Top 10s

It's getting near the end of the year and while I want to believe that the best meals are still to come, I thought it'd be kinda fun to look back through the blog and come up with some top 10s for the year. I'll begin with my top ten restos (includes service, ambiance etc), before moving on to dishes and then my top 10 food experiences of the year. I've tried to share the love around a bit in having three top 10s and will aim not to repeat too many places across them.

So, thinking about my top 10 restaurants, one of the things which quickly became clear to me was that my fave places are almost all ones which I've been to many times. This may reflect a certain conservatism on my part, but I like to think that it reveals these to be restaurants which are super reliable, where there is in all cases good service and a nice place to eat, as well as truly delicious food. London gets 9 of the 10 and all of them are at the budget-midrange end of things, which reflects very well on the capital as a city where you can eat exceptionally well without going crazy. Here they are then, in reverse order...:

10. Smiths of Smithfield: I don't think the food is that amazing, but what a building and what a buzz. Actually, the veggie breakfast is delicious and there's nowhere I'd rather have brunch.
9. Abu Zaad: still the best cheese sambousek, and much else that is great besides (including the fantastic lemon and mint juices).
8. The Eagle: not been lately, but the food does tend to be great and their beer and wine selection is fantastic.
7. Tbilisi: one visit was enough to convert me to the deep yumminess of Georgian food. We must go back.
6. Ganapati: Peckham south Indian - again just visited once, but a super vibe and the most amazingly delicious beetroot.
5. Ciao Bella: big pizzas you can eat outside in Bloomsbury at sizx or seven quid, with amazing olives, breadsticks and hunks of parmigiano as a free starter: I'm there.
4. King's Sandwich Bar: Somewhere I can walk in, grab a Diet Coke from the fridge, shoot the breeze with my main man behind the counter, and not have to order, because he knows I always have a giant bap with cheese, salad and colelslaw. Quite simply one of the places that makes me love food and being alive.
3. Plaza: the best sag paneer I had all year was in Birmingham's balti triangle. Hot damn it was delicious.
2. El Vergel: love the place, the people, the cherry cheesecake and the amazing tacos.
1. Pho: hope to go there tonight with Number7: hot, healthy Vitnamese food, which you get to wear bibs to eat, with the best crunchy tofu ever and a really nice atmosphere too. Pho, you are a worthy winner of lacroixduroi's restaurant of the year award. The owner's very friendly so we may tell him this later.