Tag: 5*****
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Pabblo: Dinner with a Side of Spectacle
Going out for dinner with friends should be an occasion. It isn’t always. Sometimes it’s just another meal—food arrives, you eat, you leave, and if you’re lucky, you remember what you had. But a truly great restaurant needs more than just good food. There are four main considerations when choosing where to eat. First, the…
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The Ivy, Bath – Posh Breakfast Done Right
As I’ve written before, I’ve long held the view that the posher the location, the worse the breakfast. It’s a complex dilemma: do you opt for somewhere warm and welcoming, where the service is lovely but there’s a real risk of unnecessary garnish on your fried eggs? Or do you brave a hard plastic seat…
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Grano, Bristol – A Little Italian Gem That Gets It Right
The challenge for a small, local restaurant is that it has to be good. That might sound obvious, but it’s the brutal truth. A big chain can chug along, slinging out plates of reheated mediocrity because there’s always another lost tourist or lazy diner willing to settle. But the independents? They live and die by…
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The Alan: Where Manchester’s Cool Feels Warm
Manchester, they say, is trendy. Far too trendy for me, of course, which is a word I’ve now used twice and which, in itself, demonstrates how deeply untrendy I am. “Trendy” is surely not the word du jour. Nor, I suspect, is “cool,” which I’ve just used to underline how hopelessly adrift I am from…
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The Scarlet: Where Magic Never Fades
To anyone who read my recent review of the Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi, where I warned against the dangers of revisiting a beloved destination, feel free to ignore that advice. I’m about to completely contradict myself, because here I am, back at The Scarlet in Cornwall for what feels like the hundredth time. And thank…
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‘Twas the Lunch Before Christmas – A Review of Goram & Vincent
‘Twas the lunch before Christmas, and all through the place, The in-laws were smiling, all brimming with grace. Four days of their company, not just one night— So off to a restaurant to soften the plight. The Goram & Vincent, with its scenic display, A bridge in the distance—the Avon, they say. “Isn’t it lovely?”…
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Gigi Pizza, Bristol: A Slice of Cool in the Coolest of Cities
Pizza. It’s no longer just food, is it? It’s a way of life. A cultural moment. Where once you’d pop out for “a pizza,” now you find yourself wading knee-deep in existential questions. What sort of pizza are we talking about here? Is it artisan? Sourdough? Neapolitan? Detroit-style? Vegan? Bristol, the city that could gentrify…
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A Christmas Miracle at The Granary Club
Picture the scene: it’s the office Christmas party. You know the type. The “celebration” where enthusiasm is proportionate to the amount of Pinot Grigio consumed, and nobody really wants to be there except Sandra from accounts (until she’s crying in the corner). The buffet is a fluorescent homage to beige, the wine a choice between…
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Review: Graft Graffiti Workshop, Bristol
Let’s face it. Corporate team-building activities are, more often than not, the stuff of nightmares. You know the drill: you’re lumped in with colleagues you actively avoid in the office, sent to a field in the middle of nowhere, and made to build a bridge out of twigs or solve a “problem” no one cares…
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Twice Blessed at Bentley’s: A Week of Unimaginable Indulgence
There are weeks when the heavens part, the stars align, and the gods of gastronomy beam down upon you. This, dear reader, has been one such week for me. Not once, but twice I’ve graced the hallowed halls of Bentley’s in Mayfair. First, hosting a client Christmas lunch in the Mersea private dining room, and…
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The Travel Critic 