Aziz Ansari talks cooking and writing over dinner at Hoppers April 13, 2026 Stand-up, actor and director Aziz Ansari is interviewed by his friend Karan Gokani, the restaurateur behind Hoppers. They tuck into a South Indian banquet at the brand new Hoppers Shoreditch to talk careers, inspiration and Indian cooking The Meal: Karan Gokani: Do you remember how we met? Aziz Ansari: Yeah, of course – I started [...]
Why I love hotel restaurants – and two of my favourites April 10, 2026 Our top columnist on the joys of a hotel restaurant, and two of his favourites London is rightly famous for outstanding hotels that are home to amazing restaurants. The Mandarin Oriental created this movement, breaking the mould fifteen years ago when the most excellent restaurateur Mark Hastings opened Dinner by Heston and Bar Boulud in [...]
The very best wine pairings for steak and fine cuts of meat April 9, 2026 Liverpool Street Chophouse & Tavern is not a place for small plates. The portions are generous, the menus come in a reassuringly bold red with gold lettering, the wines are decanted and the atmosphere harkens back to a time when long, bottle-strewn business lunches were still de rigour. Chef Mike Reid, formerly of M Restaurants, [...]
Brasserie Zedel has a rival in new London restaurant offering three (amazing) courses for £30 April 9, 2026 Both offer three courses for under £30. But could Art Deco haven Brasserie Zedel finally be facing its toughest competition yet in new opening Romano’s? If you’ve ever eaten at Brasserie Zedel and especially if you’ve had the three course set menu for under twenty quid, we’ve got news for you. Jeremy King, the man [...]
The new Simpson’s in the Strand is a classic for a new generation March 25, 2026 The culinary calendar is hotting up and the Square Mile and its surrounds are right amongst it. This week I turn to two restaurants in the City of London and the hotly-anticipated ‘new opening’ on the Strand, Simpson’s by Jeremy King. Kolamba East I first discovered Kolamba during the pandemic. One of the few successful [...]
Two amazing London pubs have just reopened – but which to visit? March 25, 2026 Much of my early twenties was spent among the braying ponytails and pink pashminas of Parsons Green. The two mainstays for our diet of G&Ts and crisps were The White Horse (known to us as “the Sloaney Pony”) and Aragon House (otherwise called “Arrogant House”). Now these two London pubs, monoliths of Sloane Ranger culture, [...]
A hundred not out… yet: Why Veeraswamy is in trouble March 25, 2026 Veeraswamy, the Michelin-starred Indian restaurant on Regent Street, celebrated its centenary on 18 March. But it has found itself in the headlines for other reasons recently: glowingly reviewed by City AM’s own Adam Bloodworth two years ago, it is now in dispute with its landlord, the Crown Estate. Campaigners have even called for the King [...]
Hands off our spuds: How Americans ‘discovered’ jacket potatoes March 24, 2026 The New York Times has found about the jacket potato, a British staple the world isn’t ready for, says Steve Dinneen Sometimes in this tightly interconnected world of ours, it takes a New York Times headline to remind us that stark cultural differences still exist. “The British Have Finally Learned to Love Peanut Butter”, the [...]
Pairing wine with spicy food at London restaurants KOL and Gunpowder March 18, 2026 Wine and spice make for a tricky duo. Traditionally we are taught that an off-dry white is an excellent pairing to soothe the heat, but this isn’t always the right call. I went to KOL and Gunpowder to find out how to best pair wine and spice. Pairing wine with spicy Mexican food at KOL KOL, [...]
Why Boisdale founder Ranald MacDonald is a London hero March 11, 2026 My culinary journey last week took me away from London. It was a tale of two Vikings, from Scotland to Stockholm and back again. So allow me to introduce my fellow founders, Niklas Ekstedt of his eponymous restaurant Ekstedt and Ranald MacDonald of Boisdale. BOISDALE OF BELGRAVIA When I began my entrepreneurial journey as founder [...]