Restaurants
YO1 7HU
York
15⁄17 Grape Lane
El Piano,
There's more to El Piano than meets the eye at first. On the one hand it's a very relaxed, colourful, quirky restaurant with eclectic food served in little pine-wood boats. On the other hand it's a restaurant with serious ethical aims. It serves a vegan and gluten free menu, it's supported by the ethical bank TRIODOS and it is part of the Incredible Edible group which focuses on the importance of locally sourcing food.
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W2 4UP
London
115 Westbourne Grove
This little Spanish find on Westbourne Grove is quite the place to indulge with its surprisingly reasonable price tag. You might be forgiven for thinking that the luxurious town houses flanking the streets nearby, could dictate a more expensive restaurant bill at El Pirata. Gladly this wasn't the case – as we looked through the options, the chef's tasting menu jumped out at just £25 for a varied clutch of Spanish treats.
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SW11 1ED
London
2 Battersea Rise,
This little gem of a place on Battersea Rise, has an intimate feel to it. Once you're through the door, you can either descend into Entrée's Bentley Bar, or take the stairs up to the small-scale restaurant. Our bellies were grumbling, so we headed up to restaurant level, which already had a fair few diners sating their hunger at 7pm on a mid-week evening.
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SA3 1BS
Swansea
Gower
Reynoldston
The drive towards Fairyhill is nothing short of magical. Winding country roads lead us to vistas of open Gower plains and then darkened tunnels of narrow road, lined with trees. Fairyhill is a stunning setting for a restaurant. Surrounded by acres of green land and trees, you feel transported to another more peaceful universe, away from the stresses of everyday life.
We were greeted with a warm welcome as we took our seats in the patio garden, looking out onto an impressive garden which beckoned us to take a stroll.
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W1J 7NB
London
85 Piccadilly
Fakhreldine has a fabulous location, right on Piccadilly overlooking Green Park. As we came out of the tube and saw the fairy lights twinkling around the entrance we thought we were in for a treat. The venue is beautifully decorated and little candles lead you up stairs to the bar & restaurant which is suitably dark, loungey and opulent.
We stopped at the bar for a drink as we were a little early, and had an expertly mixed mojito and a delicious and unusual rose lemonade – though admittedly you wouldn’t want to drink more than one.
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Just a tip: don’t wear white if you’re heading for the Fifth Floor Restaurant at Harvey Nichols. With white walls, chairs, and tablecloths, the waiters will never be able to find you as you blend seamlessly into the pale backdrop. We had dressed wisely in shades other than white, and were thankfully spotted by the waiting staff who were, for the entirety of our meal, charming.
The other thing about this restaurant is that you feel a little bit as though you’ve walked onto the set of an Austin Powers movie.
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SW1X 7RJ
109-125 Knightsbridge
Harvey Nichols
Fifth Floor Restaurant,
When Anna Russell (the 7th Duchess of Bedford), inaugurated a new meal (afternoon tea) in the mid-19th century, it’s unlikely she knew what she’d started. And it’s surprising just how creative food masters such as Harvey Nichols’ executive chef Jonas Karlsson, have become over the last two centuries, with the basic menu format of sandwiches, scones, cake and tea.
Harvey Nichols’ flagship Knightsbridge store offers a stunning Champagne Afternoon Tea, and the experience starts with the décor.
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Malaga
Pasaje Esperanto 1
When it comes to good food, us Brits tend to leave the house and go find a decent restaurant. Can't have Mum cocking it up again, can we? But in some parts of Europe you can find restaurants run by someone else's mother who was put on this earth for the sole purpose of feeding someone else's kids with endless plates of homemade grub. Some of them are quite good at it.
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Tucked away on a side road away from the commercial bedlam of Regent Street, Fishworks’ latest opening offers shoppers and scoffers some welcome respite from the land of retail. As we walked down Swallow Street we couldn’t help noticing the crowd noise fade, and as we stepped into the restaurant, the laid back feel of the place distanced us from the chaos of the main drag.
Dark wooden floors and pared down tones serve as an understated backdrop to a huge wine rack, which cut the restaurant in two.
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