which was supposedly the start of the Clerkenwell bar/restaurant scene and had something of a celeb/gangster clientele. (It was a featured location in Guy Ritchie’s East End gangster film, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.) It must have closed down around 12 years ago. Since then, none of the other restaurants … [Read more...]
