Eater London - The 2019 Eater London Year in ReviewThe London Restaurant, Bar, and Nightlife Blog2019-12-31T13:14:30+00:00http://london.eater.com/rss/stream/208103622019-12-31T13:14:30+00:002019-12-31T13:14:30+00:00Look Into London’s Restaurant Crystal Ball for 2020
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<img alt="A vegan cheeseburger at Simplicity Burger, one of London’s best new restaurants" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/cYJjCUhZQW-Dq2UrMTEOJNCHiP0=/254x0:2058x1353/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/66000561/57C3F91F_640F_40AF_9E93_67680FB8B927.0.jpeg" />
<figcaption>Simplicity Burger [Official Photo]</figcaption>
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<p>The neighbourhoods that will thrive, the food that will be eaten, and more predictions</p> <p id="mozlrB">It is the tradition at Eater to end the year with a survey of friends, contributors, rovers of the industry, critics, and professional eaters. This year, the group were asked eight questions, spanning meal of the year to biggest dining grievance. Their answers will appear throughout this week. Responses are related in no particular order; cut and pasted below. Restaurant standbys and best newcomers; 2019 in a word and a city in neighbourhoods; restaurant surprises and dining grievances; the best meals and dishes: they’ve all been covered. Now, it’s time to look to the future: what will define London’s restaurant landscape in 2020?</p>
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<p id="5WNLEQ"><strong>Adam Coghlan, Editor, Eater London:</strong> One really really good restaurant will open in town. An exciting international operator will bring something new and worthy of proper attention. But most of all, restaurant-obsessed Londoners will continue to realise that they can have as much fun and eat extremely well outside of the city centre.</p>
<p id="nY9mjP"><strong>James Hansen, Assistant Editor, Eater London: </strong>Ill-defined food “sustainability” will continue its toxic double valency as a genuine global concern and a cynical marketing tool; more and more diners will look to their neighbourhoods more than the centre of town; bakeries will get on the big-international-operators-tapping-London trend (bets on Richard Hart); some more cuisines that are incredibly well-represented outside zone one will be discovered in the newspapers; influencers will have to pivot away from the current influencer aesthetic and MO to stay relevant, leading to some interesting hashtagcontent; London’s vegan restaurant culture will finally get the Superiority Burger-like place it so desperately needs and mature as a result; pasta will lose its grip on fast-casual-trendy as genuinely cool, accomplished places like Mei Mei shunt them to the side (I hope), but more and more sequels and expansions will lead to even more mediocrity too. A big food hall will close.</p>
<p id="FfkU8V"><strong>Anna Sulan Masing, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>Eat the rich. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Jacques_Rousseau">Rousseau</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-0lAhnoDlU">Aerosmith</a>, or <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wh3t49NsWBA">Motorhead</a> — pick your philosopher.</p>
<p id="s5g2OQ"><strong>Jonathan Nunn, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>None of my serious predictions came true last year so I won’t make many this time. Quality Wines will be shut down for breaking the limit on how many people are legally allowed in. We will see a move away from straitjacket authenticity and a shift towards chefs of colour having the freedom to play around to reflect their own identity through food. Nigella Lawson will be the latest food world luminary to be spotted at Singburi. Tayēr + Elementary will get a Michelin star. Fifty more bubble tea places will open in Chinatown. We’ll see the first ever national review of a west African restaurant. The review will claim that west African food is having “a moment” in London. Vaughn Tan will achieve bilocation and be seen drinking simultaneously in Quality Wines and 40 Maltby St. All the chefs responsible for some of the worst meals I’ve had all year will inexplicably continue to be lauded. Omar Shah will continue to open restaurants until there is nowhere on Kentish Town Road left. I’ll reveal where that Chinese restaurant I keep posting about in my Insta stories is. People working on Oxford Street will spend 90 percent of their lunch breaks walking around Market Halls West End looking for somewhere to eat before settling on Gopal’s Corner, again. People in the industry pretending they don’t read Eater London will officially become “a thing.”</p>
<p id="vnXziY"><strong>Nigel Slater, award-winning food writer: </strong>2020? A more relaxed menu structure. Early evening, late afternoon eating. More savoury offerings on dessert menus. And (even more) interesting wines available by the glass.</p>
<p id="CRE1K6"><strong>Sejal Sukhadwala, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>It’s hard to say because of Brexit — a shortage of ingredients will affect menus, and sadly restaurant closures will continue. I wish I could say something more positive, but the world is a hot mess right now isn’t it.</p>
<p id="R3FKGy"><strong>Emma Hughes, freelance food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>On a personal note, I’ll still be crossing London at least once a week to park myself on a stool in Sambal Shiok.</p>
<p id="4VHNb5"><strong>George Reynolds, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>A continued tension between looking outward — beyond zone one, beyond big ticket openings, beyond the PR-Instagram industrial complex — and looking inward, as Brexit threatens affordable access to ingredients and talent bases outside our borders. This isn’t necessarily 100 percent negative — there’s a lot of superb British produce, and it would be nice to see more of it in the limelight — but it’s hard to see it as good news, either. I also wonder if it will have a knock-on effect on the other ongoing paradigm shift from rampant carnivore towards something more sustainably flexitarian: a plant-based menu is a lot less appealing when stripped of its tahini, avocado and citrus. All in all, probably a good time to dig out your grandparents’ rationing-era cookbooks.</p>
<p id="OdfHeE"><strong>Shekha Vyas, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>Yet more international operators from Asia and the US, more food hall action and inevitably, more closures of longstanding spots failing to navigate the challenges of hospitality in this climate.</p>
<p id="2HHWnf"><strong>Hillary Armstrong, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>It’s tough out there. Operators have to be scrappy and adaptive. The best chefs are bringing their A game to their Plan B. 2019 was a big year for buns and baking there’s more to come from Selin Kiazim at Oklava Bakery and Claire Ptak at Violet mark two. And, after Singapulah and Mei Mei, more from Singapore.</p>
<p id="uMkQlk"><strong>Sudi Pigott, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>No-waste issues will become ever more key, and there will be more regenerative, climate-positive agriculture with more emphasis on forgotten grains, beans, pulses.</p>
<p id="BKY5zn"><strong>Apoorva Sripathi, writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>I don’t quite know what to predict for the new year, especially in a city I’m new to, but maybe the veggie/vegan scene will only explode more and get more innovative? Maybe restaurants will look beyond putting jackfruit on their pizzas? One can hope. And that central London will not be the be all and end all of eating out.</p>
<p id="807m4I"><strong>Feroz Gajia, restaurateur and Eater London contributor: </strong>The dining divide will stretch further as ultra-luxe fine dining becomes more common and the mid to lower end continue to be squeezed forever more with more cynical concepts and rehashes being foisted on the restaurant scene as a wave of even more brutal austerity takes hold. Someone will make a street food stall using a terrible Trump/chlorinated chicken/Boris/Modi based pun, which sadly will not be the lowest low of the London street food scene in 2020. Oh, and a racist restaurateur will come forward and not apologise for the stance they take on a news item (perhaps involving them).</p>
<p id="YSbuKr"><strong>Ed Smith, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>More new restaurants, more closed restaurants, more vegetables, more food halls — and I will finally make it to Singburi.</p>
<p id="ot2w6K"><strong>Josh Barrie, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>More pork, more pasta, more sandwiches. </p>
<p id="ELPcY3"><strong>Vaughn Tan</strong>, <strong>academic and restaurant consultant: </strong>“Honest homestyle cooking makes a comeback in London” (if only); “Brexit aftermath causes London restaurant shakeout.”</p>
<p id="PnNihn"><strong>Daisy Meager, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>More outstanding pop-ups and residencies, more celebs opening odd restaurants and an increased focus on sustainability.</p>
<p id="Fe3qgP"><strong>Angela Hui, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>How do you like your Breggsit in the New Year? Hard, soft, on hold, no deal? Whatever the outcome, better get stocking up on the bread and milk lads. More racist shitshows and more shit apologies.</p>
<p id="ezwmFY"><strong>Leila Latif, Eater London contributor: </strong>Brexit leads to mass restaurant closures.</p>
<p id="Fx1WDO"><strong>Jonathan Hatchman, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>More double-fried chicken sandwiches, please?</p>
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https://london.eater.com/2019/12/31/21031700/london-restaurant-trends-2020Adam Coghlan2019-12-31T10:10:25+00:002019-12-31T10:10:25+00:00The Biggest London Restaurant Surprises of 2019
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<img alt="A tall-ceilinged restaurant interior with patterned carpet, textured gold walls, and ornate decorations. " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/mvshV-JpBahLBQ1QThxSv-Rnlj8=/198x0:3347x2362/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/66000117/LectureRoonandLibrary_Firepalce_2015_RGB.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Sketch [Official Photo]</figcaption>
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<p>Unexpected Michelin stars, food hall after food hall, and more shocks</p> <p id="GCQUru">It is the tradition at Eater to end the year with a survey of friends, contributors, rovers of the industry, critics, and professional eaters. This year, the group were asked eight questions, spanning meal of the year to biggest dining grievance. Their answers will appear throughout this week. Responses are related in no particular order; cut and pasted below. Between <a href="https://london.eater.com/2019/12/27/21031692/best-london-restaurant-regulars-2019">restaurant standbys</a>, <a href="https://london.eater.com/2019/12/27/21031598/best-new-london-restaurants-2019">restaurant newcomers</a>, the <a href="https://london.eater.com/2019/12/27/21031670/best-meals-london-restaurants-2019-eater">best meals</a>, <a href="https://london.eater.com/2019/12/30/21031699/london-restaurants-2019-one-word">2019 in a single word</a>, the city’s <a href="https://london.eater.com/2019/12/30/21031707/londons-best-restaurant-dining-neighbourhoods-2019">best neighbourhoods</a>, and the <a href="https://london.eater.com/2019/12/30/21031687/worst-restaurant-meals-experiences-london-2019">biggest grievances of the year</a>, much restaurant ground has been covered. Now, it’s the biggest shocks, surprises, and gasps of the year.</p>
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<p id="5WNLEQ"><strong>Adam Coghlan, Editor, Eater London:</strong> That there are some who continue to believe that hubris alone is enough.</p>
<p id="nY9mjP"><strong>James Hansen, Assistant Editor, Eater London: </strong>Everyone being surprised that Michelin threw Sketch three stars, in the most on-brand move possible for a tyre company that has an influential restaurant side-hustle.</p>
<p id="B8iVz9">Yo! Sushi getting rid of its sushi counter — and only genuine point of difference — in service of innovation at its newest restaurants.</p>
<p id="aLkxqe">This <a href="https://london.eater.com/2019/8/15/20805742/home-office-knife-free-fried-chicken-shops-london">awful ad campaign</a>.</p>
<p id="cxWaqg">The number of influencers who forgot to put hashtag invite on their posts.</p>
<p id="J5SxG9">The number of critics who raved about middle-of-the-strada Italian food served a la kitsch.</p>
<p id="w73Roj">And, in agreement with Feroz, the number of high, high-end restaurants and chefs that think linking up for 24 hours or less to cook a one-off “collab” menu in a kitchen entirely unfamiliar to half of those involved and charging a special — read, high — price for it is both a good idea and a compelling value proposition for diners.</p>
<p id="ta19MC"><strong>Anna Sulan Masing, food writer and Eater London contributor: “</strong>Plastic” cheese on instant noodles and Korean rice wine! Budae jjigae, army stew, and makgeolli at Jin Go Gae in <a href="https://london.eater.com/maps/best-korean-restaurants-new-malden">New Malden</a>. This was eaten as part of a night out for Jonathan Nunn’s <a href="https://london.eater.com/2019/10/10/20908213/best-value-restaurants-london-north-east-south-west">best-value restaurants</a> map project. The makgeolli was very much like Iban rice wine — I’m Iban, an indigenous people from Borneo — it felt nostalgic.</p>
<p id="3pPO7C"><strong>Jonathan Nunn, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>That out of the 90 restaurants that I wrote up for the <a href="https://london.eater.com/2019/10/10/20908213/best-value-restaurants-london-north-east-south-west">best-value</a> project, eight were <a href="https://london.eater.com/maps/best-pakistani-food-restaurants-london">Pakistani</a> — by far the country with the most representation in that list. I tried to cut it down but ultimately refused to lose any, which is testament to the strength and quality of the cooking and their inexcusably slept on status. For me, they eclipse both their present Indian counterparts and the Whitechapel grill houses that have entered the canon based only on their reputation 20 years ago. The Pashtun restaurants in particular are putting out the city’s most exciting and ambitious barbecue if you order in advance: the whole sajji at Namak Mandi and Taste of Pakistan are as much a theatrical experience as anything you can see in the <a href="https://london.eater.com/2019/9/12/20860657/best-food-restaurants-west-end-soho-covent-garden-trafalgar-square">West End</a>.</p>
<p id="vnXziY"><strong>Nigel Slater, award-winning food writer: </strong>That wine prices seemed to have stabilised.</p>
<p id="CRE1K6"><strong>Sejal Sukhadwala, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>Considering Britain’s famous ‘love affair’ with Indian cuisine, I was shocked to discover how little people actually know about the food. In London’s only Kashmiri restaurant, every table was ordering chicken tikka masala. I have seen people order rice with their biryani — and those who think the indistinct sauce that comes with takeaway biryanis is the actual biryani, with the rice being an optional extra. Then there are people who go to <a href="https://london.eater.com/maps/best-southall-restaurants-indian-cuisine">Punjabi restaurants in Southall</a>, order South Indian dishes and complain they aren’t as good as the ones in their local South Indian restaurant. There are also people who order peshawari naan with their dosa to scoop up the sambar that comes with it — all kinds of crazy stuff like that.</p>
<p id="R3FKGy"><strong>Emma Hughes, freelance food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>That people are still prepared to pay through the nose for <a href="https://london.eater.com/2019/2/1/18206544/gordon-ramsay-new-restaurant-london-lucky-cat-maze-mayfair">high-profile white chefs’ muddled, lazy, slapdash renderings of “Asian” food</a>.</p>
<p id="4VHNb5"><strong>George Reynolds, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>The sustained, and if anything, increased investment in the market halls / food theatre model when all the signs are that we are already hugely over-indexed on them. When the first ones opened, they looked like the future: a win-win for operators and punters, a best-of-both-worlds outcome for customers wanting to go out but reluctant to spend 50 quid a head doing so. Now, things are less rosy, as vendors continue to churn and (I suspect) customers return only sporadically; most places are also probably slightly too expensive for lunch and a little too chaotic for dinner. Gopal’s Corner still slaps, though.</p>
<p id="OdfHeE"><strong>Shekha Vyas, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong><a href="https://london.eater.com/maps/best-restaurants-chinatown-london">Chinatown</a> closures and restaurant relocations.</p>
<p id="7RwbN0"><strong>Hillary Armstrong, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong><a href="https://london.eater.com/2019/10/8/20904283/michelin-stars-new-london-restaurants-2020-guide">Three stars for Sketch, but not one for Indian Accent or Imperial Treasure</a>.</p>
<p id="LolIcz"><strong>Sudi Pigott, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>The resurgence of Covent Garden as a dining destination.</p>
<p id="BKY5zn"><strong>Apoorva Sripathi, writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>That I discovered many regional Indian restaurants in London beyond the usual curry-tikka masala fare.</p>
<p id="5Cpqxz"><strong>Feroz Gajia, restaurateur and Eater London contributor: </strong>The return meal to Chu Chin Chow was a meal of excess and pleasure after a first meal that was enjoyed but fell short of expectations. That elevation was a surprise and showed how valuable proper ordering is to a good dining experience, it helped that we were joined by a regular of the restaurant. Aside from that the biggest surprise continues to be the sheer number of <a href="https://london.eater.com/maps/london-restaurant-pop-ups-food-events-december-2019">pop-ups and collaboration dishes and dinners London restaurants</a> had in 2019, and how few were any good. </p>
<p id="YSbuKr"><strong>Ed Smith, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>Who would have thought loads of mediocre mid-level chain restaurants couldn’t withstand the triple threat of rising costs, Brexit uncertainty, and (here’s the big one) their own mediocrity...</p>
<p id="3nTG0N"><strong>Josh Barrie, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>Manteca, which might have been my favourite meal of the year. I thought it would be good, but I didn’t think it would be<em> that</em> good.</p>
<p id="PnNihn"><strong>Daisy Meager, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>I was sceptical about whether Tātā Eatery’s Iberico katsu sando was as good as everyone said it was but the three-bite snack exceeded expectations. Joint biggest surprise is that the Soho crisp restaurant actually finally closed.</p>
<p id="Fe3qgP"><strong>Angela Hui, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>Normah’s over Roti King. Their rotis are far superior and Normah is an absolute ledge.</p>
<p id="ezwmFY"><strong>Leila Latif, Eater London contributor: </strong>They took the lemon meringue pie off the menu at Gloria and Sketch inexplicably got 3 Michelin stars.</p>
<p id="RziUuF"><strong>Jonathan Hatchman, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>The sheer amount of restaurant closures. Some weren’t necessarily surprising (Flavour Bastard, Hipchips). Kyseri, The Providores, Monty’s in Hoxton and Aside far more so, however.</p>
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https://london.eater.com/2019/12/31/21031703/biggest-london-restaurant-surprises-2019Adam Coghlan2019-12-30T13:07:09+00:002019-12-30T13:07:09+00:002019’s Most Egregious Dining Grievances
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<img alt="“White Geisha” cocktail at Gordon Ramsay’s Lucky Cat" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/QK2RSoxh7NmT1Bim16d5hILO-dE=/43x0:814x578/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/65993175/lucky_cat_white_geisha_cocktail_min.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>The White Geisha cocktail at Gordon Ramsay’s pan-Asian restaurant, Lucky Cat, encapsulates much of what was bad about London dining in 2019 | Lucky Cat [Official Photo]</figcaption>
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<p>Tasteless cultural appropriation, misdirected focus on national cuisines, and menus still being explained</p> <p id="GCQUru">It is the tradition at Eater to end the year with a survey of friends, contributors, rovers of the industry, critics, and professional eaters. This year, the group were asked eight questions, spanning meal of the year to biggest dining grievance. Their answers will appear throughout this week. Responses are related in no particular order; cut and pasted below. </p>
<p id="No2mfv">So far, it’s been all the things worth celebrating this year: <a href="https://london.eater.com/2019/12/27/21031692/best-london-restaurant-regulars-2019">restaurants we went back to time and again</a>; the <a href="https://london.eater.com/2019/12/27/21031598/best-new-london-restaurants-2019">best new openings</a>; the <a href="https://london.eater.com/2019/12/27/21031670/best-meals-london-restaurants-2019-eater">best meals</a>; the <a href="https://london.eater.com/2019/12/30/21031707/londons-best-restaurant-dining-neighbourhoods-2019">best restaurant neighbourhoods</a>; and an <a href="https://london.eater.com/2019/12/30/21031699/london-restaurants-2019-one-word">entire dining scene summed up in one word</a>. Now, it’s the bad stuff, the annoyances, irksome moments and infuriating outings: these are the biggest dining grievances of 2019.</p>
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<p id="5WNLEQ"><strong>Adam Coghlan, Editor, Eater London:</strong> A cocktail of misfortunes — rent, greed, political events — often punishing those who least deserve it, while mediocrity, imagination deficit, and cynicism sustains the movement of capital.</p>
<p id="nY9mjP"><strong>James Hansen, Assistant Editor, Eater London: </strong>What Anna said.</p>
<p id="6TF20u">What Jonathan said.</p>
<p id="YwqS6R">What both of those things partly stem from, which is the attitude to, and of restaurant criticism in the U.K. As much as the national critics might be perceived as tastemakers by their readers, they are also working in service of the broader attitude to food media, food writing, and the food world, which is dominated by its perception as a lifestyle pursuit. This preconception neuters restaurant criticism, treating each review as a vacuum of tastemaking, all in the apparent noble endeavour of telling people where to go for their tea, how much it will cost, and in too many cases, that natural wine lists are entirely evil things that sommeliers won’t help diners navigate if things aren’t to their tastes — spoiler, they will! Hospitality!</p>
<p id="CH8Bpw">As London’s restaurant world continues to mature, and discussions about food’s essential politics, consumption, and capitalism get more vocal, the biggest newspapers and most prominent sources of criticism in the country are stuck making anodyne asides about £14 “ham sandwiches” and seasoning reviews with terms like cultural appropriation in a way so facile that it cheapens the real, political structures around food and the systems behind them: the reasons why a sandwich made of Iberico pork in a glossy central London development that sits below empty, extremely expensive apartments might have a lot more to it than “lol, it’s like ham!” — cue the titters from the comments section. National restaurant criticism is fit for its current purpose, as a weekly entertainment column that sells papers, and the critics that produce it are excellent entertainment writers (one aside), but this mode of restaurant criticism is simply not capable of meaningfully engaging with the restaurant culture it purports to critique. This is not the critics’ fault, but that doesn’t make it any less true; all publications — this one included — could be doing better, but the example should come from the top.</p>
<p id="Yhe1eU">In short: London is not yet the truly world-beating restaurant city many think it is, for some reasons outlined below, and for others. In so many ways, it is a wonderful, exciting, restless place to eat, but making progress will require a reckoning of the status quo, who it serves, who it shuts out, and how it can serve those it shuts out better. It will never have a chance of getting there if the British attitude to criticism doesn’t change.</p>
<p id="f1FCnO"><strong>Anna Sulan Masing, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>Rich restaurateurs’ racist behaviour — conflating entire continents into gimmicks, for financial gain. Lucky Cat I haven’t been to, but <a href="http://gal-dem.com/what-gordon-ramsays-new-restaurant-lucky-cat-says-about-food-appropriation-in-2019/">the messaging around it was terrible</a>. The Ivy Asia I have been to: bad, bad cooking and decor of excellent craftsmanship that collides different, rich, cultural artistry into spectacle — a crass, careless show of wealth. I am so sick of the lack of nuance and respect for PoC culture. It feeds into a narrative that certain cultures — and therefore the people — are not worth the time and effort to be articulated or to know in detail about, other than what they can do for you: entertainment. My and others’ culture is not your spectacle for your consumption. Food, when filtered through businesses like a restaurant, is part of systems of power, and it’s important and should be easy to recognise that. Food is political, stories are powerful: restaurateurs always need to ask what messages they are putting out into the world. In case it still needs clarifying in 2019, identifying racist behaviour is not calling someone a racist.</p>
<p id="3pPO7C"><strong>Jonathan Nunn, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>This is a long term grievance but how in thrall to American media we are when we talk about which cuisines should be taken seriously. The focus on Mexican, Korean, southern barbecue and mainland Chinese has context in Los Angeles and New York, not so much in London. This all filters down into the way chefs cook, putting out mediocre versions of things from countries they’ve read about or visited exactly once. This might seem surprising to those who assume my views on cultural appropriation, but I think London would become a better food city if its Turkish, Pakistani, south Indian, Caribbean and west African restaurants, as well as its working class cafes of all stripes, were not siloed but visited by people who could take inspiration from what those chefs are doing, and produce something which credits and respects that heritage. Look at what Black Axe Mangal does. The lack of interaction between London’s diaspora restaurants and its middle-high end is a major point of difference compared to great food cities like Paris and Los Angeles — I’d love to see London’s chefs putting less tacos and baos on the menu and more of their own versions of tantuni and dosa. So next time you want to blow your research budget on a trip to Italy or Asia, how about a trip to Hounslow or south London instead?</p>
<p id="vnXziY"><strong>Nigel Slater, food writer: </strong>Hearing stories of no-shows. It breaks my heart that someone fails to turn up when they’ve booked a table. </p>
<p id="CRE1K6"><strong>Sejal Sukhadwala, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>Most mainstream restaurants continue to offer boring, unimaginative vegetarian options as an afterthought.</p>
<p id="R3FKGy"><strong>Emma Hughes, freelance food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>Can we retire the words “woke” and “hipster” in relation to food and restaurants, please? Oh, and “virtue signalling.” Zzzzzz.</p>
<p id="4VHNb5"><strong>George Reynolds, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>What continues to pass for vegan food in London. More often than not, it’s tortured through a vaguely wellness-y lens, and flails around the world in search of inspiration without landing on anything remotely coherent. There’s also a lot of unnecessary complexity in the hands of kitchens that, with the best will in the world, aren’t equipped to handle it. The Superiority Burger cookbook should be compulsory reading over the holidays.</p>
<p id="OdfHeE"><strong>Shekha Vyas, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>Like 2018, my grievance is still queues and, annoyingly, restaurants touting vegetarian dishes not made with 100 percent vegetarian ingredients. </p>
<p id="7RwbN0"><strong>Hillary Armstrong, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>Not everything has to be a “party in the mouth.” Sometimes you just want a quiet night in.</p>
<p id="uMkQlk"><strong>Sudi Pigott, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>Explanations of small plate dining. </p>
<p id="BKY5zn"><strong>Apoorva Sripathi, writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>Mushrooms in everything as a veggie/vegan substitute. Oh wait, that’s an extremely personal grievance I guess.</p>
<p id="WwCWM3"><strong>Feroz Gajia, restaurateur and Eater London contributor: </strong>People in the food world continuously ranking service and ambience above food. Proudly proclaiming that they will always pick a place that does ok food but where the atmosphere suits them, dining should be the food first, second and third. It’s why London isn’t the world-beating food city it could be, it’s not even top 10. Sure, we have diversity and the PR machine driving the constant cycles of new openings but all that is for nothing when so many meals are just fine and nothing more.</p>
<p id="YSbuKr"><strong>Ed Smith, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>Probably that I don’t seem to have as much time to dine out as I used to. But that’s self-inflicted.</p>
<p id="GBjp7u"><strong>Josh Barrie, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>A few places executed their asparagus cookery without due care and love back in spring.</p>
<p id="ELPcY3"><strong>Vaughn Tan</strong>, <strong>academic and restaurant consultant: </strong>That running a restaurant in London is now so expensive that generosity and good humour is the exception, not the rule.</p>
<p id="PnNihn"><strong>Daisy Meager, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>“There’s currently a two-hour wait”; “We’ll need your table back in 1.5 hours”; “Let me spend the next ten minutes explaining how this menu works.”</p>
<p id="Fe3qgP"><strong>Angela Hui, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>People really need to stop lumping Asia together — it’s a damn big continent.</p>
<p id="ezwmFY"><strong>Leila Latif, Eater London contributor: </strong>Customers complaining of prices at South Asian and African restaurants that they wouldn’t question at their French or Japanese equivalents.</p>
<p id="auOiC8"><strong>Jonathan Hatchman, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>Dysfunctional ‘Pan-Asian’ projects from tasteless multi-millionaires and chefs who’ve probably never been east of Edenbridge.<strong> </strong></p>
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https://london.eater.com/2019/12/30/21031687/worst-restaurant-meals-experiences-london-2019Adam Coghlan2019-12-30T11:00:00+00:002019-12-30T11:00:00+00:00Summing Up the 2019 London Restaurant Industry in One Word
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<img alt="A sandwich held on a white plate with a hand in shot, in focus, with other plates of food below in soft focus on a blue background" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/1FCvJIRv36b05cEsNPXM84plUH0=/0x0:2000x1500/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/65992804/DSCF8186.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Dusty Knuckle [Official Photo]</figcaption>
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<p>How to capture a year’s worth of dining?</p> <p id="GCQUru">It is the tradition at Eater to end the year with a survey of friends, contributors, rovers of the industry, critics, and professional eaters. This year, the group were asked eight questions, spanning meal of the year to biggest dining grievance. Their answers will appear throughout this week. Responses are related in no particular order; cut and pasted below. <a href="https://london.eater.com/2019/12/27/21031692/best-london-restaurant-regulars-2019">Standbys</a>, <a href="https://london.eater.com/2019/12/27/21031598/best-new-london-restaurants-2019">best newcomers</a>, <a href="https://london.eater.com/2019/12/27/21031670/best-meals-london-restaurants-2019-eater">best meals</a>, and the <a href="https://london.eater.com/2019/12/30/21031707/londons-best-restaurant-dining-neighbourhoods-2019">most exciting dining neighbourhoods in the city</a> have been announced — now the group sums up 2019 with a single word.</p>
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<p id="5WNLEQ"><strong>Adam Coghlan, Editor, Eater </strong><strong>London</strong><strong>:</strong> <em>Transition.</em></p>
<p id="nY9mjP"><strong>James Hansen, Assistant Editor, Eater London: </strong><em>Beholden.</em></p>
<p id="ta19MC"><strong>Anna Sulan Masing, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong><em>Jonathan.</em></p>
<p id="3pPO7C"><strong>Jonathan Nunn, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong><em>Vaughn.</em></p>
<p id="vnXziY"><strong>Nigel Slater, food writer: </strong><em>Brave.</em></p>
<p id="CRE1K6"><strong>Sejal Sukhadwala, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong><em>Jackfruited.</em></p>
<p id="R3FKGy"><strong>Emma Hughes, freelance food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong><em>Sandwiches.</em></p>
<p id="4VHNb5"><strong>George Reynolds, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong><em>Plant-based.</em></p>
<p id="OdfHeE"><strong>Shekha Vyas, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong><em>Tempestuous.</em></p>
<p id="7RwbN0"><strong>Hillary Armstrong, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong><em>#Bigmamma.</em></p>
<p id="uMkQlk"><strong>Sudi Pigott, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong><em>Risk-averse.</em></p>
<p id="BKY5zn"><strong>Apoorva Sripathi, writer and Eater London contributor: </strong><em>Excessive?</em></p>
<p id="Bvklsk"><strong>Feroz Gajia, restaurateur and Eater London contributor: </strong><em>Vaughn.</em></p>
<p id="YSbuKr"><strong>Ed Smith, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong><em>Drifting.</em></p>
<p id="ELPcY3"><strong>Vaughn Tan</strong>, <strong>academic and restaurant consultant: </strong><em>Frothy.</em></p>
<p id="PnNihn"><strong>Daisy Meager, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong><em>Unpredictable.</em></p>
<p id="tMms47"><strong>Josh Barrie, writer and Eater London contributor: </strong><em>DMs.</em></p>
<p id="Fe3qgP"><strong>Angela Hui, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong><em>Wild.</em></p>
<p id="ezwmFY"><strong>Leila Latif, Eater London contributor: </strong><em>Precarious.</em></p>
<p id="8WHdNg"><strong>Jonathan Hatchman, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong><em>Influencers.</em></p>
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https://london.eater.com/2019/12/30/21031699/london-restaurants-2019-one-wordAdam Coghlan2019-12-30T09:04:49+00:002019-12-30T09:04:49+00:00London’s Best Dining Neighbourhoods of 2019
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<img alt="New London restaurants for 2019: Bao Borough" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/A1aMbrB_haV98rpnmTX0O86-cu0=/120x0:2035x1436/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/65992664/new_london_restaurants_bao_borough.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Bao Borough [Official Photo]</figcaption>
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<p>London’s oldest food market changed its own game, while the city’s outer regions continued to serve some of its most exciting food</p> <p id="GCQUru">It is the tradition at Eater to end the year with a survey of friends, contributors, rovers of the industry, critics, and professional eaters. This year, the group were asked eight questions, spanning meal of the year to biggest dining grievance. Their answers will appear throughout this week. Responses are related in no particular order; cut and pasted below. <a href="https://london.eater.com/2019/12/27/21031692/best-london-restaurant-regulars-2019">Restaurant standbys</a> and <a href="https://london.eater.com/2019/12/27/21031598/best-new-london-restaurants-2019">London newcomers</a> have been applauded and the <a href="https://london.eater.com/2019/12/27/21031670/best-meals-london-restaurants-2019-eater">most memorable meals of the year</a> have been recounted. Now, it’s the best dining neighbourhoods of 2019.</p>
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<p id="5WNLEQ"><strong>Adam Coghlan, Editor, Eater </strong><strong>London</strong><strong>: </strong>Shoreditch.</p>
<p id="nY9mjP"><strong>James Hansen, Assistant Editor, Eater London: </strong>Locally, the stretch of Uxbridge Road that runs from a pillowy Sanabel man’ousheh to spluttering pholourie at Roti Kitchen — with diversions for Tetote Factory, Da Moreno, and Blue Ocean — has offered comfort and inspiration throughout 2019. Elsewhere, Borough Market’s upping of its own game has been engrossing to watch and even better to consume, from Flor to Bao Borough and Mei Mei.</p>
<p id="ta19MC"><strong>Anna Sulan Masing, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>“Where can I walk my dog to?” has been a key dining theme for this year — and my neighbourhood has provided me with no need to go far. From Homerton to Dalston: Bright, Pophams, The Gun, Jim’s Cafe, Chatsworth Market ... It’s pretty hard to beat. </p>
<p id="vnXziY"><strong>Jonathan Nunn, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>Having almost died trying to eat in every London postcode this year I would be very happy if I lived near the following places: Norbury, Hounslow, Wembley, Harrow, Shepherd’s Bush, Barking/East Ham, Hendon, and New Malden.</p>
<p id="sO42rA"><strong>Nigel Slater, food writer: </strong>Islington Hackney borders.</p>
<p id="CRE1K6"><strong>Sejal Sukhadwala, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>East Ham. Some of the most consistent and reliably good Indian food in London, cooked by old-school, self-taught maharajs or bawarchis.</p>
<p id="HoJ7lN"><strong>Emma Hughes, freelance food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>King’s Cross. The retail side of Coal Drops Yard still baffles me, but it’s been lovely to watch the bars and restaurants in and around it — Sons + Daughters, The Drop, Bodega Rita’s, Lina Stores — hitting their stride.</p>
<p id="4VHNb5"><strong>George Reynolds, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>Start at the Upper Street Budgens, and draw a circle with a radius of approximately one and a half miles. Since becoming a father in January this year, I’d estimate 90 percent + of my restaurant experiences have taken place within this very specific, very local neighbourhood, and weirdly it’s taken the semi-extreme constraint of having to tend to the needs of a highly volatile tiny human to realise how good I have it close to home. From the low-key perfection of the Primeur/Jolene/Westerns Laundry triumvirate, to the canalside joys of Coal Drops Yard and Towpath, to the impeccable mini-crawls available on the Holloway Road (Provisions -> Sambal Shiok -> Zia Lucia) or at Highbury Corner (Prawn on the Lawn -> Trullo -> Black Axe Mangal), it’s been an object lesson in how sometimes the best place to eat is the one you can get in and out of during a baby’s nap. Shouts to Four Legs at The Compton Arms, too, for bringing both an essential Sunday lunch and an essential burger to an area mired in mediocre examples of both.</p>
<p id="f824ei"><strong>Hillary Armstrong, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>King’s Cross. Whatever reservations I may have about Coal Drops Yard, I seem to find myself there often eating sandwiches at Bodega Rita’s and drinking expensive coffee at Le Cafe Alain Ducasse. I fell hard for Decimo too.</p>
<p id="Ltr6Tu"><strong>Shekha Vyas, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>I’m not quite sure it is possible to pick a “best” but one that I have certainly found interesting is Barking Road, purely for the sheer speed and frequency in which quality new restaurants have sprung up there this year. Croydon has also revealed some hidden gems.</p>
<p id="BKY5zn"><strong>Sudi Pigott, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>Fitzrovia.</p>
<p id="hQPpFu"><strong>Apoorva Sripathi, writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>I’d have to say Soho, which is a rather predictable answer, but it was the neighbourhood I most visited only because it’s abundant in restaurants. Or because it’s so close to the National Gallery of which I’m a frequent visitor.</p>
<p id="9dSgRO"><strong>Feroz Gajia, restaurateur and Eater London contributor: </strong>The inner belt of outer London. Whether it’s tantuni at Neco Tantuni, chicken sajji at Taste of Pakistan, nihari at Aladin’s, spicy fish at Imone, a challah hoagie at Kululu, the best falafels at Balady, memon gola kebab at Namak Mandi, blackboard specials at Singburi, curry pan at Tetote Factory, pico pollo at La Barra, chapli kebab at Charsi Karahi, buffalina at Pizzeria Pellone, yammy duck at Chu Chin Chow, kilishi from Alhaji Suya, lamb neck from Eram Shishlik, peanut soup at Asafo, kata kat at Karachi cuisine or da pan ji at Karvon (soon to be Etles II) some of the best and most interesting food is still being made outside of the accepted dining neighbourhoods, time to enjoy and celebrate them. </p>
<p id="YSbuKr"><strong>Ed Smith, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>Does SE1 / London Bridge count as a neighbourhood? Additions to the Borough Market vicinity such as Flor, Bao, Stoney Street and various spots in The Borough Market Kitchen make even that small area a very good place to meet (given the likes of Native, Elliot’s, Arabica, Caso do Frango that are already there). But if you add short walks to Lupins off Flat Iron Square, or Trivet, Jose, Legare, Cafe Murano, Casse Croute, Pique Nique ... It’s pretty mighty.</p>
<p id="KLsdWC"><strong>Vaughn Tan</strong>, <strong>academic and restaurant consultant: </strong>Farringdon.</p>
<p id="PnNihn"><strong>Daisy Meager, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>There have been some great additions to Notting Hill and King’s Cross but the places I go back to again and again, and always recommend, are in Shoreditch and Hackney — not, I promise, just because they happen to be within walking distance of where I live.</p>
<p id="Vkd2pe"><strong>Josh Barrie, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>No idea so I’ll just say Soho.</p>
<p id="ynXVHy"><strong>Angela Hui, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>Borough/London Bridge for new openings: Flor, and Mei Mei in Borough Market Kitchen. Special shout out to New Malden — finally made the journey and it didn’t disappoint!</p>
<p id="ezwmFY"><strong>Leila Latif, Eater London contributor: </strong>Brixton.</p>
<p id="oCQsR5"><strong>Jonathan Hatchman, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>I may be biased, given its locality, but Deptford has continued to impress me this year. Also expecting big things from New Cross, by extension, in 2020.</p>
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https://london.eater.com/2019/12/30/21031707/londons-best-restaurant-dining-neighbourhoods-2019Adam Coghlan2019-12-27T14:19:45+00:002019-12-27T14:19:45+00:00The Top London Restaurant Standbys of 2019
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<img alt="Moo krob at Singburi restaurant, one of the top London standbys of 2019" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/fIbvcf1NeYG3F0mJNA_ZmeKWr1Y=/312x0:5304x3744/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/65974742/Singbury_106.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Michaël Protin/Eater London</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The restaurants that Eater London’s staff, contributors, and friends went back to time and again</p> <p id="GCQUru">It is the tradition at Eater to end the year with a survey of friends, contributors, rovers of the industry, critics, and professional eaters. This year, the group were asked eight questions, spanning meal of the year to biggest dining grievance. Their answers will appear throughout this week. Responses are relayed in no particular order, cut and pasted below. First up, it’s time for the restaurant standbys of the year. </p>
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<p id="5WNLEQ"><strong>Adam Coghlan, Editor, Eater </strong><strong>London</strong><strong>:</strong> The pie and mash with chilli vinegar at Blacklock Shoreditch (with a side of chips and onion gravy) was one of my favourite lunches this year. The shengjianbao, prawn wontons in chilli oil, and spring onion pancakes at Dumpling Shack. The liang pi at Xi’an Biang Biang. There are still few restaurants as steadying and comforting as Koya. Potato gözleme for breakfast at Sultan House in Walthamstow. Bean quesadillas and tortilla chips with all the trimmings at Homies on Donkeys. Fish and chips from Brothers. Doubles from Bernard on Walthamstow market. Pork pies from Quality Chop House. Moo krob, liver curry, and morning glory from Singburi. Langos from Delicio Pattiserie in Leytonstone. Pasta at Bright. Pizza from Yard Sale. Jerk chicken sandwiches from Otto’s Rainbow Cookout on Mare Street. Dusty Knuckle’s focaccia butties. P. Franco and 40 Maltby Street. </p>
<p id="pyYV1t">Oh, and Scotch woodcocks, Welsh rarebits, and French madeleines from St John.</p>
<p id="nY9mjP"><strong>James Hansen, Assistant Editor, Eater London: </strong>Halfway through 2019, I moved within London for the first time, from Turnpike Lane in the north to Ealing out west. This move — coupled with an office in Shoreditch, means that dining standbys are scattered across the city. In the north, Green Lanes fed mornings and nights — a precious late-night lahmacun from Diyarbakir; grills at Hala; Gokyuzu when fullness and crowdpleasers are more important than revelling in specialism. Rarely, that is. Esters’ unimpeachable food, drinks, and service continued to body cafes all over the city and Jolene saved many an indecisive weekend lunch plan, while Durak Tantuni, a much too late introduction in a three-year-stint spurred by Mr Nunn down below, was another late night rescuer.</p>
<p id="ZJHE3W">In Ealing, having Santa Maria’s outstanding pizza an amble away is a blessing and a curse, the curse being that it becomes too much of a standby. Resistance is key, and it’s been provided by Kiraku’s outstanding soba and ramen; Retsina and Moussaka’s souvlaki and kleftiko; and Sidi Bou’s status as the best (and only?) dedicated Tunisian restaurant in the city. Tetote Factory might be the most accomplished bakery in the city and having it a short walk away is a privilege I need to make more of.</p>
<p id="BGynyQ">For work? Visions Canteen’s hulking sandwiches, Lyle’s’ superb coffee, Xi’an Biang Biang’s chongqing noodles and liang pi, and Smoking Goat’s wings and aubergine salad, with Casa do Frango’s piri-piri set to be a standby for 2020. Elsewhere, Bright, P. Franco, and Black Axe Mangal continue to astonish with their versions of the familiar.</p>
<p id="QOSFLw"><strong>Anna Sulan Masing, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>It has to be <a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/smoking-goat-2">Smoking Goat</a>! And <a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/sambal-shiok">Sambal Shiok</a> (again this year.) I’ve been to Mei Mei approximately five times since it opened just last month. And Xi’an Biang Biang, via Deliveroo...</p>
<p id="AhGHMg"><strong>Jonathan Nunn, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>This completely depended on the project I was working on at the time. While I worked on <a href="https://london.eater.com/2019/5/1/18523705/elephant-and-castle-shopping-centre-demolition-london-latinx-food-culture">Elephant and Castle</a> I considered it a waste of a day if I wasn’t trying something new, yet I went back and back to Faye Gomes’s <a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/kaieteur-kitchen">Kaieteur Kitchen</a> when I needed a break from meat, beans and plantain. I got talking to a young Caribbean man who was a long term customer and he summed it up for me: it’s food that makes you feel good after you eat it. That is true wellness; I could eat her food everyday.</p>
<p id="3pPO7C">Since the <a href="https://london.eater.com/maps/best-value-restaurants-london-cheap-not-cheap-eats">best-value</a> maps, I think I have been permanently installed in either <a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/40-maltby-st">40 Maltby St</a> or <a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/quality-wines">Quality Wines</a> because I don’t have to worry about whether I’m going to get a good meal or not. Pastries at <a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/flor">Flor</a> on Saturday have become another ritual — I don’t have a sweet tooth but I think the new lease of life Anna Higham has given to British patisserie, creating a language that is her own, is worthy of a review in itself. Finally: <a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/singburi">Singburi</a>, which I haven’t been to as much as I would like this year, but the gaps mean it’s clearer to me how chef Sirichai’s cooking is constantly moving, constantly absorbing new inspirations. He has a well deserved two months off now and I’m sure 2020 is going to bring even more surprises.</p>
<p id="vnXziY"><strong>Nigel Slater, food writer: </strong><a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/trullo">Trullo</a>, <a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/sabor">Sabor</a>, <a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/the-wolseley">The Wolseley</a>. </p>
<p id="CRE1K6"><strong>Sejal Sukhadwala, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>This year I haven’t had time to visit a restaurant more than once or twice as the Indian series took up so many of my evenings - but Hana, Tamada, Sarracino, Terra Terra, The Gate St John’s Wood, and <a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/pita">Pita</a> are mostly local and have been reliably good for repeat visits.</p>
<p id="R3FKGy"><strong>Emma Hughes, food writer and Eater London contributor:</strong> I’ve probably had <a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/quo-vadis">Quo Vadis</a> cheese straws for dinner at least once a month.</p>
<p id="4VHNb5"><strong>George Reynolds, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>In terms of sheer number of visits, it’s the inimitable Moi An on Fetter Lane, for like the fourth year running. In terms of effort/reward ratio, it’s <a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/p-franco">P Franco</a> and <a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/bright">Bright</a>, which somehow still find ways to remain surprising and thrilling even as their M.O. remains essentially unchanged. The best pub in London is the <a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/marksman">Marksman</a>, the best bakery in London is The Dusty Knuckle, the best All Day All Things For All Comers restaurant is <a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/jolene">Jolene</a>. Then there’s <a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/noble-rot">Noble Rot</a>, <a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/the-quality-chop-house">The Quality Chop House</a>, and Brat — the three restaurants I would recommend to anyone if they didn’t offer any other context other than the fact they wanted to eat and drink supremely well. And finally there’s <a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/black-axe-mangal">Black Axe Mangal</a>, a restaurant unlike any other that is somehow still underrated despite *killing it* for half a decade. Even the wine list is pretty decent these days.</p>
<p id="OdfHeE"><strong>Shekha Vyas, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>My standbys of 2019 would definitely now include Sichuan Grand and Kate’s Cafe, but my enduring standbys are still the restaurants I’ve been going to for years: <a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/thattukada-2">Thattukada</a>, Singburi, and Lahori Nihari, always consistently good.</p>
<p id="7RwbN0"><strong>Hillary Armstrong, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong><a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/hawksmoor-spitalfields">Hawksmoor</a>, Towpath, Dumplings Legend, <a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/pizza-pilgrims">Pizza Pilgrims</a>, and Lyle’s.</p>
<p id="s1rWjM"><strong>Josh Barrie, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong><a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/tasty-jerk">Tasty Jerk</a>, Quo Vadis, Le Relais De Venise, <a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/kiln">Kiln</a>, Guinea, <a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/franco-manca-2">Franco Manca</a>, Bravi Regazzi, McDonald’s, Gopal’s Corner, Baozilnn, Monty’s Deli, <a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/dosa-n-chutny">Dosa n Chutny</a>, Morley’s, <a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/quality-chop-house">Quality Chop House</a>.</p>
<p id="uMkQlk"><strong>Sudi Pigott, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong><a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/the-good-egg-2">The Good Egg</a>, <a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/barrafina-3">Barrafina</a>, Noble Rot.</p>
<p id="BKY5zn"><strong>Apoorva Sripathi, writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>Undoubtedly Pueblito Paisa. I remember going there so frequently this year alone for birthdays, random brunches, disastrous dates, or to just eat some ceviche in the summer, which is the best in London. More people should go! Also Pret (not a restaurant I know) for lunchtime sandwiches only because they were convenient. And Ganapati in Peckham for top-rate south Indian food.</p>
<p id="Q2bC39"><strong>Feroz Gajia, restaurateur and Eater London contributor: </strong>In a year of at least 300 restaurant meals, most of which were at new restaurants or for the first time, the standbys are usually the ones you go to for guaranteed meals of quality and excellence. The top two would be Singburi & 40 Maltby Street both of which have given me more exquisite food, moments of wonder and great experiences than almost any other. Others would be the best in my immediate vicinity which just happen to be heavily skewed towards Turkish food. The trinity of Neden Urfa, 01 Adana and Numara Bos Cirrik 2 saved many a day or week with superb dishes of quality and consistency, just what everyone expects from their local haunts. NBC 2 seems to be part of the first wave of older ocakbasi restaurants that is upping their price point to reflect this, as they recognise their worth and fight to survive the inevitable rent increases following the latest wave of high street closures.</p>
<p id="YSbuKr"><strong>Ed Smith, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>I ate out at “old” favourites more often than “new” in 2019, which is probably the right way round. Multiple solo lunches at Smoking Goat, <a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/roti-king">Roti King</a>, Koya and Towpath, plus dinners at Black Axe Mangal stand out — partly because they always left my craving for their menu sated, but also because each of them are so consistent too.</p>
<p id="ELPcY3"><strong>Vaughn Tan</strong>, <strong>academic and restaurant consultant: </strong><a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/40-maltby-street">40 Maltby Street</a>, <a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/brawn">Brawn</a>, Kam Tong, Leila’s Cafe for lunch, P Franco, Quality Wines, Singburi.</p>
<p id="PnNihn"><strong>Daisy Meager, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>Bright, Black Axe Mangal, <a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/rochelle-canteen">Rochelle Canteen</a>, Leila’s, Cook Daily, BúnBúnBún, Smoking Goat, Towpath Cafe, BaoziInn and, let’s be honest, Pret.</p>
<p id="Fe3qgP"><strong>Angela Hui, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>I know Singburi keeps cropping up time and time again on these end of year lists, but it really is one of the best restaurants out there and it’s run by the hottest insta chef. I’ve also had way too many helpings of noodles at Joy Luck, Hung’s, <a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/cafe-tpt">Cafe TPT</a>, <a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/lanzhou-lamian-noodle-bar">Lanzhou Lamian Noodle Bar</a> and fried chicken from Good Friend for dessert this year.</p>
<p id="ezwmFY"><strong>Leila Latif, Eater London contributor: </strong>Morso, <a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/kricket">Kricket</a>, <a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/salon">Salon</a>, Oliveto, <a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/lina-stores">Lina Stores</a>, <a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/naughty-piglets">Naughty Piglets</a>, Corazon, <a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/westerns-laundry">Westerns Laundry</a>.</p>
<p id="zRFPuB"><strong>Jonathan Hatchman, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>Good Friend — hands down the best chicken shop in zone one — or Chinese Tapas House. The jianbing are outrageous, ideally with pork belly, sausage, crispy won ton skins <em>and </em>fried bread. I’d eat it regularly for breakfast if I lived closer or woke up early enough.</p>
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https://london.eater.com/2019/12/27/21031692/best-london-restaurant-regulars-2019Adam Coghlan2019-12-27T14:17:26+00:002019-12-27T14:17:26+00:00The Best Meals of 2019
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<img alt="Broad beans and toast, little gem lettuce and asparagus at 40 Maltby Street in Bermondsey, the modern British restaurant that forms part of the best 24 hour restaurant travel itinerary for London — where to eat with one day in the city" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/vDF_v2ZCTWFe5i8po0MDfAHpQak=/197x0:3353x2367/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/65975024/Eater_day4_40_Maltby_0166.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Ola Smit/Eater London</figcaption>
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<p>According to Eater London’s year-end committee</p> <p id="dDV70B">It’s the tradition at Eater to end the year with a survey of friends, contributors, rovers of the industry, critics, and professional eaters. This year, the group were asked eight questions, spanning meal of the year to biggest dining grievance. Their answers will appear throughout this week. Responses are related in no particular order; cut and pasted below. After the <a href="https://london.eater.com/2019/12/27/21031692/best-london-restaurant-regulars-2019">standbys</a> and the <a href="https://london.eater.com/2019/12/27/21031598/best-new-london-restaurants-2019">best newcomers</a>, read all about the single meals and remarkable dishes that defined an entire year.</p>
<hr class="p-entry-hr" id="sUoBye">
<p id="5WNLEQ"><strong>Adam Coghlan, Editor, Eater </strong><strong>London</strong><strong>:</strong> The tasting menu by Zijun Meng at TaTa Eatery, the Compton Arms cheeseburger x2, the 10-course tasting at Ikoyi, 2x plates of cavatelli with sausage, chard, and parmesan at Quality Wines, my birthday at Jolene, a late-night solo dinner at The Laughing Heart, Tubo Logier’s final menu at P. Franco, a plate of rabbit in mustard and creme fraiche at St. John Smithfield, and the first time in a restaurant with our daughter — aged two weeks — at St John Bread and Wine; and a week or so later roti and curry at Island Social Club. </p>
<p id="8wpmRi">The most extra experience of the year was the evening in late summer when I cycled to Thornton Heath (from Dalston) to pick up a box of jerk pork, jerk chicken, and rice and peas from Tasty Jerk. From there, I took a train to Bermondsey to meet a man called a a dril who’d picked up a portion of tozo (beef) suya from Alhaji and an extra pot of yaji. Royal-tier barbecue. We ate it on top of a barrel outside 40 Maltby Street before going inside to eat all three desserts. </p>
<p id="nY9mjP"><strong>James Hansen, Assistant Editor, Eater London: </strong>In London: A winter canalside lunch at Towpath Cafe, with fat Napoli sausages and lentils, a chicken and honking wild garlic broth, and a marinda tomato tonnato.</p>
<p id="MmxaSr">The textbook wings, aubergine salad, and lardo fried rice lunch at Smoking Goat.</p>
<p id="8EuuOi">A flawless dinner at Lyle’s, preceded by Clove Club snacks and followed by Marksman pints.</p>
<p id="15GCFD">Many delivery bowls of chongqing noodles and liang pi from Xi’an Biang Biang.</p>
<p id="0RSG09">A post-talk pizza at Johnny Take UE’.</p>
<p id="JBnxCj">A whole-menu blowout at Brawn.</p>
<p id="NMrIGC">A Christmas dinner at Quality Wines.</p>
<p id="jjawg7">Not in London: a solo dinner, all of three plates, at Bad Saint in Washington DC. </p>
<p id="P5ThGx">Keeping a tragically nerdy food list has made remembering the incredible dishes, drinks, and company that much easier.</p>
<p id="ta19MC"><strong>Anna Sulan Masing, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>I think it’s been one of the most challenging years (for many people!) and so I have not ventured to many fancy or even new spots. Rather, the best meals have been places I can enjoy being with the people I love, whilst eating delicious food. A meal at X’ian Impression with one of my closest friends Emma (who works in the industry and picked amazing wine as it’s BYO), and my birthday dinner with a bunch of friends at <a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/island-social-club">Island Social Club</a> come to mind. Also, had a delicious, clever, comforting meal at <a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/noble-rot">Noble Rot</a> — a permanent fave.</p>
<p id="Z0rYaH">If I can include the rest of the world, Nouri in Singapore. It made me cry — it was so beautiful, delicious and thoughtful.</p>
<p id="VmshwB"><strong>Jonathan Nunn, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>The meal I really want to write about, a Cantonese banquet in Zone 5, is embargoed until next year so I would say either my birthday meal at <a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/singburi">Singburi</a> — for which chef Sirichai bought a whole king crab from one of our trips to New Malden — or another birthday meal at Tayēr + Elementary (easily the best tasting menu in London right now), or the whole lamb sajji at <a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/namak-mandi">Namak Mandi</a> for the company and the pleasure of watching 15 previously restrained chefs and food writers stripping a whole lamb down to its bones. A special shout out to the time me and Adam Coghlan separately went to Al Haji Suya and <a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/tasty-jerk">Tasty Jerk</a> and ate them on a bench outside <a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/40-maltby-street">40 Maltby Street</a>, uniting the two best barbecue spots in London, and then popped inside the arch afterwards for 3 (three) desserts.</p>
<p id="vnXziY"><strong>Nigel Slater, food writer: </strong>In London, noodles from Xi’an Impression, delivered to my bedside after coming out of hospital.</p>
<p id="CRE1K6"><strong>Sejal Sukhadwala, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>This year I have visited mostly vegetarian or Indian restaurants for a series of Eater articles, leaving me with little time to dine anywhere else. Perhaps not the best, but the most interesting was <a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/indian-accent">Indian Accent</a>. I’d eaten there a couple of times before, but this year, I suddenly “got” it. I got the in-jokes, the homage to famous Indian chefs dead and alive, the little nods to childhood nostalgia, the humour, the clever stuff, the nerdy stuff. I got how an essential component of a main course was left deliberately under-seasoned and under-spiced because the accompanying chutneys were so dazzling that all the flavours would have clashed otherwise. It’s a cerebral experience, and for those who don’t get it, a bewildering or underwhelming one — as was the case with a few diners who walked out or looked baffled on my most recent visit.</p>
<p id="R3FKGy"><strong>Emma Hughes, freelance food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>Am I allowed two? A plate-licking dinner at <a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/the-compton-arms">The Compton Arms</a>, and a <em>long</em> <a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/sunday">Sunday</a> lunch at 10 Heddon Street.</p>
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<img alt="The best cheeseburger in the city is now found at The Compton Arms in Islington" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/BdOmIQ8K-bT6mofiWrOyZblXcV4=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/18371514/2019.June.Compton.Food_2__1_.jpeg">
<cite>Four Legs [Official Photo]</cite>
<figcaption>The Compton Arms, in Islington</figcaption>
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<p id="4VHNb5"><strong>George Reynolds, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>I’ve been keeping a faintly dorky list of my favourite dishes this year, and only three meals — Magnus Reid’s <a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/p-franco">P Franco</a> takeover, and dinners at <a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/primeur">Primeur</a> and <a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/allegra">Allegra</a> respectively feature on that list more than once. But as wonderful as the cooking was at each of those — real talk, if Allegra was in Zone One it would be celebrated as one of the best fine-dining restaurants in the city — my actual answer is somewhat more left-field. By early August, the memory of the first month or so after our son’s birth was starting to fade; he was old enough to sit up by himself in a high chair and had started on solids. The Dusty Knuckle bakery had just started doing pizza on Friday nights; on the spur of the moment we took the Overground across to Dalston. We drank cheap rosé and slightly too much beer from 40ft brewery next door; we had two pretty decent pizzas in the sun and for the first time in a while felt close to normal again. Perhaps it wasn’t the best meal of 2019, but it was definitely my favourite.</p>
<p id="7RwbN0"><strong>Hillary Armstrong, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong><a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/decimo">Decimo</a> for service, design, food, booze, views, everything.</p>
<p id="f824ei"><strong>Sudi Pigott, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>Allegra at The Stratford. Impeccable produce, genuinely creative and deeply, luxuriously stylish. </p>
<p id="BKY5zn"><strong>Apoorva Sripathi, writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>A bit simplistic but eating tiffin (idli, vadai, dosai, filter coffee) at Murugan Idli Shop at East Ham on Deepavali just brought me back memories of home and the food that I’ve grown up eating. Also kebab shop meals after a long night of drinking are always welcome.</p>
<p id="9dSgRO"><strong>Feroz Gajia, restaurateur and Eater London contributor: </strong>Le Rigmarole, in Paris. Never has everything I’ve ever wanted and also everything I didn’t know I ever wanted been encapsulated in a single evening. Just the most joyous and mesmerising evening of impeccable cooking, unmatched hospitality and sheer wizardry. It scooped most of my personal awards for the year, best skewer, possibly the best fritters, the best pasta, best chicken, best cod’s roe, best chawanmushi, best offal, best pasta again, best flatbread, best kebab, best chocolate. Complete and utter magic. </p>
<p id="YSbuKr"><strong>Ed Smith, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>No single meal stands out. Which is not to say that among them there weren’t some standout bites: Tātā Eatery’s katsu sando at Tayēr + Elementary (not having eaten at the counter yet is my biggest regret of 2019); Bodega Rita’s mapo tofu baguette; mapo tofu(ish) at <a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/peg">Peg</a>; anchovies on fried bread at <a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/orasay">Orasay</a>, also the prawn and highland beef tartare; my first lardy bun at <a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/flor">Flor</a>, the tomato tart, and every ricotta ice cream with fig oil and brown butter cake to finish; panko fried bao and aubergine dip at <a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/bao">Bao</a> Borough; smoked mushrooms and green sauce via Eat <a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/lagom">Lagom</a>.</p>
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<img alt="Peg restaurant and wine bar on Morning Lane, Clapton, east London" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/vUEEgGdIKHI6m3ZAaI_zasmaIng=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/15288945/peg-eater-30.0.jpg">
<cite>Samuel Ashton</cite>
<figcaption>Crab chawanmushi at Peg in Clapton</figcaption>
</figure>
<p id="KLsdWC"><strong>Vaughn Tan</strong>, <strong>academic and restaurant consultant: </strong>English peas in the French style, two slices of crab quiche, and a custard slice, at 40 Maltby Street.</p>
<p id="PnNihn"><strong>Daisy Meager, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>Snapping breadsticks followed by a heap of spaghetti and meatballs and slab of tiramisu at Ciao Bella in summer — accompanied throughout with red wine, spillages, mates and the restaurant’s old-school paper-tablecloth charm. Also a banging sausage sandwich at Towpath Cafe, countless hangover-soothing gözleme at the caff on <a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/broadway-market">Broadway Market</a>, the roti at Island Social Club and the pickled watermelon dish at <a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/black-axe-mangal">Black Axe Mangal</a> with chillies, bean sprouts and black beans that blew my mind.</p>
<p id="Vkd2pe"><strong>Josh Barrie, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>A sensational pork chop and a bottle of Pinot Noir at <a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/the-french-house-2">The French House</a>. A pork chop at <a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/emile">Emile</a> was a very close second.</p>
<p id="ynXVHy"><strong>Angela Hui, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>Technically not a restaurant, but Jason Li’s invite-only Dream of Shanghai supper club in his home was such a memorable meal. Loads of remarkable dishes that showed a great level of skill and technique like the oil exploded prawns, drunken chicken, blackened spring onion noodles, drunken hairy crabs and tree sap jelly dessert. Was so full that I had a tactical nap at the table, woke up and carried on eating afterwards. Or, the other incredible feast at <a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/chu-chin-chow">Chu Chin Chow</a> in Barnet. Oh man, those butter prawns, salted egg yolk chicken wings and crab, stuffed bitter melon, glutinous rice chicken wings and crab with black fermented bean.</p>
<p id="ezwmFY"><strong>Leila Latif, Eater London contributor: </strong>Best meal was <a href="https://london.eater.com/venue/endo-at-the-rotunda">Endo at the Rotunda</a>, it is peerless. A shimmering room with views over London, the bartender hand carving perfect spheres of ice and Endo himself is such a compelling presence and his food is unpretentious and extraordinary. Most fun meal this year was downing elderflower river oysters and smoked cods roe potato flatbreads with a big group of friends at Orasay. Jackson Boxer has created such a joyful atmosphere there. </p>
<p id="oCQsR5"><strong>Jonathan Hatchman, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>The restaurant meals I’ve enjoyed most this year have been outside of the UK. At the risk of sounding predictable, my favourite London meal was a long lunch at St. John in February. A simple salad of dandelion leaves, roasted shallots and shards of brittle pig skin; wobbly calves brains served cold on toast, lavished with sauce rife with parsley; bone marrow salad for the table; late-season hare with nuggets of braised trotter; insalubrious, inelegant Bath chaps with another simple salad; and a dozen madeleines dipped in Cognac, because why not?</p>
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https://london.eater.com/2019/12/27/21031670/best-meals-london-restaurants-2019-eaterAdam Coghlan2019-12-27T12:53:39+00:002019-12-27T12:53:39+00:00The Most Impressive Restaurant Newcomers of 2019
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<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/beTHvMeB7wTmidgcmAJtdcUbi1o=/35x0:1419x1038/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/65974867/Screenshot_2019_12_24_at_10.52.26.0.png" />
<figcaption>Master Wei, one of London’s most impressive restaurant newcomers in 2019 | Sam Ashton/Eater London</figcaption>
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<p>In another year of openings, which ones stood out?</p> <p id="GCQUru">It is the tradition at Eater to end the year with a survey of friends, contributors, rovers of the industry, critics, and professional eaters. This year, the group were asked eight questions, spanning meal of the year to biggest dining grievance. Their answers will appear throughout this week. Responses are related in no particular order, cut and pasted below. <a href="https://london.eater.com/2019/12/27/21031692/best-london-restaurant-regulars-2019">Restaurant standbys</a> have been chosen — now it’s time for 2019’s best newcomers.</p>
<hr class="p-entry-hr" id="0g655q">
<p id="7q51tc"><strong>Adam Coghlan, Editor, Eater London: </strong>Bao Borough for drinks and design, Flor for its singularity, Master Wei for its self-assurance, the Four Legs at the Compton Arms for producing the best cheeseburger in London, TaTa Eatery for making the tasting menu interesting again, Lucknow 49 for originality, and Bubala for doing vegetarian for the right reasons. </p>
<p id="HYxrdA">If 40 Maltby Street and P. Franco exist at two ends of the God-Tier London wine bar spectrum then Quality Wines sits somewhere in between — one of the most truly European places to eat and drink in the city and a genuinely brilliant addition to the industry as it fully found its feet this year. </p>
<p id="5WNLEQ">Too early to tell how much of an impact they’ll make but interesting restaurants to watch evolve in 2020: Trivet and Davies and Brook.</p>
<p id="nY9mjP"><strong>James Hansen, Assistant Editor, Eater London: </strong>Flor, which writes the 2019 wine bar textbook while Anna Higham rips up its pastry counterpart with stunning baking. Mei Mei, which is the best casual opening in London in a couple of years and makes the city’s numerous pasta pretenders look foolish. Legare, for making the city’s numerous pasta pretenders look foolish. Tātā Eatery’s tasting counter, which is a must-visit for 2020 but whose impact on the form in London will only become apparent in a couple of years. Peg, which has found its feet in style and adds something special to its parent restaurant group’s particular vernacular for eating and drinking. And Kapihan, which both pushes London’s cafe culture forward and serves its neighbourhood perfectly.</p>
<p id="AvbZiN"><strong>Anna Sulan Masing, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>The Sea, The Sea and Peg, both are small, clever, tasty. Technically not restaurants, but I definitely think it counts! Especially as they add to the restaurant world/scene. There have been some new (or new iterations) of supper clubs that are so very exciting — Farokh Talati’s Parsi nights and Zoe Adjonyoh’s Sankofa evenings in particular. </p>
<p id="3pPO7C"><strong>Jonathan Nunn, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>Around this time last year I asked a stranger on Instagram if they’d like to come to Sariyer Balik with me to help me write a Five to Try. Over Turkish fish we discussed our mutually tumultuous year and he told me he was about to open a wine bar under the Quality Chop umbrella. “So like P Franco?” I think I said. “Kind of, but Italian”. I didn’t know then how good a cook Nick Bramham (for it was he) was or that Quality Wines would be my restaurant of 2019, but London has seen an unexpected and decisive swing from Clapton to Farringdon this election year. What I love about Nick as a chef is that he doesn’t take himself too seriously or tries to reinvent the wheel each week, but he has just enough ego to make sure that everything he puts out is technically precise and fucking delicious. With simplicity there is nowhere to hide and when every small detail is just right it becomes pure hedonism. It is, quite simply, food that you want to eat. What really makes Quality Wines special though is the sense of hospitality and bonhomie that Gus, and later Chris, have cultivated — pop in there for some pasta served on one of your grandma’s plates and a glass and it’s like your own version of <em>Cheers</em> with Will Akman as Norm. They’ve had a phenomenal year; meanwhile I’m still stuck here trying to find people for dinners out.</p>
<p id="vnXziY"><strong>Nigel Slater, food writer: </strong>Jolene and Flor. Predictable I know, BUT Flor’s scarlet prawns with green mandarin kosho.</p>
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<div class="c-image-grid__item"> <figure class="e-image">
<img alt="Flor Borough Market is the new London restaurant from the team behind Michelin-starred Lyle’s in Shoreditch" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/writSZ-Be4rFeiF2rMEslBR7juQ=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/18302934/9_Plates_1.0.jpg">
<cite>Emma Hughes/Eater London</cite>
<figcaption>Scarlet prawns, lardo and anchovy on toast, and oysters at Flor</figcaption>
</figure>
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<img alt="Peg restaurant and wine bar on Morning Lane, Clapton, east London" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/TuN_5JORbT8J2RvQ09ki3eFsZJI=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/15289129/peg-eater-21.0.jpg">
<cite>Samuel Ashton</cite>
<figcaption>Chicken thigh skewer with shichimi togarashi at Peg</figcaption>
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</div>
</div></div>
<p id="CRE1K6"><strong>Sejal Sukhadwala, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>Purely from a vegetarian perspective — Bubala, Naifs, The Gate St John’s Wood, Lucknow 49, and Ooty.</p>
<p id="R3FKGy"><strong>Emma Hughes, freelance food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>I loved Wilder, Darby’s, Maremma, Allegra, Snackbar, Loyal Tavern... All of them felt genuinely hospitable.</p>
<p id="4VHNb5"><strong>George Reynolds, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>A trinity of nu-wave sort-of wine bars with excellent food — Quality Wines, Peg, and Flor — should probably split the vote, although I’m sure others could also make a convincing case for a trio of nu-wave sort-of canteens: Snackbar, Pophams London Fields, and Bao Borough. My sneaking suspicion, though, is that 10 Heddon St / Manteca may go on to leave the most lasting impression on the years that follow — its casual, affordable, highly skilled takes on some of the biggest trends of the past few years (fresh pasta, in-house butchery, thoughtful cocktails) feels like both a distillation of the best of the 2010s and a template for how to eat in the 2020s.</p>
<p id="7ZeaUm"><strong>Hillary Armstrong, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>Well, these were the ones that did it for me: Mei Mei, Peg, Decimo, Kebab Queen, Kapihan.</p>
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<img alt="Kopi at Singaporean coffee bar Mei Mei, one of the best new cafes and restaurants in London" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/RJYp1KVWDbLSBdcr9NHKqLkvjvo=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/19445515/Mei_Mei___03.jpg">
<cite>Mei Mei [Official Photo]</cite>
<figcaption>Mei Mei, in Borough Market</figcaption>
</figure>
<p id="JOSO8H"><strong>Apoorva Sripathi, writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>I loved Bubala — and what’s not to like when the menu boasts of bread, hummus, fried aubergine, and a wonderful tahini ice cream! Extremely good veggie food minus the pretentiousness. Also, big shoutout to Bao Borough for serving some of the best fried chicken in London.</p>
<p id="OoXtRd"><strong>Feroz Gajia, restaurateur and Eater London contributor: </strong>The ēekitchencounter by TATA Eatery at Tayer + Elementary, sounds like something from the Microsoft school of naming. The name doesn’t matter as Zijun Meng gives you a tasting menu for people who hate tasting menus. Truly delicious and unique pairings from the best produce, all the while satiating the diners with nourishing food across five courses. Quality Wines on paper shouldn’t be the place for me but the joyous feeling in the room and the precise food on offer make it a top class restaurant that isn’t a restaurant. Chinese Laundry in its new guise is producing food with soul, story and sheer deliciousness which makes it my residency to watch in 2020. Other than that newcomers didn’t hold the same allure as new discoveries or even reintroductions to stalwarts who continue to be the best restaurants in the city. </p>
<p id="YSbuKr"><strong>Ed Smith, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>Flor, Orasay, Bubala, Master Wei, Peg. Davies and Brook, Silo, The Dorchester Grill and Oren all look pretty accomplished and worth adding to a list (but I’ve not been<strong></strong>.)</p>
<p id="b28XoG"><strong>Josh Barrie, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>No doubt others will mention in more reasoned detail the likes of Peg and Pophams, Officina 00, and Oren. There’s Flor, of course, Top Cuvée and Allegra. These are each turning out exciting, modern food, and what I’ve had of it has been quite enthralling. I’m very keen to visit Lyon’s if I ever find out where Crouch End actually is.</p>
<p id="DD1d8y">I’ve also enjoyed all the garish, unashamedly bonkers places that have rolled in. Decimo, The Ivy Asia, Bob Bob Cite, Gloria and Circolo, Siren, Seabird, The Betterment and so on. They bring escapism and the food is probably better than it needs to be in most. </p>
<p id="Amrjtk">And then so many others worth noting which are harder to categorise. Because this year’s brought quirky fine dining like Da Terra, beautiful menus at restaurants such as Emilia and Myrtle, and then Kanishka, Gazellig, Mortimer House Kitchen, The Sea, The Sea. They’re bold statements and London’s all the better for them.</p>
<p id="zhYUKu">It would be easy to go on, but I won’t. Instead, here are my top newcomers: The Laundry in Brixton, which is properly lovely and serves sublime baccalau; Nandine, though everyone knows all about that already, and rightly so; Loyal Tavern, which is great fun and has re-imagined pub classics joyfully and without pretence; Darby’s; and Forza Wine. All South, all class.</p>
<p id="PnNihn"><strong>Daisy Meager, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>Flor, Darby’s, Orasay, Island Social Club, Quality Wines, Tayer + Elementary, Nandine in Camberwell Church Street, Master Wei, Peg, Silo, Decimo.</p>
<p id="Fe3qgP"><strong>Angela Hui, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>Flor, Mei Mei, Gloria, Master Wei, Snackbar, Tayer+Elementary/Tōu.</p>
<p id="ezwmFY"><strong>Leila Latif, Eater London contributor: </strong>Endo at the Rotunda, Emilia, The Sea The Sea, Orasay and Soutine.</p>
<p id="whqFtI"><strong>Jonathan Hatchman, food writer and Eater London contributor: </strong>Bubala — possibly the first time I’ve ever had an entirely meat-free meal without feeling even a little bit short-changed. (Sorry!)</p>
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https://london.eater.com/2019/12/27/21031598/best-new-london-restaurants-2019Adam Coghlan