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Prime by Pasture: A Burger Worth the Existential Guilt
Read full review: Prime by Pasture: A Burger Worth the Existential GuiltSo this was a little hello and goodbye sort of lunch. Hello to Prime, Pasture’s buzzy burger offshoot in Bristol. Goodbye to a wonderful colleague, though I won’t dwell on that part, mainly as there was a moment — as I was leaning in to the milkshake like a man doing something dirty in a…
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The Banyan Tree, Dubai – A Rare Case of Style and Substance
Read full review: The Banyan Tree, Dubai – A Rare Case of Style and SubstanceThe luxury hotel game is a tough one. It’s like trying to stay fashionable while married to someone who buys you trousers for Christmas from John Lewis. Keeping luxurious is no mean feat. Fashions and trends change faster than a Love Island contestant’s moral compass. And the second you so much as unlock your automatic…
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Gohan Dubai – Japanese Joy with a Side of Marital Discord
Read full review: Gohan Dubai – Japanese Joy with a Side of Marital DiscordIt came to my attention—because everything comes to my attention, particularly if it relates to food or travel or the steady erosion of my sanity—that in the ritualistic nightly conversation of “Where shall we go for dinner?”, there exists a subtle, psychological warfare between myself and the current Mrs Travel Critic (aka my long-suffering wife…
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BrewDog Dubai; Pints, Palms and Punk IPA in the Desert
Read full review: BrewDog Dubai; Pints, Palms and Punk IPA in the DesertThe joys of international travel, we are told, lie in the chance to immerse oneself in other cultures: to haggle for spices in a sun-bleached souk, to ride a camel over sand dunes at sunset, to hear the haunting call to prayer echo off the minarets of an ancient city as you sip mint tea…
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La Cantine at The Delano – A Lifestyle Destination (Whatever That Means)
Read full review: La Cantine at The Delano – A Lifestyle Destination (Whatever That Means)There’s a category of modern establishment that sets off the klaxon in my head before I’ve even seen the menu. You know the sort: places described not as restaurants or bars, but as “lifestyle destinations.” La Cantine bills itself as “a vibrant all-encompassing lifestyle destination with Mediterranean dining.” Which, translated from the marketing guff, means:…
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Demon Duck Dubai: Ducking Hell – A Tale of Culinary Regret
Read full review: Demon Duck Dubai: Ducking Hell – A Tale of Culinary RegretI didn’t have the duck. Let me just get that out of the way before we go any further. I went to a restaurant called Demon Duck and I didn’t order the duck. What was I thinking? I love duck. I’ve always loved duck. Crispy duck pancakes, duck à l’orange, duck confit, duck fat potatoes,…
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The Clifton Sausage: A Banger of a Staple
Read full review: The Clifton Sausage: A Banger of a StapleThere are some places that aren’t so much part of the food scene as they are part of the actual scenery. Places so ingrained in the local fabric, you’re not sure whether they serve sausages or hold up the street itself. The Clifton Sausage is one of those places. A fixture. A stalwart. A culinary…
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The Riverstation, Bristol – As Close to an Institution as It Gets (and Yes, I Know There Are Loads of Institutions in Bristol)
Read full review: The Riverstation, Bristol – As Close to an Institution as It Gets (and Yes, I Know There Are Loads of Institutions in Bristol)There’s a thing that happens when you live in or around Bristol long enough. You start throwing around the word institution like it’s seasoning. The Lido this, The Ivy that. But when it comes to food – proper, grown-up food that doesn’t come with a side of TikTok – there is one place that quietly,…
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The Southgate Pub, The Gower – a Narcissist’s Nightmare
Read full review: The Southgate Pub, The Gower – a Narcissist’s NightmareLet’s start with the obvious: this is a slightly narcissistic review. A Southgate reviewing The Southgate? It’s like David Gower critiquing The Gower, or Brad Pitt doing a documentary on Big Pit. The whole thing already smacks of self-regard, so it’s a shame I have to report that the only thing this pub and I…
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The Windmill, Portishead – Pub Grub No More
Read full review: The Windmill, Portishead – Pub Grub No MoreThere are three things in this country rarer than a competent rail replacement bus: A week of sunshine. A pub with a view worth more than a glance. A pub lunch that doesn’t taste like it was scraped off the floor of a 2008 wedding buffet in Milton Keynes. Today, by some celestial clerical error,…
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Fabulous food, stunning stays, honestly reviewed.
Paul Southgate is The Travel Critic—the kind of traveller who claims to love adventure, as long as it includes 24-hour room service and a spa.
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Paul Southgate: a patchwork of Hughs stitched together with fraying thread. The poor man’s Hugh Grant, all charm on a budget. The thinking woman’s Hugh Laurie, though thinking too hard might ruin the illusion. He’s got Hugh Jackman’s kindness, but not the abs, and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s enthusiasm for food, minus the ability to turn nettles into Michelin-starred soup. A wannabe Hugh Hefner—pipe dreams in a velvet dressing gown—but in reality, closer to Hugh Bonneville, bumbling through life with a comforting sort of dignity. A man of many Hughs, and yet…none of them.
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