Kevin's Reviews

Oh yes, Murano is very good – it's very good indeed. Don't be put off by the Ramsay family moniker – like Atherton at Maze, this definitely is the home of Hartnett rather than the angry craggy-faced headliner. Also, try and look past the strangely staid and emotionless dining room – this really is the Deatheater of decor – it's truly extraordinary how how they've manged to suck all the life out of the room. Get beyond it, sit down, salivate over the menu, then prepare for a treat.

Becuase this is excellent, yet refreshingly “simple” cooking. You don't need a dictionary to translate every second menu option – you'll just need a few extra belt holes becuase if you manage to avoid hitting the full 3 courses then you've a stronger will than I.

From the pre-starter of excellent Italian hams and cheeses, past the tuna carpaccio with pork belly, up and over the duck with beetroot gnocchi and right through to the stunning pistachio souffle, this was a food journey I'd willingly take over and over again. Genuinely fantastic food. Wines were good but definitely weighted towards the fatter walleted patrons.

All this place needs is for Angela Hartnett to impress her personality on the dining room as well as the food and there won't be many better places to visit in London.

We had a contrasting experience at Roka when we went a month or so ago. It's a lively fun place to be – the robata grill dominating the dining room has the desired effect of adding to the hustle and bustle, and really making the customers feel part of the food prep (as well as tasting) experience.

The food was phenomenal with highlights being the sashimi, rock shrimps, and particularly the lamb cutlets. The ubiquitous black cod didn't disappoint. The only slight miss for me was the rice hot pot with king crab – lots of it, but fairly tasteless and bland. Food was quick but not the relentless procession that can sometimes happen at asian restaurants.

The 2 hour table turning was, however, religiously stuck to. We had booked at 8pm and thought that meant we might escape being kicked off as the clock turned 10. No such luck – at 9.45 waitresses turned from smiling to surly, and by 9.50 the bill had come without prompting. By 10.05 two of our party had gulped down their (too expensive) wine whilst the other two were moved with glasses still half full. That's not as appalling here as it may be at other places given the very cool downstairs bar which we re-located to, but it still left a black mark over the experience, and unfairly tarnished the excellent food. When paying such high prices, the situation needs to be managed with much more respect.

So, in summary, top class Japanese food – just don't savour it for too long or you'll be asked to leave…

You need to manage your expectations for the Hind's Head – it's not Blummenthal's culinary genius (you need to go 50 yards down the road, get on the one month waiting list, and pay £150 a head for that) but it's decent pub grub in a traditional country pub setting.

Service was very polite and friendly when we visited but painfully slow (about an hour between starter and mains).

All the food we had was good, some very good, but none great. The oxtail and kidney pudding was a winner and the whole lemon sole was far too good for your average pub. Starters of onion tart and mussels were slightly disappointing but then onion tart and mussels are never going to set the culinary world on fire.

A pleasant meal, I wouldn't hurry back, but a word of warning – these are not pub grub prices – £20 for oxtail and kidney pudding and chips is nothing short of outrageous.