Restaurants

High tea at Min Jiang

It would be fair to say that of the many dim sum experiences we’ve had, the best have been in establishments where we were loathed to use the cutlery. Originally a form of Chinese peasant food, the steamed dumplings – filled with everything from roast pork to octopus – have been making their mark on the capital for a good few years now, with some of the most notable including Alan Yau’s Yauatcha and Hakkasan, alongside the chainier Royal China and Ping Pong. [Read more...]

September 14th, 2010

Food & Drink,Restaurants

Pierre Koffmann does it again

Pierre Koffmann. It’s a name which, in culinary circles at least, induces the kind of tooth-whistling veneration the Olivers and Ramsays of this world can only dream of. For a man who, two years ago, threw the towel in at his 2 Michelin starred eaterie La Tante Claire to quite literally go fishing, Koffmann has made a bad show of retirement, last year opening a pop-up eaterie on the top floor of Selfridges – which stands as one of the city’s best temporary restaurants thus far – and earlier this year announcing a new eponymous venture, which opened in London’s Berkeley Hotel at the end of last month. [Read more...]

August 25th, 2010

Food & Drink,Restaurants

Downtime dining at Hudson Hall

With “pop-up eateries”, “supper clubs” and “avant garde dining experiences” two-a-penny these days, it’s tricky to make a mark on the restaurant scene. [Read more...]

July 6th, 2010

Food & Drink,Restaurants

Summer in the city (or just outside it)

Now we’ve been duped into believing this could be the real deal, the “bbq summer” we’ve been promised for the past 34 years, we’ve got beer gardens and bare flesh on the brain. [Read more...]

June 28th, 2010

Food & Drink,Restaurants

Carnivorous cravings? Head to JW’s

Yes we know summer’s coming and we should be tucking into artistically arranged salads not ruddy great slabs of livestock but when somewhere is billed as the best steak in London… well, as red-blooded, cow-chewing men we feel honor bound to visit. [Read more...]

June 16th, 2010

Food & Drink,Restaurants,Snacks

New balls please (preferably edible)

Let it never be said that Esquire has no love for novelty spherical snacks. Having already shared with the world our fondness for the chocolate scotch egg, it seems only proper that we pay tribute to Love All, the Wimbledon-inspired dessert that has been cooked up by Bjorn Van Der Horst at his Farringdon restaurant The Eastside Inn. [Read more...]

May 19th, 2010

Food & Drink,Restaurants

Top table at Paramount

Seeing a rainbow appear over the city you live in is one of life’s simpler but no less moving pleasures. Obviously it’s even better seen from near the top of a very tall building with a glass of champagne in one hand and a fork poised above a nice warm entrée. [Read more...]

May 14th, 2010

Food & Drink,Restaurants

Curry and beers (Esquire style)

Curry at lunchtime is something of an antilogy: too heavy, too rich and (often) leaving much to be desired in the sophistication stakes. However, Trishna disabused us of all those notions from the first bite of perfectly pleated papadum (accompanied by sweet salsa and spicy shrimp). [Read more...]

May 12th, 2010