The Good Food Guide London
The Best Restaurants Independently Reviewed by the Which? Team
May 2, 2008
The Good Food Guide has long been one of this reviewer's favorite guides to eating out in Britain, and now the Good Food Guide London brings the same attention to bear on the capital's top tables. This restaurant guide covers London dining from Belgravia to Wood Green, and that's quite a culinary distance.
The Good Food Guide London is produced by the same independent Which? team responsible for the main Good Food Guide. That means every meal has been paid for, and reviews are done anonymously. Most of the reviews are lengthy, as in the long-established Good Food Guide tradition, with detailed descriptions of menus and particular dishes. Restaurants are reviewed by a large number of people, so readers are not reliant on one person's palate. Reviewers also tend to be enthusiastic diners, so will rave over a favorite place but are also, like anyone else who has paid the bill, not afraid to stick the boot in when they think it's deserved.
By chance the book fell open at a favorite restaurant, Adam's Café in Shepherd's Bush. This casual and always busy North African place is a café by day but has a more formal menu by night, and the food and atmosphere is perfectly captured by the reviewers. The essential names are also all there: Gordon Ramsay, Gary Rhodes, Alain Ducasse, the River Café, Tom Aikens, Jamie Oliver's Fifteen. Love them or hate them, you can't review London's restaurants without covering them.
Where the Good Food Guide London scores over some other London restaurant guides is its inclusion of several magazine-style features, and short interviews with a range of top chefs. Readers learn where Gary Rhodes eats out, what Heston Blumenthal's plans are, and that Antonio Carluccio's favorite local recipe is bacon and eggs. Tom Parker Bowles admits to a weakness for McDonalds cheeseburgers, while Tom Aikens' last meal would be, rather touchingly, his brother's freshly-baked muffins.
Is the Good Food Guide London easy to use? Yes, top marks. There are detailed maps showing exactly where every place is, down to the street corner and the nearest underground station, so for overseas and out-of-town visitors it's ideal. There's also an alphabetical index, an index by cuisine, and an index by the closest tube station. There are suggestions for budget eating, for child-friendly restaurants, for the best wine lists, best London breakfasts, and best set menus – try lunch at Tom Aikens or Le Gavroche to sample gourmet London dining at more affordable prices.
Given its own affordable price, comprehensive coverage, detailed reviews, good practical information, maps, and very accessible writing style and layout, the Good Food Guide London is hard to beat. And there are ten vouchers for a free glass of wine at 31 of the restaurants reviewed.
The Good Food Guide London costs £11.99 and is available from Amazon and bookshops. More details at the Which? website.
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If you want to read a review of the 2009 Good Food Guide for Britain and Northern Ireland, click here.
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