All posts filed under: Restaurants

The Nare Hotel afternoon tea

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Ding Ding. The bell rings and the receptionist immediately comes bounding through the door, all smiles. “Can I take your coat madam”, I am asked before being shown to an armchair situated by a soft glowing fire. I am surrounded by traditional furniture and an old grandfather clock ticks tocks in the background. The last guests of a wedding reception slowely filter out from the bar and I am left sitting in near silence with another couple that read the newspapers in peace. I wish I could see what was beyond the patio doors but it is mid winter and pitch black. I pick up a brochure for the hotel in which I am sitting and gaze longigly at images, taken in the summer, which show the beautiful serene surroundings that I know are there but just not visible. I am at The Nare Hotel to sample one of the hotels famous cream teas. The Nare, in case you weren’t aware, is the highest rated four star hotel in Cornwall and has been so for …

Granger & Co

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It’s the day before Christmas Eve in West London. A black car sits waiting by the curb across the road from a grand London townhouse. Young professionals wander down the streets and into boutiques for a spot of last minute Christmas shopping. Mark Ronson casually walks across the road and clambers into the black car, careful not to knock his large white hat on the way in. Passers by don’t look twice. Such sightings are normal in these parts. Across the road, a new restaurant buzzes. Granger & Co, the first and long awaited London based restaurant from Bill Granger, Australian culinary God, opened in November. A long bar runs down the right hand side at which diners sit, casually eating their food whilst watching baristas perfecting their latte art. Objects adhering to the gold and cream colour theme adorn the bar and the windowsills around the room, including a beautiful lamp that I wished I could slip into my handbag. Tan leather banquets line the dining room, which the morning brunch brigade fills, along …

Harvey Nichols Fifth Floor Café revamp

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When I think of Harvey Nichols, the line ‘Harvey Nicks darrrling’ immediately pops into my head and stays there on repeat until something else grabs my attention. Thanks Jennifer Saunders. Ab Fab was always on in my house when I was growing up. I loved it. I would have been so proud had I known at the time that I would one day be following in Edina’s footsteps and working in PR darrrrrling. But I can safely say that I don’t quite live the Ab Fab lifestyle, honestly… Harvey Nichols Fifth Floor Café has just undergone its first refurb in twenty years. EDGE Architecture + Design has designed the interior and created distinctive features such as a new horseshoe shaped Espresso Bar and an open plan kitchen. Executive Chef Jonas Karlsson and his team have created a range of new dishes, many using new and seasonal produce from The Foodmarket and I was invited to test it out last week. I arrived early and sipped a jasmine tea (£2.95) whilst I waited for my friend. …

Brixton Market

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I still feel privileged to live in London, even after six years. But some weekends I find myself tearing my hair out thinking ‘what to do?!’ I often get the feeling that I’ve done it all and there’s literally nothing new to do. Of course I’m wrong – I should probably pay more attention to Time Out. Last weekend though, I decided to head south to Brixton to have a look around the market and grab a bite to eat. The first obstacle was the tube – I forgot to check about the consistent weekend ‘upgrade’ works that are going on until the Olympics next year. It took a while to get there but a couple of tube changes and a replacement bus later, I arrived. I have been to Brixton a couple of times before and not really liked it. Both visits were in the evening and I hadn’t exactly felt very safe on my walk down the backstreets towards Brixton Academy – don’t ask why I decided to walk down the backstreets. But …

Meat Liquor

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You probably don’t need to read another blog post about this place, but I’m going to write it anyway. Don’t worry; I’ll keep it short and sweet. Meat liquor, yes yes, I know you’ve heard that this is the most amazing burger in the world right now. I think that’s a pretty bold statement but let me tell you, they’re certainly good. Situated just off Oxford Street behind Debenhams, Meat Liquor is the new permanent fixture from meataholic Yianni Papoutsis and serves an array of fantastic, you guessed it, burgers. Also on the scraggy menu is a range of weird and wonderful cocktails, most served in jam jars. The Full English Martini (£7.50) caught our eye – billed as Bombay Original stirred with homemade vermouth and served egg and bacon. The martini was smooth and almost too easy to drink, while the hard boiled quail egg and bacon bits that arrived in a separate shooter glass acted as a perfect appetiser. The Louisiana Jam (£7) was a syrupy sweet concoction of Southern Comfort swizzled with …