Auberge du Lac at Brocket Hall – hotel and restaurant review
Stately Homes have always held a fascination. Great houses set amongst manicured lawns, and trees often grown from seedlings collected by intrepid botanists a couple...
Simpson’s-in-the-Strand for breakfast – restaurant review
Samuel Reiss opened the ‘Grand Cigar Divan’ in 1828, on the site of the Fountain Tavern, which had been the home of the famous literary...
The Dorchester – for breakfast – restaurant review
It’s one of London’s most iconic hotels. Ask any local or tourist to name a couple of the most famous hotels in London and the...
Penny Black for Dinner, Chelsea – restaurant review
The Fulham Road isn’t my usual hunting ground, although it’s well served by public transport and easily accessible, but after my recent dining experience I...
InterContinental for Afternoon Tea and Summer – review
London is acknowledged to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world. It’s been a magnet for tourists for generations. Plenty of celebrated...
108 Marylebone Lane – restaurant review
Oxford Street has its chain retail outlets and stalls stocked with goods that no self-respecting adolescent tourist would want to live without: plenty of plastic...
Tuttons for Tea – restaurant review
Henry VIII dissolved all of England’s monastic properties in 1540, because he couldn’t get his way with the Catholic church and the ‘Bishop of Rome’...
Lunch on British Pullman carriages of the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express – review
Yes, I have a lovely life: a restaurant reviewer, and able to take my pick of the very best that the World has to offer....
The Elms Hotel Worcestershire – hotel review
This is an imposing Queen Anne mansion. Go on, admit it, you can’t remember who Queen Anne was and didn’t know she was a builder....
The Fleece Inn for lunch – restaurant review
Perhaps Robin Hood had a local, and if he did I would suppose it looked just like The Fleece Inn. This isn’t a Disneyesque themed...
Brockencote Hall for lunch – restaurant review
Joseph and Alison Petitjean have owned and run Brockencote Hall for the last 24 years. They had been living in France and were just married,...
Castle House Hotel, Hereford – review
I confess, this isn’t a part of the country I know well. OK, it’s true, I am a city sort but I am increasingly charmed...
the bell at skenfrith, Monmouthshire – hotel review
the bell (note the corporate lower-case letters) at Skenfrith, Monmouthshire could easily be overlooked. You need to know it’s there and it’s worth the drive...
Whisky & Cheese Matching at the Athenaeum – bar review
This was our first visit to this most charming of central London hotels. Its location is hard to beat, being on Piccadilly and between Green...
The Commonwealth Kitchen at the Commonwealth Club – restaurant review
There is something rather appealing in the prospect of being a member of a prestigious club. Many of us are members of fitness clubs but...
Men’s Afternoon Tea at De Ville restaurant – review
The Mandeville Hotel is located in the trendy Marylebone Village, within a few minutes’ walk of some of London’s most exciting shops, art galleries and...
Langtry’s Restaurant, Sloane Street – review
[ Langtry’s Restaurant is now closed. ] The Cadogan Hotel in Sloane Street, Knightsbridge, was built in 1887. The name commemorates the Earls Cadogan, who,...
Loch Fyne Restaurant Twickenham – review
Formed in 1998, Loch Fyne Restaurants was established to cultivate oysters in the clear, clean waters of Loch Fyne in Scotland. The company has now...
The Royal Lancaster London Hotel Peter Pan Afternoon Tea – review
Peter is a seven-day-old infant who, “like all infants”, used to be part bird. Peter has complete faith in his flying abilities, so, upon overhearing...
Toms Deli, London – restaurant review
Westbourne Grove still looks delightful even in a snow storm. The lights of Toms (the Tom in question owns several other London eateries and is...