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Cheese and Biscuits

Cheese and Biscuits
Lita, Marylebone The food at Lita is very nice. I'm saying that up front because I worry that the list of things I...
a week ago
6
a week ago
The food at Lita is very nice. I'm saying that up front because I worry that the list of things I didn't like about the place threatens to overwhelm the main message which should be that, despite everything, the food is very nice. And maybe if you went to Lita yourself, and you...
Cheese and Biscuits
Koyal, Surbiton I rarely make any journey without the promise of a nice meal. This applies to short breaks,...
6 days ago
5
6 days ago
I rarely make any journey without the promise of a nice meal. This applies to short breaks, long-haul holidays and day trips alike - I have no interest in beaches, ski slopes, cruise ships or campsites, and although I'm very partial to a long walk in the countryside when the...
Cheese and Biscuits
Holy Carrot, Notting Hill I don't know about you, but the concept of a 'vegetarian restaurant' brings to mind a certain set of...
2 weeks ago
4
2 weeks ago
I don't know about you, but the concept of a 'vegetarian restaurant' brings to mind a certain set of expectations, not all of them good. I suppose it's because traditionally, vegetarian food has been, at best, just 'normal' restaurant food with the meat either taken out, or...
Cheese and Biscuits
etch by Steven Edwards, Hove Hove is a very acceptable place to spend a day. I was last in the area when visiting the Urchin, a...
a month ago
4
a month ago
Hove is a very acceptable place to spend a day. I was last in the area when visiting the Urchin, a seafood-specialist gastropub and microbrewery (I bet there aren't too many of them around) which made the (pretty easy actually) journey down from Battersea more than worth my...
Cheese and Biscuits
The Sun Inn, Felmersham If it's true that some of the country's most exciting and dynamic country gastropubs are the product...
3 days ago
3
3 days ago
If it's true that some of the country's most exciting and dynamic country gastropubs are the product of their surroundings - the lush farmlands and rivers of Bowland that supply the Parker's Arms, for example, the or the orchards, woodlands and fields of wild game that provide...
Cheese and Biscuits
Tarim Uyghur, Bloomsbury Quite often all you need to know about a restaurant is the smell that greets you as you walk through...
4 weeks ago
3
4 weeks ago
Quite often all you need to know about a restaurant is the smell that greets you as you walk through the door. The smoke and fat of a busy ocakbaşı, The burned onions and masala spices that cling to your clothes after an evening at Tayyabs, the intoxicating mix of funky aged...
Cheese and Biscuits
Vetch, Liverpool The best way of experiencing 90% of the fun and frolics of a top-end restaurant whilst shelling out...
a month ago
3
a month ago
The best way of experiencing 90% of the fun and frolics of a top-end restaurant whilst shelling out less than 50% of the usual cost is to go for a weekday lunch or early bird menu. Some of the most exciting dining spots in the country have some remarkably reasonably priced...
Cheese and Biscuits
Hainan House, Angel Hainan is an island off the south coast of China about the size of Vancouver Island - that makes it...
5 months ago
3
5 months ago
Hainan is an island off the south coast of China about the size of Vancouver Island - that makes it bigger than Sicily and Sardinia and twice the size of Hawaii, with a population of over 10 million people (more than London). And yet inevitably until last week I'd never heard of...
Cheese and Biscuits
The Barn at Moor Hall, Ormskirk In restaurants that offer both an A La Carte and parallel set menu I often play a bit of a thought...
6 months ago
3
6 months ago
In restaurants that offer both an A La Carte and parallel set menu I often play a bit of a thought experiment. If there was no such separation of options, and if all the dishes available were priced evenly on the same list, which would I end up going for? Set menus (usually,...
Cheese and Biscuits
Vatavaran, Knightsbridge It was Trishna in Marlebone, all the way back in something like 2009, that opened many Londoners'...
a month ago
2
a month ago
It was Trishna in Marlebone, all the way back in something like 2009, that opened many Londoners' eyes - not least my own - to the possibilities of modern Indian fine dining. Now, I'm sure Vivek Singh (Cinnamon Club, 2001), Sriram Aylur (Quilon, 1999) and Cyrus Todiwala (Café...
Cheese and Biscuits
Crispin at Studio Voltaire, Clapham Common Although my useless photos hardly do it justice (let's just get that out of the way from the start),...
2 months ago
2
2 months ago
Although my useless photos hardly do it justice (let's just get that out of the way from the start), Crispin at Studio Voltaire is a lovely space to eat in. The candles on each table aren't the only source of light, but provide a romantic accessory to the tealights dangling above...
Cheese and Biscuits
The Ropemaker, Emsworth As I have surely said on this blog plenty of times over the years, I will never go to any holiday or...
4 months ago
2
4 months ago
As I have surely said on this blog plenty of times over the years, I will never go to any holiday or short trip without at least one meal booked that stands a better than average chance of being decent. This is partly just for the sheer joy of eating out (how sad must your life...
Cheese and Biscuits
OMA, Borough Market Dave Carter, a big friendly giant of a man with a completely impenetrable Barbadian accent, began...
7 months ago
2
7 months ago
Dave Carter, a big friendly giant of a man with a completely impenetrable Barbadian accent, began his London restaurant journey at Smokestak, the hugely influential East London BBQ joint. Smokestak, together with a tiny handful of other brave pioneers around the same time...
Cheese and Biscuits
Lima, Shoreditch I don't usually like to do invited reviews back-to-back, so this was supposed to be a post about a...
3 months ago
2
3 months ago
I don't usually like to do invited reviews back-to-back, so this was supposed to be a post about a lovely Catalonian restaurant called El Molí de L'Escala. El Molí serve a daily-changing menu of exciting and unusual local seafood (they had sea cucumber on the menu last week, and...
Cheese and Biscuits
Xi Home Dumplings Bay, Liverpool Street I often like to look up the situation of restaurants I'm heading out to on Google Streetview, just...
4 months ago
2
4 months ago
I often like to look up the situation of restaurants I'm heading out to on Google Streetview, just so I know what to expect when I get off the bus and lessen (though not completely mitigate) the chance I might head off in completely the wrong direction. I wouldn't recommend doing...
Cheese and Biscuits
The Hightown Inn, Liverpool Despite spending the first 20 years of my life about 100m up the road from the Hightown Inn (then...
a month ago
2
a month ago
Despite spending the first 20 years of my life about 100m up the road from the Hightown Inn (then the Hightown Hotel), I never really considered this grand old Victorian building to be much of a "local". I was far more likely to get the train to the Railway in Formby where most...
Cheese and Biscuits
Tuétano Taqueria, San Diego On the shortest day of the year, in the middle of the gloomiest and wettest of England's gloom and...
a month ago
2
a month ago
On the shortest day of the year, in the middle of the gloomiest and wettest of England's gloom and wet, I thought it might be fun to review a taco shop in southern California, because it's days like this you need to remind yourself that there are places in the world where the sun...
Cheese and Biscuits
Jeune & Jolie, Carlsbad To a visitor from lands afar (me) who sees this part of the world in little two-week periods twice a...
3 months ago
2
3 months ago
To a visitor from lands afar (me) who sees this part of the world in little two-week periods twice a year, Jeune & Jolie feels like it did all the work of establishing itself as one of the best restaurants in California in a metaphorical blink of an eye, a few short months...
Cheese and Biscuits
Med Salleh Viet, Earl's Court It's a funny old part of town is Earl's Court. Not quite Kensington, not quite Chelsea, not many...
3 months ago
2
3 months ago
It's a funny old part of town is Earl's Court. Not quite Kensington, not quite Chelsea, not many reasons to visit (certainly not since the conference center/arena got pulled down), it's these days little more than a fairly ordinary provincial high street dumped in West London,...
Cheese and Biscuits
Cafe Kitty, Soho For someone who spends an unhealthy amount of time thinking about and reading about restaurants, I...
7 months ago
2
7 months ago
For someone who spends an unhealthy amount of time thinking about and reading about restaurants, I consider it a personal failing that I didn't connect Cafe Kitty (Soho) with Kitty Fisher's (Mayfair) until it came up in conversation about halfway through dinner. In my defence,...
Cheese and Biscuits
The Counter, Tunbridge Wells As much as I try to travel as far and wide as possible for a meal, there are certain parts of the...
3 months ago
2
3 months ago
As much as I try to travel as far and wide as possible for a meal, there are certain parts of the world that are somewhat better-represented on these pages than others. Obviously as I live in London, and it's the best food city on the planet, that's the main focus of this blog....
Cheese and Biscuits
The Lamb Inn, Little Milton Most visitors to the Lamb Inn will approach from the car park and be greeted with the sight pictured...
3 months ago
2
3 months ago
Most visitors to the Lamb Inn will approach from the car park and be greeted with the sight pictured above - an achingly cute thatched countryside pub in whitewashed stone looking like it hadn't changed much in the past few hundred years. And this is, of course, a great way to...
Cheese and Biscuits
Hong Kong Restaurant, Angel London has never been the kind of place where you can just pick a restaurant at random and have at...
4 months ago
2
4 months ago
London has never been the kind of place where you can just pick a restaurant at random and have at least a decent dinner. There are too many tourist traps, dingy fast food joints, grim chains and bandwagon-jumping copycats (just see how many smash burger joints have appeared in...
Cheese and Biscuits
Camille, Borough Market Some restaurants just make it look so easy, don't they? The menu at Camille is so enticing, with...
4 months ago
2
4 months ago
Some restaurants just make it look so easy, don't they? The menu at Camille is so enticing, with unusual eye-catching ingredients prepared in exciting and distinctive ways, that it's almost enough to spoil any other dining experience by default, and it makes you wonder if they...
Cheese and Biscuits
The Royal Oak, Whatcote There are so many different types of restaurant, so much variety in the ways and manner and styles...
5 months ago
2
5 months ago
There are so many different types of restaurant, so much variety in the ways and manner and styles that we eat out, that sometimes it's amazing we find anything in common about the experience at all. And yet somehow we do, and restaurant critics and food blogs exist because, by...
Cheese and Biscuits
Mamapen at the Sun and 13 Cantons, Soho There are a few pubs in London notable for their hosting of fledgling food businesses, giving...
5 months ago
2
5 months ago
There are a few pubs in London notable for their hosting of fledgling food businesses, giving talented but cash-strapped teams a chance to test their market and their cooking skills without the risk and stress of opening a completely brand new restaurant. Over the years, you will...
Cheese and Biscuits
The Blind Bull, Little Hucklow A large menu is rarely a good sign, and I have to admit a part of my heart sank when I sat down at...
5 months ago
2
5 months ago
A large menu is rarely a good sign, and I have to admit a part of my heart sank when I sat down at the Blind Bull and counted 12 items in the starters section, 6 mains, 3 sides and 5 desserts (even if I'm being kind and counting all the ice creams as one) - fully 26 dishes...