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Age & Sons, Charlotte Court, Ramsgate, Kent

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Despite a rumoured sighting of Samuel L Jackson in a Herne Bay barbers, it's fair to say that the Kent coast has some way to go before it rivals the Italian Riviera as a tourist destination. Anyone who, like Billericay Dickie, fancied a rendezvous with Janet quite near the Isle of Thanet would hardly be spoilt for choice when it came to boutique hotels and atmospheric local bistros.

Can Fire & Stone's 'experimental' pizza combinations live up to the glamour of Europe's biggest shopping mall?

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Christmas is coming. Yes, I know, I don't want to think about it either, but we must. And anyone who lives in the south-east of England will find it difficult to resist the siren call of Westfield, Britain's latest shining beacon of retailing.

Dans Le Noir? 30-31 Clerkenwell Green, London EC1

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:00:01 GMT

"It's just the thing for Hallowe'en," grated the Independent Magazine's top brass, in their don't-even-bother-arguing way. "Instead of reviewing a normal restaurant, where people eat a romantic meal with knives and forks in discreet lighting, you'll go to that place where everyone dines in spooky total darkness, you'll think you've gone blind and you'll pour red wine down your front. Shut the door on your way out."

Polpo, 41 Beak Street, London W1F

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 23:00:01 GMT

What's the secret of a successful restaurant? Is there a code it's possible to crack or is it completely unpredictable? As someone who has been reviewing restaurants for seven years, I'm tempted to say that no one knows anything. That's the same conclusion William Goldman came to in Adventures in the Screen Trade, his celebrated book about Hollywood. Like the film industry, the restaurant business is a place for gamblers. If you win, you can win big, but the majority of the players lose their shirts – and, according to Harden's, there were some 64 noteworthy closures in the capital last year.

Hix, 66-70 Brewer Street, London W1

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 23:00:01 GMT

OK, let's get it out in the open. I know Mark Hix. You know Mark Hix. He works just a few pages up from here. He lets the magazine team hold their Christmas party in his house. But does that mean I'm not going to review his new Soho restaurant? No it certainly does not. After all, you've arrived at this part of the magazine via Hix's pages, so you, of all people, will want to know what he's up to.

Hix, 66-70 Brewer Street, London W1

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 23:00:01 GMT

I declare an interest. Mark Hix, the chef behind this week's restaurant, writes a food column for our sister publication The Independent Magazine. So I'll start by telling you what's wrong with his new establishment, Hix, in London's Soho.

The Luxe, 109 Commercial Street, London E1

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 23:00:01 GMT

The denizens of Spitalfields in east London have been waiting a long time for The Luxe. John Torode – the Australian judge on TV's Masterchef, who closes his eyes while shouting at his fellow judge, the cockney hard-man Gregg Wallace – has been promising to open for over a year. But since he's the chap behind Smiths of Smithfield, people have been happy to wait.

Osterley Park café, Jersey Road, Isleworth, Middlesex

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 23:00:01 GMT

As an Acton resident with four young children, I'm quite an expert on west London attractions. Scarcely a weekend passes without a trip to the Kew Bridge Steam Museum or Gunnersbury Park. When you're woken at 6am and your eldest doesn't go to bed till 8pm, the days can be long and an activity of some kind is essential.

Andy Campbell @ 23 Romilly Street

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 23:00:01 GMT

Now this is what Soho is all about. An unmarked doorway on a side street. A dark stairwell leading up to a crepuscular first-floor dining room. Guttering candles casting pools of light in a shadowy room of shiny black and sexy red. Light slanting through Venetian blinds on to crisp white tablecloths. All the scene needs is a woman straddling a chair while unpeeling a stocking and we could be in a Jack Vettriano painting.

A tale of two sittings: A meal at a neighbourhood restaurant with friends is one thing – but what happens when you go back with kids?

Sat, 03 Oct 2009 23:00:01 GMT

I believe a neighbourhood restaurant should be judged by how it stands up to repeated visits, because that is how it's likely to be used. Anyone other than an oligarch or a superstar is unlikely to become a regular at fancy-pants city-centre restaurants, so a one-time once-over is fine.

The Harwood Arms, Walham Grove, London SW6

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 23:00:01 GMT

I think gastropubs tend to be best when they remember to be pubs as well as gastro, and don't forget they're also supposed to be down-to-earth boozers as well as purveyors of chorizo and purple sprouting broccoli. But really, there are limits. Standing outside the Harwood Arms, you feel your heart sink. The pub is situated at the end of a dispiritingly bricky suburban street. As pubs go, you're surprised this one hasn't gone long ago: it's so tired-looking, so bored, so uninterested in having anyone come through its doors. There's nothing about it that shouts, or even murmurs, "Trendy eating-house!" The colour scheme is mostly a flat matt magenta, over which the dust of years seems to have settled. Can this be the joint recently voted London's best gastropub? Have we come to the wrong address? As for that awful colour ... "If I remember the Farrow & Ball paint swatch," said my date, Madeleine, "this is a darker version of their Dead Salmon ..."

Quirinale, 1 Great Peter Street, London SW1

Sat, 26 Sep 2009 23:00:01 GMT

If MPs really are being forced to "live on rations", as Alan Duncan claimed, that's bad news for the belt of fancy restaurants that encircles the Palace of Westminster. The Cinnamon Club may have to become the Cinnamon Brasserie. Wiltons may have to dispense with its division bell. When David Cameron starts slashing salaries and clamping down on expenses, MPs might not even venture beyond the House of Commons canteen for fear of being spotted eating a crème brûlée by one of the Tory whips. There will be no more Billy Bunters at Greyfriars next year.

The French Laundry, 6640 Washington Street, Yountville, California

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 23:00:01 GMT

The French Laundry, Thomas Keller's acclaimed restaurant in Napa Valley's Yountville, has been described by the New York Times as "the most exciting place to eat in the United States". It's impossible to get a booking at short notice unless you're an A-list celebrity, so when a friend tells me he has an "in", I gratefully join him and his American companion.

The best British wines

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 15:48:04 GMT

This year Decanter magazine's panel of experts tasted more than 10,000 wines in the 2009 Decanter World Wine Awards. There were entries from all corners of the globe but Decanter’s tasting’s director Christelle Guibert admits that you don’t always have to look very far to find award-winning wine. Here is her pick of the best UK winners.

Veg and two veg: Can Vanilla Black convince a carnivore that its meat-free menu is more than just a list of side dishes?

Sat, 19 Sep 2009 23:00:01 GMT

Vegetarian fine-dining. I know it's narrow-minded, but those two terms just don't go together in my mind. Vegetables are lovely – alongside a plate of roast chicken or a tranche of sea bass, or, or, or... However, I'm prepared to be persuaded, after the folk from Vanilla Black get in touch. They've seen my recent review of a steak house and want me to try the opposite end of the spectrum – a smart restaurant that's entirely meat-free.

Kensington Wine Rooms, 127-129 Kensington Church Street, London W8

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 23:00:01 GMT

As the name implies, food isn't the main point of the Kensington Wine Rooms. Its point is to serve wine by the glass – and that means expensive, quality, premier cru stuff, as well as the Chateau Collapso. If you've never tried a 1992 Haut-Brion but have wondered what all the yelling is about, now's your chance: you can sip a £52 glassful, rather than shell out £288 for a whole bottle.

The ten best sherries

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 12:03:43 GMT

Sherry has often been considered a favourite of grannies and vicars and most mainstream consumers have historically reserved their Sherry intake to the Christmas trifle. But with the announcement of the 2009 Decanter World Wine Awards, the image of Sherry could be set for a change.

With a staggering 31 awards, including a much coveted Regional Trophy for the Emilio Lustau Añada 1990 Oloroso, and Gold for Emilio Lustau Almacenista Pasada de Sanlucar Manzanilla - Sherry most certainly made its mark at the world’s biggest and most influential wine competition. Decanter’s tastings director Christelle Guibert offers her selection of the top 10 award winning sherry recommendations.

Fall hook, line and sinker for this Cornish restaurant that entertains the kids and serves fish to rival Rick

Sat, 12 Sep 2009 23:00:01 GMT

Twelve years ago, when Olga Polizzi opened Hotel Tresanton in St Mawes, Cornwall was something of a backwater, known for pasties, ice-cream, pony trekking... and not much else. The only people who came here on holiday were those who couldn't afford to go to Wales.

Metfield Café, Snape Maltings, Snape, Suffolk

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 23:00:01 GMT

There's something of a food renaissance happening in Suffolk right now. Farmers' markets and food festivals are springing up around the county and local suppliers have their own media-friendly poster boy, in the form of TV farmer Jimmy Doherty, who has grown from Jamie Oliver's Mini-Me into a canny champion of the area's food culture.

Meet the best wines of 2009

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 15:44:54 GMT

This year Decanter magazine’s panel of experts tasted more than 10,000 wines in the 2009 Decanter World Wine Awards – to some the most prestigious and influential wine competition on the planet. Just 0.23% of wines entered were awarded the ultimate accolade – An International Trophy.

The Serpentine gives plenty to gander at, but is the food at Hyde Park's revamped café strictly for the birds?

Sat, 05 Sep 2009 23:00:01 GMT

I could lie and say I was jogging round Hyde Park when I stopped off for a bite to eat. After all, as I sit in the Serpentine Bar & Kitchen, plenty of sporty types are peeling off the nearby path, where they have been running, shadow-boxing, Rollerblading or practising rugby moves to come into the distinctive low-slung building for juice, a muffin or something more substantial.

Whatley Manor, Easton Grey, Malmesbury, Wiltshire

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 23:00:01 GMT

As Wiltshire locals will tell you, wiping tears of mirth from their eyes, Whatley Manor was once Twatley Farm. From the mid-19th century it was expanded by successive owners, who included a clergyman and a master of the Beaufort Hunt, all apparently unbothered by their hilarious address. Drive up to it today, and it looks rather stern and grey, like a posh orphanage. Once inside the main gates, you encounter a cobbled courtyard lit by a score of garden lamps and the orange glow from leaded windows. It's very welcoming, though not terribly English – possibly because the hotel is owned by a Swiss family, whose design sense owes more to modern Geneva than Victorian Gothic.

The ten best ethical wines

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 14:38:05 GMT

It's good to know ethical shopping doesn’t mean you have to compromise on taste, but with increasing numbers of Organic, Biodynamic and Fairtrade wine on the market, which organic bottles are worthy of attention?

Following the announcement of the 2009 Decanter World Wine Awards, Tastings Director Christelle Guibert highlights her pick of the award-winning bottles.

"Organic wine can be hard to find," explains Christelle of the choices, "but there is more and more of it available on the shelves. More winemakers are today using less pesticide, fertilizers and fungicides in order to increase the natural balance of the soil. They are taking organic and bio-dynamic much more seriously resulting in better quality wines."

Click here or on the image to launch the guide, and leave your comments and suggestions below.

The ten best organic wines

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 14:38:05 GMT

Following the announcement of the 2009 Decanter World Wine Awards, Tastings Director Christelle Guibert highlights her pick of the award-winning bottles.

Click here or on the image to launch the guide, and leave your comments and suggestions below.

Upmarket new chain Côte is bucking the crunch – but does your high street need a posh Café Rouge?

Sat, 29 Aug 2009 23:00:01 GMT

Believe it or not, it is still possible to make money in the restaurant trade. According to the latest edition of Harden's London Restaurants, only 64 closed in the past 12 months – the lowest rate in the capital since 2000. Contrast this with the number of openings: 121, up from a low of 111 last year.