Last year saw the inaugral departure for the London Restaurant Festival, an event designed to promote London Restaurants, where we saw over 450 restaurants taking part. It involved these restaurants creating a specific "festival" menu as well as special events including ones which saw Gordon Ramsay cooking on the London Eye and the return of Pierre Koffmann, who ran a "pop up" restaurant on the roof of Selfridges (which I wrote about here).
This year is no different and the London Restaurant Festival is hoping to be bigger and better. I was contacted by the PR and in full disclosure fashion, they have asked me to cover a few of the events and run a few competitions where you guys can win some stuff.
Running from the 4th to the 18th of October, and with hopefully around 800 restaurants taking part this year, this event should be bigger and better than last year. You are still going to be able to get the individual "Festival Menus", but there will also be an abundance of events such as the Gourmet Odyssey a culinary pub crawl aboard an old routemaster, and the Big Debate which will involve some of the UK's most recognised food figures shouting at each other across the table.
So first up on the give away front, I have been given two pairs of tickets (worth £100 each) for the Big Quiz on the 11th of October. This will be hosted by Rowley Leigh at his restaurant Cafe Anglais in Bayswater, and will involve the full Festival menu, as well as a night of food based quizzing.
All you need to do is leave a comment on this post, mentioning your favourite restaurant in London, and why we should go there. I will randomly draw the winners on the 1st October, so please keep an eye out then. Good luck!
OFFICIAL STUFF:
From confit to crème brulee, manuka honey to miso, grouse to gravalax, London’s
restaurants offer a delectably diverse range of flavours to tempt all tastes. The London
Restaurant Festival (4th-18th October 2010), proudly supported by American Express, is a
citywide celebration of eating out designed to encourage Londoners to make more of our
rich array of restaurants.
To celebrate, American Express has teamed up with moi to offer 2
pairs of tickets to The Big Quiz and a bottle of G.H. Mumm Cordon Rouge Champagne, the
official champagne of the London Restaurant Festival and the perfect partner to pair with
food.
The Big Quiz will be one of London Restaurant Festival's more intellectual contributions to
the capital's culinary scene! The event is hosted by Rowley Leigh, London's most cerebral
chef, at his restaurant Le Café Anglais on Monday 11th October. The Big Quiz will be an
evening of great fun and food with one of the country’s most well-known question masters
leading proceedings.
To find out more, go to londonrestaurantfestival.com
OFFICIAL STUFF:
From confit to crème brulee, manuka honey to miso, grouse to gravalax, London’s
restaurants offer a delectably diverse range of flavours to tempt all tastes. The London
Restaurant Festival (4th-18th October 2010), proudly supported by American Express, is a
citywide celebration of eating out designed to encourage Londoners to make more of our
rich array of restaurants.
To celebrate, American Express has teamed up with moi to offer 2
pairs of tickets to The Big Quiz and a bottle of G.H. Mumm Cordon Rouge Champagne, the
official champagne of the London Restaurant Festival and the perfect partner to pair with
food.
The Big Quiz will be one of London Restaurant Festival's more intellectual contributions to
the capital's culinary scene! The event is hosted by Rowley Leigh, London's most cerebral
chef, at his restaurant Le Café Anglais on Monday 11th October. The Big Quiz will be an
evening of great fun and food with one of the country’s most well-known question masters
leading proceedings.
To find out more, go to londonrestaurantfestival.com
15 comments:
Ooooh I am looking forward to London Restaurant Week. My fave at the moment (and has been for a while) has to be Eastside Inn where the food is always fabulous and Justine and Bjorn know how to look after the guests :)
My fave at the moment is probably 101 Thai Kitchen. I tend to eat alot of thai in summer and their som tum is perfectly light and fresh.
Looking forward to restaurant week.
I love many restaurants in London but my fave is Bob Bob Ricard. Partly because I feel cheered up and decadent and special just walking in to that interior, partly because the service always makes me feel so welcome too and of course, I really like the food. I'm going to celebrate my birthday there next month - better get on with organising something, actually!
St John Bread & Wine, because it's old school in a good way, mindful of provenance, but mainly because they have full on respect for THE PIG.
Oh, and having leftover Madeleines for breakfast because I can't stuff them in my face the night before.
My recommendation is Portugese Costa do Estoril on Lavender Hill, Clapham. Ignore the loud arguments from native patrons drinking beer on the pavement tables out front, try not to snigger at the triangles of dairylea presented with the bread on arrival, and tuck into the best prawns you'll ever eat. A platter of enormous, shell-on prawns sodden with a choice of garlic butter straight or with extra peri peri sauce. Utterly devine, and dirt cheap.
Would love to go to this! Eek. Fingers crossed this is my lucky competition this time around
How about London's only Burmese Restaurant 444 Edgware Road run by the Ally brothers
Saf in East London - it's true brilliance on a plate. You should go for the 'beetroot ravioli' and for the creative and tasty approach to introducing Londoners to a raw food diet! Also, the Sicilian Nero d'Avola (organic!) and cocktail with rhubarb should not be missed!
My favourite at the moment is Polpo - mmmm slow roast pork belly
My favourite restaurant in London has to be Lorelai in Soho. Not because its fancy or even because the food is amazing - but because its there. It still has luncheon voucher stickers on its cappuccino machine, the toilets are outside old school style, its pizza menu is 8 items long... but its BYOB and you can always get a table on a saturday night.
It also has a giant topless mermaid mural on one wall and giant bags of italian flour stacked by the door.
Finally, it closes randomly whenever it feels like, and I've spent many an evening there when I've been spurned from Polpo, Wahaca, Barrafina or whereever else.
I guess my favourite is Theo Randall at the Intercontinental. One of the finest meals I've ever eaten.
My favourite restaurant seems to change on a daily basis, but right at the moment it's probably Rules. Best cocktail bar in London, best British food. A great (if expensive) evening.
Oh and the Ledbury. And Tayyabs. Sorry I'll stop now.
My favorite restaurant in London is Hawksmoor - best steak I've had outside the US. And really looking forward to the launch of their new site in November!
My new favourite restuarnat is Delhi Grill in Islington. Good honest Indian food at reasonable prices. At the posh end, L'anima in the city , the best Italian in town.
Also wanted to do the Gourmet Oddysey but it's sold out and not going to any of the other events for LRF ;-(
My favourite is The Palmerston on Lordship Lane, East Dulwich - only five mins walk away and I won't forget that pear tart tatin for a long time.
(but I agree with Bripod that Lorelei is fabulously old school)
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