London, London restaurants

The Seven Stars – Quite Possibly London’s Quirkiest Pub

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Located just behind the Royal Courts of Justice in the borough of Westminster (the border to the City runs through Chancery Lane, a stone’s throw away), this tiny little pub, which was built in 1602 as an alehouse, is famous for the case closing celebrations of barristers. However, it’s by no means solely frequented by lawyers and sees its fair share of builders, bankers, office clerks, local residents, and students from nearby King’s College and the London School of Economics, two of the best universities of the country.    It’s crammed with people nearly all day every day. We usually just stop by for a quick pint after work. Today was the first time we actually found a table and stayed for a meal. My wife (Ms B) ordered roast chicken and mash (£12), I went for the lamb burger (£12). The menu is a mix of English, Italian and […]

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London restaurants

Galvin at Windows – Our Restaurant Review

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[UPDATE 25 April 2024: This restaurant has permanently closed] We’re just back from our visit to Chef Patron Chris Galvin‘s Michelin-starred Galvin at Windows, which boasts incredible 360 degree views of London from the 28th floor of the London Hilton on Park Lane. I should say “usually boasts”, because we picked the worst time to visit, considering that it was a dark, rainy, cloudy day, but the friends we met up with (two other couples) and us, we were still immediately bought in on the atmosphere. The interior décor combines modern elegance and state-of-the-art comfort with the glamour of the 1930s. Everyone I know hates 1960s architecture, and rightly so, but this true gem, which was completed in 1963, is one of the nicest buildings I’ve seen. It looks surprisingly modern from the outside, but the main selling point is its Y-shaped layout, which means you are always next to […]

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London restaurants

Riding House Cafe – Our Review

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We had previously been to the much hyped Riding House Café, and didn’t think that much of it, slightly above average perhaps. However, then they opened a sister café called Rail House Café, which really blew our socks off (review here), so we thought we should give it another shot. We weren’t hungry, it was mid-afternoon and we had had brunch earlier that day, so we just ordered a cheeseburger (smoked cheddar, tomato relish, mayo, gherkin, chips; £15) to share and a couple of drinks. The food arrived quickly, and we were pleased with the look and taste. The chips were above average. In the end we left some of the burger on the plate, because we had bitten on several bits of bone, one of which nearly took one of my fillings out, not ideal. Perhaps we are just unlucky. Everyone else seems to really like this place, but […]

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Frankfurt restaurants, Germany

Restaurant Lohninger, Frankfurt

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A few days ago, my wife, Ms B, and I had just returned to London respectively Frankfurt from lovely Vienna, I decided that I needed a distinctly Viennese culinary booster to get me over the dark days and cheer me up. Mario Lohninger’s eponymous restaurant on the south bank of the river, which is also known as Museumsufer (museum riverbank, because of the large number of nearby museums), just two minutes’ walk from Sachsenhausen’s “Schweizer Platz”, has been receiving sterling reviews ever since it opened in 2010. Initially considering a career as a pro downhill skier, he helped out from a very early age in his grandparents’ bakery and his parents’ restaurant in Leogang near Zell am See. It would seem likely that my parents and several uncles and aunts, who went together on skiing holidays to Leogang every single year for more than a decade before I was born, […]

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London restaurants, Michelin restaurants

Brunch at Aquavit Restaurant, London

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[UPDATE 25 August 2023: This restaurant has permanently closed] We’ve just returned from our brunch at the fabulous, Michelin-starred Aquavit, which opened in late 2016 under Executive Chef Henrik Ritzén. We had had this restaurant on our list for some time, but only managed to visit them today for the first time.    From Berkeley Square it is just a short walk through the southern end of Mayfair and the northern end of St James’s. As soon as we arrived, we were made to feel welcome by the friendly, relaxed staff. Despite the incredibly good value prices for their brunch dishes, we were one of only three parties that arrived when they opened at 11am. Other guests arrived soon after.    After short deliberation we opted for the blood pudding, lingonberries, bacon and lardo (£6) accompanied by an OP Anderson Original 25ml aquavit (£4), a ‘Nordic Breakfast’ with smoked cod […]

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