London-eaten. Latest reviews and some odd things we've been to
Restaurants reviewed recently
Noura Mayfair. Leading the Lebanese?
Le Cassoulet Croydon. The Vacherin moves gloriously south
Volt VIctoria. No electric jokes, we promise. Well, maybe one.
Knaypa. Hammersmith. Polish cuisine makes a hearty meal
The Loft. Clapham. Something's up down south
The Regent Kensal Green. Loved by royalty?
May we, as usual take this opportunity to remind you that if a restaurant really gives you a bad time, please talk to them and allow them a chance to explain/ buy you off/ make amends before you trash them on the website!
And it would be nice if restaurants could stop trying to hype themselves on site, yes, you know who you are!
The King’s Arms in Litton - walk right in
Lured out of London to the Kings Arms in Litton, Somerset with the promise of a free lunch and a day out of the office, we rolled out of London in thick fog, which soon got thicker. By the time we got to Bristol, surprisingly quickly, the sun was out though and the city was glowing as if freshly painted. Freshly painted too was the The Albion Public House and Dining Rooms in Clifton (see what I did there?) another outpost of Miles Johnson and Ian Rayner, owners of The King's Club and now the Kings Arms too. Here you could see their technique – acquire a venerable but tired out pub in an up and coming area, gut it of all the acquired crap but keep and clean the wooden floors then knock a wall down here and there. Add a nice bit of décor and wait for the upwardly mobile young couples coming into the area to come in to eat. It works well, the bloke painting the place outside remembered the former pub as rough, unappealing and empty but now said it was busy all the time.
And so onto the Kings Arms, about 25 minutes away. Approaching from the wrong side through the cute village, the inn seemed tiny and with nowhere to park. Viewed from the back however you could see the way it went back and grew organically into reclaimed barns and outhouses from its 15th Century beginnings. Inside it’s now all inglenooks, beams and fires, although the renovations have taken some of the patina of age away in places and replaced it with plasterboard and sunken lights. Foodwise it’s all British, spaghetti bolognese being the only obvious foreigner on the menu amongst ham hock terrines, local pork belly and roast rib eye of beef. Only open a few weeks it was already busy for a weekday lunchtime and at the weekends it positively welcomes walkers, dogs and muddy boots. It seems just the sort of place you want to come across after a few hours walking but seldom do. So if you’re a second home owner in the area, or just fancy a trip out on a Sunday it’s well worth dropping in.
