The week before last, Taste of London, the restaurant festival I visit every year, was on in Regents Park. It was nice like always, but I was still a bit disappointed. Some of the restaurants were not as exciting as previous years and didn’t deliver amazing dishes. Previous years it’s been a higher standard on the whole, so I hope it gets better again last year. With that said, I still tried some great dishes, but also a few disappointments. Reviews below.

Parmesan and polenta croquetas with truffle dip from Duck & Waffle: crispy, seriously cheesy, far too rich and not enough truffle flavour. Pretty dull actually.

Fettuccine with broad beans, Grana Padana and black truffle from Sartoria: nice pasta and generously sprinkled covered with black truffle it still didn’t impress.

Barbecued lamm cutlet from Roka: really nice!

Grilled pork belly with miso marinade, also from Roka: very nice!

Soft shell crab taco from Champor Champor: not very nice, but like the idea.

Baked scallop with mustard, chilli and cheese, covered with puff pastry from Mr Todiwala’s Kitchen: nice and different! But very filling.

Raw red prawns with black curry and coconut crème from Restaurant M: nice flavours but the curry slightly overpowered the lovely sweet prawns.

Bao with duck from Chai Wu: alright but now wow.

Hotdog with truffled mac ‘n cheese bites from Bubbledogs: nice hotdog but couldn’t really taste the truffle (oil).

Lamm meatballs with sheep’s curd from Seacontainers: OK, but nothing spectacular.

Fried chicken burger with Asian slaw from Chicks ‘n Sours: nice!

48 hr short rib with lovely trimmings from Restaurant M: absolutely lovely and in a class of its own!

Bacon and cheddar burger from Shake Shack: nice enough but it doesn’t beat their Shackburger.

SASA roll from Sushisamba: really nice! I’ve had it lots of times already, but it’s still great!

Restaurant M was a nice acquaintance, and having had the (two) SASA rolls I can’t wait to go back to Sushisamba soon, but some of the other restaurants were a bit disappointing. Hope it gets better again next year.

Taste of London, Regent’s Park – annual restaurant festival