L'Autre Pied

Marylebone's finniest

amuse bouche

L'Autre Pied is one of my favourite restaurants in London, the cooking is unique with an elegant and creative touch. Head chef Andy Mc Fadden really is a supreme talent and I am a massive fan of his cooking style. This time I headed back for its tasting menu, knowing that it would be another great evening of food treats and guaranteed to be better than its noisy neighbour Chiltern Firehouse, which is over-hyped, overpriced with average food.

Kitchen Table

Spectacular fine dining

Tucked behind the ever popular champagne and hot dog bar Bubblesdogs, Kitchen Table by James Knappett offers one of the most spectacular fine dining experiences in London. With less than 20 bar seats surrounding a small kitchen with all the food cooked in front of you, more than 10 courses served using some of the finest ingredients.

Patty & Bun

The winger dinner

1 year on, I returned to Patty & Bun due to my limited time and had to settle for something quick in Marylebone. I walked past Patty & Bun and there were no queue so I decided to give it a 3rd chance. I actually had an awful time from my 2nd visit but perhaps it could only improve after 1 year and at a less busy time. I went for the infamous ‘Winger Winger Chicken Dinner' and it was fast food at its finest, the flavour of the sweet smoked BBQ sauce was perfect, just as was the nicely deep fried confit wings. Not too dry and freshened up by some spring onions. 

BBQ wings and thunder thighs

Monthly special

Smoky Robinson

I also had the chance to try out the thunder thighs aka chicken thighs with jalapeno butter sauces, it was mildly spicy with a rather thick texture, the portion was big and it could have been a main on its own. The 'smoky Robinson burger' was a big improvement from one year ago, the mixture of garnishes were flavorsome and had a great balance, however the meat itself was a touch lower in quality compared to Honest Burger. Overall it was by far a much more pleasant experience and the confit wings truly were some of the finest wings in London, I can't get enough of it.

Food 3.5
Service 4
Ambience 3
Value 3

£20 per head with a beer

54 James St, Marylebone
London, UK W1U 1EU

www.pattyandbun.co.uk/

Bone Daddies

Ramen champion

I returned to Bone Daddies after almost 1 year since I last visited, out of the three ramen joints ( The other two being Shoryu and Tonkotsu) which opened at similar times in Soho, I found Bone Daddies just had that extra edge when it comes to the use of stock and texture of the ramen. There were also a selection of interesting small plates, such as the chasu pork and corn croquette. The soft shell crab was also excellent, not overly dry with rich flavours that contrasted it with the green chilli ginger sauce.

Bone Daddies

soft shell crab 

Dipping ramen 

T22 with soy ramen, chicken, cock scratchings

tonkotsu

Kimchee ramen

Dipping ramen is the perfect ramen dish for summer, served cold with spring onion and chashu pork, the grilled chashu pork was easily the best I've tasted in any Japanese restaurant in London while the hot chicken bone broth was rich and blessed with lovely savoury flavours. The Kimchee ramen was powerful and bold in taste with a Korean touch: prawns, mussels and chilli in a hot and spicy fish broth, definitely not for the light hearted. Bone Daddies doesn't do classic, it is all about ramen dishes with creative elements which make it stand out above the rest, with an edgy and contemporary setting which proves to be a very successful formula. 

Food 5
Service 4
Ambience 6
Value 6

£24 pp

31 Peter St, London, Greater London W1F 0AR

http://bonedaddiesramen.com/

Casse Croute

Classic French goodness

Casse Croute is a little French brasserie on Bermondsey Street, it has gained a reputation of serving some very classical French cooking at a very affordable price. It really depends on how you view the matter, the reception answers your phone call in French, so is the menu. So you either think Paris (the stuffy part) has come to London or it has added a little authentication to the place.

Casse Croute

duck salad

Cafe Football

Football and food??

Cafe Football is a fun concept opened by former footballers from Manchester United. It is basically serving food that you would love to eat but in a creative and more refined manor while watching a game. I walked passed it and decided to give the place a go, largely due to being a big fan of MU and I'd heard the menu concept was put together by Michelin starred chef Michael Wignall from The Latymer, so surely it couldn't be that bad.

Cafe Football

My daily special "offside burger" was basically a beef burger with Mediterranean elements, deep fried mozzarella with olives and chorizo. It was surprisingly pleasant with all the ingredients working really well together, the earthiness and the creaminess of the cheese blended in nicely with the peppery and smoky notes of the chorizo. The single let down I guess was the beef itself as the quality was just not there when it comes to the taste.

Asian ribs

Offside Burger

In the end I found the food at Cafe Football is not a great deal in different in quality if I compared to some of the better chains. But the ideas are there and price wise it is just about right. But I couldn't help but to to think the ingredients could be a little better, take the burger for example, if that concept is taken by places such as Byron or Honest Burger, I can see it can take it to another level due to the superior use of base ingredients.

Food 3
Service 3
Ambience 4
Value 4

£18 per head with a soft drink

146 The Street Westfield Stratford, London, E20 1EN

www.cafe-football.com

Goodman

Steak heaven

Goodman shouldn't be a stranger to any Londoners, it has a reputation of producing the best steak in London with locations across Canary Wharf, The City and Mayfair. They are also the same people who brought you the infamous Burger & Lobster and Beast. It has been well overdue for me to visit Goodman for its legendary steak and I was very excited to check out the Canary Wharf branch on a fine summer early evening.

Goodman

meat cellar

the cuts

The Ledbury

Exceptional

In the space of a few weeks, I returned again to The Ledbury for a fifth visit to try its tasting menu after one of the finest set lunch experiences in London. Voted the 10th best restaurant in the world and holder of two Michelin stars, The Ledbury is the very best that London has to offer and I was very excited to go back and experience how the tasting menu had developed over the year.

menu

canapes

tomato, pineapple, datterio, cheese and green tomato juice

The Providores

Breakfast joy in Marylebone

The Providores is a relaxing fusion restaurant in Marylebone and it has somewhat gained a reputation of serving some of the finest breakfasts in London. The playful element and creative touch by owner Peter Gordon has delighted locals and the press and I were keen to try out its weekend brunch menu on a hot sunny day.

The Providores

Poached Turkish eggs on whipped yoghurt with hot chilli butter served in a bowl was unusual with a touch of  Eastern Mediterranean element, the texture was almost like a soup based with a sour and mild spicy taste, great fun dipping it with the sourdough toast. The grilled chorizo and miso hash was a real winner, a lovely soft boiled egg on top of a bed of soft sweet potato and the star anise and cashew nut added lovely depths of texture and nutty aroma. It was a dish full of multi flavours dimension but worked extremely well at the same time.

grilled chorizo and miso hash

Turkish eggs on whipped yoghurt

The brunch was a really interesting encounter, I've never experienced any food like that in the past and it really opened up my eyes on breakfast in a whole new difference way. Service was decent enough but the limited 1.30 hours times allowance with a cover charge of  £1.50 per person was very questionable, with a service charge also applied, it just doesn't seem to make sense to me. But the food at the end of the day was fabulous and truley worth a visit if you live nearby.

Food 5.5
Service 4
Ambience 5
Value 3

£18 pp with a soft drink

109 Marylebone High St, London W1U 4RX

http://www.theprovidores.co.uk/