M Victoria review: The new restaurant serving up raw kangaroo March 30, 2016 M on Threadneedle Street is a City staple, a thrumming lunchtime emporium comprising two restaurants: the steaky M Grill and and fishy M Raw. Opened last November, M Victoria matches its older twin beat for beat in SW1, presenting with an eerie familiarity bordering on deja vu. This is unmistakably M: from the steak and [...]
Mix it up: How Asia de Cuba has re-invented Cuban food and cocktails for modern capitalists March 29, 2016 Cuba is in the news for all the right reasons. President Obama just popped over for an unprecedented visit – part of the painfully slow normalisation of US-Cuba relations. Détente between the two nations isn’t welcomed by everyone though. A few Western journalists have taken to Twitter to lament Cuba’s impending Americanisation. They're particularly worried [...]
Working Lunch review: Does Obica’s mozzarella bar have what it takes to storm the City? March 23, 2016 Obica St Pauls | 4 Limeburner Lane, EC4M WHAT? The latest of five restaurants bringing the Italian “mozzarella bar” to London. The St Pauls flagship opened last week, quite literally catering for casual walk-ins, business dinners, deli lunches, takeaway pizzas and cocktail fiends. WHERE? In a quiet street just off Ludgate Hill in a 120-seat, copper and stainless [...]
The seven most cracking luxury Easter eggs for the weekend March 23, 2016 Every year, a secret cabal of City A.M.'s top egg enthusiasts come together to judge the year's greatest hollow chocolate treats. This year is no exception. Here, we present our pick of the seven top eggs of 2016. 1. Divine Raspberry Dark Chocolate Egg – £5, divinechocolate.com Made by a Fair Trade co-operative of farmers in [...]
The eight best dim sum in London: where to find the pick of these steamed delicacies March 15, 2016 We recommend the best dim sum in this great city of ours. 1. Hutong 31 St Thomas St, London SE1 Why not eat your dim sum up London’s biggest sky scraper? Hutong has a large selection of dim sum, with highlights including shredded turnip puffs with spring onion and shrimp rolls with thousand-year egg. 2. [...]
Working Lunch review: 28°- 50° Fetter Lane, St Paul’s has a fine wine cellar and lofty ambitions March 15, 2016 140 Fetter Lane, EC4A | 2850.co.uk/fetter WHAT? 28°-50° Fetter Lane is a relaxed “wine workshop” turned restaurant tucked away in a cellar-like room that infuses ustic country decor with modern city stylings. WHERE? In the legal quarter, just off of Fleet Street. WHO? Head chef Julien Baris left Michelin-starred Le Moulin de l’abbaye in France to [...]
London’s best steamed buns: Where to find the ultimate street-food snack March 11, 2016 Steamed buns – variously known as baozi, bao, humbow, nunu, bakpau, bausak, pow – are quite possibly the best thing ever. East Asian countries including Korea, Taiwan, China and Japan all have their own take on this light, fluffy package of sweet or savoury goodness. Thankfully, London has plenty of places you can pick them [...]
The eight best bars for dating: We round up the best cocktail bars in London to take a first date March 8, 2016 "Married and bored or single and lonely”. That’s our choice according to Chris Rock, the reigning comedic heir to Eddie Murphy and Richard Prior. Whether Rock’s right is a matter for debate, but having gone through the rigour of dating in the 21st century, I would opt for boredom every day of the week. Back [...]
The eight best pies in London: As British Pie Week gets into full swing, we celebrate some of the capital’s very best examples of baked pastry March 8, 2016 1. Polo Bar Fish Pie, £9.50 Pie Week has even united London’s rival financial districts. The chef at Canary Wharf’s Parlour has created this boozy fish pie for Polo Bar opposite Liverpool Street station. Packed with white fish, salmon, haddock and prosecco, it’s so tasty even the fish are diving in. 167 Bishopsgate, EC2M 2. [...]
Damien Hirst restaurant Pharmacy 2 review: Why this Pharmacy is a cure for your foodie ills March 8, 2016 I feel like I should start this review with a personal anecdote about Damien Hirst. Everybody seems to have one, like the time he pulled his foreskin through a hole in his trousers, pretended it was a blob of chewing gum and got people to try to brush it off. My anecdote would recall a [...]