Smoked by AI · London · people

Andy Hayler

Critic — restaurants worldwide, London included; fine dining and the economics of a wine list.

independent, self-funded critic who pays for every meal and publishes under his own name, with a published 1-20 scale scored per dish and a habit of costing the wine list against high-street retail prices. The numbers and the markup arithmetic make his reviews extractable as `ratings:` metadata rather than adjectives. He is the rare critic who reports how many covers a room seats and how many chefs are on the pass.

Their own reviews and picks.

Their own judgment, in their own words, by the piece it appeared in.

• Andy Hayler, review of River Cafe, 13/20 ↗their review · 2026-03-25
  • The River CaféHammersmith

    “I can never really reconcile the price here with the quality of what appears on the plate”

• andyhayler.com ↗their review · 2025-02-01
  • The French HouseSoho

    “Michelin has ignored this restaurant, yet the food here is better than most bib gourmands, and indeed on a par with a number of one-star places.”

• andyhayler.com ↗their review · 2024-03
  • TobaSt James's

    “Good beef rendang is a joy and this was a very good version (15/20).”

• andyhayler.com ↗their review · 2023-09-01
  • Bouchon RacineFarringdon

    “There is no attempt here to push culinary boundaries to show how clever the chef is, and for that we can all be grateful. This is a place that should prosper.”

• andyhayler.com, 'Manteca, Shoreditch' ↗their review · 2022-09-01
  • MantecaShoreditch

    “It is, though, good to see a place making an effort to using all the parts of an animal carcass, rather than just buying in prepared portions, which happens in London more than many people realize.”

• andyhayler.com ↗their review · 2021-09-01
  • Daffodil MulliganOld Street

    “Overall Daffodil Mulligan was very enjoyable, offering an appealing menu of well executed food at fair prices. It is easy to see why it is already a popular venue.”

• Andy Hayler, review of Napoli On The Road, Chiswick ↗their review · 2019-11
  • Napoli on the Road (Chiswick)Chiswick

    “The two pizzas that we tried had a good, pliable base. Toppings were nothing special, with quite basic button mushrooms and tomatoes that didn't have great depth of flavour, but the overall result was certainly quite enjoyable”

• andyhayler.com ↗their review · 2010-08-29
  • Santa Maria PizzeriaEaling

    “the point of the place is the pizzas, and the two that we tried were very good indeed. The base was soft and supple, which is the mark of a proper Neapolitan pizza: the toppings pleasant, the tomatoes imported from Italy.”

Also tagged to them.

The endorsement is cited inside these entries, but no quote has been pulled out yet.

• Jikoni