Monday, February 23, 2009

Tagine, Balham

Sunday lunchtime.  We didn't want to spend much money, we weren't too hungry, we wanted to drink champagne.  
This combination of factors led us to return to Tagine in Balham as we knew their huge portions of houmous, pittas, aubergine and pepper dips and their BYO policy were perfect.

The three of us were the only customers which didn't bother us.  We settled and ordered our food, which arrived promptly, with friendly service.

The problem was that they didn't tell us that shortly a film company would be using the restaurant as a set.  Cameras started being set up, huge hot lights were erected, makeup and costume ladies started doing their thing.  In short, we were right in the way.  Staff all directed their attention to the crew and then half way through our meal someone came over and asked if we'd mind pausing our meal to be extras (we would mind, yes).  Eventually we just paid up and left.  The restaurant should have been shut that day, simple as.

One course: £9 per head

Value: 8/10

Service: 5/10

Atmosphere: 2/10

Food: 8/10

SCORE: 23/40

Tagine, 1-3 Fernlea Road, London, SW12 9RT.  Tel: 020 86757604.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Ask, Mayfair

There was a 2 for 1 deal going at Ask and a little strapped for cash, three of us decided to do that and split the bill threeways.  That is the only real reason I would go to this restaurant, as I have always found it to be a fairly middle of the road pizza chain, inferior to Pizza Express and certainly to Strada.

Anyway, we arrived without booking but it was only a Wednesday night and there were plenty of tables.
We waited by the door for about five minutes without any acknowledgment from staff that we were there.  Eventually I weaved through the tables and asked a waitress who was standing by the till, if we could have a table.  She didn't answer but turned to another more senior waiter and he gestured for us to follow him.  We made our way towards the table but it then became apparent that they were still clearing it, and so we had to hover in the middle of the restaurant.  Then, yet another waiter came over to us and very rudely said "Can you wait by the door to be seated please?  You're in everyone's way!".  We began to return that way when the second waiter called us back...  A dreadful start, and no apology.

We ordered soft drinks and pizzas, which arrived in a reasonable amount of time and were reasonable themselves. My Pollo Piccante had a good amount of chicken and some nice lightly roasted red peppers, Penne del Giardino looked good with lots of veg and Spaghetti e Polpette was a triumph of meatballs for my friend, who enjoyed it very much.

The atmosphere in there was buzzy but fairly bland.  The whole experience was quite meh, especially when it took an absolute age to get, and then pay for, the bill.

One course and a soft drink: £12 per head (without offer)

Value: 7/10

Service: 4/10

Atmosphere: 6/10

Food: 7/10

SCORE: 24/40

Ask, 56-60 Wigmore Street, London, W1U 2RZ.  Tel: 020 72243484.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

All Star Lanes, Bayswater

A company team-building event took twenty of us again to All Star Lanes in Bayswater.  The staff provided tap water on the table before we were seated and offered drinks without hassling or annoying us.

To begin I ordered salt and pepper popcorn squid, which unfortunately they forgot and so I received just as the mains were arriving.  However, it was very good - not greasy and well flavoured, a very generous portion as well.  

My steak for main course was delicious, a lovely piece of meat and cooked exactly as requested.
Everyone seemed happy with what they had, from pot pie to burger.  String fries are really good - hot and salty and crunchy but soft on the inside (but they are extra...).

It's a very cool venue for a group, if a little on the expensive side.

Two courses and half a bottle of wine: £40 per head

Value: 6/10

Service: 8/10

Atmosphere: 7/10

Food: 8/10

SCORE: 29/40

All Star Lanes, Whiteleys, 6 Porchester Gardens, London, W2 4DB.  Tel: 020 73138363.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Mr Underhill's, Ludlow

I was so excited to visit Mr Underhill's, a birthday treat for my ma.  We only got in by luck - the first date I tried for (two months away) was fully booked and the second had had a cancellation half an hour before.

It was a Saturday night and the restaurant was full. 
The room wasn't quite as I had imagined.  The exterior is a period building, next to the weir, but the interior is ever so slightly bland, a little like someone's formal dining room.  However, the service was fantastic: we had a youngish waiter who was really friendly and the owner, Mrs Bradley, worked the room, checking everything was ok and advising the next table on wine (incidentally, after asking them a few questions she recommended they go for the house).  

There is only the tasting menu available and they called me the day before to let me know we would be eating venison, and to check if anyone would prefer a different main meat (we were happy with venison).  I decided to just enjoy the food and not make a note of every course and so here are a few snippets of what we had: salmon mousse in a small cone (delicate and flavoursome), butternut veloute with parmesan froth and aged balsamic (great flavour combos), monkfish with cep pasta (beautiful fish and light pasta), the venison which was the best meat dish any of us had ever had - fabulously tender with a rich, deep red wine, elderberries and thyme with soft chive mash, iced plum sponge with star anise ice cream (a gorgeous finish).  You could select a pudding - I chose a Highland parfait with flapjack wafer, Scottish oat praline and Drambuie which was divine.  Deeply hot chocolate tart with white chocolate ice cream, greengage crumble with verbena icecream and lemon tart with orange and marscapone ice cream were all well received too - everything was the perfect portion size too - generous but just enough.  There were handmade sweets and cake with coffee and a few other amuse bouche, which I forget.  All this was accompanied by a couple of lovely bottles of Rioja.

As we left we were given two packets of homemade fudge to have with our morning coffee.  Mr Underhill's feels like a family operation with a professional touch.  Food and service were fabulous and value wise, I have had many many meals for much more, to a much lower standard.  This restaurant deservedly has a Michelin star.

Tasting menu and half a bottle of wine: £60 per head

Value: 8/10

Service: 10/10

Atmosphere: 7/10

Food: 9/10

SCORE: 34/40

Mr Underhill's, Dinham Weir, Ludlow, Shropshire, SY8 1EH.  Tel: 01584 874431.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Boulevard Brasserie, Covent Garden

I needed to catch up with a friend and Boulevard Brasserie was central and convenient for both of us.  It is a very buzzy location and was packed, even on a Tuesday night.
We had a cocktail whilst we perused the menu and then to begin we had duck parfait with toasted brioche and fig chutney.  It was really delicious, the sweet flavours of the fig and the brioche contrasting with the rich duck.  For main course we both had steak - cooked to perfection with slim French fries and a bearnaise sauce. 

This is a great place for a pre or post theatre meal, or for catching up.  The service was professional and friendly.  Centrally, you couldn't do much better.

Two courses and a cocktail: £29 per head

Value: 7/10

Service: 9/10

Atmosphere: 8/10

Food: 8/10

SCORE: 32/40

Boulevard Brasserie, 40 Wellington Street, London, WC2E 7BD.  Tel: 020 72402992.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Soho Thai, Soho

Six of us were wandering through Soho looking for somewhere to eat.  A plan to go to Cha Cha Moon had been scuppered by the length of the queue.

Soho Thai caught our eye and we were ushered into the back room where they had a big enough table but lacked the atmosphere of the main dining area.  The service was efficient, if not overly friendly.

To begin, tom yum soup went down very well, prawn toasts were tasty (if a little heavy) and not too greasy with a generous sprinkling of sesame seeds.  The menu doesn't offer any surprises, but it delivers the classics with ease: green Thai curry, chicken massaman curry, pad se-iew, pad Thai - all polished off with no problem.  House wine was decent enough.

Two courses and half a bottle of wine: £20 per head

Value: 7/10

Service: 6/10

Atmosphere: 6/10

Food: 7/10

SCORE: 26/40

Soho Thai, 27-28 St. Anne's Court, London, W1F 0BN.  Tel: 020 72872000.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

La Tasca, Soho

I had a hangover.  A dreadful hangover.  The kind that resulted in my being trapped between methods of transport: unable to face getting on the tube and unable to return home on the bus.
When I eventually made it to Oxford Circus to meet two friends all I wanted to do was sit, and eat.

One of them suggested La Tasca as they do an offer - all you can eat tapas for a tenner.  I am not a huge fan of the La Tasca chain - I have always found service, food and sangria to be lacking in pizzazz and authenticity but on this occasion I was willing to give it another go (not the sangria).

The offer has no real catches - tapas, and as much as you want.

We went slightly mad and ordered almost everything.  The bread with olive oil and sherry vinegar was soft and fresh, if a little dull.  Marinated chicken wings were moreish, Spanish sausage in red wine was greasy, deep fried white fish in batter was very good, squid rings were just on the wrong side of chewy but the garlic mayonnaise was good, aubergine topped with cheese and tomato was boring, patatas bravas were fine but to be fair even in Madrid they let me down - the only good ones I have ever had were at the now closed Global in Wandsworth. Finally, the paella rice was good but the chicken was bony and limited.

We ordered again and again after that and were never rushed, the waitress served us in bemused silence as we ate our own body weight in tapas.  The atmosphere on a Sunday afternoon was actually not bad - the gentle hum of couples and groups of friends soaking up the previous night's excess.

All you can eat tapas and a soft drink: £12.50 per head

Value: 9/10

Service: 7/10

Atmosphere: 7/10

Food: 6/10

SCORE: 29/40

La Tasca, 300 Regent Street, London, W1B 3AR.  Tel: 020 76372886.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

La Movida, Battersea

It was a Saturday night and a friend and I wanted some food before a night out.  Walking down Battersea Park Road we found only a handful of options and all of them fairly dead.  

We chose La Movida and dashed in out of the pouring rain.  It looks authentically Spanish inside - minimal decor, plain wooden tables, basic laminated menu displaying tapas and paella.  We decided to share the Paella Valencia for two and were happy to wait the twenty five minutes it would take to prepare, chatting over the decent house red and eating bread.  

It arrived packed with chicken and seafood, beautiful saffrony rice sticky with tomato flavour. It was a generous portion and absolutely delicious.  The service was friendly and not overbearing, despite the fact that there was only one more table bar us, at 8pm on a Saturday night.  A great little local.

Bread, one course and half a bottle of wine: £20 per head

Value: 7/10

Service: 7/10

Atmosphere: 5/10

Food: 8/10

SCORE: 27/40

La Movida, 300 Battersea Park Road, London, SW11 3BU.  Tel: 020 79242595.

Monday, January 26, 2009

The Prince of Wales, Battersea

I remember this pub being the rowdy, hockey team favourite The Settle Inn.  Its atmosphere couldn't have been much more different when I went for lunch with a friend and her parents.  It is very much a food orientated pub (when I popped in recently on a Sunday every table was occupied by diners, there was nowhere to have a drink) and we sat in the large dining room. Everyone went for a sandwich - some of us for chicken and some for steak.  Mine (a chicken version) was good, if a little dull - salad etc all fine but nothing that sticks in the memory and some decent chips.  The steak, though was tough and chewy - served on a skewer to be placed into the bread yourself - and at one point a member of our party had to discreetly spit a particularly unpalatable piece into her napkin.

Determined to end the meal on a better note we had sticky toffee pudding with icecream which was delicious, and a generous size.  

As it's local, I expect I will give it another go sometime but a disappointing start.

Two courses and a glass of wine: £16 per head

Value: 6/10

Service: 7/10

Atmosphere: 8/10

Food: 6/10

SCORE: 27/40

The Prince of Wales, 186 Battersea Bridge Road, London, SW11 3AE.  Tel: 020 72280395.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

The Westbourne, Notting Hill

A former colleague was over from Dublin and she wanted to revisit an old haunt - The Westbourne, not far from our workplace.

It's a trendy place, which veers much more towards gastro than typical pub food.  A typical menu (which changes daily) would offer more than one fish option, possible some game, a couple of salads, vegetarian options and pasta.

On the day in question I selected a mushroom risotto, which was creamy and beautifully cheesy with the slight bite of perfectly cooked rice.  The only complaint would be that there wasn't very much and it didn't come with anything at all - a little salad might have been nice for variety. Others chose mackerel, chicken pie and seafood linguine, all of which were freshly cooked and packed with flavour.  

The ordering system could be better here - you must order from a till at one end of the bar and it can be very slow given the number of tables.  Also, in our experience, the staff can be very brusque to the point of rude.

However, the atmosphere is good and in the summer they have a good amount of outdoor tables.  The wine, beer and cider selection is excellent and for the area you can't really beat it for a long lunch.... except perhaps on price.

One course and a soft drink: £13 per head

Value: 6/10

Service: 5/10

Atmosphere: 7/10

Food: 7/10

SCORE: 25/40

The Westbourne, 101 Westbourne Park Villas, London, W2 5ED.  Tel: 020 72211332.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Tagine, Balham

The brief was simple - good, cheap food, somewhere central London that is easily accessible from Earl's Court. As with all things simple, this didn't go to plan and thus it was that five of us found ourselves with a table reserved at Tagine in Balham for a farewell dinner.  It adhered to the first two criteria at least, especially as it's BYO.

Everyone in Tagine seems to drink champagne (or at least something with bubbles) and we didn't break the mould. To begin we shared three of their dips with pitta.  Absolutely delicious - smooth, creamy houmous topped with chick peas, soft aubergine with just enough garlic, peppers with a delicious bite to their marinated strips, all mixed with beautiful olive oil.  The quantities, too, are very generous - we had to request more pitta (hot, soft and hugely moreish).  The service is fast and friendly.

For mains tagines are, obviously, the way forward.  I chose lamb shank - the most gorgeously tender meat with soft, juicy vegetables in a fabulous sauce (running out of adjectives here). 
Everyone agreed that they were fantastic.  A huge mound of couscous was ordered as a side. This is one of my favourite foods and this one was a simply perfect fluffy accompaniment.

No room for puddings so we lounged on our Moroccan cushions and soaked in the atmosphere - it was packed full on a Thursday night, and rightly so.

Two courses: £13 per head

Value: 8/10

Service: 7/10

Atmosphere: 8/10

Food: 8/10

SCORE: 31/40

Tagine, 1-3 Fernlea Road, London, SW12 9RT.  Tel: 020 86757604.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Breads Etcetera, Clapham

I was excited to have a brunch with a good friend on a sunny Saturday and I was even more excited when we decided on Breads Etcetera as the venue.  I had heard a lot of good things about it, and I knew a few friends had failed to get a table in the past as it was so busy but we crossed our fingers and met at 11.30.  Sure enough there were a few people spilling out of the door, waiting next to the delicious smelling bread stall as they waited their turn.

As luck would have it though,  a little outdoor table became free and we were happy to keep our coats on and sit in the sun.  The only downside to this is that you don't get to use the Dualit toasters on the indoor tables to make your own toast.  All the same, we manage to attract a waitress (the table service is very slow) and order two cappuccinos and two mushrooms on sourdough bread.  

The coffee is excellent and I think the food would have been if it was a little bit warmer and the bread a little less chewy.  It reminded me of a home made dish, which is no bad thing - real butter, hand cut bread...but somehow for the price I would have liked a bit more.  Paying for it was a chore too, resulting in us going inside and chasing someone round until they would take our money.

One course and a coffee: £10 per head

Value: 6/10

Service: 5/10

Atmosphere: 6/10

Food: 6/10

SCORE: 23/40

Breads Etcetera, 127 Clapham High Street, London, SW4 7SS.  Tel: 020 77203601.

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Rooburoo, Angel

A friend chose Rooburoo as a last minute venue for his birthday meal and so five of us turned up at 8pm on a Saturday night, hoping we could get a table.  We needn't have worried - there was noone else in there.  Not a good sign.

However, the staff were very friendly and we were seated in front of the unusual (read as difficult to follow) menu within seconds.  There are roasts, cooked on the tandoor and served with salad, stir fried noodles and 'lite bites' amongst the mixture of more standard offerings.

The poppadoms were light and crispy and fresh, served with a selection of tasty pickles in modern glass jars - a refreshing change.  We skipped starters and went straight for the curries.  I was glad I had selected a medium strength option as, despite the fact I am not a hot curry fan, my lamb rogan josh had a bit of spice to it - as opposed to the fairly bland chicken korma kashmiri that Tom had. Other chicken and prawn curries along the table were well received and the meat was tender and plentiful but the sauces were fairly watery and nothing was above average. On the plus side rices, in pots to share, were generous and service throughout was exemplary.

Two courses and a beer: £19 per head

Value: 6/10

Service: 9/10

Atmosphere: 3/10

Food: 5/10

SCORE: 23/40

Rooburoo, 21 Chapel Market, London, N1 9EZ.  Tel: 020 72788100.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

The Champion, Notting Hill

The Champion is a typical Notting Hill boozer.  Seating consists of worn leather sofas and stools and mismatched dining chairs.  It's an occasional venue for post-work drinks and one Friday we decided to eat there.

The classic burger with chips was the favourite choice, with one of us choosing the steak sandwich and the vegetarian selecting the hot falafel in flatbread.  Everyone was impressed.  The burger was good quality and the whole meal tasted hot and fresh, unlike a lot of pub food.  To me, the veggie option looked a bit thin but apparently it was tasty and the steak went down very well.  The bar staff can be a bit sharp but as a place for a bite and a few drinks, it would be hard to beat.

One course and a glass of wine: £10 per head

Value: 8/10

Service: 6/10

Atmosphere: 7/10

Food: 7/10

SCORE: 28/40

1 Wellington Terrace, London, W2 4LW.  Tel: 020 77924527.

Monday, January 5, 2009

Cha Cha Moon, Soho

I had heard mixed reviews of Alan Yau's latest offering but the place intrigued me and, at least while the £3 per course offer remained, I thought it was worth a try.  

The design is stunning, reminiscent in some ways of a ski lodge with big heavy wooden doors and a back to nature kind of feel (or maybe that's just me).

The three of us had to queue on a Thursday evening, for perhaps fifteen minutes, before we were seated at our communal table with benches.  Atmosphere wise it is buzzier than Wagamama, and more grown up, with the sleeker design of Busaba Eathai.  We each selected a main course and shared two sides.  They arrive as and when they are ready, meaning you have to get on with it, possibly leaving, as we did, one diner waiting.  However, my Singapore noodles were just the right amount of spiciness and full of meat and seafood.  Others' curries were similarly good.  Sides arrived in a staggered fashion towards the middle to end of the meal and the pork dumplings were a particular favourite.  The red wine was very good and we were never rushed to finish and free up the table space.

Whilst the offer continues the food is very good value, especially for the location, but one glass of wine cost more than the main dish.  Once the prices go up, I may revise my opinion!

One course, a side and a glass of wine: £12.50 per head

Value: 8/10

Service: 6/10

Atmosphere: 7/10

Food: 7/10

SCORE: 28/40

Cha Cha Moon, 15-21 Ganton Street, London, W1F 9BN.  Tel: 020 72979800.