James Ensor at the RA
Much more interesting and surprising than the overblown yanks below, who seem the most humourless bunch of po-faced canvas wasters set against the deftly humorous savagery of Ensor and his confrères.
Review #100 Diwana, Drummond Street
The third Drummond Street of the year and probably the best. But where's the chicken?!
Review #99 Pasta Remoli, Finsbury Park
Helped along by excellent service Pasta Remoli seems to be a good value option if you can't be arsed to walk the extra mile to the Stroud Green Italian Quarter.
Review #98 Gitane, Fitzrovia
Good quiche and an untwattish atmos in Gitane.
Review #97 Vapiano, Great Portland Street
Charmless queueing? No thanks.
Review #96 MI+ME, St Pancras
Scouting out a walk for Belgian clients I arrived at St Pancras ravenous. Options in St P are becoming fairly limited towards the end of the year so I gave MI+ME a go. Given its name I was half expecting some Marcel Marceau action from the waiting staff. Alas, no. The name remains irritating without…
Review #95 Amphitheatre Restaurant, Covent Garden
Eating at the opéra, in my limited experience, is always expensive and often a bit of a shot in the dark, whether you're getting some sandwiches and a glass of wine or going for the full gut-busting blow out with gallons of booze on the side. But the Amphitheatre proved a winner.
Review #93 Ragam, Fitzrovia
Another Friday, another Friday night curry. Ragam gives as good product as Gaylord round the corner but without the expense.
Review #94 The Old Dairy, Stroud Green
It might just have been an off night for the resto but for over forty quid a head I expect a bit better.
Sarko, fascos and jihadis
Two things prompted me to write this post in appreciation of Louis Malle’s Lacombe, Lucien. The first was a mundane training exercise for a new teaching job. The other was a two page spread in Le Monde discussing Olivier Roy’s new book on jihadism, Le Djihad et la Mort.[1] Roy's book arrives at an opportune moment, with the Paris and Nice atrocities (among many others) still painfully recent, and the ongoing military campaign against Islamic State in the Middle East appearing in the news daily.
A London Journal 