Marina O'Loughlin is a British journalist, writer and

restaurant critic The terms food critic, food writer, and restaurant critic can all be used to describe a writer who analyzes food or restaurants and then publishes the results of their findings. While these terms are not strictly synonymous they are often used int ...

. She was the regular weekly restaurant reviewer in the London ''

Metro Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to: Geography * Metro (city), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urba ...

'' from 2006 to 2012, before moving to ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', where she took over from

John Lanchester John Henry Lanchester (born 25 February 1962) is a British journalist and novelist. He was born in Hamburg, brought up in Hong Kong and educated in England; between 1972 and 1980 at Gresham's School in Holt, Norfolk, then at St John's College, O ...

. In 2017, O'Loughlin succeeded the late A. A. Gill as restaurant critic for the ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

'', remaining until the end of October 2022. She had a monthly travel column in the BBC ''Olive'' magazine detailing her food trips to locations including

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

and

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, before moving on to ''

BBC Good Food ''BBC Good Food'' is a global food media brand, with a monthly magazine, website, app, live events and series of books. It has had four editors since its launch: Mitzie Wilson (1987–1997), Orlando Murrin (1997–2004), Gillian Carter (2004– ...

''. O'Loughlin has also worked on a freelance basis for ''The Independent'' and ''

London Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

'' newspapers and ''Noble Rot'' magazine. She is one of the most decorated restaurant critics working today, having been awarded the

Guild of Food Writers The Guild of Food Writers is the professional association of food writers and broadcasters in the United Kingdom. It has around 550 authors, broadcasters, columnists and journalists amongst its members. History On 12 April 1984, a number of lea ...

' Restaurant Reviewer of the Year twice; once in 2011 and again in 2015 as well as

Fortnum and Mason Fortnum & Mason (colloquially often shortened to just Fortnum's) is an upmarket department store in Piccadilly, London, with additional stores at The Royal Exchange, St Pancras railway station, Heathrow Airport in London and K11 Musea In Hong ...

awards for Restaurant Writing in 2014 and 2015 and the prestigious 2015 Press Award for Criticism. O'Loughlin is thought to be Glaswegian by birth, but now lives with her husband and two children between London and the

Isle of Thanet The Isle of Thanet () is a peninsula forming the easternmost part of Kent, England. While in the past it was separated from the mainland by the Wantsum Channel, it is no longer an island. Archaeological remains testify to its settlement in anc ...

on the

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

Coast. She was said to be one of the most influential Londoners in the annual ''Evening Standard'' "1,000 Most Influential People in London" supplement in 2008, and again in 2010 and 2012. O'Loughlin has also made ''The Sunday Times "Britain's 500 Most Influential" list three years running, from 2014 to 2016.

References

External links

Guardian interview with O'LoughlinMetro review of Shaka Zulu restaurantDefence of 'Come Dine With Me' on Observer 'Word of Mouth' blog
British journalists Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Alumni of the University of Edinburgh British restaurant critics {{UK-journalist-stub