Hello Foodies!

Hi Everyone,

this blog is the main link to our map of London restaurants. We are an Italian couple (yep, you guessed it, Sara and Ale), and we have been living in this amazing city for more than 5 years. Eating out is sort of a hobby for us, and we used to write restaurant reviews in a very nice blog, Ciritorno (forget Tripadvisor, used this if you are travelling to Tuscany). After we moved to London, a lot of people started asking for good places to eat here: so, as we went on trying new restaurants and eateries, we started building a map with all the places that we thought were worth a visit (for one reason or another).

Long story short, now we have more than 100 entries in this map, and we thought it might be worth sharing it with all of you: the Londoner born and bred, the east-end hipster, the newly arrived foreigner, the foodie tourist… anyone who’s interested in finding good places to eat in London (click on “view larger map” below to open the full map; you can also click here and it will open in a new window).

A few important bits: as you can see, in the map we give an indication of the expense for each restaurant: this is just to give you an idea of what you can expect to spend for starter (or dessert) and main, plus service. Drinks are not considered, as their cost can range form £0 (tap water is free) to £whatever. As a very broad indication, usually a beer or a glass of wine will add at least £5 to your bill, a bottle of wine at least £20 (all with service).
In the case of places in the “brunch” category, the price is relevant to this kind of meal, even if they might be open also for dinner.

You can find all the details about the map here, including a list of the categories represented by each marker.

We are pinning our map to this post, and we will (slowly, I’m afraid) add separate reviews for each restaurant.

So, here’s our list, what’s yours?

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Prices and Stars

Hi Everyone,

we have decided to give some quick info about quality and price of a restaurant. This translates into  “£” for the price and * for the quality (not very original, but effective). The “£” are a £10 range starting at £5, as follows

£ = £5 – £15

££= £15 – £25

£££ = £25 – £35

££££ = £35-45

£££££ = £45-55

From 5 on, we will use a numeral such as 6£ = £65-£75

Stars are a general evaluation of the experience in the restaurant, taking into account more or less everything we can think about: food, service, wine and drinks, location, ambience… I will give you that this might might not be entirely objective, you will we have to trust us on this ^_^

*  = Low quality, or very rude service: avoid if possible

** = An OK, acceptable place: if you are really hungry, this is a viable option, but don’t expect anything great.

*** = A nice place: won’t blow your mind, but you will have an overall enjoyable experience. Usually this is the highest mark for a pizza place.

**** = A very good restaurant, bordering on excellence. You will probably have to part from a few extra quid, but it will be worth it.

***** = An exceptional restaurant, and an experience that you will remember.

!  = A special mention for something truly worthwhile about a place (might be associated with any number of stars from 3 on). More details will be in the review notes.

That’s all folks!

A&S.

New Entry – La Fabrica, Spanish, N4 3ES

As the gentrification process of Finsbury Park goes on, Stroud Green road is being populated by your usual trendy (or just-past-trendy) restaurant styles. Could a tapas place be missing? Obviously not, and there comes La Fabrica. Bare bricks on the walls, wooden tables, the decor is nice but doesn’t really scream “hey, come in, this place is excellent!”. Well, never mind that: the menu strikes an almost perfect balance between traditional and inventive tapas.

There are some excellent values, like the pan con tomate: four nice slices of bread with tomato and olive oil, delicious and comforting in its simplicity. The pimentos de padron are a plateful of perfectly charred, sweet green peppers, and the patatas bravas are also a nice bowl of expertly cooked potatoes, accompanied by a tangy, refreshing dip. Other dishes deliver in flavor but are a bit meager in quantity, also considering the price. Anyway, in our experience, picking 3-4 dishes in the various section of the menu should give you a reasonably priced and fulfilling dinner.

Wine-wise, the list is not too long, and quite Spanish-centric, but that’s understandable. The selection is well balanced, and the list itself is divided in sub-groups according to a few main wine styles. The price ranges and the mark-ups are reasonable, and there’s plenty of natural and biodynamic labels if you are feeling adventurous.

So, to summarise, a great addition to the Finsbury Park scene, which is getting more and more interesting. Link to map here.

www.lafabricastroudgreen.co.uk
(website empty at the time of writing)

£20-25

Cod cheeks “salad”

Chocolate, whipped cream and biscuits

New Entry: Typing Room – Modern English, E2 9NF

Bethnal Green might not be the first place one would associate with fine dining, but London is full of surprises, and no place remains the same for long. As part of the gentrification process of the East End, the Town Hall Hotel has been the first residency of talented Portuguese chef Nuno Mendez, currently cooking for celebrities at Chiltern Firehouse. He has been replaced by the likewise talented Lee Westcott, and the Typing Room has been one of our funniest dining experiences in London.

Closed down: Dego’

Another “casualty” in the ever changing London gastromonic scene: it seems that Dego’ never reopened after closing for refurbishment. That’s quite sad, as it was a nice place for aperitif, with a reasonably priced  wine list and tasty nibbles. But Central London is a particularly tough area, that’s for sure. Luckily, for one closing down, ten more are opening: see you at the next review!

Link to map here.

New Entry: Kopapa, Modern Australian, WC2H 9HA

This place has received many positive reviews, but we were not so enthusiastic. On the plus side, there are a lot of clever, well-thought dishes: texture variation is particularly enjoyable. Every plate was perfectly executed, and the service friendly and professional. The location is lovely, to say the least, in the heart of Seven Dials. But…

New Entry: MEATmarket, Hamburger, WC2E 8BE

For who’s been living on Mars until yesterday, this is one of the burger places from the people behind MEATliquor and MEATwagon. That’s it, you’re right: these guys are one of the main reasons why burgers are back on top of the “cool” scale. I have to be really honest though, their burgers are great, but I am not sure if I am totally sold on all the hipster “attachments” they come with: kitchen paper roll, sticky ketchup bottles, super loud music (not here fortunately) and, obviously, no reservations. But maybe it’s just me.

New Entry: Eat 17, Modern English, E9 6DA

A hipster restaurant with excellent and creative food, a decor that’s not the usual whitewashed wood, and reasonable prices. You’d have reason to doubt that something like that exists, but believe us: Eat 17 is worth a visit. And it’s perfect to show off with you new girlfriend or visiting friends: it’s located next to Homerton hospital, and the entrance is through a supermarket, so imagine the surprise when they will enter this jewel of a dining room, complete of decorated vaulted ceiling. 

New Entry: Heirloom, Modern English, N8 8TE

One of the latest additions to the Crouch End foodie scene, the main feature of this restaurant is cooking with locally sourced sourced ingredients (well, locally, let’s say not too far). They even have their own farm in Buckinghamshire : how hipster is that?

Closed Down: Naamya and Bincho Soho

Hi Everyone,

we try to keep the map as up to date as possible, and every time we come to know that a place has closed down, we will put a “CLOSED” next to the name. Please remember, however, that sometimes we are not that quick to update the map, so always check before going to a restaurant ^_^

The latest victims of the ever-changing London restaurant scene are Naamyaa in Angel and Bincho in Soho. It’s always sad when a nice place goes… Bincho has been replaced by another Japanese restaurant, while Naamyaa will be replaced by a Bibigo. Let us know if you try any of them!

Bye!

A&S

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New Entry: Max’s Sandwich Shop, Brunch, N4 4AP

The name might be a bit misleading, as you won’t find sandwiches in the classic meaning of the term. But that’s just for the better: what you get here is thick focaccia bread filled with a ridiculous quantity of amazing ingredients.  The list is quite short, 3 regular sandwiches plus a special and a dessert, but the quality makes up for it. And prices are good too: the massive focaccias are £7, coffee is £2 with free refill (perfect combination to cure a hangover), and cocktails are £4.50 (nope, that’s not a typo). And it’s open late (midnight, 10PM on Sundays), so it’s not just a brunch option. £10-15.

There’s no website at this time, but a quite active twitter account:

twitter.com/lunchluncheon

Link to map here.

Note: at the moment it’s open Wednesday-Sunday.

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