Best of London food shops , restaurants and wine establishments for 2018

Here is my list of best of London food shops , restaurants and wine establishments for 2018.

Best Restaurant(s) in London : Hedone , The Square , The Clove Club , Bibendum , The Ritz  and The Ledbury

Best Sourcing and Ingredients : Hedone

Best Restaurant Wine Lists : Social Tapas , Chez Bruce  , The Greenhouse , Noble Rot , MASH, Hunan , Hedone and Taillevent 110

Best New Openings :  St Leonards , Kym's and Neptune

Best Argentinian : Zoilo

Best Italian Restaurant (Southern) :  Gola

Best Italian Restaurant (Northern) :  Novikov , Locanda Locatelli

Best Pan Italian :  , River Café  ,  Enoteca Turi , (Francesco Mazzei 's) Sartoria and L'Amorosa

Best Trattoria : Mele e Pere  , Radici and L'Amorosa

Best Indian : Jamvar

Best Casual Indian :  Chai Ki , Darjeeling Express

Best Indian delivery : Motu

Best Indian (Modern) : Roti Chai and Gymkhana

Best Pakistani :  Saloos 

Best Chinese : Hunan , Kai , Silk Road and A Wong

Best Dim Sum :  A Wong  and Royal China (Baker St)

Best Thai :   Som Sa

Best neo BBQ  : Pitt Cue

Best Fusion : Novikov 

Best Japanese : The Araki

Best Vietnamese : head to Paris or Vietnam

Best Lebanese/Syrian : Ishbilia  Knightsbridge

Best Israleli : Bala Baya

Best Greek :  Opsos , Meraki and Horvada

Best "Politiki Kouzina " Peckham Bazaar 

Best Turkish : Gökyüzü

Best Sushi : The Araki

Best French :  Gauthier Soho , Club Gascon, The Square , and Bibendum

Best Modern British/European : The Ledbury , Kitchen Table and The Clove Club

Best Spanish : Cambio de Tercio , Rambla and  Pizarro 

Best Tapas : Tendido Cedro , Rambla and José

Best English : St John's , The Guinea Grill , Parlour

Best Fish/Seafood : One - O - One , Knightsbridge (CLOSED)

Best Gastro Pub : Parlour , Harwood Arms , Anchor and Hope and Great Queen St

Best Service : Galvin's Windows and Cambio de Tercio

Best Sandwich : Kappacaseins Cheese Toastie

Best Pub : The Guinea and The Cleveland Arms

Best Selection of Craft Beer :  The Rake 

Best Wine Bar : 40 Maltby St , Antidote Wine Bar, 10 Cases and Noble Rot

Best Brasserie : Bob Bob Ricard

Best Neighbourhood Restaurants : L'Amorosa , Peckham Baazar and Chez Bruce

Best Mavericks : Morito Hackney Road , Pitt Cue and 40 Maltby St

Best French Bistro/Bourgeois Cooking :  Casse Croûte  

Best Burger :  Little Social 

Best "joint" Burger :  Patty & Bun and Meat Liquor 

Best Chain Burger : Patty & Bun

Best Steak : Guinea Grill , Zelman Meats and Goodman

Best Steak Restaurants : Zelman Meats ,  Hawksmoor , Flatiron , MASH and Goodman

Best Pizza :  Santa Maria and Pizzicotto

Best Street Food : Mr Falafel ( Shepherds Bush )

Best Value for money Wine List : MASH ,Noble Rot, Bonhams , Hunan and Andrew Edmunds

Best Value for Money Restaurants : Koya Bar ,   Flatiron and Peckham Bazaar

Best Breakfast : Koya Bar and The Ritz

My best meals in London 2018 . Hedone . Gauthier Soho , The Ritz,  The Clove Club and Peckham Bazaar.

My best meals outside London in 2018 : The Sportsman (Kent) and The Crown Burchetts Green and The Kitchin.

My best meals outside the UK in 2018 : Chez L'Ami Jean, Paris , Table , Paris ,  Le Calandre , Rubano and Le Calandre , Paris

Best Bakery/Bread :  Hedone

Best  Chocolatier : William Curley

Best Patisserie :  Hedone 

Best Coffee : Prufrock Coffee

Best Coffee Roaster : Difference Coffee and Square Mile

Best Tea : Lalani & Co

Best Croissants : None

Best Gelato :  Oddono's 

Best Fishmonger : The Chelsea Fishmonger (Rex Goldsmith), Chelsea Green

Best Fish and Seafood Wholesale : Pesky Fish

Best Butchers : O'Shea's , Provenance and HG Walter.

Best Greengrocer : Andreas Veg , Chelsea .

Best Cheese Shops : La Fromagerie , Androuet , Buchanans and Neal's Yard 

Best Purveyor of French Charcuterie  : The Ham and Cheese Company

Best Purveyors of Italian Salumi : The Ham and Cheese Company 

Best Purveyor of British Charcuterie : Cannon and Cannon

Best Wine Merchants Retail :  Bottle Apostle , Hansen Hayes and Clark and Handford

Best Wine Merchants Wholesale : Liberty , Fortyfive 10 ,  and Fields , Morris and Verdin

Steak Frites Tasting Dinner Monday 12 April - Racine

The next youngandfoodish Steak Frites Tasting Dinner will be Monday 12 April in the private dining room of Racine Restaurant in London.

The menu will again feature three steak classics – onglet aux échalottes, filet au poivre, côte de boeuf – prepared by chef Henry Harris with the finest cuts of dry-aged, grass-fed beef selected by Darragh O’Shea of the great London butcher O’Shea’s of Knightsbridge. Each steak will be matched to a red wine selected by Peter Lowe of Berkmann Wine Cellars:

onglet aux échalottes <–> Morgon Domaine Jean Descombes 2008
filet au poivre <–> Antinori Santa Cristina 2008
côte de boeuf with béarnaise <– > Côtes-du-Rhône Saint-Esprit 2007

Steak Frites : Mastering the cuts video 5. Raw Essentials

Here is the fifth of our daily release of the videos, shot by Brian Jones and co-produced by Dino Joannides Dino Joannides and Daniel Young, will form the backdrop of our “why do you love steak frites?” competition on twitter, hopefully inspiring your most poetic, passionate or playful responses. [HOW TO ENTER THE COMPETITION].

The Onglet is a family favourite it has a massive flavour kick when properly cooked. To some the cut looks unattractive when removed from the carcass, a good knife can quickly transform it into a real beauty. Watching Dermot and Darragh O'Shea preparing it is like poetry in motion. Onglet is two muscles divided by tough connective tissue, which must be removed, and is taken from the diaphragm of the animal. Because of it's location it has a slight gamey, offally flavour not present in any of the other loin cuts. In terms of ageing this cut does not require or benefit much from more than 21 to 28 days.

Fillet is the most tender steak of all, but it is not necessarily the one with the most flavour. It is sought after for its delicate structure and lack of fat but ironically these are the characteristics that can make it rather bland when compared to the other great beef cuts like Onglet, Rib eye and Rump.

Fillet is cut from the inside of the beef loin, it does very little work and is therefore very tender. It can be improve when dry-aged and cut on the bone. We age our Irish and Scottish Black Angus Grass Fed and Barley Finished Fillet for around 21- 28 days but even at 15 days it can produce superb results when cooked and served correctly.

Fillet doesn't benefit from long ageing. If left too long in a vacuum it can develop a metallic taste as the enzymes over work. Too long hanging on the bone and it will dry out, losing some of it's moisture and tenderness .

The Rib Eye on the bone or Cowboy Steak as Americans call it and Côte de Boeuf as it's known in France is normally cut for two to share so perfect for lovers and good friends.In fact I know some couples who call it the kiss and make up steak. It is basically a thick rib eye with the bone attached. The bone always enhances a steak and this cut presents beautifully and theatrically when carved, and served at the table either in a restaurant or at home . This is one of the cuts that does benefit from aging at O'Shea's it is aged for 45 - 55 days. A well aged and marbled Côte de Boeuf should not need a sauce and is perfect with good Mustard or Bearnaise as a condiment.

In the video below Henry Harris Chef Patron of Racine and Darragh O'Shea of O'Shea's Knightsbridge discuss the raw essentials of Onglet , Fillet and Côte de Boeuf.

Steak Frites : Mastering the cuts video 4. Béarnaise

Here is the fourth of our daily release of the videos, shot by Brian Jones and co-produced by Dino Joannides Dino Joannides and Daniel Young, will form the backdrop of our “why do you love steak frites?” competition on twitter, hopefully inspiring your most poetic, passionate or playful responses. [HOW TO ENTER THE COMPETITION].

With a côte de bœuf especially if you have invested in a really top class well aged piece of meat from a premium Butcher you don't really need much more than a top quality Dijon Mustard or proper homemade Béarnaise. I also love them both equally so tend to alternate between the two with each forkful of succulent steak which of course means I tend to go for big steaks !

In this video Henry Harris Chef Patron of Racine Restaurant shows how to make the perfect Béarnaise and how to avoid the mistakes so many home cooks make which cause both anxiety and stress. Henry's Béarnaise is not that difficult to make and well worth the trouble it is so much better the bought in stuff so often found in some restaurants or even the best versions one finds in supermarkets or delis.

Steak Frites : Mastering the cuts video 3. Filet au poivre

This is the third of our daily release of the videos, shot by Brian Jones and co-produced by Dino Joannides Dino Joannides and Daniel Young, will form the backdrop of our “why do you love steak frites?” competition on twitter, hopefully inspiring your most poetic, passionate or playful responses. [HOW TO ENTER THE COMPETITION].

Fillet is the most tender steak of all, but not necessarily the one with the most flavour. It is sought after for its delicate structure and lack of fat but ironically these are the characteristics that can make it rather bland when compared to the other great beef cuts like Onglet, Ribeye and Rump.

Fillet is cut from the inside of the beef loin, it does very little work and is therefore very tender. It can be improve when dry-aged and cut on the bone. O'Shea's of Knightsbridge age their Irish and Scottish Black Angus Grass Fed and Barley Finished Fillet for around 21- 28 days but even at 15 days it can produce superb results when cooked and served correctly.

Fillet doesn't benefit from long ageing. If left too long in a vacuum it can develop a metallic taste as the enzymes over work. Too long hanging on the bone and it will dry out, losing some of it's moisture and tenderness .

Unfortunately like with the other cuts you need to be very careful when selecting your beef as quality varies hugely so my advice is find a good Butcher ask about the provenance of the meat , the breed , what it's fed on , husbandry and so on. If the Butcher says things like Scotch, English or Argentinian and not much more you are probably in the wrong place.

Great Chefs like Henry Harris of Racine Restaurant as well as home cooks will always prepare a sauce with this delicate cut and, in the video below you can see him cook Fillet au Poivre a dish he learned to cook under the tutelage of the great Simon Hopkinson in the seminal mid 1980's restaurant Hilaire , just around the corner in Old Brompton road. That kitchen brigade then moved on to open Bibendum with Terrance Conran. The combination of veal stock , butter , black pepper , brandy and top class Fillet steak produces a wonderful steak dis that also goes very well with pommes frites. The first time I remember having this dish was when I was a child in Paris at a restaurant called Pharamond in Les Halles and it was served with pommes souffles. However I can confirm that the combination of O'Shea's of Knightsbridge Fillet and Henry Harris's cooking produced simply the best one I have ever had.