Restaurant radar: August 2019

Eggslut​​
California-based Eggslut will attempt to crack the London market this month when its debut UK restaurant opens in Notting Hill early this month. Opening on Portobello Road, it will be serving its Instagram-friendly The Fairfax - scrambled eggs with chives, cheese and caramelised onions and sriracha mayo in a brioche bun - as well as bacon, eggs and cheese in a brioche bun; and The Slut, made from a coddled egg on top of a potato puree, poached in a glass jar, and served with baguette slices.
185 Portobello Road, London​​
www.eggslut.com​​​

Noto​​
Aizle chef Stuart Ralston is doubling up in Edinburgh with the opening of a second restaurant in the city. Called Noto, the 40-cover is New York inspired but with a love for Asian cuisine that will serve a menu informed by Ralston’s time spent living in New York while working at Gordon Ramsay’s The London restaurant. The restaurant will serve an a la carte menu with daily specials and will open for brunch and will have a 10-seat bar area. ​
notoedinburgh.co.uk​​​

Mama Fuego​
This two-storey restaurant located at The Tide in London’s Greenwich Peninsula will feature a 70-cover restaurant, milk-bar, sunken lounge, open bakery and private garden overlooking the river when it opens later this month. The 300-cover venue has been designed to have a members club feel and is the result of a partnership between mother and daughter team Lynette and Cloe de la Vega that’s also behind hospitality group Banksia & Co. Their second venture will be multi-faceted, with the milk bar designed to bringing the neighbourhood vibe of Australian cafés to Greenwich, serving  floral cakes, matcha and charcoal soft serve ice cream, Tim Tams and Caramello Koalas. The 70-cover dining room, meanwhile, will have a hydroponic cress and edible flower farm, used by the chefs, bakers and bartenders in their dishes, and will serve an all-day menu. There will also be a separate parilla grill in the garden for grilled meat and fish dishes during the summer months.
Unit 5, 69-72 Olympian Way, London​
www.mamafuego.co.uk​​

El Gato Negro Liverpool​
Restaurateur Simon Shaw will open a second of his tapas restaurants, in Liverpool, on 2 August. Located at the city’s Exchange Flags development, his latest project is a huge 240-cover open-plan restaurant that will feature an island bar,  with seating for 70 guests, and outdoor terrace with 40 covers as well as a chef’s table. The menu will be similar to that at the Manchester original, with tapas dishes such as Catalan bread with olive oil, garlic and fresh tomato; fillet of hake, buttered new potatoes and parsley sauce; aged Manchego with bittersweet green figs; and chargrilled sweet potato with mango, chilli and yoghurt dressing.
Unit 2, Walker House, Exchange Flags, Liverpool
www.elgatonegrotapas.com/liverpool​​

Tandem​
Cafe Spice Namaste owner Cyrus Todiwala will open his first restaurant outside of the capital, in Leicester, at the end of the month. Called Tandem, the 150-cover restaurant will be split over two floors and have a chef’s table and rooftop terrace when it opens in the city’s Highcross shopping centre. Dishes will span the Indian subcontinent with small plates of Goan and Portuguese influence designed to be shared as part of the ground floor menu while the first floor dining room is expected to be more refined with classic Indian dishes on the menu.
Highcross Street, Leicester​

Heritage​
Chef Matt Gillan will reopen The Chequers in Slaugham, West Sussex, as Heritage later this month following a successful crowdfunding campaign. The restaurant with rooms - which are due to open later in the year - will serve an a la carte menu as well as a seven-course tasting menu and vegetarian tasting menu with a lunch menu also available Wednesday – Saturday. The cooking is described as being founded in classical techniques combined with Gillan’s signature twists, with dishes on the launch menu to include salmon carpaccio, crab cannelloni, yellow pepper, iced coriander; chicken liver parfait, caramelised radish, baby beetroot with sourdough; fjord trout, lettuce cream, roasted baby gem, braised ox tongue and tomato jam; and raspberry tart, pickled raspberry, nougatine, lemon curd. Heritage will also serve The Herder, Gillan’s winning dish from The Great British Menu made with preparations of goat; stuffed loin, salt baked leg, barbecue shoulder, herder pie, jelly, goat fat dumpling and roasted pineapple.
The Chequers, Slaugham, West Sussex​
heritage.restaurant​​

Baozilnn London Bridge​
The third restaurant from BaoziInn Group will also be its flagship, set over three floors with an open kitchen on the ground floor, 120 covers in total and a cocktail bar and lounge. Known for its colourful Cantonese dim sum with Hunan and Sichuan influences, dan dan noodles and delicious dumplings, skewers and buns, the London Bridge menu will have a Cantonese roast meats focus, with the promise of a ‘fiery kick’. Expect regional Northern Chinese street including barbecue roast duck smoked with cherry wood; crispy roast pork belly; and caramelised barbeqce roast pork as well as wonton noodles that have been flown in specially from Yuen Long in Hong Kong. Baozilnn also operates restaurants in Soho and Market Halls Victoria.
34-36 Southwark Street, London​
baoziinn.com​​

Bianchi’s​
Bianchi’s will be the fourth Bristol venture from Dominic Borel and Ben Harvey, who also run deli-style concept La Sorella and restaurant Pasta Ripiena as well as Pasta Loco. Here the duo will be going back to basics with a traditional Italian trattoria, with Pegs Quinn, formerly of Pasta Ripiena, heading up the kitchen.
1-3, York Road, Bristol​

Waka​​
Peruvian-Japanese fusion concept Waka is returning to the City of London with a grab-and-go restaurant. The brand, which was launched by siblings Irakli and Nino Sopromadze, had previously operated in the City, in Eastcheap, but was forced to relocate to White City following extensive flooding in the basement dining room. This time it’s opening in Houndsditch with a menu that will be the same as at White City, meaning dishes including sake and miso salmon anticucho; chicken katsu curry; and Nikkei yakisoba noodles as well as sushi and vegetable dumplings.
120 Hounsditch, London​​
www.waka-uk.com​​​

Albert’s Schenke​
Manchester’s popular German-inspired ‘bier palace and restaurant Albert Schloss is getting a younger sibling in the form of Albert’s Schenke, which is opening up in Liverpool. From Mission Mars, the group behind food and drink venues Rudy‘s Neapolitan Pizza and Gorilla as well as pubs The Viking, The Elephant and Liberty Tavern, the ‘bier halle and cook haus’ will have a large beer selection of around 20 on tap and plenty more in bottles and serve beer-friendly food that will be a  ‘modern take on classic dishes served across Alpine Europe’. This means Black Forest ham, egg and chips; a raclette burger; kebabs, schnitzels and sausages as well as a breakfast menu that features a breakfast bagel of sausage patty, sunny-side egg, smoked bacon, cheddar and red chilli jam; the cook hasu breafast of kaiserwurst, streaky bacon, sunny-side egg, portobello mushroom, beans, grilled tomato, potato rösti and toasted bloomer; and roast peaches, haus granola, greek yoghurt, pistachio. Live music will also feature, as most likely will lederhosen.
Casartelli Building, Hanover Street, Liverpool
www.albertsschenke.co.uk​​