Sushi of Shiori
I actually wanted to publish this list as a celebratory 200th post on Hungry in London, but I absent-mindedly missed this special occasion – as a consequence this will now be the 201st post (still very celebratory of course).
It has been more than a year since I last updated my Top 10 London Restaurant list and there have been a great amount of excellent openings and new discoveries of old gems during this period. It is only the very special restaurants, the ones that made me happy and stuck in my culinary memory, that deserve a place on my Top 10 London Restaurant 2011 list. The value for money ratio is very important for me, so the following restaurants don’t only deliver true gastronomical excellence but are also very fairly priced.
Zucca
In no particular order:
1. Zucca (££)
… is without doubt the best and most competitively priced Italian in London. The only downside – it is far to difficult to get a table!
2. Launceston Place (£££)
… is one of the restaurants that should have got a Michelin star but, for whatever reason, hasn’t. Unfair maybe, but this also means it is still not too expensive and Tristan Welch cooks delicious and sophisticated Modern European in pleasant atmosphere.
Launceston Place
3. The Ledbury (££££)
If you are in need for a special occasions restaurant, look no further. The food is superb and it is not as pretentious as a lot of other 2 Michelin starred places. Highly recommended!
4. Song Que (£)
For years this has been my favourite cheap Vietnamese eatery in London. It is not the friendlies of places and the atmosphere… well, but the bun cha, the papaya salad and the pho are to die for.
5. Ba Shan (££)
If you are sick of mediocre Cantonese restaurants in Chinatown, give Ba Shan a try for mind-blowing Hunanese and Sichuan cuisine. Who would have thought that 100 year old eggs taste great?
Ba Shan
6. Sushi of Shiori (££)
This tiniest of all sushi bars could be straight out of a Japanese art house movie and delivers exquisite traditional and as well as experimental Japanese dishes.
7. Spuntino (££)
I love Sputino. It’s so much fun. I have never managed to leave sober.
8. Leluu Supperclub (££)
The only supper club in my list, Leluu is the ambassador of Vietnamese food in London and there is nothing like one of her Vietnamese feasts.
9. Heron (£)
Authentic and dangerously spice Thai cuisine in the middle of a council estate under a rough pub. The best Thai food I ever had in London.
Heron
10. Opera Tavern (££)
Even though the food in this tapas restaurant can be a bit inconsistent at times, its mini pork and foie gras burger was one of my highlights in 2011 and justifies a place in my top 10!
Honorary mentions of restaurants that haven’t quite made it into the top 10 list: Magdalen, Nopi, Dishoom, Zuma, Tinello (to be written up), Koya
Magdalen
For more inspiring Top London Restaurant Lists, may I refer you to:
and here some more on Toptable
What was your favourite restaurant in 2011?
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