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LONDON RESTAURANTS
There is no shortage of restaurants in London. Name the cuisine and you'll be faced with a choice of places to sample. You might want to limit your search to the neighborhoods near your hotel, but if proximity isn't an issue, click to one of the guides below and see what the critics have to say. We've chosen online reviewers who don't mince words. We think you'll appreciate their candor.
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Saigon Saigon, 313-317 King Street, London. W6 9NH. Tel: 0870 220 1398
Away from the plethora of Vietnamese cafes in East London, Saigon Saigon is a new opening on the Hammersmith / Chiswick border that allows diners to enjoy this wonderful cuisine in smart and elegant surroundings. Owners the LiemPhuong family spent many months back in their native Vietnam sourcing ingredients and furnishings to ensure that the overall experience at Saigon Saigon will be as genuine as possible.
An interior combining modern tables and chairs with dark wooden flooring, bamboo partitions, walls adorned with traditional carvings and black & white photography from 1940's Saigon gives the restaurant a degree of sophistication not usually seen in the UK's more authentic Vietnamese restaurants. In the warmer months, the large glass frontage opens up and several shaded tables occupy an enviable position on a wide pavement for al-fresco dining.
However, it is from the kitchen at Saigon Saigon that the real treasures emerge. Unlike most other Oriental cuisines, Vietnam relies less on frying and tends instead to use healthier methods such as grilling, braising and steaming. Many of the dishes require meat or fish to be marinated over night in a mixture of herbs and spices that often include rice wine, fish sauce, garlic, shallots, star anise, lemongrass and chilli. The result is a subtle enhancement in the dishes that is one of the keys to this cuisine. The seasonally changing menu encapsulates Vietnamese cooking from rustic noodle soups through to those that highlight the strong Gallic influence. Examples include: a crisp, golden crêpe folded over tender shrimp and pork with onions and crunchy beansprouts; fried frog legs marinated in lime juice and white wine in batter; char-grilled quails marinated in five spice; grilled salted mackerel with lemongrass; stewed pork with coconut juice and quail eggs; Vietnamese summer rolls of vermicelli, shrimp, pork, mint, raw vegetables wrapped in rice paper, served with a tangy dipping Sauce; and, perhaps the country's most famous dish, Pho - a rice noodle broth from a home-made stock of beef brisket marrow and oxtail flavoured with green onions, ginger and turnip served with a choice of either shredded beef sirloin or chicken breast. For a more unusual experience order a steamboat and a simmering clay pot of stock will be brought to your table along with a selection of raw ingredients that can be added such as chilli and basil, according to your taste whilst cooking over a low heat. A Vietnamese meal is rarely divided in to courses: all the food is served as soon as it is ready so dishes may arrive at different times. However, the ethos is to share common dishes with your guests as and when they are served so that diners can enjoy them at their freshest. Charming and attentive staff including waitresses in delightful silk dresses are at hand to offer direction on the extensive menu.
Saigon Beer, Vietnam's most popular alcoholic drink that is unavailable anywhere else in the UK, is the perfect accompaniment to this style of food but if you prefer wine a short but incisive list has been compiled to bring out the best in what the menu has to offer. Downstairs a cocktail lounge offers a refined escape from the bustle of King Street where you can enjoy a cocktail and several discreet alcoves provide an intimate setting.
Maze, 10-13 Grosvenor Square, London. W1K 6JP. Tel: 020 7107 0000
On May 25th, Gordon Ramsay together with Head Chef Jason Atherton (El Bulli, Verre) opened maze restaurant and bar in Grosvenor Square. With stunning design by David Rockwell of Rockwell Group in a spectacular location, maze serves French cuisine with Asian influences in a relaxed and informal environment. Diners are able to sample as many courses as they wish from the ÿ la carte or tasting menu. Continuing this more flexible approach, many of these dishes are available to diners seated at the restaurant's beautiful rosewood bar.
Jason Atherton was the first British chef to complete a stage at Spain's famous El Bulli restaurant. Having worked under Pierre Koffman, Nico Ladenis and Gordon Ramsay as Executive Chef at Verre in Dubai, maze marks an exciting opportunity in Jason's career to take centre stage. He offers a daily changing menu of market specials comprising six starter, main course and dessert options. In addition to the market menu, there is a wide variety of tasting dishes ranging in price from £3-£11. Many of these dishes are cooked on a charcoal robata grill, wood oven or on the plancha. Jason also brings the relatively unfamiliar method of line cooking to his kitchen: a process favoured in many top American kitchens.
Dishes from the tasting menu include: Pressed foie gras and smoked eel with pickled ginger and rhubarb, ginger brioche (£4.50); Roasted turbot with five-spice oxtail, confit baby leeks and crushed peas, Moroccan mint (£6.50) and Suckling pig with roasted apple, spiced kumquat marmalade, radish and spice jus (£5.80).
A la carte dishes include a starter of Orkney scallops roasted with curry, golden raisin and pepper purŽe, cauliflower (£10) and main courses of Grilled spring lamb with cinnamon sweetbreads, roasted morels, ratte purée and Maroc épice sauce (£15)) and Aged English beef with artichoke, foie gras in miso, red chard and snail-garlic mash (£16).
Finally, desserts include White chocolate and coconut panna cotta with olive caramel, white chocolate granite (£6); Pineapple carpaccio with ginger lime syrup, coconut sorbet and pink peppercorn (£5); and Single estate chocolate fondant with green cardamom caramel, sea salt almond ice cream (£6).
Located in London's Mayfair, maze mirrors the restaurant's elegant and stylish setting with stunning views of Grosvenor Square gardens. One of America's most revered architecture and design companies, Rockwell Group, is responsible for mazeÕs chic and innovative interior. Prior to this David Rockwell's work has been recognized for projects ranging from W Hotels and Pod in Philadelphia to Nobu and Vong in New York.
The dining room seats 90 guests and includes both a private dining room (seating 10) and a chef's table (seating 8). To evoke the mood of a maze, the room is divided by a series of different handcrafted screens, made of wood, fabric, woven metal and a custom etched glass panel of an undulating garden maze. Rockwell has used a variety of luxurious woods: Rosewood for the main dining bar counter; English oak floors; ebonized sapele panelling on the walls and a walnut sliding door which separates the main dining room from the private dining room.
The overall colour scheme is neutral evoking the earthy tones of a garden. Custom-made in Italy, the banquettes and chairs are made of rich, chocolate brown leather and mohair. Every design element, from the smallest cabinet handle on the service stands to the floor lamps in the bar, has been custom-made and handcrafted.
Managed by Mark Pratt (Mint Leaf, Floridita), the bar is a unique destination in its own right seating 50 and serving Asian-influenced cocktails carefully designed to complement Jason's cuisine. Cocktails include Normandy Fizz Calvados, Poire William charged with Champagne; Honey and Rhubarb Bellini Krupnik Honey, Fresh Rhubarb Puree topped with Champagne; Brandy Blazer Flamed Martell VS, Chambord and caramelized Berries; Maple Pomme Chivas 12 yr whisky, Apple Juice, Lemon Juice, Maple Syrup, charged with Ginger Ale and Strawberry Balsamic Caipirnha Sagatiba Pura rum muddled with Fresh Strawberry and Lime, sweetened with Aged Balsamic Vinegar. Lighter dishes from the menu are available in the bar.
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