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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.