Canvas by Michael Riemenschneider

Build you own tasting menu 

My 2nd visit to Michael Riemenschneider's tiny restaurant in Marylebone, having had a great lunch here a few weeks ago, I was really impressed by Michael's well executed and creative cooking. The concept of the menu is fun and engaging, with a flexible choice of a regularly changing 16 dishes, diners are given plenty of freedom and can choose between 1 to 16 courses, with portions adjust accordingly based on the number of dishes selected. (seriously how hard can it be Jay?).

Canvas by Michael Riemenschneider

peas and scallop

Gail's Kitchen

Weekend brunch

Gail's Kitchen is one of those places that serves quality food but doesn't seem to get a lot of attention by bloggers or the press. Located inside a trendy hotel near Tottenham Court Road with a Michelin Bib Gourmand rating, it serves modern European cuisine with a Mediterranean influence, having been impressed from my first visit over dinner, I returned for the brunch menu for a lazy weekend treat.

smoked mackerel rarebit on toast with poached egg

Helene Darroze at The Connaught

Elegant hotel dining

My fourth visit to Helene Darroze's 2 Michelin stars restaurant inside the beautiful prestigious Connaught Hotel in Mayfair. I had the excellent tasting menu as well a very good value for money lunch from my first two visits, having noticed the whole menu format was changed from the beginning of 2014, I was a little curious to see if Helene managed to raise the level of the bar.

Helene Darroze at The Connaught

Antico

Italian in Bermondsey

Antico, a neighbourhood restaurant on Bermondsey Street serves classic Italian food in a causal setting with a gin bar down stairs called 214 Bermondsey. It sounded like a winning combination on paper with the rising pre-dinner cocktail trends in London, with Italian classics such as Martini and Negroni proven to be popular among the young professionals. I visited Antico on a Friday evening for a Birthday gathering and hoped for a full Italian dining experience.

Antico

Four Seasons

Chinese BBQ

Four Seasons is one of the few well known Chinese restaurant groups in London, if I had to pick one Chinese restaurant in China Town to recommend, Four Seasons would be the only one due to its quality Chinese BBQ items at a very reasonable price. This time around I went for the usual meat combo to share with a friend and a main of Malaysian style fried rice off its special menu. 

roast pork and duck

Launceston Place

The taste of Spring 

If you're a regular reader of my blog, you will know I am a massive fan of Launceston Place, located in the quite neighbourhood near Cromwell Road. Head chef Tim Allen and his team have really got something special going on inside this 1 Michelin starred restaurant. A great degree of presentation and wonderful flavours with a creative approach on top of lovely service, Launceston Place ticks all the boxes that make me want to keep going back, and this time I returned to try out their latest tasting menu. 

canapes

Mandarin Kitchen

Chinese seafood feast

Located in Queensway, the unofficial second China Town in London, Mandarin Kitchen is considered one of the best Chinese restaurants in London and it is famous for its Chinese style seafood. Chinese value seafood as a luxury and usually are the most expensive items on the menu in most Chinese restaurants, it has been a long time since I had a seafood feast in London so I was very excited when Mandarin Kitchen came into my knowledge as quality Chinese seafood is a rarity in London. 

Mandarin Kitchen

Antidote

What the bread?

Antidote is a wine bar and restaurant in Soho, which lately has been buzzing in the food blogging community when it came to light that it appointed chef patron of Hedone to consult the menu and ingredients. Personally I am not much of a fan of Hedone having eaten there two years ago and which wasn't really anything special. However with its location and a few good positive reviews, I stopped by Antidote for a pre-dinner drink and some small bites.

Antidote

Elliot's Cafe

Not your average cafe

Elliot's Cafe is a modern cafe in Borough Market serving contemporary European cuisine using seasonal ingredients, it had gained a reputation of serving top notch burgers but I was more interested in the dinner menu which was similar to a tapas format. On the menu were mostly small sharing plates with daily specials such as lamb neck and whole trout depending on supplies.

Elliot's Cafe

lamb onglet

Clockjack Oven

Benchmark of great Chicken

I returned to the ever reliable Clockjack Oven on a fine Spring evening, I am a big fan of this rotisserie restaurant, I really like how they have taken a classic British dish and executed in such a refined manner. I ordered more or less the same thing from my last visited, the wings and the chicken bits were just as good as I remembered it. The wings had the right balance of sweetness and richness, and the well seasoned chicken bites was a real joy when dipping into the creamy ranch sauce, it was a match from heaven, comfort food at its best. The main star of the evening, a whole free range rotisserie chicken was roasted expertly, the skin was crispy and the meat was very tender and full of fresh meaty flavours, it was chicken dinner at its finest together with the rich gravy.

chicken bites and BBQ wings

chicken house salad

rotisserie chicken

Overall another great dinner at Clockjack Oven, I am fully aware it was only rotisserie chicken at the end of the day but they really know how to get the formula right and delivered it brilliantly. The service here is also excellent, friendly and charming, streets ahead to any high street chains, price here is also excellent, simply put, you are paying excellent value for great food using well sourced ingredients, Clockjack Oven is a must try for any chicken fan.

Food 6
Service 7
Ambience 5
Value 7

£16 per head

14 Denman St, London, UK W1D

http://www.clockjackoven.com/

The Dairy

Contemporary British with a twist

I came across The Dairy while I was doing some research on the internet for modern British cuisine, and after looking at the concept and pictures of the food, it just seemed very interesting. I really enjoyed the idea of small plates sharing food using fresh ingredients grown in its own garden as well as fine British suppliers, cooked in a modern manner with creative ingredient combinations. So even though it is at Clapham which is far away from where I work and live, I still felt it was worth a detour after work for a visit.

The Dairy