Test Drives

As the follow-up to The Dover, expectations were high for Martino's (or would have been but for the stealth opening). Luckily, Martin Kuczmarski has used this to prove  he's not a one-hit wonder.

Matt Abé graduated from Restaurant Gordon Ramsay to his own place, opening on the hallowed ground that used to be Le Gavroche. We went to Mayfair to see what he's done with the place.  

Instead of watching The Holiday on repeat in the run up to the festive season, we took a quick jaunt into the Cotswolds to live that life ourselves for a night or two and try a hot new restaurant and hotel into the bargain.

Crisp Pizza's arrival in Mayfair at The Marlborough is peak London food scene hype. We went down to see if those pizzas live up to the sky-high expectations.

A mere five decades after her parents opened the much-loved Poon's, Amy Poon has followed in their footsteps by opening the deeply hospitable Poon's at Somerset House. We went to be coddled by Chinese home cooking. 

The team behind Basque-inspired successes Lurra and Donostia have turned to Coastal France for their latest, opening on Chiltern Street. We went to one of Marylebone's fanciest streets to check it out. 

Chef Ben Murphy settles down with a more refined offering in a restaurant that's really rather beautiful in an understated way.

  The Black Eel is a new pub in Dalston that's taken over an absolute warren of rooms with a very talented chef in the kitchen. We went down to try it out.  

There's a new seasonal afternoon tea at the National Gallery's restaurant, Ochre. We headed to Trafalgar Square to try it out.

Marylebone has a new sushi spot that wouldn't look out of place in the heart of Mayfair. But it turns out that Aki London is more than just a looker.

Inspired by a street stall run by "The Lunch Lady", who shot to fame thanks to Anthony Bourdain, the London outpost of this Vietnamese restaurant has arrived in Covent Garden. We went down to try it out. 

For his Town follow-up, Stevie Parle lets Lita's Luke Ahearne take the lead in new "London Italian" Motorino. We went to Fitzrovia to take a first look. 

Carbone has landed in London with a bang, immediately becoming the hottest restaurant in town. But what's it actually like to dine there? We went in to find out. 

Could popular Peckham restaurant group Kudu Collective maintain their neighbourhood vibes in the move to buzzy Marylebone? We popped in for a weekend lunch to find out.

Fleeing the colder weather in London, we made a late summer visit to Corfu to check out The Mar-Bella Collection's adult-only suites hotel. If you fancy getting some last-minute sun too, here's what to expect... 

Expect low intervention wines and interesting crudos at this new Fitzrovia opening Tiny Wine.

Alta sees a talented chef putting together an extremely strong menu of Northern-Spanish-inspired food, inspired by working in kitchens in the region. It all left us extremely impressed.

Live-fire restaurant Nela is the first restaurant to open in the big new Bayswater development, The Whiteley. We went down to check out a restaurant that wouldn't look out of place in the middle of Mayfair.

Bringing a taste of Chaosan to London's Bloomsbury, Teo Hotpot turns out to be a hotpot restaurant that's all about the quality from its British grass-fed beef to clear broths.