London Restaurant Guide | London Restaurant Blog and Reviews | Londonelicious

Pakistani: Tayyabs

83-89 Fieldgate St
E1 1JU
Tel: 020 7247 6400

Date of Last Visit: Sunday, 18 February 2007

The Victims: Michael, Chris, Evelien

The Damage: £12 each

The Background: I don't know why I haven't written about Tayyabs sooner. Tayyabs was one of the first restaurants I ever went to back when I first moved over in 2004. My friend Rutton swears by their food, as do many people out there on the Internet. It's kinda crazy how much bigger the restaurant is now than it was in 2004.

In a way, though, I know exactly why I haven't written about Tayyabs. It's because I don't want you to go there. I don't want you to eat any of the seekh kebabs or the karahi gosht or the tinda masala or well, the seekh kebabs. 

The Verdict: No mango lassis for you! They're mine. All mine.

Chinese: Eat Drink Chinese Restaurant

11 Artillery Passage
E1 7LJ
Tel: 020 7377 8964

Date of Last Visit: Friday, 16 February 2007

The Victims: Too many to mention

The Damage: £20 per person

The Background: It is, in case you didn't know, the Chinese New Year. Echo was kind enough to organize dinner out at a Chinese place tucked into Artillery Passage. Now I gotta tell ya, I love Artillery Passage. It is just the cutest, darkest, twisty lanes of a place.

I was excited to visit Eat Drink because they have karaoke. Yes. I do enjoy a little karaoke. Just a little. :)

The Approach: Hard to find. And dark and dingy. We were in the "private dining" area--or so it seemed. Right off the bar--the karaoke bar. Which had some of the cheesiest karaoke videos I've ever seen.   

The Food: We put Team China in charge of ordering. And order they did! It just kept coming and coming. I really liked the eggplant. And the tofu. And the Chinese broccoli. (Or well, British broccoli as our server called it.) And I liked the "traditional dish from Canton" that was made up of vegetables and meat. (Yes, I know. I'm sure I can't be less descriptive.) The duck was probably the most delicious thing we ate. (Not duck pancake--just duck. It was really really good.) We washed this down with some sake (I know--not Chinese.) and some Tsing Tao.

The Entertainment: They play Buzz in China too. (The game where you can't say any number with a 7 in it, or any number that's a multiple of 7.)

The Verdict: Pat Benetar once said, "Love is a battlefield." So too is Eat Drink. We were glad to make it out of there with our dignity intact. I am afraid to go back because someone might catch me on tape singing California Dreaming. (Hey, it's a good song.)

Eco-Friendly: Acorn House

69 Swinton Street
WC1X 9NT
Tel: 020 7812 1842

Date of Last Visit: Wednesday, 14 Feb 2007

The Victim: Howard

The Damage: £80ish for me.

The Background: I had done something to make Howard just the tiniest bit upset with me. He felt unloved and no one should feel like that on Valentine's Day. So we agreed to meet up for a drink and a show and maybe a meal. I suggested Pizza Express. :)

The Approach: After 15 minutes of head-banging at The Water Rat, we wisely decided to head out for some sustenance. It was a little late, so I was thinking a kebab or some chips or maybe a curry or maybe even a little late-night dim sum.

I managed to forget somehow that Howard is a foodie, so we weren't talking Best Kebab or duck pancakes.

We were talking five course tasting menu at a restaurant that specializes in environmentally sustainable cuisine and giving back to the community.

£90 with wine. £68 without.

And it was Valentine's Day, so this wasn't just any five course tasting menu. We (well, THEY, actually) were talking one dish after another all centered around the big day.

The Crowd: Howard said I seemed obsessed by the fact that all the men had the outside seat and all the women had the bench seat. I purposefully bucked the trend and took the outside seat. Howard made me feel better about being a modern woman by noting he preferred the inside seat.

The Food: It was nice. The beet soup was really nice--points to Howard for remembering that beets are not my favorite thing. As long as I can't see the beets, I'm fine. (I feel the same about tomatoes. Like ketchup, hate big slices of raw tomatoes.) The salad was okay. It had quince in it; I'm not sure how I feel about quince. The lobster risotto was like rice with lobster in it, proving to myself once again that risotto is just rice. Until someone proves me wrong. The scallop dish was nice, but just a little bit on the salty side for me.

The Wine: I kept trying to prove to Howard that my wine was colder than his. I finally figured it out the next morning--they served me larger portions of wine because I went by-the-glass. So my wine kept the chill probably a little longer than his. I was really sad because I do love tasting menus with wine. The problem was that it was a Wednesday, and I needed to be very productive the next day.

The Best Part: The ginger cake! It was fantastic. I do love ginger.

The Verdict: Loved the concept. Thought the food was nice and the service was friendly too. I would be open to a return visit.

Sushi: Feng Sushi

24 Kensington Church Street
W8 4EP
Tel: 020 7937 7927

Date of Last Visit: Sunday 11 February 2007

The Victim: Me, myself and I

The Damage: £18

The Background: I was over on High Street Ken for some retail therapy. Therapy realized, I thought sushi might be a light refreshing way to re-energize. So I seriously wandered the streets, knowing there must be a Japanese restaurant somewhere. I found it on Ken Church Street and was happy. To start.

The Entrance: Feng is not a large place. It is very very small. I kinda liked this. It was also very empty for 2 p.m. on a Sunday, but they seemed to be doing a good take-away business so there was that.

The Menu: I wanted an assortment, but I would have had to offer everything individually and probably would have spent £30 doing so. So I went for a box combo, but to be honest, I really didn't like all of the box combo options. They were very vertical in nature...all tuna, or all salmon, or all (insert fish here). I went with the tuna, mercury poisoning and my mother be damned!

The Food: I kinda got the feeling that the tuna had been frozen and defrosted on a number of occassions. It just didn't have that freshy-freshy quality to it. Hmmm. It was tasty, don't get me wrong. And I probably wouldn't have noticed it had everything on my plate NOT been tuna. But because everything was tuna, well, I noticed it. Interestingly for me, the nigri was served with chilli sauce. I've never had nigri with chilli sauce before. Again, this was not a bad thing, and maybe in Japan, they serve nigri with chilli sauce all the time--I cannot speak knowledgeable because I myself have never been to Japan. But given that all the staff up front was Brazilian, well, a girl has to wonder.

The Verdict: Eh. Did I mention it was a little dark inside--and not in that romantic way (which wouldn't have mattered because I was all by my lonesome anyhow), but rather in that "We could turn the lights on but we're not going to" type of way. I want more variety in my "box" sushi, and I don't want to pay a fortune for it.

Dim Sum: Yauatcha

15 Broadwick Street
W1F 0DL
Tel: 020 7494 8888

Date of Last Visit: Monday, February 12, 2007

The Victims: Nick and John

The Damage: Unknown. Nick paid.

The Background: Nick was in town from Chicago with his co-worker and very kindly suggested getting together for dinner. My boss has been to Yautcha and spoken highly of it, and I needed something suitably central. And you know I am a sucker for dim sum any time of day. So this was it.

The Arrival: It's cool. And empty upstairs. But it's Monday so that's fine. I head downstairs (Oh how I hate stairs and heels. A terrible combination.) and Nick and John are already there, helping themselves to drinks. Which brings me to...

The Drinks: So they had this beer that was made by Sapporo, but it wasn't Sapporo. And it was the only beer they had. I thought this odd. Surely they could have had a 2nd option? John went with whiskey, which I can see as an apertif, but whiskey and food? Hmmm.

The Service: Oh, I love empty restaurants where no one comes and waits on you. This tells me that there is just something fundamentally wrong, particularly when there are lots of staff. Also, restaurants where all the tables are empty, but they insist on sitting the only other party right next to you. (This is probably because of some weird thing with the wait staff table divisions, but who knows. It's not like they explained it.) And then I love when you are annoyed that they put the only other party right next to you, but then they TOTALLY forget to wait on the other party, even though they are RIGHT THERE. I felt very bad for the poor French people.

The Food: Right on. Loved the ribs. Loved the dumplings. Loved the noodles. Loved the sticky rice in lotus leaves. Loved everything, actually.

The Loos: Loved the ladies' sink! Very zen like. Hated the weight of the doors. Heavy suckers.

The Verdict: Hmmm. Only if I were famous and assured of fantastic service.

Fish: Fish!

Cathedral Street
Borough Market
London SE1 9AL
Tel: 020 7407 3803

Date of Last Visit: Wednesday, February 7 2006

The Victims: Too many to mention.

The Damage: £33 each.

The Background: I was with a lot of people from China. We wanted to give them a little London experience, so I was thinking walk along the Southbank, cross the Millennium Bridge, around St. Paul's, etc. And I knew seafood would be a good option. And you know, I've been walking by Fish! for three years now so it was time to give it a shot.

The Approach: We arrive and are seated immediately. Then we are left to our own devices for a while. A long while. And then someone comes to take our drink orders, and he is just so not patient with us. He just sorta stands there, looking at us. Waiting for us.

The Service: We have to wave someone down to take our food order. And boy, does he want us to order one appetizer each. I knew that would be too much food for our group. I just wanted to share a few dishes. But he just would not leave it be. I was really annoyed. And he wanted to take both our appetizer and main order at the same time, and there I am trying to read out Pinyin translations of all the fish on the menu via my Blackberry (mucho thanks to two of my Chinese colleagues who have lived in the English speaking world for quite some time and know how to say Swordfish and Monkfish and John Dory in Chinese). I explained that this was going to take a while and can't he just bring the four appetizers for the 10 of us and come back later. I could tell he was annoyed, which just made me annoyed. I am normally not a harsh person but finally I practically screamed at him, "Just get us the appetizers and come back in 5 minutes."

The Appetizers: Underwhelming. A couple of calamari rings that had some stuff unattractively drizzled over them. The Thai fish cakes were okay, but seemed a little overcooked.

The Mains: Eh. My fish was nice--I went with the sea bass with the spicy salsa--but the bed of vegetables it was on was lame and cheap. Some carrots and some cabbage. No finesse. My Chinese colleagues loved everything, but it was also one of their first meals in the Western world, so they were (I might argue) still in honeymoon mode.

Back to The Service: Oh yeah, our server also wanted everyone to order a side. And the majority of sides were potatoes. And cold salad. I said to the guy, "Listen we don't need many sides. Just 2 chips, 2 mashed, and 2 mushy peas" and he kept trying to pretend that the servings were so miniscule that that would never be enough. 

The Verdict: Eh. Not going back. I want to eat. Not to be sold. If I wanted to be sold on something, I'd go look for a car. Shame the one dude had to ruin everything for me.

Pan-Asian: Cicada

132-136 St John Street
EC1V 4JT
Te: 020 7608 1550

Date of Last Visit: Friday, February 2, 2006

The Victims: Conrad, Laura, Rob

The Damage: £16 each + Drinks (paid for separately at the bar)

The Background: We were over at Conrad's place, making plans and drinking red wine. Our stomachs started talking to us, so it was time for sustenance. Cicada is right down the road from Conrad's flat and he is a not infrequent visitor. I had heard mixed reviews about Cicada, but good company always wins out, so off we went.

The Arrival: Rob was waiting for us at the bar, and we quickly put our name in for a table and got ourselves some beer. The staff there had just turned away a party of two--they told the couple that they couldn't take them for another 45 minutes or more. We put in for a table of four and almost immediately after placing our drink order at the bar, we were seated.

Now this brings up an interesting conundrum: when I was a hostess in the US, if we had an unreserved table available, it went to whoever asked for it, regardless of party size. If that meant sitting two people at a "four top," that was fine. So I felt bad for the couple who were turned away because if they had just adopted a random stranger from the bar (and becoming a party-of-three), they totally could have eaten. I've also noted in my "career" there are lots of parties-of-two who will out eat, out dessert, and out drink a party-of-four. So why pass them over for the unknown? And you know the really sad thing? I looked around the restaurant 30 minutes later and there were a bunch of empty tables. Those 2 people totally should have had one.

The Food: We ordered a bunch of things and had them delivered randomly to the table. There was edamame, of course. And some squid in a paper funnel that was quite nice. And some great pad thai. I ordered the duck pancakes and they told me it was available, but then they later told me they were out. By that point, it would have taken too long for any additional food to arrive, so I got a beer instead. This was sad because I left the restaurant just a little too hungry still.

The Service: It was her second shift.  A little more menu training and she'll be fine.

The Verdict: You know, I liked Cicada. I'd be interested in knowing what people disliked about it, because I thought it was pretty decent.

Gastro: The Enterprise

35 Walton Street
SW3 2HU
Tel: 020 7584 3148

Date of Last Visit: Wednesday, 31 January 2007

The Victims: Joe, Maria, Jen

The Damage: Unknown!

The Background: I had organized a little outing over to the Great Australian Wine Experience by St. James' Park. For £35, we got a nice big book about Australian wine producers/distributors, as well as a commenorative glass; you could wander from one stand to the next, tasting along the way. (Some producers even let you pour your own. Nice.) It was a fantastic evening. One of the highlights were a couple of different Chardonnays from Giant Steps.

Once we were all wined-out--I never thought that would be possible--we hopped a taxi over to The Enterprise, Joe & Maria's old local. I was very excited because I'd always heard nice things.

The Approach: And indeed, The Enterprise was nice. And cozy. The staff were particularly so and the whole place was cast in this lovely warm goldenly glow. (Then again, maybe there was still a little too much lovely warm goldeny Chardonnay coursing through my veins.) There was a short wait for a table, so we enjoyed some drinks and Doritos at the bar.

The Starters: I was insanely jealous of the calamari starter. They looked like onion rings and were stacked high. My foie gras was teensy in comparison, but was, as foie gras nearly always is, very very tasty.

The Mains: My salmon fishcakes were really good, although a bit on the dry side. After all that white wine, I didn't care though..dry was a good thing.

The Verdict: I'd go back for the coziness and the proximity to Harrod's.

Puerto Rico: Sonne

Calle Fortaleza
Old San Juan, Puerto Rico
Tel: Unknown

Date of Last Visit: Thursday, January 25 2006

The  Victims: Syl, Feathers, Jimmy, Dave

The Damage: Unknown.

The Background: We really wanted to go to Marmelade, but the earliest they could take us was 9:45. Being Americans (well, except for Jimmy) this was way too late. So I asked the concierge for other suggestions, and he came up with Sonne and an earlier booking. He told me Sonne was a newer restaurant, but he'd heard good things about it.

The Approach: We arrived, and the restaurant was empty. Very empty. Too empty. I could tell Feathers was nervous. Nevertheless, it had the design factor going for it so we went with it. And really, we had nowhere else to go.

The Drinks: FANTASTIC. I had a coconut martini of some sort. Super delicious, although the last dregs were not pleasant. (Too gooey.) Feathers went with something lemony and vanilla-ish, which I switched to later on; I was quite pleased with it.

The Food: Our server encouraged us to share. And so we did. We started with some empanadas--how I love them. A particular highlights was the ribs--really super delicious. And the cold noodles. Who knew cold noodles could be so nice?

The Service: I felt like the entire restaurant waited on us. Everyone was really nice, although they failed my "What do you recommend?" test. (I dislike it when they tell me "everything is good." This cannot be true.)

The End: Feathers cleared the table next to us of glassware. Classy.

The Verdict: Why aren't more people here? (Feathers said she thought some of the dishes were salty. I did not have this problem.) If I'm ever in Puerto Rico again, I'd go.

A Saturday in Broadway Market

I was very much inspired by a recent post from Aidan Brooks, Trainee Chef, so I popped over to Broadway Market in Hackney this morning. I had hoped to embed the full Flickr slideshow for your viewing pleasure, but apparently you can't resize Flickr slideshows (default is 500 x 500 and my middle column is 400 and I'm not up for a site redesign at the moment). Check out the full show here.