The Daily Telegraph - 5 July
Jan Moir on the Chardon d'Or, Glasgow
If you are sending out a simple ragoût of scallops cooked in a shellfish jus and just a trace of walnut oil, then you better make sure everything on that plain little plate is up to scratch. And do you know what? It isn't. The shellfish are pallid and tasteless and the advertised jus could easily double as dishwater. The portion - at £9.50 for a starter size - is a bit stingy, too, but you won't get any complaints from me because I don't want any more. Please don't make me.
(Dinner for two, excluding drinks and service £64)
The Sunday Times - 6 July
AA Gill at Guiliano Lotto's latest venture, Edera, London W11
Chicken carpaccio incited a sharp intake of breath. Really? Raw chicken? Apparently, it's just marinated in citrus and wine. Seeing as we're told that one in four chickens boasts salmonella, and that an auto-da-fé is the only way of getting rid of it, that's pretty brave. It also turned out to be very good - Holland Park's answer to Japanese fugu fish - as was the lobster bruschetta with melon jelly and the pig's head terrine with tiger prawns.
(Rating: three out of five. Two courses £16.50, £22.50 for four)
The Observer - 6 July
Jay Rayner is last in at Tom Aikens, London SW3
I am left with only one question: are there enough people in London who want this kind of product? The city is already stuffed full of heavyweight places. To survive, Aikens will simply have to find his very own fan base - one with deep pockets.
(Dinner for two, including wine and service, £150)
The Sunday Times - 6 July
Giles Coren samples the Real Greek Souvlaki and Bar in Hoxton, London EC1
The meze were also a cut above: tender, minty dolmades were a long way from the usual chomp on a old cigar stub, the melitzano salata was cool and fresh, the gigandes plate (huge overcooked beans) were meaty and smooth and the htipiti was a delicious red pepper and feta mush. Stav was impressed. His only quibble was that the place didn't feel very Greek. But I beg to differ. The service was slow and haphazard, the waiter forgot our starters altogether, and the olives I ordered three times appeared nowhere except on the bill. You just don't get more Greek than that.
(Rating 6.67/10)
TimeOut - 8 July
Guy Dimond at Conran's Grand CafE and Bar, the Royal Exchange, London EC3
Conran's latest eatery doesn't serve hot food. Instead, it serves seafood and simple assemblies of Mediterranean-inspired dishes; where cooking is required, this is done off-site. Does this mean there's a new trend for simpler dishes or raw ingredients? No. It's because Grand Café and Bar is inside the Royal Exchange, a Grade I-listed building that has been turned into an upmarket shopping mall - and Conran Restaurants weren't able to get planning permission for a full kitchen.
(Meal for two with wine and service, £60)