Our round-up of what the nation’s restaurant critics were writing about in the week up to 12th April 2026
London Standard
Impala, Soho
David Ellis was thrilled by the “one-off” cooking at former Kiln head chef Meedu Saad’s Egyptian-inspired grill, which he hailed as “fusion food without the naffness” in the mould of “West-African-but-not-really” Ikoyi or Tomos Parry’s Welsh-Basque Mountain.
It is, though, “authentic to Saad: authentic to his childhood holidays in Ismailia, to growing up in Tottenham, to his teenage years scrubbing plates in a Turkish Cypriot greasy spoon just off Turnpike Lane. Authentic to his years at Kiln cooking food from Thailand, Burma, Laos.”
David recommended “faultless” orzo braised with oxtail and black lime; “transcendent” veal sweetbreads with a Bordelaise glaze; “stunning” Dexter beef tartare with Djerba harissa; pureed white beans with wild herbs and bottarga which “stopped our conversation”; glazed sausage with cloves and cinnamon; dandelion salad; and bread that “had me gurgling idiotically”. Duck, turbot and featherblade steak were not as good, but the wine list was “masterfully curated — with, thank God, enough bottles in the £20s”.
*****
The Guardian
Simpson’s in-the-Strand
Grace Dent turned her attention to the 1828 classic relaunched by the debonair restaurateur Jeremy King to a fanfare of critical acclaim – to which Grace her own, summing it up as a “handy-as-heck, posh canteen a short stroll from Covent Garden” whose main restaurant, the Grand Divan, is (take your pick) very “Hogwart’s”, “Samuel Pepys’ London”, “ancient Oxbridge feasting hall” and “I’m a member of the British establishment meeting my former Eton fencing team for claret and rabbit with grain mustard”.
“World-class” soundproofing means that even when things are in full swing on a Saturday night, conversation is wholly audible as you tuck into a “rollicking list of cosy British joys”: bubble and squeak, bacon chop, dressed Portland crab, Gentleman’s Relish on toast.
As to the possibly less important question of ‘how good is the food?’, Grace rated it “better than I expected…. and, at times, rather lovely” – including beef that is “well worth a punt, not least because it’s served erring on the rare”; roast loin of cod in lobster bisque sauce which is “pretty wonderful”, and bubble and squeak that is “delightful”.
*****
The Times & Sunday Times
Simpson’s in-the-Strand
Camilla Long knew this institution from its faded late-Noughties nadir, when it resembled a “three-star hotel in Cleethorpes” rather than a grand landmark in the capital. So she was thrilled to be swept into “by far the finest dining room in London” follow the Grand Divan’s Jeremy King refurb.
“It’s pure last day on the Titanic,” she wrote. “The menu contains all the things you’d ask for if you’re heading straight for the ’berg. There are roasts and puddings and jellies and rillettes and quails and oysters and fat-laced, creamy salads and light naughty wines (hocks and moselles — the housewives’ favourites), designed for sustained long-distance drinking, as is the Edwardian won’t.”
For all her wisecracks, though, Camilla insisted that the old place has caught the Zeitgeist: “This is a serious restaurant for serious times. It absolutely responds to something deep in the culture: a need for reassurance and stability.”
***
Med Salleh, Kentish Town
Giles Coren, a long-time devotee of Malaysian restaurants, could hardly believe his luck when one of his favourites – Med Salleh Kopitiam in Bayswater – unveiled a new branch within walking distance of his north London home. He arrived for lunch at 12.01 on the opening day (pipped to the post by a couple who were already seated), and sampled his way through the menu in four subsequent visits over the next fortnight.
Almost everything was absolutely up to scratch: classic char kuey teow noodles; “terrific, hot and fluffy-crispy” roti canai with a dipping bowl of chicken curry; “delicious, plump” chicken satay; Hainanese chicken rice; curry laksa “heaving with clams, prawns, cuttlefish, chicken and halves of boiled egg” — a gigantic, luxurious meal in itself for £16.90. The one exception was Malaysian stuffed tofu, “which was too sweet for me and I don’t recommend”.
It may even be better than Kopitiam, thanks to a bespoke kitchen section which allows it to serve its USP – claypot rice and noodles from founder Med’s hometown of Kampar. Giles enjoyed both the salted fish claypot chicken rice, “where the dried oily fish lent deep and fascinating umami to the broth-simmered rice”, and an “excellent” claypot seafood soup.
***
La Cîme, Edinburgh
Chitra Ramaswamy caught a tram to the former fishing village of Newhaven, where she was smitten by a “morsel of southern France”: a café that is “the realisation of a lifelong dream” from talented cook and baker Anne Quintin (who grew up in the mountainous Lozère region) and her Edinburgh-born husband, wine expert Will Blamire.
Anne’s cooking is “rustic and hearty: unctuous mountain stews of waxy potatoes merged with thick slices of pork, truffade, and aligot (a local speciality made with creamed potatoes, fresh tomme cheese, garlic and, you guessed it, cream). This is food to nourish the soul, stick to the ribs.”
The café also serves “immense craggy scones”, sweet potato soup, flaky squares of feta, courgette, and fennel spanakopita, and wobbly slices of red pepper, potato and broccoli frittata – all freshly made in-house, plus regular Mediterranean prix fixe dinners.
*****
Financial Times
Other, Bristol
Jay Rayner dropped into the Bedminister restaurant opened in late 2024 by Zak Hitchman, previously head chef of Bristol’s late, lamented superstar Casamia. It’s a modest place whose few dozen seats are full – “it’s really not hard to see why.”
The comforting food “practically vibrates with vigour and enthusiasm”, from starters like thick-cut crisps with Indian-spiced aioli. The cooking is generous, but “Hitchman has the good taste to know the difference between plenty and too much,” Jay reports. “He always stops at plenty.”
If the main course char sui pork “lacks the glossy stickiness” of the Cantonese classic, it’s still very good indeed; the only real mis-step is a slightly overcooked barbecued gurnard. Apple crumble crème brûlée is “the cheerful outcome of two much-loved desserts falling into bed together, and producing something which is the best of them both”.
*****
Daily Mail
Mr Dumpling, Shepherd’s Bush
Tom Parker Bowles gave a pretty lukewarm reception to a “no-nonsense, good-value” Chinese dumpling specialist that has replaced a “beloved” local hotpot spot he used to visit weekly, Shu Xiang Ge HotPot.
Hangzhou xiaolongbao, served here as densely fluffy steamed buns, have a “comforting heft and decent spice”, while pork and pickled-cabbage steamed dumplings and prawn, pork and chive dumplings are also “respectable: pure, clean and chewy in all the right ways”. The pork and prawn potstickers, though, are “a touch dull”.
Undeterred, Tom will be back to “delve into the wilder reaches of a fairly extensive menu, where intestines, pig’s ears and spinal cord lurk. Those pleasures are still to come.”