Is that the Italian? I am asked this question each time I mention I am going to Jikoni. Full disclosure: I am asked it four times. This puts it into the category of a slight issue. Try saying it next to “Cecconi”. See?
Category Archives: ★★★☆☆
August
03
Blandford Comptoir.
posted by Nicky Richmond
Did you enjoy it? Asks the waitress, for what, by this point, is the third time. I’m not enjoying your service style, I don’t say, even though I’m getting steadily more irritated as the meal progresses.
June
09
Bacco. A mid-town Italian adventure.
posted by Nicky Richmond
“God, the pressure, choosing for you, you have no idea what it’s like,” says M, Head Clerk of an cracking set of barristers’ chambers we use all the time. “Honestly, I’m sure it will be absolutely fine, really”, I say, not sure about any such thing.
May
28
Six Portland Road. It’s the real thing.
posted by Nicky Richmond
Foreword: I’ve been told by an eminent QC that I’m losing my touch and am being too nice in my reviews. “I like the ones where you hate it”, he says, “far more entertaining”. I cited in my defence a number of my less than glowing reviews but to no avail. Whilst he was only half […]
May
13
Coya. Peruvian/Japanese Roka-style mashup.
posted by Nicky Richmond
I’d tried to get into my standby, Roka Mayfair and the voice-without-warmth on their reception told that I might be able to get a walk-in, if I was lucky. It seems that even if you go somewhere at least once a week and you and your colleagues take clients all the time, well, they still […]
April
27
Pitt Cue. Sheer piggery.
posted by Nicky Richmond
Last time I went to Pitt Cue I flounced off in a huff. Too much queueing, too little communication, too much chaos. There is only so much I’m prepared to tolerate for a plateful of pulled pork, even if it’s from a furry, fatty Mangalitza pig, their porky USP. My queue strop happened when they had that […]
April
13
45 Jermyn Street. The Fountain Room gets a facelift.
posted by Nicky Richmond
I once bunked off a school outing to that London. We were meant to be seeing the Treasures of Tutankhamun at the British Museum. My partner-in-crime Jacques, so much more sophisticated, not to mention three years older, took one look at the snaking queue and suggested hot chocolate and an ice-cream sundae at Fortnums. I’d never […]
March
10
Chutney Mary: the makeover.
posted by Nicky Richmond
My first impression is that they have spent a small fortune on the fit-out and my second is that I want to stay in the bar. Chutney Mary is the pimped-up reincarnation of the original restaurant of the same name which, until very recently plied its trade at the bottom end of the King’s Road. […]
February
17
Social Wine and Tapas, Marylebone.
posted by Nicky Richmond
“There’s a really brilliant new restaurant, you must have been to it”. People are sometimes surprised to find that I haven’t yet been to every restaurant in London, but I have a day job and I like to be able to fit into my clothes without actual pain and not just the unstructured ones.
January
28
Bernardi’s. The finest tart in the area.
posted by Nicky Richmond
I’m happy that the sexing up of that sorry bit of the Edgware Road around Marble Arch is now making great strides. Traditionally sexing up and Edgware Road have only meant the one thing and the prostitute problem on the Hyde Park Estate makes it feel like Kings Cross at times, and not the new […]
