Tag Archives: review

The Picture of Dorian Gray at “Dorian Gray’s Townhouse” in London (OneTravel)

Recently, I caught a performance of the Oscar Wilde classic The Picture of Dorian Gray. An immersive piece of theatre set in an actually lived-in Georgian townhouse, the play served as an excellent opportunity to enjoy a piece of great literature brought to life while getting to snoop around a bit in someone else’s home. If you’re planning to visit London before the end of September, this adaptation could prove a quirky and cultured item to your itinerary. Continue reading

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Destination Dining at its Best: Quantus, Devonshire Road, Chiswick

Another great restaurant to add to my list of this year’s best, Quantus offers an exquisite menu of modern European cuisine with a strong Latin influence and a wine list that’s inspired and decidedly Latin tinged as well. Service at this lovely little Chiswick local is formal and prompt yet exceptionally friendly, and the prices are a huge relief. Continue reading

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Brindisa Brings “Green Spain” to Your Door

One of my favourite food shops in London just got yummier with the introduction of a new range of gastronomic goodies from Spain’s verdant north. Continue reading

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Immersive Theatre Review: The Picture of Dorian Gray at “Dorian Gray’s Townhouse”

Over the weekend, I caught a press night performance of The Alchemic Order’s production of the Oscar Wilde classic The Picture of Dorian Gray. An immersive piece of theatre set in an actually lived-in Georgian townhouse, the play served as an excellent opportunity to enjoy a piece of great literature brought to life while getting to snoop round a bit in someone else’s home. Continue reading

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Sweet Thursday: De Beauvoir Town Pizzeria Pleases Any Day of the Week

Sweet Thursday is a new(ish) pizzeria and wine shop in De Beauvoir Town. The shop’s unusual name pays homage to a novel by John Steinbeck. Look it up. As far as I’m concerned the Sweet Thursday folks could call their friendly establishment Sour Monday, and I’d still rave about it. The pizzas are proper and the atmosphere ideal for a casual meal any day of the week. Continue reading

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Delicious Takeaway at an Outstanding Price: Bánh Mì Hoi-An, Hackney Central

It’s nice to give someone a fiver for a filling and freshly made lunch and still get some change back. Being served something scrumptious at great value and leaving with the feeling that your patronage was truly appreciated is part and parcel at Bánh Mì Hoi-An, a fantastic Vietnamese sandwich bar round the corner from Hackney Central Overground station. Continue reading

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Win a Free Illy IperEspresso Coffee Machine

Quality Italian espresso at the press of a button in your own home? Oh yeah! I’ve got a nifty IperEspresso Coffee Machine from Illy up for grabs. Continue reading

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Pocketshop.com: One-Hour Supermarket Delivery Service for London

Pocket Shop is the UK’s first one-hour supermarket delivery service in the country. Recently launched across London, the service is like having online access to a Sainsbury’s Local that magically delivers on fairly short notice. Continue reading

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Breakfast at Tapas Brindisa London Bridge? ¡Muy Bien!

Tapas Brindisa London Bridge has updated its breakfast menu and the hours it’s available. The results are muy bien and the portions are very definition of muchísimo. Continue reading

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HKK’s Exquisite Five Course Duck Lunch

There’s not a whole lot I can write about my recent visit to HKK for a taste of its five course duck lunch menu without my review coming across as one big gloat about how much I enjoyed it. Continue reading

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Q Chocolates from Brazil Available at Fortnum & Mason

New to the UK market and exclusive to Fortnum & Mason, Q Chocolates from Brazil are some of the tastiest I’ve ever had. Continue reading

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London’s First Tofu Bar at Naga, W8

West London Pan Asian restaurant, Naga, has recently launched London’s first dedicated tofu bar with a menu of inexpensive bar snacks and even a selection of tofu-based cocktails. Continue reading

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No Sir Elton But Still Good Fun at BST Last Night

To say I wasn’t disappointed when I heard that Elton John wasn’t going to perform as scheduled at last night’s BST at Hyde Park would be a lie. Nevertheless, I had a lot of fun at the festival and was impressed with the organizers went about handling the new when the superstar announced he wouldn’t be able to play. Continue reading

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Teroforma Whisky Stones + Jura Festival Edition 2013

Giving my Teroforma Whisky Stones a test run with a damn fine single malt and loving every last sip! Continue reading

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Explore the Art of Tudor and Stuart Fashion at Buckingham Palace (OneTravel)

In Fine Style: The Art of Tudor and Stuart Fashion, an exhibition currently running at The Queen’s Gallery inside Buckingham Palace shines an intriguing light on the fashionable follies and sartorial considerations of 16th and 17th century nobility. For visitors visiting London and keen to learn about Britain’s royal heritage and how one’s status was expressed and identified through what they wore, this excellent exhibition is well worth keeping in mind. Continue reading

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Tibits: All-Day Veggie Dream Boat Just Off Regent Street

Tibits is an all-day vegetarian restaurant and bar nestled within a quiet little alcove just off Regent Street. With a “food boat” featuring 40 hot and cold dishes where customers create their own buffet-style meal (either plated for eating in or in a container for takeaway), Tibits has plenty of quality dishes on offer for healthy conscious diners and folks with dietary concerns. Continue reading

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In Fine Style: The Art of Tudor and Stuart Fashion at The Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace

In Fine Style: The Art of Tudor and Stuart Fashion, an exhibition currently running at The Queen’s Gallery, shines an intriguing light on the fashionable follies and sartorial considerations of 16th and 17th century nobility. Continue reading

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Afternoon Tea at the Kensington Palace Orangery

I recently had an old friend from high school visiting London from the States and found the afternoon tea at the Kensington Palace Orangery to provide an ideal opportunity for a catch up with sightseeing. Continue reading

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Go on a Blind Date at the Charing Cross Theatre, London (OneTravel)

Direct from New York for a limited run at London’s Charing Cross Theatre is Blind Date starring Canadian comedienne Rebecca Northan as Mimi, a “lovable minx of a Parisian clown.” Continue reading

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Lunch at Assiette Anglaise, Liverpool Road, N7

I had a fantastic lunch last week at Assiette Anglaise, a relatively new restaurant for Highbury and a welcome one indeed! It’s is a fine little neighbourhood brasserie which locals should be proud to call their own. Everybody else? This all day eatery’s only a short stroll away from Highbury and Islington Station (and is just about as close to Holloway Road and Caledonian Road stations too). The delighful meal I had was certainly worth the time I spent on public transport to get there. Continue reading

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Bourbon Tasting Flights and a Steak of the Month at JW Steakhouse, Park Lane

JW Steakhouse at the Marriott’s Grosvenor House hotel has recently introduced a couple of brilliant new reasons to pay this fine dining establishment a visit post-haste: a series of four bourbon tasting flights and a Steak of the Month. Both these offers represent deliciously good news to be sure! However, what is perhaps even more deserving of me shouting about you making speedy beeline to enjoy is the simple fact that, as I discover during my dinner last night, everything else about this American style Steakhouse is fantastic too. Continue reading

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Sunday Lunch: Paradise by Way of Kensal Green

I don’t want to give away too much about the fantastic dining room of Paradise by Way of Kensal Green. If you’ve never been, it’s worth a bit of uncertainly for the wonderful surprise of seeing the interiors for the first time. And, of course, if you have been then you know what I’m talking about. Nice place for a drink, eh? But have you tried the Sunday lunch? It’s full-on (and filling!) and as lovely as you might expect to enjoy in such a pleasant setting. Continue reading

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Bar Snacks at the Old Queen’s Head, Essex Road

You’re kinda spoilt for choice if you’re looking for a place to drink on Essex Road. A handful of quality boozers (some great places to eat too!) are clustered close to where Essex Road meets Upper Street with a few more commendable establishments presenting themselves up the road nearer De Beauvoir Town. Among the best of Essex Road’s pubs is the Old Queen’s Head. Continue reading

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New Reasons to Love an Old Favourite: Gourmet Burger Kitchen at the N1 Centre, Angel

Remember when Gourmet Burger Kitchen was virtually the only place in London where you could go for a halfway decent burger? I guess such a time really wasn’t all that long ago but it seems like ancient history given all the choice we have for burgers now. I reckon GBK deserves much of the credit (or should I say blame?) for creating the conditions that led to the burger mania that’s swept London these past couple of years. And now that a number from the recent onslaught of burger joints seem to have eclipsed GBK in popularity and success, is the beefy trendsetter still worth taking a bite out of? Yeah, I’d say so. Continue reading

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Theatre Review: Blind Date at the Charing Cross Theatre

I’m more than happy to recommend Blind Date at the Charing Cross Theatre to anyone looked for some light hearted entertainment. I wouldn’t even mind seeing this comedy again, honestly, especially considering that all performances promise to be different with a new (and haplessly unsuspecting) leading man every time. Continue reading

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New Restaurant Review: The Potato Merchant, Exmouth Market

The Potato Merchant, London’s first restaurant and grocer specialising in potatoes, has recently opened at Exmouth Market. I had a nice dinner there recently and thought the restaurant would be worth keeping in mind for locals looking for a thoughtful take on the UK’s favourite starchy staple. Continue reading

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New Bento Express Menu at Buddha-Bar London (CDCLifestyle)

Buddha-Bar’s new bento features a tasty selection of light Pan Asian starters and mains from which to create your own meal for £27. The bento includes a bowl of miso soup, a side of wakame salad and a choice of steamed rice or Buddha-Bar noodles. Quality of the food is high. Portion sizes are ample with the bento prettily presented. Service is efficient and cordial. If you know Buddha-Bar then you’re aware that the setting is extremely attractive and rather plush, whether you’re there for drinks or a quick meal. Continue reading

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Theatre Review: Mandrake at the Brockley Jack

Adapting Machiavelli’s Mandrake (from ancient Florentine no less) for the English stage came across as effortless second nature for Howard Coyler. However, a brief chat with the playwright after I caught last night’s performance of the play suggested that Coyler actually did need to put some midnight oil along with plenty of head scratching into his London revival of this classic piece of Italian Renaissance entertainment. Continue reading

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Grand Old Brighton: Dining in Style at GB1 (Blue Tomato)

Newly opened at the recently refurbished Grand Brighton hotel, GB1 Seafood Restaurant & Bar serves up a treat for lovers of expertly prepared fruits of the sea. Making ye olde cheeky jaunt down to Brighton all the more enticing, GB1′s menu of local, fresh and sustainably sourced fish and seafood presented in a fabulous setting sure does beckon foodies from far and wide. I’m certainly hankering to get back down there for more great seaside grub. Continue reading

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GNH Bar (Blue Tomato)

I have long felt that a significant number of the best cocktail bars in London are hidden away in some of this city’s finer hotels. There’s the Coburg Bar at the Connaught, the Mirror Bar at the Landmark, the American … Continue reading

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Carpo: Great Greek Snacks at Piccadilly Circus

Carpo, an emporium and cafe offering a simple selection of “nuts, chocolate and coffee” (there’s dried fruit and a few other products as well) has recently opened near Piccadilly Circus. So what? So … fantastically flavoursome pistachios, delectable honey with a hint of thyme, exquisitely juicy candied mandarins, figs covered in chocolate that are worth dropping whatever you’re doing at this very moment to rush over for a taste of and a whole lot more – that’s what. Continue reading

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Upscale Bento at Buddha-Bar London

Mention the lavish Buddha-Bar in Knightsbridge to anyone and thoughts of a glamorous night out sipping exotic cocktails with a soundtrack of signature lounge and chill-out tunes wafting through a beautiful people filled lounge probably spring to mind. But what about a “Buddha Bento” express menu for a no fuss lunch or a pre-theatre dinner with a promise to having you in and out within 40 minutes? Continue reading

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Cedric Christie at Flowers: When Painting Collapses, You Have Beautiful Sculptures

When Painting Collapses, You Have Beautiful Sculptures showcases two new bodies of work by Cedric Christie: his sculptural response to a gallery along with recent work developed during a residency in Kleve, Germany. The pieces on exhibit explore the artist’s ‘personal endeavour to transform one medium into another’. They exude confident in their simplicity and yield a sense of serenity as well. Continue reading

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New Menu at Salaam Namaste, Bloomsbury

I’ve been on a bit of a curry kick lately, trying out a bunch of Indian restaurants around town and having a great time doing so. South Asian cooking is the sort of food that once I get a taste of I start craving for more and more. So when the invite came to have a taste of the new menu “combining Indian culinary traditions with more diverse and progressive recipes” created by Chef Patron Sabir Karim, I was keen. Continue reading

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Burlexe: Burlesque Inspired Theatre at London’s Shadow Lounge (OneTravel)

I, for one, enjoyed myself immensely when I checked out the show earlier this month. I laughed a lot. I blushed as dancers made eye contact, took to the audience and once when one performer ran her finger along my jawline. Ooh la la! Continue reading

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