June 2019 – Roaming Foodie

The next World’s 50 Best restaurants list is coming out soon and I am fully expecting a re-shuffle.

There is one contender for the top spot that is not easy to ignore – the all new Noma. It’s back with the force and is stronger than ever. The seasonal restaurant concept is brave and deserves to be recognised as such. Fish season dishes last year were amazing (see review), and while I was too busy (=lazy) to write about the fish season this year, it was even better still. The rumour has it that the Vegetable season is not to be missed (and we will soon find out). And that’s where I would place my bet.

The crystal ball suggests that the other top spots could be: El Celler de Can Roca, Osteria Francescana and – maybe -Geranium. Eleven Madison will fall and Blue Hill will climb. And that’s all I can see for now.

Beware the dark horses, and for goodness sake give Enigma the spot in the Top 50 that it deserves!

At long last, I write about London, the city where we live.

I was about to write something pompous, along the line of “it has much to entertain” and “if you are tired of London, you are tired of life”. But then I did a mental count of the restaurants that I could wholeheartedly recommend. It’s sad (and sort of funny) to say that even between the two of us, we could not list 10 (= we have high standards).

It’s true that the food scene here has improved massively over the last 10-15 years. It’s also true that you can find anything for anyone – all tastes and all budgets are catered for. And with all this variety, there are, of course, lots of lemons, tourist traps and short lived wonders that you visit once and never return.

Sadly, as I was doing my mental cataloguing, the news came in that one of my favourites – Hedone – is now closed. So, here’s my reduced shortlist for now:

Lyle’s: Tea Building, 56 Shoreditch High St, Hackney, London E1 6JJ
Bubbledogs and Kitchen Table: 70 Charlotte St, Bloomsbury, London W1T 4QG
Cakes & Bubbles: 70 Regent St, Soho, London W1B 4DY
Dinner: Mandarin Oriental, 66 Knightsbridge, London SW1X 7LA
The Clove Club: Shoreditch Town Hall, 380 Old St, Hackney, London EC1V 9LT
German Gymnasium: King’s Blvd, Kings Cross, London N1C 4BU

And some noteworthy chains:

Patara (Wimbledon): http://www.pataralondon.com/
Honest Burger (Covent Garden): https://www.honestburgers.co.uk/locations/covent-garden/
Meat Liquor (N1): https://meatliquor.com/restaurant/meatliquor-n1/

Bottom line and mental note to self – there is more exploring to be done.