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.

Nanyang Blossom

Impactful flavours from the Nanyang Ocean 

Grilled abalone salad with caviar and pumpkin

For some reason, London has yet to have an upmarket Malaysian restaurant in London, despite there are so many trending Malaysian restaurants, like Laksamania and Sambal Shiok. Nanyang Bloosom appears to attempt to change that. Located in Knightsbridge with Harrods just around the corner, Nanyang Blossom is a brand new restaurant by chef patron Daren Liew who was the head chef at the short-lived Duddells London and Blue Jasmine in Southhampton. Nanyang Blossom focuses on the rich flavours from the South China Sea, using plenty of spices and herbs to create an aromatic yet contemporary taste, and the menu itself contains plenty of upmarket ingredients, from crab, and lobster to Chilian seabass and Japanese wagyu.

Donia

Fusion Filipino style

Pumpkin and squash lobster

Fusion is a dirty word in the chef world and is something not easy to pull off, so I usually try to avoid any restaurant trying to do fusion. When I first heard about Donia, a pretty new restaurant in Soho that does Filipino cuisine with a Western touch, it sounded like a minefield. However, there are hardly any Filipino restaurants in London and it is a cuisine that I would like to explore more, and after some very positive reviews from the press, plus the menu from its website looked appealing, I decided to give it a go. The menu is spread between snacks, starters, mains and desserts, a very Western-style approach.

Imperial Treasure Fine Chinese Cuisine London

Traditional Cantonese feast

Roasted Chilian seabass in honey

When you look at the dishes from Imperial Treasure, you might find them not far apart from dishes you would encounter in Chinatown yet the price is far higher. Yet somehow it has gained a loyal following, especially in the Chinese community. The main reason would be that it uses far superior ingredients, they would use a whole prawn in a har gow instead of chopped-up prawn paste, and they would use Iberico pork for char siu instead of some random frozen low-price pork as an example. Everything all cooked in a very traditional Cantonese manner. 

Duck and Rice

 Beer and Chinese cuisine combo

Stir fry lobster in ginger and spring onions

Duck and Rice in Soho is a unique beast, you wouldn't usually associate pub food with Chinese food but this is what Duck and Rice is all about. The upmarket pub/restaurant offers plenty of premium beer, with a range of Chinese dishes that would work well with beer, such as Cantonese roasted duck and salt and pepper squid. I have visited once a while since 2016, and the below covers my recent 9th visit. It seems not a great deal has changed, with the menu more or less staying the same, with some dim sum and small plates which would work as starters, followed by larger dishes under the label 'chop suey'

Mei Ume

Premium Asian offering in East London

Grilled yellowtail collar

Located within the 5 stars Four Season Hotel, Mei Ume is somewhat of an unusual Asian restaurant, as it offers Chinese and Japanese cuisine under one space. As it is such a different cuisine between the two, it has two kitchen spaces to cater to each cuisine. I would say it is a Chinese restaurant at heart since it is led by a Malaysian Chinese chef Peter Ho, whose work experience came from the likes of Hakkasan and Mei Mei, all are Chinese restaurants. For my 7th visit, I revisited some signature dishes of the house as well as trying some new items.