Story

 Story chapter 2

English Pea Custard, N25 Caviar

I recall when Story first opened back in 2013, it was the talk of the town and the hottest opening in London. The creativity and surprise element was so new and cutting edge for Londoners, I remember the wow factor from the beef dipping candle, which I had no idea was butter till the bread was served to me. Fast forward more than 10 years later, it got itself not 1, but 2 Michelin stars and Story has closed for almost a year as it went into a major revamp in 2023, before it reopened again in early 2024 with a brand new decor and menu. I was interested to see the progress and changes.

The Ninth

Mediterranean-themed offering

Spaghetti, Australian Winter Truffle & Aged Parmesan

The Ninth by Chef Jun Tanaka is a 1 Michelin-starred restaurant that offers Southern French cuisine with a strong Mediterranean influence. Spreading across 3 floors with a short selection of starters, pasta and main dishes to pick from. This is my second time at The Ninth, with the last visit dated back all the way to when it was opened, back in 2016. Given it has been 8 years since, I am sure a lot has changed so I went with open eyes. To best experience what The Ninth is all about, I opted for the Chef's choice menu.

Ibai

The new king of Basque cuisine

Galician rib

Spanish Basque is my no1 Western cuisine easily, but finding decent Spanish restaurants in the UK is challenging, and even harder when it comes to Basque cuisine. When I noticed Ibai, a new Basque grill house just opened in St Paul, I was excited about it. From reading the menu, it just has so many things that I would love to eat, from whole Galician beef ribs to red prawn tartare, it seems like Ibai does not shy away from using some really top-class ingredients and if cooked right, it would guarantee some top-notch dishes. I ordered most things on the menu and was looking forward to a long Basque feast.

Lita Marylebone

Top-notch classy grill house

Grilled 1.6kg Cornish turbot

Lita is a new grill restaurant that prides itself on turning out Mediterranean-style cuisine, with plenty of fire action using top ingredients sources from around Europe. What really caught my attention was its menu, as most of the dishes sounded so inviting, with plenty of Spanish/Italian elements (my fav European cuisine) and combined with some really top ingredients. When a restaurant decides to use Limousin sweetbread and Galician beef, you know it is a serious restaurant that wants to provide top-level dishes.

Kima

The finest Greek seafood in London?

2.4kg grilled wild Cornish turbot with Greek extra virgin olive oil

I have been on a mission lately to locate restaurants that serve a whole large fish in London, that is not an easy task as many places would only offer fish fillets as seeing a fish head on a dining table can still be offputting for some. After some online research, I came across a Greek restaurant called Kima that is all about seafood, and it has its own fish counter of daily fresh catch which the chef is able to serve in many ways, from raw, fish stew, grilled to steamed etc, this sounds just perfect for me, as cooking a whole fresh fish is no easy task so I was glad to find a place that has such a strong focus in fish cookery. The menu also contains plenty of other seafood items besides whole fish, all cooked in a Greek cuisine manner.