Weekly round-up of the national restaurant critics by @OliverThring, 21 06

Tom Aikens. Guilty, according to one critic, of 'this year's laziest restaurant concept'.

Welcome to the weekly round-up of national restaurant critics by Oliver Thring.

‘Tawdry’ is Jay Rayner’s verdict on Tom’s Terrace. The menu is ‘a crap wedding buffet in Basildon’. A chicken salad was ‘an edible cure for insomnia’; only a foie gras parfait and a lemon curd and blueberry pavlova were better than awful.

Martin Ivens takes the Sunday Times to Roux at Parliament Square: ‘very comfortable, if a bit posh French morgue.’ Asparagus with duck egg and morel sauce was ‘crunchy and rich’, and pork belly with carrots was ‘charming’ if ‘on the dry side’. ‘Despite a few misgivings about its formal atmosphere and conservative cuisine, Roux is an oasis in the desert of Westminster.’

David Sexton deems the Milroy ‘highly commendable’ and ‘very good value’. Steak tartare ‘couldn’t have been better’ and a goat’s cheese and beetroot salad was ‘perfectly balanced’. ‘The emphasis here is entirely on giving you what you want, not necessarily the aim in every restaurant.’

Giles Coren is at Inamo, that ludicrous-sounding place where you order off a computer screen. ‘The ribs were good’ but eel nigiri were ‘wan and flabby’ and the Nobu rip-off of miso black cod was ‘truly rank’. ‘We regretted having eaten anything here at all.’

‘To walk into Angels & Gypsies,’ declares Simon Usborne, ‘is to enter another place’. ‘Dainty wedges’ (?) of tortilla were ‘fresh and clean’ and jamón croquetas were ‘delicately creamy’. It’s a ‘destination restaurant’, allegedly.

Brasserie Joel is an ‘air-conditioned, crepuscular geisha boudoir’ according to John Walsh, and its dishes are ‘utterly predictable’. Tomato sauce with prawns was ‘too sweet’, although roast duck with artichokes and figs ‘couldn’t be faulted’. Overall, ‘I’m sure Mr Antunes can do much better.’

‘The food is entirely fine’, says an uninspired Marina O’Loughlin at Pétrus. Main courses are ‘assured but unmemorable’; only the (I suppose) signature chocolate sphere is ‘amazing … a Fabergé Crunchie’. ‘It’s like [Ramsay] is working to a 1990s template that says Fayn Dayning: How To Appeal To Mr Michelin In Ten Easy Lessons.’

Pascal Wyse is at Chop Chop in Edinburgh, an excellent wee place famous for its dumplings. Lamb and cumin had ‘a nice, muttony flavour’ and dumplings of prawn, pork and coriander and beef and chilli ‘all hit the spot’.

Veronica Simpson lets us know that the pop-up Frank’s Café and Campari Bar is reopening this summer. Its grilled lamb with anchovy dressing is ‘delicious’ and date and pecan cake ‘moist and glorious’.

I enjoyed Jay Rayner’s feature on ‘The 20 best places to eat in Britain this summer’. Highlights include the Cherwell Boathouse in Oxford, The Sportsman at Seasalter, Inn the Park and Mark Hix’s place in Dorset.

And for this week’s blog post I recommend Charlie ‘Eat My Nels’ Nelson’s account of setting up a pizza stall for summer music festivals. An entertaining and fascinating piece on the logistics, headaches and pleasure in serving ‘quality food direct to people who care’.