Reviews

Wine: Something for the weekend?

2010 Bordi�re Nord Syrah Grenache, Vin de Pay d'Oc

Inside Reviews

CAFÉ ROUGE, 9-11 Villiers Street, London

Saturday, 24 September 2011

Tracey MacLeod: I know, I know. Critic goes to chain restaurant and has a bad time. Not exactly headline news.

CUT, 45 Park Lane, London W1

Saturday, 17 September 2011

Everything about Wolfgang Puck is way over the top, from his Mozart-meets-Shakespeare name to the size of his Porterhouse steaks. His handsome Austrian features and camp-Schwarzenegger voice are constantly seen and heard on American TV. You can't click on wolfgangpuck.com/restaurants without finding the great man gesticulating at you in his chef's whites. His diffusion range of Bistros and Expresses can be found in umpteen American shopping malls and airports. His fine-dining empire stretches from Beverly Hills to Washington DC to Singapore – and now London, where the fourth incarnation of CUT, his upmarket steak franchise, has just opened, his first venture in Europe.

Joe's 126 Draycott Avenue, London SW3

Sunday, 11 September 2011

Can a new chef return a trendy venue from style empire Joseph to its hip best?

Wines of the week

Sunday, 11 September 2011

Terry Kirby selects the best bottles to buy

The Brasserie at The White Lion Hotel, Market Cross Place, Aldeburgh, Suffolk

Saturday, 10 September 2011

It wasn't hard to find somewhere suitable to review for this special issue. I was holidaying on the Suffolk coast, also known as Boden-on-Sea, where most dining spots aren't so much child-friendly as child-obligatory. The Brasserie at The White Lion Hotel, in the upmarket seaside resort of Aldeburgh, seemed like a promising destination, offering a decent-looking kids' menu, and a great beachfront location opposite The Moot Hall, setting for the opening of Britten's Peter Grimes (though we won't get into that in an article about child-friendly dining).

Four O Nine, 409 Clapham Road, London SW9

Sunday, 4 September 2011

They're not making it easy to get into Four O Nine. Is it worth it?

Chez Bruce, 2 Bellevue Road, London SW17 7EG

Saturday, 3 September 2011

A jewel in the gastronomic wasteland of Wandsworth Common, Chez Bruce has a reputation that no amount of money or marketing skill could fix. Though it's been around for 16 years, since Bruce Poole and Nigel Platts-Martin took over what used to be Harvey's (legendary first home of Marco Pierre White in his days of rage), I don't think I've ever heard a diner utter a disobliging word about it. Gruff metropolitans who can't abide cheffy pretensions and gussied-up food find a tear in their eye when they mention Chez Bruce. In the Harden's London Restaurants guide, it's been voted the city's favourite eating house five years running.

The Curlew, Junction Road, Bodiam, East Sussex

Saturday, 27 August 2011

What happens to a former roadhouse when people stop using the road? The Curlew started life in the 17th century as a busy coaching inn on the main route between Hastings and London. Now it stands marooned on a sleepy junction in what seems, when you've been criss-crossing rural East Sussex trying to find it, like the middle of nowhere. All rather reminiscent of the explanation given by Psycho's Norman Bates for his lack of custom. "Twelve cabins, 12 vacancies. They moved away the highway."

The Black Swan Hotel, Market Place, Helmsley, North Yorkshire

Saturday, 20 August 2011

One hundred years ago, the first Michelin guide to Great Britain encouraged motorists to burn rubber by beating a path to recommended hotels. In 2011, just 20 of Michelin's early tips remain in its slender red volume. One robust survivor is the Black Swan in Helmsley, North Yorkshire. This well-heeled market town still attracts latter-day Mr Toads who relish a burn-up on the county's unpopulated roads. On Sundays, the market place is chock-a-block with gleaming motorcycles tended by owners in garish leathers. Poop poop!

Ondine, 2 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh

Saturday, 13 August 2011

I've visited Edinburgh many times over the years, for work and play. I've experienced the cultural highs of the Festival and some memorable lows (the world premiere of Tubular Bells 2 at Edinburgh Castle springs to mind). And though I've often eaten well, I've never eaten dazzlingly well. Edinburgh has plenty of good restaurants but great ones are elusive, particularly at the upper end of the market, where too many of the famous city-centre names prove to be disappointing tourist traps.

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