Yauatcha Upscale dim sum at its best, Yauatcha is a meditation on balance, harmony and restraint. This Soho restaurant is pure elegance, with food as artfully composed as fine calligraphy. From the moment you step inside, you get the feeling that you are participating in something special, and that each mouthful has been carefully created. Naturally, a meal at… Read more →
Opium Opium is a notorious soporific, and this dim sum and cocktail lounge which bears its name certainly has its own dreamy quality. Behind a Jade coloured door on Gerrard Street is Opium. This parlour gracefully sprawls two storeys and each room bears its own charm and remnants of the Chinatown gambling venue it used to be. The decor… Read more →
La Bodega Negra OK, forget everything you know about Mexican restaurants. Soho’s La Bodega Negra is dark, a little dingy and very naughty. The sign outside says “sex shop”, which is your first clue that your dining companions had better not be your family members. The latest in themed London eateries, La Bodega is concept heavy but offers solid… Read more →
Jackson & Rye Jackson and Rye is a charming and playful take on old school US diner aesthetic from days gone by. Barber-style checkered floors, leather booths and stools ringed round an informal bar make the interior cosy and familiar, but Jackson & Rye has it’s own brand of quirk that fans keep coming back for. TimeOut magazine draws… Read more →
Kua’ Aina Yes, it is true that Barack Obama himself gives Kua’ Aina a ringing endorsement and frequents the brand’s flagship Hawaii shop for top notch burgers. His favourite is purportedly the Avocado burger, which seems about right. This festive joint on Carnaby Street is small on space but big on charm and is pronounced koo ah eye nah.… Read more →
Experimental Cocktail Club Perhaps the most daring experiment possible in the London cocktail scene these days is to hang back a little, hold off on gimmicks and return to what cocktail bars used to be – sophisticated. Experimental Cocktail Club has been something of a yardstick against which to measure every new bar and cocktail popup in London, and… Read more →
Crumbs and Doilies Originally finding its birthplace on Kickstarter, this fun Soho bakery has pulled itself up by its own sugary bootstraps. Turns out, everybody loves cupcakes – and this happens to be Crumbs and Doilies’s tagline. By wooing contributors with gifts of cakes, badges, tote bags and other cake-y knick knacks, this cute startup is spreading the love… Read more →
Chatime Some people don’t “get” bubble tea. For the rest of us, there’s Chatime, the ultimate bubble tea shop. Since 2003, authentically Taiwanese Chatime has set up over 1000 stores internationally, and opened its first bubble tea shop in the UK in 2012. Inspired by modernised Taiwanese bubble tea culture and all its fresh, healthful flavours, Chatime opened its… Read more →
The Life Goddess A welcome counterfoil to some of London’s more sterile and overly-modern eateries, The Life Goddess is very seriously a breath of fresh air. The atmosphere inside is buzzing with life and you’ll enjoy the celebratory attitude and almost religious zest for the fine arts of eating drinking and being merry. The restaurant concept is sustained by… Read more →
Annie the Owl Alright London, your wishes have been met. After being demanded by TimeOut, talked about by the Telegraph and requested by the people of London, an Owl bar is finally coming to town for one week only. After flying across the great lands of Asia and Europe, Annie and her friends arrive in London for a week in… Read more →
