Grace Dent's worst London restaurants of 2014
The Sixth Sense award for Diner Invisibility
Kirazu
This year has seen the real beginnings of the waiter/waitress-free dining experience. I’ve been handed iPads (Rex and Mariano), asked to download the app (Grill Shack) and been directed to a bank of computers and told to serve myself (DF Mexico). Kirazu passed me a ticklist and a pencil, then ignored me for so long that I went to find the chef myself.
47 Rupert Street, W1, kirazu.co.uk
The ‘My What a Lovely Freezer and Microwave You Have’ award
Café Football
If you have never in your entire life tasted a decent, lovingly made burger or a fine sausage roll, I’m quite certain you believe the Café Football experience is ‘top banter’. I find Café Football’s Twitter account teeming with tourists calling dinner there ‘mesmerising’ baffling. These people are also allowed to vote.
The Street, Westfield Stratford City, E20, cafe-football.com
The regional award for Recreating How Dinner Feels Outside London
Ham Yard
Not a restaurant, nor a hotel, but an ‘urban village’. If relocated, this place has real potential to be one of the ‘swankiest’ places in Cardiff. A Malmaison having a nervous breakdown.
1 Ham Yard, W1, firmdalehotels.com
More of Grace Dent's worst London restaurants of 2014
