Top 10... First Date Restaurants

First dates are usually stressful enough without having to factor in where to go for dinner. So here goes, Top 10 best first date restaurants in London.

1) La Petite Maison/Aurelia: Food to suit everyone, lighting that makes everyone good, with a hint of glamour, the right amount of background noise. Enough but not over the top. Downside? the cost, sharing is encouraged and not everyone loves that concept. 

Babbo - London, definitely not New York

How the people behind Babbo got away with taking the name of one of the most famous Italian restaurants in NYC's name, I don't know. All I know is that ever since it opened, its been on my list, just like the one in NYC. Deep in the heart of Mayfair, the crowd is surprisingly un-scene - a mix of business people, and older couples - not a flash of a red sole in sight. As per usual, I was optimistic about Babbo, mainly because of a) the name b) this interview here, in which the chef states his favourite restaurant is La Petite Maison. As we already agree on what a good dining experience is - this was clearly going to be the place for me. Sadly, fate just didn't want me and Babbo to have that special connection. Our experience was one of the most disappointing I've had in a while.

Dinings

When people ask me what my favourite Japanese restaurant is - my reaction is always Dinings. This answer is always met with the same response - "Where? What about Zuma? Or Nobu? Or Umu?" Nope, as much as I love all three, there is something nice about the utilitarian approach of Dinings, where one gets the impression, that this place is serious about their food. There is little in the way of atmosphere, and the decor is bland, although service is perfectly acceptable. 

Winter Wonderland at the Berkeley

1)  How much would you have to be paid to sit outside in the middle of winter to watch a film?
2) Or would you actually pay for the privilege? 
3) If so, how much would you pay to watch a movie outside in the middle of winter that you've already seen before?
4) How much would you pay if it is Bridget Jones' Diary Two? 
5)  Are we back to question 1?
Well, the good people of The Berkeley Hotel are banking on the fact that you will answer yes to questions 2, 3, 4 and that your price will be £55 a head. Last Sunday The Boyfriend and I said yes, and visited their "Winter Wonderland". 

Automat -

The Boyfriend and I have a bit of a tradition, its a relatively new tradition tradition but still , of getting a long drawn out boozy lunch on New Year's Eve. Over Bob Bob Ricard, last year's location, we were in search of some other relaxed, moderately priced, cool restaurant.  This year it was Automat an upmarket diner in the heart of Mayfair - a restaurant that has been on my eat list ever since I heard about their Truffle Mac and Cheese and the invite only club downstairs. 

The Balcon - As chic as Chanel?

This time last year, The Boyfriend and I headed to Brasserie Roux, as a pre-Nutcracker pit stop, and ate a selection of rather uninspiring food in their grand but empty dining room. This time, we headed back to visit their new version – The Balcon, as a pre-Nutcracker pit stop and found it to be a very different experience. They've clearly tried to make the place cool - it's inspired by "Coco Chanel's 1920's Paris apartment". They are possibly under the misguided view that if they throw the words "Coco Chanel" in a restaurant blurb, the place will automatically become the new "scene" place. Last time I checked Ms. Chanel was known for the 2.55, the LBD and tweed suits but not her interior design skills.

Da Mario- a neighbourhood find

Good neighbourhood restaurants aren't easy to find at the best of times. In Central London, its a bloody nightmare. In Covent Garden I assumed it wouldn't be possible. Surprisingly, I found one.  Da Mario is an unassuming little place, from the outside and from the inside, but with an almost perfect Urbanspoon rating, it seemed to be worth a shot. 

Delaunay- a formula that works

The Wolseley, in my opinion, is a flawless restaurant. I love the nostalgic air the place has, the never-misses-a-beat service, the old school charm, the well executed dishes and the beautiful dining room.  There is something about it that puts me into a PG Wodehouse frame of mind. Amazing, given in fact this is actually a young restaurant. 

St Moritz - Where a fondue is a fondue

Last Tuesday, The Boyfriend and I, attempted to go to MeatLiquor, only to find out they had run out of hamburgers. How this happens in a restaurant dedicated to burgers, I'm not sure. Disappointed, freezing and starving, we headed to Soho, hoping to head to one of the many great reservation-less restaurants. Instead of heading to our usual haunts (Princi, Barrafina, Polpetto etc.) we ended up at St. Moritz, a place I'd wandered past at least a dozen or so times and always been intrigued by . It turned out to be the solution to all our problems that night. For just over an hour we left London and ended up in Switzerland, in a kitsch, rustic chalet. Everything, seemed authentically swiss including the music, but thankfully not the wine.

Barrafina

Whoever said you can't change a person, was wrong. When I first met The Boyfriend,  he knew a grand total of two restaurants,  neither of which took reservations or served food that was unhealthy - Sophie's and Barrafina. The Boyfriend, pre-boyfriend title, was unable to make plans more than three hours in advance, or eat food other than cottage cheese, smoked salmon and blueberries, unless it was only slightly less nutritious. In other words, he was the world's best dinner date. Luckily for our relationship - Barrafina was such a great location for our first dinner date that I didn't mind that no carbs were involved in the whole meal and that he hadn't had to put in any effort. Almost two years later it still serves as "oh-bugger-we-don't-have-a-reservation-for-any-decent-restaurant" - which happens a lot less frequently than 18 months ago. Now of course, he not only knows more than two restaurants, many of which have phone lines, but he primarily eats unhealthy foods.

MeatLiquor

I'm not very good at queuing for food and I'm definitely not very good at waiting for an hour for food once I'm seated. Normally, this would make me hate the restaurant involved, angry at the staff, tearful inside the restaurant and bitter leaving it, and yet, I left MEATliquor happy. Fatter but happy.

Providores - Brunch

The Brunch Buddy and I were on a hunt for the best breakfast in London, and over a two month period we visited a significant number of places. We started the experience with Providores. Having visited Kopapa a couple of months earlier and having loved it, I assumed the original Peter Gordon restaurant was to be just as satisfying. In terms of food it was. Providores is situated on Marylebone high street, and divided, as is so fashionable these days, into two parts - the downstairs being more casual and accepting no bookings and the upstairs being a slightly more formal dining room. The Brunch Buddy and I sat upstairs being too lazy and lacking the mental capacity too queue.

The Breakfast Club

The Breakfast Club has been on my “to-eat” list forever - they have four branches, the Soho one not too far away, but always I’ve been put off by the lack of reservations and the threat of the queue. Okay temperature, sunshine, and only a slight hangover made it a feasible option for The Brunch Buddy and I. When we arrived at 11am, the queue outside was already snaking up the street, and we waited about 15 minutes before grabbing a table outside next to the ever growing queue. 

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. 

Vapiano - Italian food organized by Germans

It is a dream combination. Italian food, created in an incredibly efficient way. This is what Vapiano is all about. There is no messing about wasting time trying to work out who pays what, as every person is given a card, that they then "charge" food and drinks to at a selection of various stations. Your food is made to order at one of each station whilst you watch (pasta, antipasti), or just collect them (dessert or drinks), or order and get a buzzer (Pizza). It works out perfectly. Each person gets what they want, charged to them and can edit their dish to their particular liking - no basil, no issue, no garlic, no problem. Even better, you can get it to go (their pasta makes a very good breakfast), and their takeaway boxes are perfectly lunch sized Tupperware. In fact, this is possibly one of my favourite casual places to go. It is great place to meet up with old friends, as the lack of service means no-one really cares if you sit there for four hours, as I did last Tuesday.

Cecconi's - Brunch

Despite having found a pretty perfect Brunch spot in the form of Dean Street Townhouse, The Boyfriend and I decided to check out a similar place on the other side of Regent Street - Cecconi's. We had tested Cecconi's, earlier in the year, for dinner and had come away rather unimpressed, but the breakfast menu looked so appealing we decided to give it another shot.

Dean Street Townhouse - Brunch

I'm on a hunt for my perfect brunch spot. So far I haven't found it. My brunch spots needs to have:

a) Satisfying food, innovative but not too pretentious (Sorry, Helene Darroze)

b) A cute set-up, but not so "scene" I have to make as much effort as I would turning up to Zuma (Goodbye The Wolseley) 

c) No queue (It's just not meant to be, The Breakfast Club) 

d) Proximity to Covent Garden (It is not you, it is me, 202)

e) Brunch served past midday (Why, Nopi? Why?) 

f) Free papers (What were you thinking, Roast) 

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 

Nopi

I am divided on the small plates concept that has invaded London. Yes, it provides flexibility, and the chance to try many things on the menu, a major benefit when the restaurant in question has a menu that leads to drooling and mentally questioning how many dishes you can order with out being judged by your waiter. But at the same time there are some downsides. Call me old-fashioned, but I like having a rhythm to a meal. I think there is nothing worse than having eight plates show up at the same time, especially if each comes with a hefty price tag, having nothing left to look forward to and not getting a chance to savour each dish.  Ultimately things get cold, the meal takes half as long as it should and the whole experience feels rushed.