Vine Restaurant

Food

The Foccacia was one of their homemade dish, and I was looking forward to trying it. It’s denser than some that I have had, but reminded me of the foccacia we bought in Italy, so maybe there were just authentic, and I prefer the Westernised version.

For entrees, I had the Arancini di riso (deep fried rice balls filled with mozzarella and ragu with pepper sauce (£4.95). I haven’t had too many arancinis in my lifetime, only ever at cafes and fast food places, and never in a restaurant, so maybe that was the difference, but these were the best arancinis I have ever tasted. The rice had enough gooey texture, and the sauce oozed out of the centre, coating the crunchy but thick skin. The Minestrone Soup with Foccacia (£4.95) was beautiful, a bowlful of the freshest vegetables, no pasta in site. Just pure and simple.

Mains were not as outstanding as the entrees, but they were certainly very good for the value. Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli with Tomato Sauce (£7.95) delivered beautifully made pasta skin. The filling was a bit plain, but I find that’s the case with spinach and ricotta…but the tomato sauce was not very interesting either. Grilled Lamb Chops with Peppers and Potatoes (£12.95) was generous, 3 cutlets, nicely cooked, with beautifully melted down peppers and sweet tomatoes, in a tomato based sauce that has been given complexity with the addition of capers. The potatoes were well done but I was too full to really eat that much. Needless to say, we were too full for desserts.

Rating - 7.5

Atmosphere

We were given a very small table downstairs, when the whole downstairs space was almost empty. There were only us, and 2 very loud ladies dining. The décor consists of blond wood floor, some red banquet seating, quite nice really.

Rating - 1

Service

There was one waiter serving downstairs, and one was enough considering there were hardly anyone. I found the pace quite good, the waiter friendly but unobtrusive, and generally professional and great. It was even better that he was Italian (no, he was old, short and bold, but cute in that old person kind of way)

Rating - 4

C-factor

The prices were already cheap for the kind of food you get, add to that 50% off from toptable, and you could almost come here every day.

Rating - 2

Brownie Points - 14.5

Info

48 Grays Inn Road
London
WC1X 8LT
Phone +44 (0) 20 7404 6230
Website

Joy King Lau

Continuation of the quest to find good Chinatown yum cha.

Food

We ordered a variety of favourites, friendly to Westerners, including the obligatory chicken feet. I won’t list everything we had, but in general – the dumplings were substandard, the skins were thick and the filling kinda bland. The buns had a nice outer, but the filling was not up to standard. The rice rolls were very good. The glutinous rice parcel was a bit tasteless. Congee and noodle dishes were much better than the general yum cha dishes. I had heard good things about this place, maybe it’s just yum cha where it falls down. I would definitely go to yum cha and karaoke at China City next door.

Rating - 5

Atmosphere

We didn’t show up until nearly 2pm. There are no trolleys, you just order from a menu. There’s not even a form to fill in of what you want…so in that way it’s a bit clinical. There were only us and another party left in the dining room, so it was strangely quiet for yum cha. It was good in a way as we could hear ourselves talk, but then so can the other table, as we heard everything they had to way.

Rating - 1.5

Service

We were pretty much ignored. They didn’t refill our teas for a long time, and we had so many dishes on our table at once since we couldn’t order one at a time. I thought they could be a bit more attentive since our table was very small and there weren’t any other customers.

Rating - 2

C-factor

Rating - 1

Brownie Points - 9.5

Info

3 Leicester Street
London
WC2H 7BL
Phone +44 (0) 20 7437 1132
Website

GBK Canary Wharf 2

Off to GBK again…but they were running another special… and during credit crunch time, and the fact that we were in Canary Wharf, meant this was not a bad option.

Food

We had the Pesterella (£7.95) -100% Aberdeen-Angus Scotch beef, pesto, mozzarella, salad, mayonnaise & relish . The juicy patty was cooked to order. There was not too much ingredients on this, and paired quite well. The pesto was a bit weak, although the beef was tasty and juicy so didn’t really need the sauce.

The Avocado Bacon (£7.95) - 100% Aberdeen-Angus Scotch beef, avocado, streaky bacon, salad, mayonnaise & relish was more fatty, more salty, and probably more tasty too. Same great beef though.

As usual, we had the cool milkshakes, which comes in the old fashioned silver tin. The Lime milkshake (£3.55) tasted like a tangy lime cheesecake. The Oreo milkshake (£3.55), and tastes really good – with real Oreo pieces.

Rating - 7

Atmosphere

Not too busy as it was Tuesday night.

Rating - 1.5

Service

You order at the bar and pay there, so no complaints.

Rating - 3

C-factor

£6.95 special for any burger and drink.

Rating - 1

Brownie Points - 12.5

Info

Jubilee Place
Canary Wharf
E14 5NY
Phone +44 (0) 20 7719 6408
Website

My Old Place

My Chinese friend really like this place, and having walked past so many times on the way home from Liverpool Street, I thought it was about time I actually try it.

Food

The place looked promising enough, lots of people, all Chinese. They also had an all Chinese menu. We started with some Aloe Vera drink, which was very useful to wash down all the hot food, although we found out it was mostly grape juice. Then we ordered:

• Lamb Skewers - turned out to be the best of the night, with succulent lamb
• Sweet and Sour Soup - a bit too strong on the pepper, and too much seasoning, not complex
• Stir Fried Beef with Capsicum and Onions - ok, uninteresting, too strong
• Fried Frogs Legs with Vegetables - too strong for my taste, especially the pepper
• Ma Po Tofu - I like this, but may be due to me liking tofu.
• Stir Fried Pork Belly - too peppery, and the belly meat was not soft
• Stewed Eggplant- I like this, nice and spicy, but the eggplant was not that soft and melted

In general, all the dishes were too strong for my taste, and everything seemed to come with rawish onions.

Rating - 5.5

Atmosphere

The place was so full, with large groups of Chinese people, all eating, drinking and enjoying themselves, it was unbelievable. I’ve walked past this place so many times and had no idea it even existed. Décor wise, pretty run down, they have a broken glass panel they hadn’t even repaired.

Rating - 1.5

Service

The service was really terrible! We booked for 7 and they only had a place for 6. We asked them to set up an extra place and they only bought a chair, with no bowls or utensils or anything. We asked for a refill of our rice and it didn’t come. Basically we had to chase them down for anything and they didn’t really deliver.

Rating - 1

C-factor

Worked out to be £10 p.p all inclusive. We had a lot of food – although a lot of it was onions!

Rating - 1.5

Brownie Points - 9.5

Info

88 Middlesex St
London
E1 7EZ
Phone +44 (0) 20 7403 8403

Terre a Terre

Vegetarian restaurant in hippy Brighton, what could be better?

Food

The menu looked very inviting. There were so many things to choose from, it was difficult to decide. In the end, we opted out of the tapas menu and had the special set menu, as it was supposed to use the best produce from the markets.

There were a bunch of exotic and very healthy sounding juices. We had the Lychee Blush -Lychee and Apple juice shaken with ice, topped up with Dutchy Lemonade and drizzled with Pomegranate juice, very refreshing, and Oakwood Farm Sussex Pressed Organic Pear Juice, also yum.

The main menu was:

• Pavilion Pea Shooter and Flax Crackers (vo/gfo) - Fresh warm minted pea soup shooter, topped with Duggie Mudboots lemon thyme cream and served with Horsham linseed parchment shards. - not sure where all the places are, but I am sure they are all well and good. In terms of taste though, the shooter was very simple and refreshing, reflecting the freshness of the peas. The shards are like crispbreads
• Brighton Beet Latkes - Potato, apple, onion and Sussex cheddar latke with frozen fresh horseradish sour cream, golden and crimson pickled beet slaw doused with caraway and dill oil, finished with apple snapper. - this had an Indian like theme going, with really nice sour cream holding the whole thing together.
• Five a Day the Terre a Terre Way Big British Bruschetta (vo/gfo) - Sweet soft winey thyme white onion bruschetta topped with broad bean and tarragon tangle, fresh cream cheese chive milkshake, wheatberry popcorn, leafy radish, celery and spring bulb salad loaded with apple balsamic canola oil. - love the presentation, with the milkshake served on the side. It was tasty too, but not as good as the starters
• Take a Walk on The Wild Side - Pasta threads coated with new seasons garlic and chard cream served with Cobnor wild garlic fritters, parsley and lemon cream and Pulborough rocket, soused spring onions. - not so sure on this one, the pasta was a bit soggy, with too much sauce
• R.A.G.S. and Rhubarb - R.A.G.S. rhubarb and rose hip sorbet and Limney Sussex wine & rhubarb compote, hot custard cream pastry bricks and mace sugar. - you can’t go wrong with rhubarb, and these were done well, nice and soft.
• Sussex Suggestive Digestive (vo/gfo) - Gooseberry ice cream, elder flower syrup and Plumpton Mill flour digestive bikkie. - great flavour combination, and appealing to the kid inside you

Rating - 7.5

Atmosphere

We had a booking, but the place was huge and relatively empty (I guess everyone is enjoying the sun by the beach). I chose a good place to sit, right by the trolley so I could see everyone’s food arriving. The presentation is so excellent that it was exciting watching every dish and how they interpreted each. There is a lovely courtyard at the back, and a lovely pantry/deli at the front, selling all vegetarian products. The colours and the vibe definitely suit the place.

Rating - 2.5

Service

Very friendly, in that laid back sort of way.

Rating - 3

C-factor

Good value for yummy food, especially with the

Rating - 1

Brownie Points - 14

Info

71 East Street
Brighton
BN1 1HQ
Phone +44 (0) 12 7372 9051
Website

Ma Cuisine Twickenham

Food

I was not happy that the list of available dishes had shrunk by half from what’s advertised on the website, and that the prices have gone up a lot as well. Still, we found enough from the menu to choose from to keep us happy.

French onion soup, baked with Swiss cheese & croutons (£5.50)– excellent, sweet with onions and heavy on the alcohol, with beautifully toasted cheese crouton.Risotto with tarragon (£7)– very plain and light in flavour, a bit boring, but at least didn’t feel too heavy.Crispy pork belly with morteau sausage & choucroute (£17.50) – the pork belly was great quality with a thin layer of fat. It tasted great, although the crackling was thick but not crunchy. The sauce had mustardy tones but was not too heavy, plus the sauerkraut really cut the fat. The vegetables came with a buttery hollandaise sauce.Roast Guinea Fowl (£18) – this also came with cabbage, but this time, braised red cabbage. I wasn’t a big fan of the guinea fowl actually. It was expertly cooked, but tasted just like plain white meat. The sauce on the other hand, was wonderful. Beautifully reduced with earthy mushroom tones as well as reduced meat.

We were way too full to try the selection of classic desserts.

Rating - 7.5

Atmosphere

A cosy little French bistro, complete with white and red plastic tablecloth. It was match day when we went, so the streets were filled with crowds of people, which meant we had to sit in traffic, then park really far away, then fight through the crowd to get there….very not worth it.

Rating - 1.5

Service

This is definitely a family run place, with very casual service, but they were warm and friendly, so I like that, and it suits the place.

Rating - 3

C-factor

I thought it was quite expensive for what you get, considering the setting. You can eat the same for example, at Le Saint Julien for less.

Rating - 0

Brownie Points - 12

Info

6 Whitton Road
Twickenham
TW1 1BJ
Phone +44 (0) 20 8607 9849
Website

Magic Wok

Food

There was quite a big group of us, so we could afford to try a few things off the menu. We had:

• Crab in Garlic and Ginger Sauce with Yee Mee – not the best I’ve had by a long stretch, but more let down by the dull crab flavour. The sauce itself is very nice, and the yee mee, while not the greatest in texture, did its job to soak up the juice very nicely.
• Sizzling Black Pepper Beef with Peppers – very oily and typical Chinese. Not my favourite
• Whole Chicken – this was surprisingly nice. The flavour was rather subtle, with a hint of salt.
• Stir-Fried Chinese greens – nice and garlicky, and hot. What more could you want?
• Pe Pa Tofu – tofu mixture deep fried. Satisfying enough, with a nice sauce to wet the accompanying broccoli.
• fruit - err, sweet

Was I wowed? After just coming back from Hong Kong, most definitely not. This was nowhere near the standard of a good Cantonese restaurant. However, it is acceptable for a feed once in a while when you are missing those Cantonese flavours.

Rating - 6

Atmosphere

They had the one duck hanging in the window, as opposed to the lavish displays of the surrounding restaurants. Well, we weren’t here for duck, so that was ok by us, but that duck definitely didn’t look fresh.

It was doing a roaring trade on Friday, the table next to us had 2 seatings in the time it took us to finish our meal. Décor wise, looks the same as the other restaurants on Queensway.

Rating - 1.5

Service

Better than expected. We ordered quite early but had to wait for the host to arrive, and they were able to hold the dishes until the set time. They delivered to the order we wanted, and changed our plages frequent enough. The waiters even managed an occasional smile.

Rating - 3.5

C-factor

£12 p.p? Cheaper than yum cha.

Rating - 1.5

Brownie Points - 12.5

Info

100 Queensway
London
W2 3RR
Phone +44 (0) 20 7792 9767

St Germain 2

Back again because we needed to book something from Toptable. Came here because it’s close and cheap.

Food

I am actually quite surprised by how much better the food is when you are not in a group, or maybe we finally chose the right thing from the menu. We shared an entrée of Stuffed Baby Squid (£6) - chorizo, chick peas & sherry vinaigrette was really tender and tasty. For mains, we opted for King Prawn Spaghetti (£10) - garlic, parsley & chilli, which came with 3 generous prawns, suffering from UK seafood mushiness, but the pasta was bitey and the sauce was rich with seafood and garlic. Rib-Eye Steak (on the bone) (£18) - frites & béarnaise cooked to medium rare, really nice thick frites and beautiful creamy and tangy béarnaise. Because we had such a good meal, we went for dessert Crepe Suzette (£5.50) - vanilla ice-cream was satisfying enough but not anything special.

Rating - 6.5

Atmosphere

As usual, the bar was packed, but the restaurant slowly filled up to about half full. We left early so don’t know what happened after that.

Rating - 1.5

Service

It seems like the service also improved when you are not in a big group. Our waiter was very nice and explained things well, and all our food arrived promptly – I think it’s a combination of the day of week and the amount of people, and from experience, everything is better on a Monday.

Rating - 3.5

C-factor

Mondays and Tuesdays are 50% off, so it was cheap as chips.

Rating - 1.5

Brownie Points - 13

Info

89 - 90 Turnmill Street
London
EC1M 5QU
Phone +44 (0) 20 7336 0949
Website

Quay

After our disappointment at Tetsuya’s, my faith in top end Sydney dining was restored by the excellent meal we had at Quay, deservedly the winner of SMH’s restaurant of the Year for 2009.

Food

This is what we put together from the choice of 4 courses, to create our own degustation:

• Sea Pearls ($25 supplement) - Sashimi tuna, aquaculture caviar, sea scallop, smoked eel, octopus, mud crab, pearl meat - absolutely amazing. Each little ball a burst of flavour, yet delicate.
• Mud crab congee - hand shelled mud crab, Chinese inspired split rice porridge - best porridge I’ve ever had. Since the price is about 10 times the usual price for porridge, it has to be. The porridge was sweetened by the taste of the crab. Actually reminds me of a dish I had at the old Rockpool a long time ago.
• Five textures of Southern rock lobster ($25 supplement) - sweet, fresh meat, lovely mousse
• Crisp confit of pig belly, braise of abalone and cuttlefish, handmade silken tofu, Japanese mushrooms, chive flowers - Asian inspired. The pork was very tasty, and of course, the skin was perfect
• Butter poached Murray Cod, hasuimo, periwinkles, oyster cream, white turnips, winter melon, hops puree, gherkin shoots - beautiful beautiful fish. I miss Australian seafood, accompanied by delicate vegetables so as not to overwhelm
• Poached Rangers Valley pure bred Black Angus beef fillet, baby spinach, morels, Tasmanian wasabi butter ($25 supplement) - good Australian beef, not the best I’ve had, beautifully cooked.
• Eight texture chocolate cake, featuring Amedei 'Chuao' Chocolate ($10 supplement) - we had to order this, it’s been a Quay signature from the beginning. This is probably the richest, nicest cake I’ve ever eaten. Rich rich chocolate sandwiched between crunchy wafer-like discs.
• Strawberry guava and custard apple snow egg - well, you can’t beat that chocolate cake, but this can definitely stand up on its own. The flavours just gelled together.

After a very satisfying meal, we ended with some, as would be expected, Coffee, Tea and Petit Fours - btw, their coffee is good, but definitely not up there.

Rating - 9.5

Atmosphere

We were seated in one of the corner space, with direct view to the Harbour Bridge and Opera House. It felt a bit strange dining in what constitutes a glass bubble, but the view is amazing, and if you run out of conversation, you can always observe the people walking around in the Quay downstairs.

Rating - 2

Service

Again, I didn’t feel wowed by the service. The waiter was extremely formal and efficient, but sounded like it was such a drag to actually work there. I would be delighted to be a waiter at Quay and see people enjoy their creations. Maybe she was new or something, because she also stumbled when explaining the menu to us.

Rating - 2.5

C-factor

The menu at $145 p.p was slightly cheaper than Tet’s, but we ordered a lot of dishes that required a supplement. This is worth every penny.

Rating - 1.5

Brownie Points - 15.5

Info

Overseas Passenger Terminal,
The Rocks
Sydney
NSW 2000
Australia
Phone +61 (0) 2 9251 5600
Website

Tetsuya’s

I have been really looking forward to this meal, since that first magical taste back in 2001. A couple of years, and a few Michelin star restaurants under my belt later, how would Tetsuyas compare? I have to say, I had very high expectations, and was disappointed.

Food

I had read some reviews before hand, and it seems like Tetsuyas doesn’t really update his menu very often – now there seems to be too many dishes that remain due to customer demand, so that the result is somewhat stale and not keeping up with the times. I don’t remember exactly what I ate last time (yes, that was before the days of the blog), but the ocean trout was definitely on the menu. I am glad to see its return as it was one of the better dishes, but others are not very exciting and could definitely do with an update, especially after being wowed by the likes of Noma and every single restaurant in Spain.

Our 13 course degustation consisted of:

• Cold Corn Soup with Saffron & Vanilla Ice Cream - a very good start. A light subtle flavour, but you can taste the sweetness of the corn.
• Smoked Ocean Trout & Avruga Caviar - this had good ocean trout, and nice caviar, but anyone can put this together
• Oyster - this was an “extra” course that you can request. I ordered it because I can’t resist oyster…and the sauce was nice, but I think I still prefer the natural taste
• Leek & Crab Custard - the custard was well executed, again, the flavours were subtle so that you can taste all the components
• Sashimi of Big Eye Tuna with Wasabi & Ginger Vinaigrette - another seafood based dish, nothing much in terms of creativity here.
• Confit of Petuna Tasmanian Ocean Trout with Konbu, Daikon & Fennel - after 2 similar dishes earlier, this was not anything different – it still tastes good though
• Seasonal Green Salad - very fresh, from his own garden I think
• Ravioli of Queensland Spanner Crab with Tomato & Basil Vinaigrette - I was expecting more excitement with this one… maybe because I’ve had a lot of ravioli now, but this was plainly boring
• Grilled Fillet of Barramundi with Braised Baby Fennel - I do love barramundi, and of course, the dish was cooked well. Besides that, nothing special here.
• Twice-Cooked De-Boned Spatchcock with Caper & Olive Jus - must not have been very exciting as I don’t even remember eating this dish
• Grilled Wagyu Beef with Lime & Wasabi - I had better wagyu at Hayman Island. Nicely cooked though.
• Comte with Lentils - this was very interesting, lentils as a savory dish…a bit like the Chinese red bean soup, with interesting texture… taste wise, it’s ok.
• Apple Sorbet with Apple Jelly - I love the apple sorbet, it really captured the essence of apple.
• Mont Blanc - another mainstay on the menu, it was nice, but yet again, boring
• Caramelised Fig with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream - another well executed but non exciting dish
• Chocolate Terrine with Mascarpone & Cognac Anglaise - I think I had just enough desserts at this point. Good chocolate taste though.

Rating - 7

Atmosphere

The last time, we sat in a private dining room, and had a personal waiter all to ourselves, this time, we were thrown in with the crowd. The room was pleasant, overlooking a little pond. There were only about 5 table, but we could see, and hear, a big party going on in one of their private rooms though.

Rating - 2

Service

. Because we were spending so much money last time, Tetsuya himself came to greet us. Our waiter told us he was an aspiring actor, and proceeded to charm us all. ..Not this time though. We were asked if it was a special occasion when we arrived, we said no, and she acted really surprised. I have to say I have had better service at lesser restaurants, it wasn’t that she was incompetent or bad in any way, just that it was so bland and so rehearsed, you could tell her heart wasn’t in it, or that she wasn’t into us.

Rating - 2

C-factor

With the way the £ is going, it’s not as cheap as it used to be. Still, it was a bit of money to pay ($195), and I didn’t feel that I got the 3 chef hat experience this time around.

Rating - 0

Brownie Points - 11

Info

529 Kent Street
Sydney
NSW 2000
Australia
Phone +61 (0) 2 9267 2900
Website

Foliage

A little disappointing actually, considering how highly this place is rated on Toptable. For the same price, I prefer Nahm.

Food

The Sourdough Bread was very nice to start with. The restricted menu had 2 of each choice, so we had:

• Artichoke/Potato/Truffle/Quails Eggs
• Warm Calves Head Terrine/Piccalilli/Speck/Watercress
• Lamb Neck/Olive Mash/Sweetbreads/Pepper
• Mackerel/Escabeche/Aubergine/Parsley
• Chocolate Fondant/Amaretto Parfait/Pearl Barley Sorbet
• Stilton/Port/Poached Pears/Honey Jelly

While every course was good, it was very typical French fare and nothing stood out for me as one Michelin Star quality. The recommended wine by the glass pairing of Chateau de la Negly, Coteaux du Languedoc 2003 (£7.50) was very nice though.

Rating - 7

Atmosphere

Actually, the Mandarin Oriental is not that impressive. It’s a bit old school and needed refurbishment if you ask me. Otherwise, everything you would expect from a luxury hotel.

Rating - 2

Service

Formal, as expected. I did feel like they were talking down to me though since I was here for Restaurant Week.

Rating - 2.5

C-factor

Special Restaurant Week menu, 3 courses for £25

Rating - 1

Brownie Points - 12.5

Info

Mandarin Oriental
66 Knightsbridge
London
SW1 7XY
Phone +44 (0) 20 7201 3723
Website

Nahm

The famous Nahm, opened, of course, by the equally famous David Thompson. Having never tried any of his restaurants before, I was really looking forward to this.

Food

We started with an Amuse – pineapple and mandarin with naim jim jam which I thought really told you something about the style of cooking here. Combining Thai flavour with modern techniques, these had a killer sauce and left us wanting more. We had:

• Coconut Cup Cakes with red curry of crab and Thai basil - delicious crispy cakes with a not too fiery, but plenty tasty sauce.
• Prawn and toasted coconut on Betel Leaves - a classic dish, and delivered as expected
• Green curry of Crispy Royal Bream with Thai Aubergines and Wild Ginger - I was actually expecting a bit more, but at the end of the day, this is a green curry. Pleasant, I would like it a bit hotter, and the aubergines a bit more soft, but otherwise, it was just a bit boring.
• Kanom Jin Noodles with Crab, Prawns and Chilli Jam - again, great sauce, this time quite strong and pungent in flavour, nice noodles
• Mango and White Sticky Rice - you can’t go wrong here

and finished off an excellent meal with some Jasmine tea.

Rating - 8

Atmosphere

A grand ground floor space in a boutique hotel. The décor is of the modern variety, and probably costs a lot. The restaurant was definitely good looking, and had nothing to suggest it’s a Thai restaurant at all. Which I like. This is a place where you want to hear your designer gear to, but need to be seen as not trying too hard.

Rating - 2

Service

Very formal. There were lots of waiters floating around who all wanted to pour your wine for you. Each waiter brings out the food on a big platter, and makes a show of it.

Rating - 3.5

C-factor

Special Restaurant Week menu, 2 courses for £15, 3 courses for £20

Rating - 2

Brownie Points - 15.5

Info

Halkin Street
London
SW1X 7DJ
Phone +44 (0) 20 7333 1234
Website

Smiths of Smithfield

Off to test our first “local” since we moved into the area. We pretty much chose this as one of the only places that is opened on a weekend.

Food

The drinks selection sounded really interesting, and we ordered the Monkey Business - Apple, Banana, Peanut Butter & Vanilla Ice Cream (4½ pounds), pretty much because of the peanut butter. As expected, this was pretty much like a meal in itself. It was freshly made, and apart from being very sweet, it was a very nice drink. To balance out all that sugar, we ordered some vegetarian food for balance.

We had the Roasted Vegetables, Chickpea & Couscous Salad (5 pounds), fresh, but as is the problems with vegetarian salads, doesn’t pack much in terms of taste. The Smith’s Veggie Bean Burger, Cucumber salad & Sweet Chilli Sauce (5½ pounds) suffered from the same problem, although the sweet chilli sauce definitely helped.

Rating - 6

Atmosphere

This place was very very busy at 3pm on a Saturday. We were here for lunch, and managed to snag a table at the back of the vast warehouse dining space. The whole place has that “cool” vibe going on. A huge open space, still retaining the industrial look. Wooden tables, red chairs, comfy couches, huge open bar, well dressed people. They write their prices in words on the menu instead of numbers and symbols…yes, it’s that kind of place. As usual, we felt we didn’t really belong. There are 3 levels, each with a different vibe, but for lunch, only the ground level canteen style operation was running.

Rating - 2.5

Service

They were pretty busy too, but we got served in good time, and they were good enough for such a casual setting. The fact that all the waiters looked hot and were young no doubt helps.

Rating - 3

C-factor

Average for Farringdon area. Food is up to scratch, and is a nice place to visit for some lunch.

Rating - 1

Brownie Points - 12.5

Info

67-77 Charterhouse Street
London
EC1M 6HJ
Phone +44 (0) 20 7251 7950
Website

Anatolia Restaurant

Dilemma, nowhere to eat in Cambridge…and all the options were same same. We settled on Anatolia because of the cuisine, and the fact that they were running a good price set menu for lunch.

Food

We ate from the set menu, and had varying results:

• Mixed Meze:
  • Spinach Tarator - strained yoghurt with spinach, garlic and olive oil - pleasant, if a bit oily. We moped it all up with the bread though
  • Stuffed Vine Leaves - vine leaves, pine kernels boring
  • Pilaki - pinto beans in a tomato sauce - like baked beans, only better
  • Cacik - Yoghurt with cucumber and a hint of garlic - nice and refreshing
  • Humus - puree of chick peas, tahini, lemon and garlic - not really the best I’ve had, just better than the shop bought stuff
  • Tabbouleh - parsley salad with mint, bulgar, tomato and onion - again, very average
  • Borek - filo pastry filled with cheese, parsley and herbs - very oily, but tastes good
• Chicken Shish - Marinated grilled chicken on a skewer - a little on the dry side
• Kul Basti - Grilled fillets of lamb with oregano and mint sauce - tastily done
• Baklava - Crushed nuts in a filo pastry topped with syrup - very standard, and probably something we didn’t need

Rating - 6

Atmosphere

The restaurant is situated on two level, with a clean modern look on the upper level – but with cheap and tacky furniture, and a more Turkish feel downstairs with gold colouring, exotic decorations and an open kitchen. When we were there for lunch, only the upper level was open, but the toilets were located downstairs, and when I ventured down, there was a darkened restaurant space, with a guy sitting in the darkness in the open kitchen, grilling shish kebab. The whole thing was so comical, especially when he was surrounded by all these Turkish junkets.

Rating - 1.5

Service

We were served by what seemed like the owner and another waiter, who was very friendly. However, someone sitting close to us was Turkish, and the three of them started chatting and bonding over their shared heritage…and they started neglecting the rest of the clients. We waited for ages before

Rating - 3

C-factor

£9.95. Good value for lunch.

Rating - 2

Brownie Points - 12.5

Info

30 Bridge Street
Cambridge
CB2 1UJ
Phone +44 (0)12 2336 2372
Website

Crispy Duck

After visiting Kiasu yesterday, I didn’t want to visit another Malaysian place, so I declined C&R and went next door to Crispy Duck.

Food

Your typical menu really, but seeing their name was Crispy Duck, we thought we would also try the duck. The Shredded duck with pancake didn’t look very promising. In fact, it looked like they had removed half of the meat and given us the leftover. Nevertheless, we worked with what we had and wrapped it up to eat. The duck itself didn’t taste like much, but we just piled on the hoi-sin sauce, and didn’t notice the difference.

As for the mains, I had a sip of the congee, and it was actually quite pleasant. The Fukien fried rice was also surprisingly nice. The rice has been generously coated in a thick sauce, loaded with seafood and vegetables. Simple things done well.

Rating - 6.5

Atmosphere

The place, like most other Chinatown restaurants, is spread over several levels. They managed to half fill all of their floors, so it wasn’t too loud or too crowded there. In fact, there was quite a bit of space to move around and be comfortable. In terms of décor, it looks like any of your old style Chinese restaurant, with the meat hanging at the front, white tiles, practical furnishing.

Rating - 1.5

Service

Another place of rude service. They were so indifferent and the service so lacking, we might as well serve ourselves. All the Asian countries have now improved their service, they should really keep up.

Rating - 1

C-factor

Very cheap, and the portions aren’t bad either.

Rating - 1.5

Brownie Points - 10.5

Info

27 Wardour Street
London
W1D 6PR
Phone +44 (0) 20 7287 6578

Kiasu

Well, they had the most people and the most stickers out the front, so it was an easy choice among the row of restaurants on the Bayswater stretch.

Food

The menu consists of your old favourite and a few twists. We decided to test out the staples, so we had Soy Bean Milk (£1.80), which was watery and disappointing. The Char Kway Teow (£7.20) – Hot off the wok –rice noodles with prawn, egg, Chinese sausage and bean sprouts. Singapore style (sweet dark sauce), which we asked for hot, was not that hot at all. Still, it maintained a nice wok breath, although I found the sauce was too sweet. The ingredients were a bit skimpy. The Nonya Laksa (£7.60) – White rice noodles in spicy coconut gravy garnished with prawns, fish cake and daun kesum was agreeable enough, with a sauce that is pungent and coconutty. They were again very skimpy with their ingredients, but Slokky drank all the sauce, so I guess it is one of the better ones you can get in this country.

Rating - 6.5

Atmosphere

The place has the interesting blue décor. The waiters are also decked out in blue uniform. The whole operation reminds me of Cha Cha Moon really, minus the long communal tables. The clientele though, is a bit less cutting edge, with families and not so “cool” types. There were a few native South-East Asians, so we felt better.

Rating - 2

Service

A notch above Chinatown rudeness. For an Asian restaurant, the dishes certainly came out slowly…it was a 20 minutes wait for our food, and it didn’t arrive at the same time either. We don’t mind too much, but don’t eat here if you are in a hurry.

Rating - 3

C-factor

Quite expensive for what you get. There were only 2 prawns in my laksa.

Rating - 0

Brownie Points - 11.5

Info

48 Queensway
Bayswater
W2 3RY
Phone +44 (0) 20 7727 8810
Website

Pho Café Farringdon

So much to look forward to, so much anticipation, and in the end, so much disappointment. Pho Café was not the saving grace I was looking for.

Food

The menu is not as varied as your typical Vietnamese, but contained variations of Pho, Bun and Goi (Salad), plus a few starters to add variety. Things started promisingly with my apple, pineapple and mint (£2.95) juice. Slokky got the apple, pineapple and coconut juice (£2.95), and both were freshly squeezed. It could have been a bit colder though. We ordered the Cha Gio (£3.75) - fried pork spring rolls to share, which were fresh and had a nice light dipping sauce to match. As usual, we always test a Vietnamese restaurant by their pho, so we ordered the Pho Tai (£7.45) - thinly sliced fillet steak (all beef pho's served with beef stock). This was so, so disappointing. The soup was very substandard, with no depth and maybe even worst….hardly any flavour. The accompaniment was only a few bean sprouts, a sprig of basil and a slice of lime, not the pile of sprout and aromatic herbs of other establishments. I, who prefers fresh to heavy, added all the chilli into the sauce, and I still could not make it taste good. Even worst, the noodles were flat and the beef was almost non-existent.

Bun Hue Chay 9£7.45) - hot and spicy brisket soup seemed like to be the exact stock base and noodles as the pho, except with a spoon full of chilli paste added. The only thing I can say is…well, now you have flavour. The only thing it had going for it was the brisket. I would have preferred it to be more sinewy, but the beef was soft and flavoursome enough to please.

After the shocking mains, I skipped desserts. Slokky tried the “regurgitated” coffee though. It didn’t taste any different to the coffee we brought back from Vietnam.

Rating - 3

Atmosphere

It’s a small place, a little away from the hustle nad bustle of St John Street, but still close enough to be popular with the office workers and locals. In fact, the place was full to bursting, and extremely warm. It makes a nice and pleasant hang out…now if only the food was better.

Rating - 2

Service

The waiters were all airheads. They were nice and all, but none of them even know what the dishes were or who ordered what, so there was so much confusion when the food came. They had no anticipation, and we had to ask them for everything. They kept reaching over us to remove our plates, sometimes before we’d finished with it.

Rating - 1.5

C-factor

For Farringdon? Average. For pho? Appalling. For decent food? Outrageous.

Rating - 0

Brownie Points - 6.5

Info

86 St. John Street
London
EC1M 4EH
Phone +44 (0) 20 7253 7624
Website

Bluebird Restaurant

Bluebird is situated in the trendy Clelsea area, so I expected lots of rich posers to be dining here, but the client is more mixed than I thought, all enjoying the classic British food.

Food

The menu was interesting and intriguing, with classic British dishes and lots of different types of pies. I chose the Soused Cornish Gurnard - pea shoots, fennel, coriander, rapeseed oil to start. This was even better than the waiter described. The white flesh had been cured so that it is a smooth, fishy jelly. The accompaniment was light and complemented the sour poaching liquid. The Duck Confit & Ham Hock Terrine - piccalilli, celeriac, toasted brioche was more conventional, but still extremely yummy. I enjoyed the thick toasted brioche that came with the dish too.

I opted for Haddock & Prawn Fishcake - spinach, sauce tartare. You can actually distinguish and taste the fish and prawn in the fishcake, in that it wasn’t all mushed together. I really like that. The Fish Pie - day boat fish, tarragon sauce was excellent. A dry wine sauce formed the base of fish pieces accented by tarragon…I was tempted to try desserts but we wanted to get home early….but this place is so good I want to come back again.

Rating - 7.5

Atmosphere

Bluebird is one good looking restaurant – the name actually derived from the “garage” that was this place before it became a restaurant. So that explains the enormous space. They have a big open kitchen down one side of the restaurant, with neat little divisions dividing the rest of the space up. There is a huge bar in the centre of the room, with the counter illuminated. I only wish they have a little more light as I couldn’t read the menu at all!

Rating - 2

Service

Very professional, I was amazed. I asked the waiter to describe the gurnard dish, and she did it without any problems. She was able to tell me the accompaniment that came on the plate, what the taste and texture was supposed to be. Each course was delivered with clear explanation, and the waiters were also friendly. Top notch service.

Rating - 4

C-factor

We dined here on the toptable rewards point. I was surprised, as we were allowed to choose from any items of their normal £15.50 two course menu, instead of the restricted choice I expected.

Rating - 2

Brownie Points - 15.5

Info

The Kings Road Gastrodome
350 Kings Road
London
SW3 5UU
Phone +44 (0) 20 7559 1000
Website

Michael Caines at ABode Hotel Canterbury

Michael Caines is supposed to be a Michelin Star winning chef, although this place has not been decorated with any awards…still, I had my hopes up.

Food

The execution of the food certainly has Michelin star pretensions. Luckily, the food was executed well and tasted wonderful. I felt like I ate a mini mini tasting menu. There was a choice of 3 for each course. We had:

• Twice baked Roquefort soufflé - poached haddock, quail’s egg, hollandaise sauce - the egg was done just right. The hollandaise tangy and creamy. A great start to the meal.
• Boudin Blanc - wild mushroom puree, roasted almond foam - excellent, with a creamy texture and great accompaniment.
• Roast Topside Kentish Beef - pomme puree, wild mushroom, red wine jus - a very small piece of beef, but really good quality. Not too much nees to be done really – the pomme puree were really creamy.
• Pan Fried Mackerel - Serreno ham, smoked red pepper puree, basil and aged balsamic vinegar - I like mackerel, at least it has some flavour. This was not exceptional, but I admire the chef for getting the produce shine through.
• Orange Rhubarb Charlotte - orange cream, poached rhubarb - you can’t go wrong. I love rhubarb 
• Banoffee fool chocolate fudge muffin - caramel and cream sauce - not much banana, and a bit sweet… and I was really looking forward to this

This was all finished off with Earl Grey, which also came with 6 delectable and fussed with Petit 4s.

Rating - 7.5

Atmosphere

The restaurant is situated in a nice clean space, right in the centre of town. Modern lines, white table cloth, with a small bar down one end. The colour is black with accents of orange, in the flower on each table and the uniform of the staff. The restaurant was full enough for a Saturday lunch time to give it a good atmosphere, although the clientele lean towards the old rather than the new.

Rating - 2

Service

Seems like the staff are on training wheel. When we were presented with our meals, the boudin blanc was explained as “chicken”, the mackerel as “fish” and the beef was called “meat”…really, I think I could have figured that out myself. They were so half-heard in their crumb sweeping they shouldn’t have bothered, and one of the waiter was acting really gay too.

Rating - 1

C-factor

It was £9.95 for 3 courses. While it sounded like a bargain, the portions were very very small, like tasting menu portions. We were actually not full afterwards – which really is not such a bad thing. In saying that, the ingredients were top rate and the food tasted very good, so I think they have priced it just right.

Rating - 1

Brownie Points - 11.5

Info

The Abode Hotel
High Street
Canterbury
Kent
CT1 2RX
Phone +44 (0) 20 7403 8403
Website

Lau’s Buffet King

My first, and hopefully my last, Chinese buffet

Food

The selection was quite varied, I actually skipped half the stuff, but I tried the following:

• Sweet and sour soup
• Fried chicken wing
• Crispy seaweed
• Crispy won-ton
• Spring roll
• Curry Samosa
• Sweet and sour spare rib
• Salt and pepper spare rib
• Peking Spare rib
• Egg Foo Yung
• Singapore Vermicelli
• Beef in black bean sauce
• Sweet and sour pork
• Pork in pepper sauce
• Lemon chicken
• Braised mushroom
• Stir fried vegetable
• Salt and pepper prawns
• Mussel in black bean sauce
• Pork & Veg in XO Sauce
• Stir fried beef with mushrooms
• Beef in black bean sauce
• Stir-fried roast pork
• Seafood & Mushroom Fried Rice
• Fried banana
• Fried pineapple
• Ice-cream with fruit salad

I only managed to eat 3 plates worth, plus soup and dessert…I must be getting old, with my metabolism slowing. Usually I can polish off at least 4 plates. Anyhow…all I can say is I had a fried taste in my mouth for a long time after that. And that’s all I want to say about it. If you are into this sort of thing, I suppose this is one of the better restaurants to be in, because of the foot traffic, you can be sure that the food is fresh.

Rating - 5

Atmosphere

Well, we visited here on Valentines Day, but it didn’t stop singles, friends, couples and families all dining here. We saw a huge line formed out the front, and that’s why we thought it must be good…It was so busy, they filled two whole floor of the space, and there were still people waiting out the front! I really don’t know the reason, except that food in Newcastle must be terrible in general, to have such a line-up of people shoving each other out of the way to get in.

While busy is great for a buffet in that you always get fresh food, it meant that you have to wait a long time in the line to get to the items you want. And as for the décor, the least said about this the better.

Rating - 1

Service

The waiter took the time to explain to us how the buffet works. Exactly how much it would cost if we leave at a certain time. They seemed to be very experienced with the common questions that they must get ask. Other than that, they took away the plates at a regular enough interval, and filled up the food when supplies ran low, what more can you ask for?

Rating - 3

C-factor

£5.50 for lunch. Extras for drinks. Not that cheap in my opinion. I thought people might be going crazy and loading up plate after plate, but most people seemed to only have 2 plates + dessert and call it a day…seems like it might be a good business idea to start up an Oriental buffet in Newcastle…

Rating - 0.5

Brownie Points - 9.5

Info

44-50 Stowell Street
Newcastle Upon Tyne
NE1 4XQ
Phone +44 (0) 19 1261 8868
Website