Tag: 4****
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Sushi Saki, Barcelona – iPad Sushi and the Death of the Buffet
There was a time, not so very long ago, when the words buffet and Japanese together in a sentence meant only one thing: a heroic bout of salmonella, followed by 48 hours writhing in a Barcelona Airbnb praying to the porcelain gods and whispering promises to never, ever, eat again. You remember the scene: a…
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CiaoCiao, Barcelona – A Midnight Slice of Sanity
The great thing about arriving late into Spain — the only great thing about arriving late into Spain — is that the Spanish eat late. I have no idea why. I’ve asked them, often and earnestly, and they simply can’t tell me. They shrug, they gesture, they smoke, they look at me like I’ve asked…
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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)
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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Bar 44: A Reminder That Dinner Isn’t Just Dinner
The thing we often forget, and I’m as guilty of this as anyone, is that going out for food isn’t about ‘the food.’ I mean, we all need to eat, but we can do that anywhere. The real joy lies in the ‘going out.’ It’s the atmosphere, the ambiance, the sense of occasion, and—yes—the service.…
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Pintxo, Bath – A Tapas Bar Doing What Tapas Bars Should
I don’t like restaurants where you can’t book. I also don’t like restaurants where you can’t get a booking. If I had to choose, I’d go with the former—provided there’s a nice bar where you can wait, a team who haven’t forgotten about you, and no passive-aggressive clipboard wielder telling you they “might be able…
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Apex Hotel, Bath – A Decent Stay, If the Price is Right
I’ve never got on with local councils. I know they’re strapped for cash, but they seem to exist solely to make parking more expensive and planning applications impossible. And nowhere is this more evident than in Bath, a city of breathtaking Georgian beauty marred by the occasional concrete monstrosity that some council planning department inexplicably…
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From Downton to Downtown: The Andaz Experience
When you’re nipping into London for a quick overnighter, location is everything. Schlepping across the capital like some 18th-century explorer, map in hand, is a waste of valuable time you could be spending doing literally anything else. So, you want a hotel near a major tube station—a station that’s basically a public transport Swiss Army…
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One Aldwych: Quietly Exceptional in the Heart of London
Here’s the hard thing about being a luxury hotel in London: standing out. Honestly, who isn’t spoilt for choice? You’ve got the big-name establishments with their red-carpet entrances, top-hatted doormen, and an air of aristocratic pomp, servicing those who like their luxury served with a side of flash. Then there are the multi-national chains—slick, polished,…
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The Breakfast Club: A Review by Someone Who Knows How to Plan Ahead
Gen Z’s are famous for their desire for instant gratification—except, it seems, when it comes to queuing outside the latest Instagram restaurant. Unlike most of them, I can make a plan and stick to it. So, instead of standing in the rain with the hopeful hordes, I booked a table. Yes, it’s called being an…
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Goram & Vincent: Where the View Outshines the Kitchen
There’s one place everyone brings friends or family who are seeing Bristol for the first time: to marvel at the Clifton Suspension Bridge. It’s an obligatory pilgrimage for visitors, even if the iconic view has been marred by scaffolding for two years now. Most people head to The White Lion, the pub next door at…
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The Travel Critic 