Yes, we’re a day late but in our defence, it was a very good party. Happy New Year from all of us here at city-eating – we hope you celebrated in style with fellow foodies.
2008 was a good year for food, especially in London where there were more new openings and relaunches than you could count. We hope you found our New Openings page helpful and that you’ll keep an eye on it throughout 2009 and let us know if we’ve missed anything. In the same way, if you’ve searched for your local favourite and it’s not listed or you know somewhere has closed, please get in touch – we rely on your insider knowledge to keep us up to date.
2008 was the year of the blog on city-eating. Not only did we start our own, but we also started to link to amateur restaurant reviews as well as those from professional critics. We asked some of our favourite food bloggers to share their best experiences of London dining with us and here’s what came back:
• Our food blog newcomer of the year has to be London Eater who has approached blogging with incredible enthusiasm and taken some great photos along the way. His full round-up of the year is well worth a read and it ends with a recommendation for crab on toast at Great Queen Street. “It's not pricy, simple, premium British ingredients and tastes really great. For a great restaurant for today's times – fine food on a shoe string – you can't go wrong at Wild Honey. For spot-on food and for that special occasion: Hibiscus.”
• Another newcomer we uncovered is Thring for your Supper - a dashing young gourmet who shared his best meal of the year with us. “Although it's a tough call, my best London meal in 2008 was probably at St. John. The restaurant has its critics, who say that the various spin-offs (Magdalen, Great Queen Street, and the rest) have taken the mantle and pushed it further than Henderson, but we enjoyed beautiful plates of simple, perfectly executed food. It doesn't have a Michelin star, or a chef whose gurning face is always on the telly, but it continues to produce exquisite and honest dishes with a profound belief in heritage and seasonality.” Well said, Sir!
• World Foodie Guide kept us entertained throughout the year with her reviews, recipes and wonderful culinary postcards from Italy and Hong Kong. She recommends the razor clams and lamb cutlets at Barrafina, kebabs at Mangal (the one on Arcola St) and lamb chops at Kazan. “They’re nothing fancy, just sensational dishes!”
The anonymous gourmet known as Food Snob named the controversial L’Ambassade de I’Ile as his restaurant of the year but said that the lesser known Sportsman in Kent showed the most potential. As for individual dishes, he praised the dover sole at the River Café; the canard a la pressé at L’Ambassade; calves tail raviolo at The Square; spicy parsnip soufflé at The Greenhouse; and the omelette Rothschild, langoustine and snails at Le Gavroche. Not bad for a year’s eating!
Instead of trying to pick ten of the best newcomers of 2008, we’ve just listed ten of our favourites in no particular order. We’re not saying they’re the best in London or that you’ll necessarily agree, but we have enjoyed all of them and would recommend trying them all at least once.
1) Bocca di Lupo. Of all the Italian restaurants that opened last year, we liked Bocca di Lupo best. It doesn’t take itself too seriously but the food means business, with dishes like fritto di mare and swordfish a la Palermitana never failing to impress. With hearty one-dish meals on offer at lunchtime and wines by the glass starting at £2.40, you can eat well here without breaking the bank.
2) Quo Vadis. The critics had plenty to say about the Hart brother’s Soho grill in 2008 and Michael Winner was spot on when he dubbed it ‘the new Ivy’. Sure, it’s not cheap but the menu is full of dishes you could eat every day of the week and the profiteroles filled with ice-cream are not to be missed.
3) Corrigan's. After his announcement that Lindsay House will close in 2009, Richard Corrigan set up shop in a smart new location near Hyde Park. The menu is not for the faint-hearted as it’s packed full of meat and game, with dishes like grouse pie, saddle of hare and butter-poached pheasant taking centre stage.
4) Goodman. Even though it’s part of a Russian chain, Goodman is really a New York style steakhouse with an on-site drying room designed to mature the prime cuts of beef before they get thrown on the grill. They served some of the best steaks we had in 2008 and their cheesecake was as good as any you’ll find in Manhattan.
5) Cote. The Good Food Guide has already named the Cote chain their best value restaurant for 2009 and we couldn’t agree more. There are branches in Richmond, Wimbledon and Covent Garden but our favourite is the one on Wardour Street, where you’ll often find us tucking into duck confit and their incredible roast chickens.
6) Bull & Last. Gastropubs were all the rage this year but this is one of the few that actually cut the mustard. If you’re craving something roasted and meaty after a walk on the heath, then this is the place – but book ahead as it’s getting distressingly popular, especially now Giles Coren has named it one of his local favourites.
7) Terroirs. Who would have thought that a wine bar with soul could survive near Leicester Square? Terroirs oozes Parisian charm and has a wine list that would make even the fussiest connoisseur sigh with pleasure. The biodynamic options rarely result in hangovers and the menu is a delicious mix of charcuterie, cheese, bar snacks and plats du jour – perfect for sharing.
8) The Giaconda Dining Room. Paul Merrony made London’s ‘Tin Pan Alley’ more famous than it had been for years by opening this bijou bistro and serving up seriously good French food. Critics and bloggers sat side by side throughout the year, even when Merrony broke his arm and started offering an impressive ‘one-armed Chef’ menu. The two-armed menu is now back on, so make sure you drop in and try it out soon.
9) Murano. It was a good year for Angela Hartnett with both Murano and York & Albany receiving praise from critics and diners alike. Murano’s solemn dining room in shades of beige doesn’t do her bold and flavoursome dishes any justice, but we can forgive that when the food is so good.
10) Cinnamon Kitchen. Popular with local City slickers since it opened, Cinnamon Kitchen is one of the smartest Indian restaurants that opened last year. The food is slightly Westernised but no less delicious, while the bar serves up some exotic cocktails. The biryanis (to share) are our favourite – don’t miss the Keralan curried seafood.
Honourable mentions go to The Stag in Hampstead for their awesome burgers and cheeseboards; the wonderful French onion soup at Brasserie Roux Heathrow; excellent parma ham at Viva Verdi; expertly mixed cocktails at The Botanist; and everything we’ve ever eaten at The Establishment in Parsons Green.
Here’s to another year of merriment and feasting!
Hi guys - thank you so much for this mention!! I'm always happy when people pat me on the back, gives me even more reason to go out there and eat more - and write more audaciously about it too!
All the best and have a grand start to 2009!
Posted by: Kang at LE | January 04, 2009 at 06:13 PM
Excellent round-up.
I'm green with jealousy that I wasn't mentioned, though!
D.
Posted by: Douglas Blyde | January 08, 2009 at 09:18 PM