Our round-up of what the nation’s restaurant critics were writing about in the week to 3rd August 2025
London Standard
David Ellis whooped, hollered and kicked up his heels at a ‘country bar and kitchen’ in west London that is “better considered a kind of theme park ride”, offering line-dancing accompanied by Southern-style “party food”, huge glasses of cheapish wine and their own-branded beer that is “authentically American; ie, its only flavour is ‘cold’”.
That said, the cooking was “far better than required”, and consisted of alarming quantities of pulled meat, tater tots, crisp battered Nashville chicken tenders and “particularly good fries” – all served in “authentically American” portions “ie, bloody massive”.
“Lil’ Nashville is a hoot, but perhaps also a refuge,” David reckoned: “among the good-time hunters and country fans numbered life’s natural misfits, those who might have turned to line dancing after being turned away from something else. Everyone was having a night of it: no posturing, pretence, sneers or side eyes. This lil’ bar welcomes with an offer of fun that no one need feel self-conscious about. It is not cool, but it is for everyone. London needs more of that.”
*****
The Guardian
Grace Dent “foxtrotted neatly and nimbly around the world of fine dining” at a “decidedly fancy” restaurant in a “charming and quaint” former coaching inn in a “heroically lovely market town” – all of which left her pining for something a little more down-to-earth – and tasty.
“There’s some clever, cogent cooking going on at the Greyhound, with some hits, some misses, but an overall sense that, in a bid to be the best restaurant for miles around, they might just be missing the chance to be simply delicious.”
Dessert showed her what the kitchen was capable of when “a mood of pure decadence was allowed to let rip and flourish… we had îles flottantes with limoncello custard and raspberry souffle with sarsaparilla sorbet”.
*****
The Times & Sunday Times
Giles Coren arrived at this new spot beside the Grand Union Canal on foot via the towpath from Paddington – which may sound scenic but was “a mistake”, given that this stretch of the canal is deeply grungy, with a “whiff of Hurricane Katrina” and an “all-pervading fog of skunk smoke” to sadden the heart.
He was almost nonplussed by the venue itself – a “concrete bin” with an “enormous municipal-style open kitchen (more school cafeteria than L’Atelier Robuchon)” – which made the excellent cooking seem all the more surprising: “a roster of gleaming, colourful, well considered, produce-foregrounding platefuls”.
Highlights included “young peas from Mora Farm that were roasted till the skin blistered black and covered with grated smoked ricotta and lemon”, and squid ink tagliolini alle vongole, “the black strands wonderfully chewy, with just a few clams opened in wine with some fresh red chilli and garlic to set off the nuttiness of the fresh pasta”.
Foodwise, the only disappointment was a tiramisu that was “dry, not lush or creamy, with a lot of undrenched sponge”. Somehow, though, you somehow doubt that Giles will return.
***
The Glasshouse, Cromlix, Dunblane
Chitra Ramaswamy had Sunday lunch at the “sumptuous” country-house hotel owned by tennis maestro Andy Murray and his wife Kim, where “the vibe is rich, busy, Victoriana-with-a-wink and noticeably tartan-free”.
The conservatory dining room was a bit of a let-down, feeling “closer to a daytime brasserie”, and will apparently be replaced next year by a new ‘fine-dining’ restaurant, but the food from chef James Mearing (“clearly a talent” who “is only just getting started”) is “exactly the kind of food I want to eat in high summer, in a high-end hotel”.
Puddledub pork loin and belly was “bang on” and arrived with an “inspired” apple caramelised in pork fat and coiled into a rose, as if for a sweet tart. Salt-aged duck with charred red chicory, kohlrabi and rhubarb was a “fabulous, elegant, crowd-pleasing dish”. The chips were also “sensational”, while a slab of French pear and almond tart with rum-and-raisin ice cream and “fat juicy brambles, foraged I presume from Cromlix’s glorious estate” was “so delicious we don’t bother telling the staff it’s not what we ordered”.
***
Summoned by social media, Charlotte Ivers trundled out to the London-Essex borderlands to visit the new bistro from Ravneet Gill and her husband Mattie Taiano — a savvy couple who have “found a smart way of drawing people in” via their Instagram vlog with 25,000 followers.
“A social media buzz so often offers style over substance. Here, Gina have managed both. But they’ve also achieved something much more important, much less tangible. They’ve built something fun.”
Charlotte said very little about the quality of the cooking on a menu that “mixes traditional British with Mediterranean glam” beyond a fleeting mention that duck liver parfait with pickled cherries and a huge vol-au-vent with roast tomatoes were “both a supreme delight”. But that hardly seems to be the point.
*****
Daily Mail
Tom Parker Bowles made clear that he had eaten at and “loved” the original of this legendary Thai canteen in Leytonstone, so was well qualified to be disappointed by its second incarnation. He was too polite, though, to point out that fellow critics David Ellis and Jay Rayner have recently praised the cooking at the newbie without have previously visited the OG.
There were, he conceded, some good dishes on the new menu: watermelon salad with strawberries; charred chicken thighs; smoked pork belly; a punchy ka prow. But there were also plenty of misses: raw beef larb lacked acidity; stir-fried Malabar spinach was “drab and watery”; lamb ribs were “all but inedible”; and, “strangest of all, we’re refused prik nam pla (fish sauce, lime juice and chillies) that comes as standard in any Thai restaurant on earth. The chef simply refuses to send any out.”
The new Singburi, Tom pronounced magnanimously, was “still a work in progress, but there’s brilliance behind the burners. Have faith, and watch this space.”
*****
Daily Telegraph
Previously a fan of Japanese food, William Sitwell had his high expectations of omakase cuisine shattered by a new restaurant at the Stratford hotel near Olympic Park in east London.
His meal began with oysters “wrecked by a quicksand of cloying sweet jelly and a purée of ‘apple-smoked celeriac’. I’d rather eat the oyster shells than have to suffer that hell again”. Some “remarkably unpleasant, tough” sushi came next, then barbecued wagyu beef that was “more house-on-fire than cheffy grill” and tuna cooked at a low temperature over fire that was “frightful. It stank like the bottom of a boat unsweetened by diesel, tasted as bad, and its hue was worse, reminding me of the loo on a boat I once took from Bombay to Goa.” Dinner came to a “suitable, calamitous conclusion” with “a sickly sweet pud with ‘wood-fired ice cream’. It tasted like someone had stubbed out their fag in my Mr Whippy.”
If a meal here provided any service, William decided, it was to steer the uninitiated well clear of expensive Japanese food – “a bit like persuading your kids that polo is a terrible sport”.
*****
Financial Times
Exhausted after a few days devoted to “cultural self-improvement” at the Edinburgh Festival, Jay Rayner found solace in a glazed brioche bun stuffed with Cumberland sausage, lamb haggis and back bacon (£9.50) – all of which, like the bun and tamarind-rich brown sauce on the side, were made on-site at this all-day spot in Leith next door to its sibling restaurant, The Little Chartroom.
Impressively, Jay declared, chef-owner Roberta Hall-McCarron and her team can “change gears” between ambitious restaurant cooking and home-made breakfast.
“Many ‘all day’ restaurants claim to be loose and informal. Then they offer a three-course menu that laughs in the face of informality. Ardfern really means it. Go there for the Arbroath smokie Benedict and a glass of wine. Or a doughnut and a coffee. Or a long dinner. Look, if you’re in Edinburgh it would be a mistake not to go, whatever you choose.”