La Trompette

Fine dining in Chiswick

From the same people behind the legendary Chez Bruce and the Glasshouse, La Trompette is a 1 star Michelin restaurant serving modern European cuisine just off Chiswick High Road. It was closed down in early 2013 and reopened with Rob Weston as head chef, ex head chef at 2 stars The Square in Mayfair. La Trompette has been regarded as one of the local's favourite and I was keen to find out why.

 La Trompette

bread

Burger and Lobster

Big boy challenge

My third visit to Burger and Lobster (for the last visit click here), but this time around I went to the Farringdon branch and picked something different to the usual £20 menu. We arrived on a Tuesday evening and managed to get seated right away at the bar by the kitchen, which has a wonderful view of the kitchen which personally is something I found really entertaining to watch.

Burger and Lobster Farringdon

We planned to order the special menu for two which was 2 burgers, 1 lobster and desserts. But hang on.... I then noticed the specials board "The catch" with some extra large lobsters were on offer. Having eaten the standard sizes a few times already I managed to convince my friend to go for the 6+ib monster at £111!! The waiter delivered it live on the table to let us check out the big boy and this has to be the biggest live lobster I ever encountered!

Get ready for it....

6ib 5oz big boy!

Bone Daddies

Daddies joy

Opened in 2012, Bone Daddies is a Japanese ramen restaurant by Ross Shonhan who used to be the head chef at Zuma, one of the most successful Japanese restaurants in London. Located in the heart of Soho, Bone Daddies has gained a loyal following with its signature ramen, with the current ramen boom in London, I was interested to see what is the real deal about Bone Daddies especially after a rather disappointing meal at another ramen place Shoryu.

salmon sashimi

Quo Vadis

Refreshing cooking in Soho

Located in the ever busy Dean Street, Quo Vadis is a Soho institution but much has changed since when Jeremy Lee took over and it has now become a bit of a foodie spot thanks to his "less is more approach". His cooking is all about simplicity but with wonderful flavours. It was a very bust Friday evening and without booking, we took the chance and managed to get a table in the bar which itself isn't much different to the main dining room. Stained glass windows with white tablecloths, simple but elegant.

Quo Vadis

Chicken Shop

Chicken heaven

Located in between Kentish Town and Gospel Oak station, from the same people who brought you Dirty Burger and Pizza East, Chicken Shop is an interesting underground restaurant serving nothing but rotisserie chicken as its main course. Rotisserie chicken is always one of those thing that look better than it tastes, but having heard so much positive reviews about Chicken Shop I visited with high expectation.

The decor

Chicken "action"

Brasserie Zedel

Bringing a slice of Paris to London

From the same people behind The Wolseley, Brasserie Zedel is an underground brasserie located just off Regent Street in Piccadilly. Here in Brasserie Zedel it's all about serving traditional French cooking in a classic Parisian setting. Brasserie Zedel is a collection of a cocktail bar, a cafe and a performance venue called "The Crazy Coqs" as well as the Brasserie itself. 

Ponti's Italian Kitchen

Ponti’s 50th Anniversary food bloggers event

Ponti's Italian Kitchen is a family run Italian restaurant just off Oxford Circus station, it has been trading for over 50 years now serving traditional Italian food from the Emilia-Romagna region. I was invited to attend Ponti’s 50th Anniversary food bloggers event to try their new menu as well as to understand a bit more about the concepts and story with regard to the restaurant.

the dining room

part of the kitchen

10 Greek Street

A tastebud delight

10 Greek Street is a no booking restaurant in the Soho district serving modern European cuisine, it has been regarded as one of the hottest restaurants in Soho and I was keen to find out why. As it is a no booking restaurant, I went on a Monday night to see if I could get hold of a table without much waiting, and luckily I managed to!

Bread

Sipsmith cup

Great cocktail bars around in London part 2

As part of my blog feature, I will highlight some great cocktail bars in London that are well worth a visit. London is the pioneer city in terms of cocktail movement and I would love to share all the wonderful and exciting cocktail bars I've been to. Part 1 here 

For gin lovers: Graphic Bar

If you are a gin lover, then look no further to Graphic, Graphic has over 240 different gins on its bar shelf, with a cocktail list of replacing classic and popular cocktail with gin. Even just a standard G&T is served in style in Graphic Bar with special garnish and tonic water. Also home to the Juniper Club which is a gin master class from different gin brands, a must try place for gin enthusiasts.

Photo taken from graphicbar.com

Juniper Club

Gin and tonic

The Ledbury

London's finest

My third visit to my favourite London restaurant. The Ledbury really needs no introduction any more, holder of two Michelin stars and voted 13th best restaurant in the world. Chef-patron Brett Graham is truly a special talent, having eaten in a good number of top restaurants in London, I can say that only Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley is at a similar level. The energy, the passion and enthusiasm from Brett is second to none, but at the same time he is also very composed and laid back which makes him such a unique chef!

The Ledbury

canapes

lobster amuse bouche

Galvin la Chapelle

Gastronomy in the city

The third restaurant by the legendary Galvin brothers, the single Michelin starred Galvin la Chapelle in Shoreditch is a beautiful French restaurant which used to be the former chapel of a school. When you walk in the first thing that will strike your mind is the elegant high ceiling with the open space decor which feels like as if you were stepping back to the past. This is my second visit, I had one of the best dinners in 2012 at La Chapelle back last September with Hine Cognac and Cuban cigars food pairing, so that is partly why I returned!

The front

The decor

Fino

Contemporary tapas in Fizrovia

Fino is a Spanish restaurant in Fizrovia serving contemporary tapas and it has been trading for 10 years now. My first memory of Fino was from a TV programme called "Ramsay's Best Restaurant" back in 2010. Anyway, having eaten at Fino's sister venue Barrafina (a no booking tapas bar in Soho), I was really looking forward to my dinner at Fino as Barrafina was truly outstanding, so surely the more "upmarket" version can only be better?

Fino London

watermelon martini

ham croquetas

Little Social

A little gem

A contemporary bistro, Little Social is the second restaurant opened by industry heavy weight Jason Atherton. Located near Oxford Circus, just opposite his single Michelin starred Pollen Street Social in Pollen Street, which is one of my all time favourite restaurants in London. Little Social has been on my agenda for a while since it opened back in March, having been to Pollen Street Social a good numbers of time, I wonder what its little brother has on offer.

Little Social, taken from littlesocial.co.uk

Dirty Burger

Let's get dirty

After some painful experiences from the the overly hyped American burgers Five Guys and Shake Shark, I turned to local burgers once again in the form of Dirty Burger from Soho Group. Part of the same company behind Electric Diner and Pizza East, Dirty Burger gained a reputation of serving top quality "dirty" burgers in North London and now has a bit of a cult following. So to find out what is so "dirty" about their burger there is only one way to find out!

Let's get ready to get dirty...

Sushi Tetsu

First class sushi experience in London

Sushi Tetsu is a tiny sushi bar in the city serving traditional style sushi, opened back in the summer of 2012 by a husband and wife team Toru and Harumi, it has becomes a hit with food critics, sushi fans and foodies alike. With only 7 seats in this sushi bar, it is a real mission to get a booking at this special place. Just to share my painful booking experience, I had 2 phones calling none stop for over 2 hours before I managed to get a booking! But it was all worth it as the evening was truly a memorable one.

Sushi Tetsu