Review: Som Saa, Spitalfields
Back in my very first Straight Up London review I worried that Som Saa, in its past iteration as a pop-up in London Fields, might never reach the greatness that a few of its dishes suggested it might be capable of. Now, Som Saa has set up permanent shop in Spitalfields. Three visits later, I feel… Keep Reading
Review: Breddos, Clerkenwell
The nice thing about writing for a food blog is that underwhelming meals aren’t as disappointing as they would be otherwise. You have something to write about. If everyone else you read about food liked it, even better. So it was with Breddos in Clerkenwell, a taco restaurant that is the new home of a very popular street… Keep Reading
Review: Temper, Kiln, and Smokestak
There are tens of thousands of restaurants in London. Even if you spend an outsized fraction of your disposable income on eating out—as I do—it’s impossible to keep up with more than a sliver of the ones you want to go to most. I have four or five lists on my phone of the places… Keep Reading
Where else I’ve been eating this Summer & Autumn
Anzu, St. James Tonkotsu is a pretty good ramen restaurant named after the Japanese word for the pork broth you often have with your noodles (as opposed to tonkatsu, which is deep-fried pork, such as that you might have in a “pork katsu curry”). It’s not my favourite (KOI Ramen, Ramen Sasuke, and best of… Keep Reading
Restaurant round-up, November 2016 edition
In the footsteps of Ben’s last post, here are some restaurants I’ve visited lately but didn’t get round to reviewing properly. I second his condemnation of Gaucho’s rubbish ‘divine bovine’ event, but differ on Chick’n Sours in Covent Garden, whose sides are mostly very good and whose chicken seemed pretty good, albeit not as good… Keep Reading
Where I’ve been eating this summer
I have been out quite a lot in the last few months, but I haven’t written about any of the stuff I’ve eaten. I’ll never get time to review everywhere I’ve eaten in full, but here are some short thoughts and recommendations about all of the spots I’ve visited. I haven’t written anything about it,… Keep Reading
Review: Shotgun, Soho
Shotgun was one of the first places we ever reviewed here. Ben loved its take on US-style barbecue food: pig’s ears, beef brisket, and kid goat that made me very jealous to read about. Since then, it has been trying out specialised menus, two of which I’ll review here: an all you can eat weekend… Keep Reading
Review: Macellaio, Southwark
Before I begin, I should point out that I ate at Macellaio’s new Southwark branch (it has two already – one in Clerkenwell and one in South Kensington) during its ‘soft launch’ period, during which food was 50% off and some of the kinks are still being ironed out. I’m a little uncomfortable giving a… Keep Reading
Review: Kerb, Camden
Even though I love street food, by which I mean stalls or vans that sell a very limited range of things for £5-10 apiece, it’s difficult to review. My favourite place for lunch in the world is Santana Grill, at Strutton Ground market near my office, which does some of the best burritos and tacos… Keep Reading
Review: Bao, Fitzrovia
Bao’s Soho branch was the first place I reviewed for Straight Up London and, unlike everyone else, I didn’t think too much of it. The queue was ludicrously long and the food just wasn’t that interesting. Still, my girlfriend liked it and now that Bao has opened a second branch in Fitzrovia she wanted to go.… Keep Reading