Eating, especially in good restaurants, has to count as one of life's pleasures. It is also a privilege, and one for which this reviewer is grateful. The past year has seen more than 70 restaurants visited across 11 different countries. As of the end of November 41 new reviews had been posted to the Gourmand Gunno website (opens in a new tab) in 2024, as well as multiple entries added to the Global Gunno (opens in a new tab) page of favoured spots in non-UK cities. Below follow my highlights -
Best new experiences: All these venues have opened within the last 18 months and demonstrate the vibrancy of the London dining scene. For meat lovers, Ibai (opens in a new tab) and Origin City (opens in a new tab) are musts, with clear nods to Basque and Scottish cooking respectively. If you're keen to try cuisines that may be less familiar, then visit Donia (opens in a new tab) for Filipino fun and Toba (opens in a new tab) for Indonesian indulgence. Elsewhere, Los Mochis (opens in a new tab) was memorable for a Mexican-Japanese mash-up, while The Barbary (opens in a new tab) (mark two, in Notting Hill) brings brilliance to North African cuisine.
Best high-end meals: full plaudits to KOL (opens in a new tab), which seems to go from strength-to-strength with each visit, and deserves its ranking in the World's 50 Best Restaurants (opens in a new tab). Core (opens in a new tab) remains on top form, as ever (even if no review was penned on this occasion). And for the more adventurous, the tasting menu at Akoko (opens in a new tab) provides a wonderful showcase for West African cooking.
Outside the UK: a meal at Bar Crenn (opens in a new tab) in San Francisco whetted the appetite for Dominique's three Michelin-starred Atelier Crenn next door, should finances and availability ever permit. Closer to home, Spain's restaurants provided no shortage of positive surprises over 2024, with meals at Horma (opens in a new tab) Ondo (opens in a new tab) in the hills close to Bilbao and Barro (opens in a new tab) in Ávila being most memorable.
Outside of London: Gourmand Gunno enjoyed travelling to most corners of the UK over the last year and would be delighted to recommend Burnt Orange (opens in a new tab) in Brighton, COR (opens in a new tab) in Bristol and Asador (opens in a new tab) 44 (opens in a new tab)in Cardiff.
Old favourites that pleased once again: Delamina (opens in a new tab) for Middle Eastern in Marylebone; Tayyabs (opens in a new tab) in Whitechapel for still the best curried lamb chops in London. No new reviews added, but the original ones do them justice.
Local discoveries: admittedly only interesting for those who may be visiting London's W9 district, but both Da Daniela (opens in a new tab) for pizza and Dhaba@49 (opens in a new tab)for curry were serendipitous recent discoveries.
Finally, a couple of special mentions: (1) Panda's Kitchen (opens in a new tab) in Harrow. Don't judge a restaurant by its exterior, but this venue served up amazing Sichuan food (2) Fonda (opens in a new tab) on London's Heddon Street. Open for less than two months, this has all the makings of a classic venue, making Mexican more mainstream.