Gastro pubs boom dishes

Related tags Gastro pubs Restaurant Inn

up a puzzle for City diners by John Harrington The line between gastro pubs and restaurants in London is continuing to blur following the recent boom...

up a puzzle for City diners

by John Harrington

The line between gastro pubs and restaurants in London is continuing to blur following the recent boom in 'top end pub eateries.

That is the view of Time Out restaurant critic Guy Diamond, whose thoughts are contained in the Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide 2006, which is released at the end of the month.

The 23rd edition of the guide lists a few dozen of London's best gastro pubs, and reveals the capital's top-five food pubs.

Diamond told the Morning Advertiser: 'The distinction between a gastro pub and a restaurant is getting blurred at the top end.

'Within the past year the trend has been for gastro pubs to get smarter.

'There's a place called The Gun on the Isle of Dogs. Part of it is more like a restaurant than a gastro pub, with white linen and wine glasses, and the prices reflect that. More and more places are like that, to some extent.

'I take gastro pubs as being the biggest trend of the past decade. There's one in every neighbourhood and everybody knows what they are.

Of the gastro pubs included in the guide, Diamond said: 'They are all good. Some are very good. Some are better than a lot of restaurants in the neighbourhood.

Diamond explained why he believed prices at gastro pubs have risen in recent years.

'The first one that people called a gastro pub was The Eagle in London in 1991. That was a mould-breaking approach and the prices were quite reasonable.

'As people spend money on kitchens and staff that is reflected in the prices. You often find restaurant prices but you get the restaurant experience. But he added: 'Some of them are still basic, and they are all the better for it.

The guide goes on sale on 29 September, priced £10.99.

Related topics News Legislation

Property of the week

Follow us

Pub Trade Guides

View more