My Most-Read Restaurant Reviews: Revisited in 2025

Funny how the internet keeps receipts, isn’t it?

Some of these restaurant reviews were written back when I blogged with just a pinch of nervousness and a whole lot of opinionated salt. Some I wrote in the heady haze of a full belly and a mood. Some were just meant to capture a moment. A bite. A view. A sip. A memory.

And yet here we are in 2025 (seven years on), and they’re still being read. And a lot.

So I thought it was time to give them a dust-off and reflect on what made them connect with you my readers. And in one case, finally return to the scene of the sip. This isn’t a 'Top 5 Bestest Eateries of My Entire Life!!!' kind of list. You know I’d never do you like that because a few like The Waterside Inn in Bray and Le Manoir aux Quat Saisons (both truly memorable) have never even made it to the grid.

What this is, is a look back, a re-read and in one case... a very deliberate re-taste.

1. Champagne at Harrods… in Milton Keynes?

The Harrods Champagne Bar, Milton Keynes

Originally posted: May 20, 2021 | Revisited in person: Yes.

Turns out, putting Harrods and Milton Keynes in the same sentence was the plot twist none of us saw coming but apparently many of you were just as intrigued as I was. As this is, hands down, the most-read review and the most-read post on my blog. And here’s the twist: I had no intentions of writing it.

No really. There was no plan, no intention, no elaborate notes taken between sips. It was a few days after visiting the Champagne Bar a completely random thought popped into my head. I was actually walking through the mall. I couldn't walk and type so I sat down on a seat, opened my phone to my notes and wrote the whole thing in half an hour. Then my friend looked at it, tweaked it and mother shared it with the staff in Harrods.

I’ve since returned another two times. But yes, it’s still got that slightly surreal, quietly glamorous feel. I won’t say I’m a regular (though I wouldn’t say no to that level of leisure), but it’s still a great unexpected little indulgence in the middle of mall madness. Is champagne part of your love language? Then Indulge here in more bubbles and bite-sized reflections.

But I suppose it helps too, that when you Google 'Harrods Champagne Bar Milton Keynes'—go on, try it, my review is on the first page. Accidental fame, courtesy of champagne and a mall bench.

Dessert and some of the best Instagram food lighting, at Park Chinois, London

2. The Mayfair Chippy: Fried Food and a Forkful of Memory

Originally posted: October 24, 2022 | Revisited in person: No

It’s a little strange seeing this post at the top of my most-read list.

Strange, not because it wasn’t worth writing (it was), or because the fish wasn’t good (it was, eventually). But because that post holds a quiet kind of grief folded into the batter. The Mayfair Chippy wasn’t just a meal, it was the last time X and I went out before everything… changed.

When I wrote that review, I laced it with humour, with a story from my childhood in Montserrat and with the kind of dry honesty that helped me love food writing. But behind the quips and the queue outside the restaurant, there’s something more tender, something unsaid, but still very much there.

I haven’t been back. I’m not sure I need to. The memory is clear enough and oddly, it comforts me. If you do go to The Mayfair Chippy, I hope the batter’s still as light, crispy and the chips, still warm.

But if you want to try the full battered spectrum, if you're curious how fish and chips fare under chandeliers, an experience more polished than nostalgic, this is worth a read.

Intrigued as to why a fish and chip shop called The Mayfair Chippy has lots of people reading, see the full review here

3. Dining Among Cherry Blossoms and Samurai Armour

Tattu London & Ivy Asia St. Paul’s

Originally posted: May 29, 2022 and April 10, 2022 | Revisited: Not yet.

In a sea of Tripadvisor, SquareMeal, SevenRooms summaries and SEO-stuffed listicles, these two rank on page two of Google.

One, a rooftop indulgence with drama and a martini I still think about; the other has samurai armour and an eyeful of St Paul's Cathedral.

Both are unapologetically Instagrammable and yet, the food didn’t phone it in either. I haven’t yet revisited either spot but I still recommend them when someone asks for a dinner setting with flair and flavour.

Enjoy a live DJ sesh? Saunter over here. If you’re looking for something a little more rambunctious, jig to here.

A Few Honourable Mentions (Because Restaurant Reviews Deserve Gossip):

• Most fun to write about: Coya, hands down. It was the storyline... all energy, flavour and the right kind of chaos.

  
  

  

  Gourmet dining at Tamarind Restaurant, Holland America Cruises

• Should’ve reviewed but didn’t (and still think about it): Tamarind at Sea – Yes, I ate. Yes, it was beautiful… no, I didn’t write a word. Couldn't find the right ones.

• Best lighting for pretending you don’t care about lighting: To 1930's Shanghai – soft, flirty, no filter needed.

• The restrooms to write home about: The one with the gold swans and the one with the ostrich. (You had to be there.)

• Most unexpectedly delicious dish: ackee, saltfish and johnny bake, the kind that makes you pause mid-convo and just… nod. You just don't expect anyone to come so close to your mother's home cooking.

• Most atmospheric dining setting: A toss between A restaurant on the water in southern Montserrat back in the day, Tamarind at Sea and The Waterside Inn, Bray.  Why? Because anything on or near the water gets extra points, always.

• The one I think about more than I should: We all have one. Mine, Apron & Hammers, Back when it was an anchored dhow in Mina Seyahi. We smacked seafood and ate like we had nothing but time.

• The ones I am most proud of: First we visit Mayfair where it turns out, I'd been doing this for quite sometime and then we crossover to Belgravia. Both a blend of storytelling, fiction and a real restaurant review where fact and flavour blurs beautifully.

  
  

  

  Coconut and Mango mochi - Mei Ume, Four Seasons Trinity Square

• The one dedicated to some of the desserts I've loved, before.

Final Forkfuls

So, that’s the round-up. A little bite here, a little memory there and a lot of unexpected joy in between.

If you’ve read one of these restaurant reviews before, I’d love to know which one stayed with you. Or tell me: what’s the best meal you’ve ever had? And while we’re at it, should I keep writing restaurant reviews? No pressure (but yes, absolutely pressure).

And as for that 31st review? It’s on the way. Until then, thank you for reading, revisiting and eating along with me.

Have a favourite review, a restaurant I should try, or just want to enable my habit of turning meals into essays? Drop it in the comments. I’m all ears (and appetite).