Nizuni

22 Charlotte Street is  an unfortunate address for a sushi restaurant, opposite Roka, the constantly packed and incredibly scene Japanese restaurant. It's a bit like being a normal person forced to stand next to a supermodel in a group picture. In this case the normal person was actually rather good-looking. 

The Ivy

There are two things about The Ivy that make it truly remarkable - sadly, neither of these two things are its culinary abilities. Firstly, it must be the only restaurant in London that was full on packed at 5.30 on a Friday. Its not even like this place has a great Pre-Theatre menu that makes it irresistable, because that's only available Monday to Wednesday. Despite that they are very on the ball about theatre and opera, the man who took my reservation knew which opera I was seeing when I didn't! 

Canteen Covent Garden

Harrods,  nine "amazing" courses prepared by Thomas Keller, the six-michelin starred chef, widely regarded as the best in the world, for an impressive £250 a head. For many, that was the highlight of the year. For a ten day period London's foodies, and I'm sure the odd banker or two, enjoyed what many described as a once in life time experience. This was the pop-up to end all pop-ups. On the other side of town, The Boyfriend and I dined at a slightly less glamourous pop-up, in the oh-so exclusive Covent Garden, where we ate one course, at a cost of a £18 a head. Yes, The Boyfriend and I we were some of the hundreds of other people who called a little too late and thus will we be sentenced to dream about the meal we missed until the fanfare dies down. Given the reviews I'm not optimistic that this will be soon 

Hawksmoor - A place to find happy dead cows

The day before one goes on a beach holiday most people attempt to detox a little bit - lose the fat that has built up over the winter, the fat that noone except the person who really loves you needs to see and the fat that a beach full of sunbathers certainly don’t want to see.  Stop drinking for a couple of days, so you show up to the beach in question, nice and glow-ey, without looking like a government advert for what happens to people who don’t exercise three times a week or consume their five fruit and veg. Not The Boyfriend and I, no, we decided to hit Hawksmoor, a restaurant with a menu packed with all the things that make you look ugly. Given The Boyfriend and I’s incredible lack of willpower this was a mistake. The holiday snaps from the five following days in Croatia are not quite as pretty as they should have been but the two hours were completely worth it.

da Polpo

The Boyfriend's move to Covent Garden three months ago was easily the best decision ever. Not only do we have Opera Tavern, my new favourite place, Machiavelli and Laduree but now we have da Polpo, yet another Russell Norman restaurant. 

Opera Tavern - Waiting for doom

How do you deal with the impending end of the world? Simple. You drink wine and eat cheese. Obviously we were on a limited time scale, with only one and a half hours till "Rapture", which put La Cave Du Fromage in South Ken out of the question and La Fromagerie too. So Opera Tavern it was.

Laduree

When I heard Laduree was opening in Covent Garden I almost jumped up and down. It was proof that God does listen to me when I ask for things.  So a Saturday or two after it opened, The Boyfriend and I rolled in to check it out.

Machiavelli

Machiavelli just changed my life. No, I didn't just read the Prince and created a plan to take over the world. Rather I just visited for the second time the new Italian/Deli/Takeaway/Store-Selling-Random-Italian-Things-Like-Mugs-and-Cheese place thats moved into Covent Garden called Machiavelli.

Kopapa - Brunch

The Boyfriend and I have been trying to go to Kopapa for brunch for ages. Sleep deprivation and hangovers have prevented us on at least three occasions. So it was a happy day when we finally managed to make it.

Tom's Kitchen at Somerset House (2) - Brunch

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a person in possession of a large hangover, must be in want of a brunch. Tom's Kitchen at Somerset House serves a wonderful brunch for the hungover. 

There are several great things about Tom's Kitchen for brunch.

Benito's Hat -

I love burritos. I eat far too many and have what a therapist would call an obsession. Despite a massive increase in the number of establishments specializing in burritos, I can name only two that consistently get them right - Chilango and Chipotle. 


In an attempt to get out of my Burrito rut and check out The Boyfriend's new neighbourhood we tried Benito's Hat. 

Jamie's Italian

So, I'm not a big Jamie Fan. I've never really been a big Jamie fan. It is not just his restaurants that I dislike, I mean Barbecoa was truly terrible, but it is more something about his attitude that I am not overly fond of. He is a bit like Marmite I think, you either love him or hate him. Potential biases aside, I thought I would try Jamie's Italian because I do appreciate that he wants to bring well cooked food to the masses, and for that I've got to respect him. In a city where eating out is so incredible expensive, it is a way nice, and probably very profitable, that he's giving people effectively "designer food" for bargain prices.

L'atelier - Heaven

Im deliriously happy. I think I might be in heaven.  I've never felt so wholly satisfied after eating a meal. Rewind 5 hours. 
I've heard a lot about L'atelier de Joel Robuchon. How could I not? The guy has about a zillion michelin stars and unlike the other oh-so-glamorous chefs,(ahem *Gordon Ramsey*) all of Mr Robuchon's restaurants, bar 1, have Stars. Thats 26 stars between 11 restaurants. Some achievement. Mr Robuchon has more star's than any other chef on the planet and his London restaurant is the proud holder of 2.

Terroirs

I'm clearly a little behind in terms of the London food scene, as when all of London's food bloggers and critics have hit the East End to check out Brawn, I have only just visited Terroirs the original wine bar of the two. Terroirs seems to get mixed reviews from most bloggers and to be honest I wasn't too excited about the prospect, but it ticked all of my boxes which are; a) easy to get a last minute table b) not on the otherside of town, (unlike Brawn) and c) starts with a letter at the end of the alphabet, (also unlike Brawn).

Midnite Cookies - Because its never too late for cookies

Midnite cookies is easily the best thing to hit the capital in a long time. It delivers freshly baked cookies to your front door, with free delivery if you are in a qualifying post code, up till 1am. They bake your cookie(s) to order and you can even create your own cookie mix. Genius, right? Their cookies are easily the best in London, especially if you are a fan of the soft and doughy thing. Its been going for just under a year now, and ever since it opened I have been regular customer online. This however, was the first time I visited the store, and I'm happy to say it was even better than their online service.

Tom's Kitchen at Somerset House

I hadn't intended to go to Tom's Kitchen. In fact, I didn't realise it existed until about 10 minutes before I arrived. Desperate to find a last minute alternative to eating yet another burrito on my living room floor I googled restaurants near Holborn and after trying the most obvious restaurants to no avail I stumbled upon Tom's Kitchen at Somerset House.