Food
Food to absorb alcohol: Christmas hampers reviewed
There is straw inside the Fortnum & Mason Christmas Treat Hamper (£100). As the straw drifts through the house, it…
A magical field hospital for vegetables: Turnips reviewed
Turnips is an haute cuisine restaurant inside a greengrocer in Borough Market in London. I suspect others will try this…
Me, myself and Thai: my cooking lesson from Cher Thai Eatery
Lockdown is hurting everyone except the chickens. I have bought them a conservatory because Philippa, a Light Sussex, looks like…
Winning a knife fight with a fish: Newlyn Fresh Fish reviewed
It’s a good day to stab something and tear out its heart. Elaine Lorys is the only female master fishmonger…
This replica is better than the original: The Ivy Oxford Brasserie reviewed
Oxford is not an easy city to homogenise; but that doesn’t mean you can’t try. I found a vast shopping…
The best food Italy can offer: Giannino Mayfair reviewed
Pity the gilded restaurants of Mayfair, if you can: they are dying. Some have reopened; they ache on like men…
Social distancing in Soho: The French House reviewed
London is gasping — so where to go but Soho, which is so good at despair? It is often necrotic…
The apex of civilisation: the Connaught Grill reviewed
A ghost review, now, of a ghost restaurant: the Connaught Grill, which is yet to reopen after pandemic shuttered its…
My steak cooking lesson turned into a sitcom
Pandemic has brought many truths, the most minor of which is: I can’t cook steak. I thought I could. I…
A great Dane: Snaps + Rye reviewed
Snaps + Rye is a Nordic-themed restaurant and delicatessen on the Golborne Road, at the shabby and thrilling edges of…
Stringfellows with fish instead of women: Sexy Fish reviewed
Sexy Fish is an Asian fusion barn in Berkeley Square, near the car dealerships and the nightingales, if they are…
Returning to what makes us happy: Brasserie Zedel reviewed
Brasserie Zédel is a grand salon under Piccadilly Circus and the only place I desired when lockdown (or lock-in) ceased…
Can a chef teach me to cook over Zoom?
We cannot bear more drive-through or take-out or near-fatal snack. I am convinced of the boredom of my female ancestors,…
More drug than nutrient: KFC drive-through reviewed
Drive-through restaurants were invented so Americans could spend more time in their cars. I don’t blame them. American cars are…
Repulsive, depraved and oddly political: Monster Munch crisps reviewed
Now that I have considered Monster Munch I decide to eat one mindfully. I put it in my mouth, and…
The horror of socially distanced restaurants
What does a critic do when her genre collapses? Mostly I panic. I speak to restaurateurs who believe that without…
Hope in a takeaway bag: Mackerel Sky reviewed
You don’t dine in the age of pandemic: you scuttle about in the wreckage. If you can afford food, and…
Fare game: life as The Spectator’s restaurant critic
A fictional Spectator restaurant critic called Forbes McAllister appeared on Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge. He was played…
Much of it is pointless, but that only adds to its charm: Fortnum & Mason hampers reviewed
Stop the clocks: Fortnum & Mason is still delivering hampers. I am not surprised, because this shop — or rather…
Dining in the time of pandemic: takeaways reviewed
I love eating while watching bad films like Battleship, so I love takeaway food from local restaurants. I am not…
A tax on intellectuals: Terrace Cafe at the British Library reviewed
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom, and it sits like a red-brick crab on the…
I have always liked angry food: Ugly Butterfly reviewed
Ugly Butterfly is a zero-waste restaurant and champagne bar on the King’s Road, Chelsea. The ‘champagne bar’ addition is so…
Criminally good food: The Yard at Great Scotland Yard reviewed
The Yard is a defiantly themed restaurant in Hyatt’s new Great Scotland Yard Hotel, an Edwardian red-brick block which once…
The food is almost too superb: Wild Honey reviewed
Wild Honey is a ludicrous name for this restaurant: there is nothing wild about it, and I do not think…
Fairy food for fairy wives: Julie’s Restaurant reviewed
Julie’s is a 50-year-old restaurant in Holland Park, London, newly emerged from three years of closure as plushly renovated as…
