The Soho Restaurant Called Flavour Bastard Has Closed [Updated]

Updated 07.01.2019 16:06, with confirmation of Flavour Bastard’s permanent closure.

“Cuisine-agnostic” Soho restaurant Flavour Bastard, which opened on Frith Street in Soho last September, is now officially closed, according to the restaurant’s website.

Industry newsletter Code’s “Dumbwaiter” rumour section asked in August: “What’s happening over at Flavour Bastard in Soho? The restaurant hasn’t been open for a while. The Dumbwaiter wonders what’s occurring.”

Eater contacted founder Vic Singh who confirmed that the restaurant was closed — and had been since 6 August — but is so only because of a replacement to an air conditioning unit.

Although there was no mention of the (reason for the) closure on the restaurant’s website, Singh told Eater: “We are currently shut for refit of our HVAC [Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning] system in the restaurant and we shall reopen before the 3rd of September.”

He added that the restaurant has been closed since 6 August, and the restaurant’s Twitter page posted a notice of a “refurbishment” on 1 August. The brand’s Instagram account has not posted since 15 July. Flavour Bastard is not the only London restaurant to struggle with ventilation recently: Yotam Ottolenghi’s new Fitzrovia restaurant, Rovi, closed for three weeks after its unique extraction unit broke down. It was replaced with a standard issue model.

The initial shock inspired by Flavour Bastard’s name gave way to some fairly damning reviews following its opening in autumn 2017: The Evening Standard’s Fay Maschler said the fusion of flavours felt illegitimate, while Marina O’Loughlin, then writing in the Guardian, awarded it two out 10 stars for food, and six out of 10 for atmosphere; she was unable to even quantify in a score the restaurant’s value for money. “How can you put a price on this?” she asked, rhetorically. For the restaurant’s part, it claims it offers “good price,” on its website, which is at best jarring.

Update 11.09.2018

Following the publication of the story on the closure of Vinoteca in Soho, some took to Twitter to say that Flavour Bastard was (still) closed.

Eater contacted Singh to establish if it was. His short response said: “We are reopening soon don’t have a exact date yet, it will be over the next 3-4 weeks, we will reopen for sure.”

More soon.