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New Moon is nothing if not an international advertisement for the hungry virtues of virginity and young people can’t get enough of it
The Twilight Saga: New Moon
Theatre
A smart, prickly and rewarding view of sexual and emotional confusion
Cock
Restaurants
Kitchen W8 is a bargain for this area, if such sophistication is what you crave
Kitchen W8
Too long and drawn out but very entertaining with excellent special effects
This is a peculiar play and does not work for me. Some of it is very funny but there are real flaws
Alex has a strong powerful voice and was faultless, she is far better now than she was on the X-Factor
London,
Critic rating
Reader rating
Description: This new Covent Garden dining room -- largely backed by the same people as the legendary Anchor & Hope -- is "an object-lesson in understatement"; our early-days experience of its "pared-down British menu" was good rather than amazing, but early reporters say the place is a "triumph".
Food: 
Service: 
Ambience: 
Phone: 020 7242 0622
Open: Open lunch Tuesday-Saturday noon-3pm, dinner Monday-Saturday 6-11pm.
Good for: Good food, Ambience.
Payment options:
Great Queen Street: 10 out of 10 for its chips
I once asked a Freemason why he wanted to be a member of a secret society and his reply has stayed with me ever since. 'We are not a secret society,' he said sternly. 'We are a society with secrets.' Ah, secrets. They get a shocking press. In our tell-all society, keeping stuff hidden is seen as something of a Machiavellian trait. That secrecy only equals power. But I think of secrecy as enigmatic, adding complex layers to dull lives.
What brought that Masonic conversation to mind was eating an alfresco dinner last week at Great Queen Street, which is situated opposite the Freemason headquarters - or the United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE, and ugly it is).
But aesthetics aside, seeing streams of Identikit-smart masons streaming out past a restaurant, which is as camp as the name suggests, seemed as incongruous as Bill Clinton embracing celibacy. Witnessing the effortless coexistence of such polar opposites made me glow with pride. How diverse and inclusive a society Britain has become.
Great Queen Street is nothing to look at from the outside, where a few scruffy tables sit perched uncomfortably on the pavement. Inside, it's not much better. Brick-red (and peeling) walls, a shortage of natural light and a giant fan whirring on the ceiling gave the room a very Spanish flavour. Downstairs, there's a candlelit bar area that is even darker. Menus are flimsy printed sheets of A4 paper with the restaurant's logo of a crown flanked by a knife and fork. Sweet.
I had taken the actress since, once again, she's not working and says, 'The only decent meal I ever get is with you, darling!' She'd spent the afternoon at Tate Britain, which is celebrating 250 years of William Blake, whom I've always found to be a rather crude and hysterical artist, but then, he hated science, which I adore.
Our waiter brought us crusty bread and a little pot of butter, which was as rich as Tony Blair. I started with cold asparagus soup, which was deliciously seasoned and deliciously seasonal - even if it did look like something you might find in a gastroenterology ward. The actress chose bresaola with fig. The fruit was perfectly ripe, the meat succulent and the dish was drizzled with olive oil so delicious the actress said she wanted to lap it up, like a kitten.
Applying the Never Eat What You Could Have At Home rule, I chose quails, lentils and yoghurt, which was simple and robust and made me feel as if I'd actually eaten something that was good for me. And because she's unlikely to get a holiday this year, the actress opted for crab on toast which is one of the restaurant's specialities. The crab was the colour of dark sand and made her want to wear a Kiss Me Quick hat. She also ordered a side of chips and these were extraordinary - huge, asymmetrical golden wedges, sprinkled with rock salt. So good, in fact, that the couple on the next table were openly drooling at them, and when we offered them one, they pounced! These were the only chips I've ever given 10/10.
Even the puddings were imaginative, with no sign of the ubiquitous crème br°lée or chocolate mousse which infiltrates menus everywhere. My buttermilk pudding tasted silky and lemony, like a lighter version of those baked cheesecakes that you never see any more. And it was accompanied by perfectly poached gooseberries, an underrated and underused fruit.
But it was the actress's ice cream that stole the show in a quiet blaze of glory: two gleaming scoops of praline and chocolate malt that were so obviously homemade (as were the accompanying chocolate chip cookies) that we found ourselves exclaiming aloud. It seemed extraordinary that we were sitting in the centre of Covent Garden eating food that tasted as if it had been rustled up by an army of Women's Institute workers.
Great Queen Street offers the best food, the best value and the best service, and you should book a table there before it becomes the hottest place in town. When we ate there it was already pretty full, with a surprisingly diverse selection of customers - young, hip, powerful, gay, straight --but there was also a retired couple (the chippinchers!) who were munching cheese and oatcakes before going to the theatre nearby. Everyone looked happy because the atmosphere is so magnificently relaxed. Just like the staff who work there. The secret's out.
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
Until my last visit to Great Queen Street I would have heartily agreed with Mark Bolland's review. I have eaten there five or six times and in fact one dinner was so good that we booked a table for lunch the very next day. Sadly, my last meal at Great Queen Street was mediocre at best and their attempt to justify a refusal to serve rib steaks medium rare, a refusal to spare a teaspoon or two of bearnaise sauce for the rump steak we eventually ordered, and the mediocrity of the steak itself indicate that perhaps the restaurant now doesn't feel the need to try very hard and more.
- Warren Alexander, London. UK
What do you mean, the secret's out? Great Queen Street in indeed excellent, that's why me, my friends and my friends' friends have all been going there regularly for over a year. It's been reviewed just about everywhere already, generally in glowing terms, and is packed nightly. I'm glad you like it too, but don't you think you've got a rather exaggerated sense of your own importance, Mark?
- James H, London, UK
