New dining digs in London town
The London restaurant scene stands still for no one. It feels like there’s a new opening every week. Here is a list of places I’ve been to that have opened within the last year which have got my tastebuds going. All are decent, some are very good indeed. I’ll keep adding to this and updating it, so make sure to check back for the latest juice.
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MAISON BAB
Kebabs | Covent Garden | £
Opened Sep 2018
Maison Bab is the new spot by the Le Bab stable. They’ve got a casual restaurant upstairs and are a planning a ‘fine dining’ spot in the basement, subverting the genre aesthetically by borrowing iconography from kebab shop facades – interested to see how that pans out.
Upstairs is much larger than Le Bab in Kingly Court which I always found to be a bit too tight and not that fun intimate feel you can get in some restaurants; food wise the kebabs here are meant to be a bit more rough and ready, more typical so to speak than the slightly more fancy ones on offer in Le Bab and all under a tenner. When I went to Masion Bab, I had the chicken shish which I found to be a bit dry – def make sure you get the chilli sauce that accompanies it. So whilst, I’d say the kebab was not as good as at Le Bab (though mind you I went during soft launch so sure some kinks were still being ironed out) – the space, service and price point would certainly draw me back. RR
CASA DO FRANGO
Portugese | London Bridge | ££
Opened July 2018
Casa Do Frango is in food hub London Bridge, a few mins walk from the station. I was in the area, hungry and keen to have a sit down lunch but not spend a huge amount. I ended up ordering a free range half chicken (£9.5) and some ‘African Rice’ (£5) which comes loaded with peas, plantain and cripy chicken skin (I asked for mine without chorizo) served in small dish that is deceptively filling. I really enjoyed the moist rice dish; the chicken was fine but I asked for mine to be browned a little more in the hope of getting a somewhat more crunchy exterior – ask for some peri peri sauce on the side, it makes all the difference. The space is rustic and casual with a tonne of foliage – a proper cutie. There’s a mix of benches and stand alone table as well as a bar that’s perfect for solo dinners. Lots of people have been saying that it’s lazy to just describe it as a posh Nando’s but it kind of is to be fair and they ain’t nothing wrong with that. RR
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