New Restaurant Review Roundup 2021
Part One
Over the past few months we’ve featured a lot of new restaurant news, but until now we’ve not really had chance to go back and see if any of them have turned out to be any good or not.
As more and more people venture out to eat in rooms where other people are also eating, we thought we’d do a roundup of some of the places we’ve mentioned in past issues. Consider this your handy guide to London’s new restaurants of 2021 (so far).
P.S. We’re going to split this review over the next two issues, otherwise we won’t be able to fit everything in. And comments are open if you’ve been to any of these places (or anywhere new really) and want to let us know what you thought.
Cafe Cecilia, Hackney
We mentioned Cafe Cecilia back in our May 8 Roundup, when Max (son of fashion designer John) Rocha had just signed the lease on the place. Since then it’s done nothing but impress reviewers and punters alike, and has become (in the words of the Standard’s David Ellis) “the new ‘it’ place out east”.
In our last Weekend Roundup we linked to the FT’s ten most fashionable tables in London and Cafe Cecilia was right there thanks to its “simple and unfussy dishes such as Guinness bread, boiled eggs and coolea for breakfast and slow-cooked rabbit ragù with tagliatelle for lunch”.
The FT also gave the place a full review back in July when critic, Ajesh Patalay fell in love with the house terrine and the “raspberry and almond tart, which is buttery, biscuity and indisputably lovely.”
And finally the legendary Fay Maschler just included Cafe Cecilia in her weekly food diary for Tatler, calling it “arguably almost the hottest ticket in town” and describing the food as “homely, not too unfamiliar, but kicked several levels up.”
Humble Chicken, Soho
There have ben a lot of chicken-based restaurants popping up in London of late, but Humble Chicken on Frith Street definitely seems to be the stand out option.
Back in July, the Guardian’s Jay Rayner raved about the place, saying it took him back to a “humid night down a Tokyo back alley” where he had exceptional yakitori for the first time, and left him salivating over “crisp seared outers” which “give way to something soft and gorgeous within”.
The FT have paid Humble Chicken a visit too, and they also got all teary eyed about grilled chicken livers which are “elevated to something rich and rare” by their “savagely crisped crust, built by layers of tare and a thick smear of karashi mustard.”
Elsewhere, reviews and recommendations site The Infatuation called Humble Chicken “completely thrilling” and “pretty faultless” (although they do note that “at about £4 a pop, these sticks encourage you to spend racks of cash”).
And if you want a very detailed rundown of the Humble Chicken menu then the Picky Glutton blog has the goods (including photos of pretty much everything).
The Cheese Barge, Paddington
At the end of May we mentioned the new, floating cheese-based restaurant from the people who brought us Camden’s Cheese Bar, but had to wonder whether The Cheese Barge would be more than just a cheesy gimmick. Turns out it is.
Grace Dent visited on behalf of the Guardian soon after it opened and struggled to “order from a menu where absolutely everything sounds delicious,” but soldiered on to the “filthily good” fried curried curds and chilli honey (“crisp, plump, cheesy bullets”) and the “humongous” three-cheese party.
London on the Inside also climbed aboard the barge and they too found the deep fried cheese curds in chilli honey “insanely addictive” and overall found “the dishes are more refined than the comfort food at The Cheese Bar”.
Hot Dinners gave the barge one of their ‘test drives’ back in May, so if you want photos and even video of the cheesy goodness go take a look at that (they also found it “the ultimate cheese-lover's dream with a great view to boot”).
Sunday in Brooklyn, Notting Hill
Also in May we covered the fact that Williamsburg brunch legends Sunday in Brooklyn were opening a location in Notting Hill. The only place that’s really given it a decent review so far seems to be London on the Inside.
They liked the fact that “the American approach to both portion sizes (generous) and service (super friendly) have been imported” alongside dishes like the crab and artichoke dip (“basically a molten pot of joy”) and the crispy chicken sandwich (“a ruggedly crispy piece of thigh doused in sweet and hot honey and packed into a potato bun with cabbage and pickles, served with a mound of fries”).
That ‘Honeybear on Holiday’ cocktail “made with rum, sherry, apricot, pineapple, lime, cumin and honey” (above) does look pretty great as well.
Tigre Tacos, Clerkenwell
Chef Ramon ‘El Tigre’ Ramos took his London Bridge food truck to a more permanent location at The Gunmakers pub earlier this year, and we were immediately intrigued by the entirely fish and vegetarian menu when we reported on it back in May.
Since then we’ve only come across one decent review of Tigre Tacos, but it is a really good one. The American magazine’s Michael M Sandwick visited in June and as he moved to California at the age of eight, he has some opinions on ‘Mexicali’ food. Fortunately he likes what El Tigre is doing. The butterflied shrimp marinated in chilli water “sing with flavour” and the “courgettes, baby corn, hibiscus flowers, feta cheese and salsa verde” leave Michael wondering “how anything so healthy can taste so good.”
Los Mochis, Notting Hill
We were a little dismissive of Los Mochis when it opened in June, thanks to the “gangster taco selection”which includes something called “Trailer Park KFC”. But since then we’ve talked to some people who’ve eaten there and it’s apparently pretty good.
The London Unattached blog agrees with them. They’re fans of the cocktails (including a Shingo Negroni, which has “Nikka days whisky, plum sake, Campari, sweet vermouth and smoke essence”) and tried the “million-course tasting menu (actually about 13 in all)” which included “beautifully balanced” tuna Poke, “super-luxe” seabass ceviche, “stunning” cucumber avocado California rolls, and the “superior take” on falafel (if you hadn’t realised already, the menu wanders all over the shop).
LGBT lifestyle mag Vada, also visited Los Mochis in June and liked the Trailer Park Chicken tacos thanks to the “moreish flavours and irresistible texture contrasts” but they saved most of their adjectives for the “well-dressed, cheeky, handsome, flirtatious wait-staff”.
Marugame Udon, Liverpool Street
We covered the arrival of the the “world’s largest Udon restaurant” coming to Liverpool Street in our May 15 Roundup, and it looks like Japanese juggernaut Marugame Udon is doing a pretty good job at winning over London.
A couple of weeks ago Grace Dent described it as “Wagamama meets Ikea cafe” in her Guardian review, and she also compared it to Pizza Hut’s Ice Cream Factory, “but for spicy umami things”. In case you were wondering, these are all positive descriptions. The presence of a “space-age Asahi machine that pours a pint in four seconds” is also cause for celebration.
The food is pretty good too: Grace especially likes the “chicken paitan udon featuring marinated thigh topped with ginger and a side of pickles” and claims the tempura egg (basically a a battered boiled egg) has become one of her “feelgood hits of 2021”.
The Hackney Gazette also likes Marugame, calling out “the shrimp tempura (“a winner with its delicate texture”) and the “wallet friendly kamaage udon” which has a “balance of sharp and sweet flavours”.
Seen in the City also mentions the “deliciously crispy batter” on the tempura, and finds the chicken “perfectly cooked, the rice delicious, the Teriyaki sauce and pickled ginger flavoursome without being overpowering”; while the Super Super Girl food blog went on opening day and took a load of photos including some of the udon which “was soft with a chew in a sweet comforting chicken broth”.
That’s all for today, we’ll be back on Wednesday with Part Two.
And the rest
Police were called to Oxford Street on Saturday night after reports of a man with a gun. The man wasn’t found but “a large crowd gathered at scene, resulting in some small outbreaks of disorder” (some video here).
Data from TfL about accidents on the Tube has shown that there’s been a surge of injuries on the Underground “thought to be due to passengers being nervous about holding on to handrails during the pandemic.”
Over at OnLondon, Dave Hill gives his take on the Truman Brewery ‘controversy’ and asks if the ‘pushing out’ of Bangladeshi east Londoners from “trendy” Brick Lane to the suburbs, “where homes are larger and cheaper and life is a little quieter” is ‘social cleansing’ or more “just the normal way of London and inner Londoners in particular?” (the Guardian quotes Dave in this pretty comprehensive article on the history of the area and the current arguments surrounding it).
Talking of Brick Lane… Pink News has taken a look at a new “safe space for the queer community” which is located on the road. Glass House is a bookshop, cafe and bar that’s designed to “provide alternative queer social events for people searching for sober options. But there is also the ability to commune with friends who still want to drink.”
If you want even more restaurant suggestions, Bloomberg has asked fifteen “notable chefs” for their ‘best new restaurant’ recommendations (Cafe Cecilia and Humble Chicken both make the list).
If you’ve got a Times subscription, they’ve just published their list of 10 things to see at the London Design Festival. It includes digital icicles and “the world’s first artist robot modelling couture”. If you don’t pay for the Times then Design Week’s Things to see and do at London Design Festival 2021 is free, and design and property site The Spaces has 8 must-see installations at this year’s London Design Festival.
Jess Cartner Morely has written up the opening days of London Fashion Week for the Guardian. Apparently Naomi Campbell hosted a party at the Windmill club where “partygoers queued down the street [and] the bar ran out of champagne an hour after opening”, one of the collections was inspired by Agatha Christie and another was shown in what used to be Selfridges’ car park. Meanwhile, Vogue has compiled some of the best street style shots from over the weekend (above), and so has The Zoe Report.
At some point, someone bought a 1989 London Taxi and swapped out the engine for a “502ci big-block Chevrolet V8 ” that puts out about 444 horse power (making it about 350% more powerful than the original). And now you can buy that taxi on eBay for €34,990.
