The London Restaurant Review

New Japanese restaurant opens in Soho

So Restaurant and Bar has opened up at 3/4 Warwick St in London (Tel 020 7 292 0767).

It is the brainchild of successful Japanese businessman Tetsuro Hama.  Showcasing the finest classic cuisine from his home country, the a la carte menu includes main courses uniquly grilled over volcanic rocks from Mount Fuji, such as grilled wagyu sirloin with grated white radish and French beans.

The restaurant and bar also serves Japanese teas accompanied by light sweets and cakes.

There are various set lunch options, ranging in price from £20 to £50 per person.

Please note that I have not visited myself, I just got the press release.

Oxo Tower Restaurant

I took my wife to Oxo Tower Restaurant last Saturday for the set price menu of £29.50.  I can't believe that I have never been to Oxo before.  I was always put off with very old comments of poor service and also believed it to be a bit of a tourist trap.  Whilst the latter might be true, the service could not be faulted and neither could the food.  I gave it 100/100 which is rare for me.

We had a quick look at the Brasserie on the other side and that has a less formal and slightly less expensive dining experience. It also has a cool bar.  The place was packed with 30 something's and had a really good feel about it. We'll be turning right instead of left out of the Tower lift next time we make a visit to Oxo, despite having a fab time at the restaurant.

Here's the wife enjoying lunch on the terrace - it was a beautiful day and we had a great view of St Paul's!

You can read the full review on the London Restaurant Review website.

Brasserie gets a visit from Me

I made it to The Brasserie, on Bellevue Rd, Wandsworth Common, last Friday night.  It was the first week of opening so we guessed that there might be a few problems, but unfortunately the experience was below par.

You can read the full review here.

Things they did right:

1. Offered 50% off the food because it was the first week and to allow for teething troubles.

2. Showed a can do attitude when quizzed at the end - they desperately want to succeed.

3. Did a very good red mullet, creme brulee and sorbet (fortunately not all on the same plate).

Here's a photo interlude:

Things they did wrong:

1.  Didn't take our coats upon arrival, despite there being a cloakroom

2.  Not offer us a drink upon arrival and then take 20 minutes before our order was taken

3.  Not clearing away the dirty tables.

4.  Serve up a truly horrendous starter (read about it here).

5.  Service, service, service.  It was terrible throughout the night.  If you have waiters floating around aimlessly, with tables waiting, there is something wrong.  Either they don't know what they are supposed to do or they are just lazy, in which case sack em.

6.  A minor rant - those green paper towels in the loos, making it feel like the conveniences at Victoria Station.  Surely white paper towels is not too much to ask?

Another photo interlude:

I want this place to be a success and will be returning soon - Chez Bruce deserves some competition, but The Brasserie has to do better if it is to get repeat business.

Korean Authenticity in Holborn

I had a fantastic lunch at Asadal Restaurant in Holborn the other day.  I've done a full review on The London Restaurant Review which you can read here, but have included the first half for your delectation:

""When I say the nearest tube is Holborn, what I mean is that it is so close you can almost feel the trains go by, since the restaurant is actually right underneath the station entrance and unless you know it is there, you would never stumble across it.
Down the stairs and you enter a dimly lit but cavernous space, with plenty of Korean staff nodding and smiling politely. Our table of ten was shown to a beautifully set up huge table in its own section away from the main restaurant.
The lunch options are listed on vile plastic menus, but the selection is very impressive and most dishes are around the £10 mark.
We all ordered beers - there are a couple of Korean beers on the menu. I wanted the Hite beer, simply because it sounded so dramatic. 'What would you like sir?' HITE HITE!! I want HITE! It just sounds right. But a colleague persuaded me that the OB beer was drier and ultimately better, so I backed down."

Read the full review here.

New Restaurant Opening on Bellevue Rd, Wandsworth

I was out jogging at the weekend and noticed that some workmen were putting the final touches to a new restaurant, just a few doors down from Chez Bruce, which I think is going to be called The Brasserie, or Brasserie Bellevue or something like that.

Chez Bruce does a cracking trade at the higher end of the market, but to date there has been nothing to fill the void between fine French dining and the burgers of Dexters Grill up the road (although they are not bad burgers).

I'm off to check out the new restaurant tomorrow night and will post the full review as usual on The LRR.

Il Convivio

I've just posted a review of Il Convivio on The LRR.  You can read it here.  It was a fantastic restaurant and a fab evening - my wife arranged everything and 15 of us had a wonderful time.  We were well looked after, the food was delicious and I can highly recommend it.  There aren't many Italian Restaurants in London offering this quality.

Some of the gang having fun here:

London Eating acquired by TopTable

LondonEating, one of our main competitors in the restaurant review space, has been acquired this week by the guys at TopTable.

TopTable says that it gives them access to a much younger demographic and the two sites will be run completely separately for the time being.

You can read more info about it here.

I've followed the fortunes of both companies for a long time - TopTable definitely has the booking side of the market sewn up and LondonEating has loads more reviews than we do - mainly thanks to its excellent Google ranking.

Having relaunched our website, we are slowly climbing the slippery google rankings ladder but have a long way to go.  Anyone wanting to link to us from your website, please do - it will really help our Google ranking.

The URL to link to is: http://www.thelondonrestaurantreview.co.uk

Restaurants can now advertise

We have now updated the site to create three sponsored listings on our postcode pages.

You can see an example on our Balham postcode page.

So far we have only created slots on the most trafficked pages, enabling restaurants with a website to appear at the top of every listing on that page.

For more information on sponsorship opportunities, please contact Piers.

Octave Restaurant Outside

This is what Octave Restaurant looks like from the outside:

Octave Restaurant Promotion

We have just launched a promotion with Octave Restaurant, a fab restaurant in Covent Garden, that offers live jazz most night.

Anyone submitting a review this month on The London Restaurant Review website will automatically get a chance to win a meal for two at Octave.

The more reviews you submit, the more chance you have of winning the meal for two.

In return for offering the free meal, Octave restaurant get a mention on the homepage throughout the promotional period as well as their own page.