Metro, 6 January
Metro visits 1901 at Andaz, 40 Liverpool Street, London EC2
I have decided to ignore the c****t c****h and new year detoxes and party like it's 1999. Money in the bank appears pointless so I intend to boost the economy like there's no tomorrow. Which, at the rate we're going, there probably isn't. Which brings me to 1901, formerly Aurora in Conran's Great Eastern Hotel, now Hyatt boutique brand Andaz. 'I can't count the times,' one pal reminisces mistily, 'I woke up after a night in there with only partial recall and a bill the size of a planet.' Of course, there's not a whole heap of City-boy posturing going on right now; the restaurant is sparsely populated. It's a truly beautiful room, though – one of the few in London that can genuinely drop jaws – crowned with a striking stained-glass cupola. There's an illuminated walk-in wine room and cheese store like a suburban party-giver's wet dream. Dick-swinging is at a minimum; subdued is the order of the day. Not us, though: we're here to give it last-century yahoo.
1901 - review in full >>
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Evening Standard, 7 January
David Sexton visits Goodman, 26 Maddox Street, London W1
It’s a bit of a choker for veggies: we only are what we are because we eat meat. It is now generally accepted that it was the turn towards eating meat about 1.5 million years ago that allowed our ancestors to evolve bigger brains. Brain tissue requires much more energy than other organs, and the consumption of food of such high nutritional value seems to have been associated with critical human development in other areas, such as social co-operation, tool-making and the command of fire. Maybe that’s the honourable reason why so many men would rather eat steak than anything else? For dedicated steakhouses — basically, vicarious barbies — are always going to be in demand so long as men get to choose where they eat. They are the places where men finally get what they want. One of the places. Goodman is a chain of US-style steakhouses, created in Moscow in 2003 by a businessman, Mikhail Zelman, who named them after Benny Goodman in honour of the clarinettist’s Russian- Jewish heritage as well as his music. There are nine branches in Russia and they have opened recently in Kiev — and in London, just off Regent Street.
Goodman - review in full >>
Time Out, 8 January
Jenni Muir visits Docklands Bar & Grill, Royal Victoria Dock, Western Gateway, London E16
As a food lovers’ destination, Docklands is no Marylebone Village; and, like the majority of eateries in the area, this outfit is additionally hampered by a corporate, new-built vibe. The location has its pluses (by the water, near ExCeL) and minuses (in a hotel, near ExCeL), but sweet staff help overcome the rather soulless atmosphere created by the presence of solo business diners. The kitchen, too, tries hard to do good things, emphasising fresh fish from nearby Billingsgate Market, sourcing fruit and veg (some organic) from farms in the home counties, and bread from Sally Clarke’s prestigious bakery. In its fish pie – made with scallops, cod and prawns, then served in a Le Creuset stoneware pot that puts the emphasis on sauce and seafood rather than mashed potato – the restaurant has a delectable treat to rival the best in the West End. We also had a generously portioned starter salad with tender strips of spicily juicy ‘Asian chilli’ beef, and great chips – a special of roast turbot tempted, too.
Docklands Bar & Grill – review in full >>
By Janet Harmer
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