Editor’s Picks

One of the pleasures of travelling through Italy is stumbling across a small trattoria with no menu, but superb food. Whatever they have fresh, that is what they put in front of you. Why bother with a menu, when they won’t have half of it?

I was reminded of this at Bricole. Why do they have a menu when almost everything that we asked for was off? And why oh why, oh why not tell me before I’d pondered the menu, poured over every offering and ordered? Veal and sage ravioli? Off. Fried pizza stuffed with toms and cheese (have you ever heard such a perfect dish on a menu anywhere)? Off. Croquette? Off. Even the one dessert (or desert, as our charmingly, non-English speaking waitress said) that I wanted was off. I wondered if I’d wandered into the café from Peter Seller’s masterpiece: Balham, Gateway to the South.

So instead, we were pointed towards what we could have, and got on with it. The lamb ham was gorgeous. The pecorino, the arancini, the pasta. They all worked. They all worked very well.

But, and this is a big but; a butt the size (if not the grace) of Jennifer Lopez’s delicious derriere: the service sucks. Big time. If it was just that the waitress didn’t speak English (it is an Italian restaurant after all: fair play to have Italian waiting staff). Or that they didn’t have half the menu (the explanation, given after one has chosen not before, being that: “we make everything fresh so, come the weekend, we have run out of things”. What, so you make lots of fresh stuff on Monday? How fresh is that come Sunday then?). Or even that we sat ignored for 15 minutes. Or even that the replacement for the missing veal and sage ravioli was touted as beef, but I got ricotta and spinach.

No, these could all be forgiven by great food, it was an off day, members of staff (as the excuse given to me) are all new, young and inexperienced. What can never, ever, not in a million years in any establishment anywhere be forgiven at a place where anybody is paying is rudeness. Not just rude; insultingly, needlessly rude. I mean, this isn’t Moscow in the ‘80s or Wan Kei. This is a new Italian deli/trattoria/restaurant in genteel Marylebone.

All I wanted to know was where the loo was? Not an unreasonable request in a restaurant, not one that, in a place that I have not been to in its current configuration before, would seem out of place. But no, the response on asking the waiter was a dismissive “I can’t be bothered talking to you” waive of the hand, one so brilliantly done by our Italian friends, yet so, so out of place here. Our friendly (non-English speaking) waitress witnessed this insult and, to her credit, immediately jumped in to assist.

Now given the ineptitude of the waiting staff, there was bound to be a fault on the bill. There was: the delicious bottle of wine (a Crema), recommended by the head honcho had been omitted. I always, always tell restaurants when they have missed an item off the bill, much as I would pipe-up had they added something that I had not had. That is both fair and reasonable. I confess, however, that I was so angry that I momentarily contemplated not telling them. That, however, would have been wrong. Unfair on the place, unfair on the owners. Instead, having told them about the missing wine, I did something that I never do either: I asked for the tip to be removed from the bill. On being asked why, I explained. In full. With hand gestures; we’d had a lovely meal. The food was very pleasant, but the service was worse than a Gareth Bale hat trick at the Emirates.

Of course I will go back: the food is too good not too. I just hope that my act of rebellion has either: (a) lead to the sacking of the moron involved; or (b) lead to him working out that insulting paying customers is not the way to make this restaurant as good as it could, and I really hope does, become.

Great addition to the London scene! I have been to Peru a few times and tried many peruvian restaurants in other countries. Ceviche did not disappoint. Initially I was put off by some of the reviews I read but I am glad we went nonetheless. We were 6 people and tried pretty much everything on the menu. Peruvian food is delicate and requires certain expertise.. in light of that, prices are reasonable. Nobu is also Peruvian and they charge at least double for some of the same dishes.
We kicked off with corn & fried yuca; perfect to have the first pisco and/or cusquena beer. The ceviches / tiraditos (seabass, octopus) were spot on and delicious. So refreshing we ordered them again. We also loved the anticuchos (octopus and beef, no corazon for us) and the arroz con pato. I thought that the lomo saltado could be improved and also the quinoa salad (both good but I've tried much better). Desserts: Lucuma ice cream was amazing and the chirimoya was also yummy.
The atmosphere was great, very lively (saturday night) and we had a very nice waitress who provided some good comments about what to order.
Something to improve: I will add more dishes, particularly different ceviches/tiraditos. Salmon is too safe (and boring).
My only negative comment will be the booking system… it took a few calls, when I phoned on the day they claimed not to have my booking (made more than 10 days in advance) and then, they phoned me later to confirm a table for half an hour before of the time agreed. I was confused so I called them again & they blamed it on the system.
We shall be back!

I had my doubts about the prices when I sat down for a pub lunch, but once the food arrived it was totally worth it. Scrummy roast, and really friendly waiter, who answered all my pernickety questions without showing any signs of impatience! Something wrong with the wine we ordered but they replaced it without a murmer and the manager dealt with it personally.
Super, leisurely afternoon in a great atmosphere.

Although it has the look and feel of a chaotic company canteen, the food is surprising five star!

The service was very polite, down to earth and friendly, if little erratic (our newly employed waitress seemed to get rather lost amongst the tables). However, the food and splendid views of London makes up for any shortcomings in terms of ambience and service.

This restaurant is clearly affected by the time of day and day of the week that you visit. Go for lunch or dinner at a weekend and the place will be full of families and tourists, go on a weekday and it will be a lot quieter.

A great place to take someone you wish to surprise with the quality of food on offer. Reasonably priced too for London.

One of the best restaurants in London!

Being a Londoner, I find myself very spoiled with the choices of restaurants in this city. We really do have a great selection. That said, Pollen Street Social really stood out by far.

My boyfriend and I went there last Friday night on a recommendation from a colleague. We go out for dinner a lot and therefore not that easily wowed. This time we were. The whole experience was just very impressive. The staff were very friendly and knowledgable and not in the least bit pretentious as they are in some other fine dining restaurants. We decided to skip the bottle of wine and went on the sommelier's recommendations to match the wine with each item of food we ordered from the menu. My boyfriend had the English Breakfast as a starter and he said it was just incredible. I had the cauliflower and squid and that was amazing as well. For the mains he went with the duck and I had the cod. The explosions of taste in the mouth was such a great experience. Don't get discouraged by the small portion sizes. The food is very rich and by the end you are full. We both had desert but chose to eat our deserts at the desert bar. I would highly recommend this. You get to talk to the pastry chefs and watch them in action. It's such an interesting experience. They really take the time to explain everything and answer all questions. You can tell just how passionate they are about food.

The restaurant is loud and buzzing. You can see the chefs in action as there is a glass door which leads to the open kitchen. Each dish is made indiviually to order so no mass production takes place. The decor is very cool. Very bright but it suits the buzz of the place.

This is the first solo venure of John Atherton, the head chef who used to work for Gordan Ramsey. He's really managed to get his first solo project completely right. To create a restaurant were everything is impressive, from friendliness and knowledgeability of the staff to the amazing food is very imperssive indeed. You don't get just a dinner at Pollen Street Social, but you get an incredible experience. For food lovers, this is a must!