Magic mushroom restaurant Barleylands Road, Billericay Essex CM11 2UD

I visited this restaurant with a friend known in the facebook comments as Miss S yesterday.  The original review of this restaurant was largely written as a group of facebook comments so rather than rewriting I will post it in this way.  In brief though, the food was good and definitely above average.  The staff were really helpful and service was genrally of a very high quality.  The menu is  similar to that of a gastro pub but it is a bit on the expensive side.  We paid £47 a head for 3 courses each, a bottle of wine between us and a liqueur coffee each.  We also got mince pies and chrackers as it was the Christmas season when we visited.  To be fair, a full meal and wine in the evening there would be more like £38   if you had the 3 course set menu but that’s still quite a bit.

 

Before our starters arrived we were given a bread roll and a slice of brown bread.  the butter  at the Magic Mushroom was oddly shaped.it was ribbed like a sheet of pasta and cut into strips.  it was then rolled into a sort of snale shape.

 

my starter was probably my favourite bit of the meal.  I had Smoked Wood Pigeon

with Cinnamon & Pear Chutney and  Toasted Pine Nuts

it was a fairly small starter I suppose but the meat was really rich and gamy. the sweet anchutney set off the flavours nicely.  the pine nuts were inoffensive

but really didn't add that much to the dish I didn't think.             

 

Miss S had Mignons of Beef in Blue Cheese & Cashew Nut Cream Sauce with Tossed Watercress.  She said it was very tasty and the beef was tender which is good.

 

For main I had   Pot Roast Pheasant

with Braised Chicory, Wild Mushroom & Tarragon Jus.  this was quite nice though parts of the meat were perhaps a little dry.  the vegetables with the meal (wild mushrooms and braised  Chicory) were unusual.

the mushrooms have a different texture to those you have with a fry up.  they are a bit more chewy and they have more flavour.  Miss s and me had the

same vegetables that came with the meal but she did not have sprouts so she had just the potatoes and green beans.  they were meant to be potatoes cooked

in their skins but while they were soft enough they were not in any way fluffy like roast potatoes so I would guess they were boiled in their skins.

 

Miss s had Crispy Pork Belly, on Creamed Savoy Cabbage with Apricot & Thyme Jus.  She commented that the pork was tasty and it had crackling with it.  Belly pork is really nice but it can have a lot of fat with it.

 

Vegetables were served in separate dishes with the food.  there were sprouts, green beans and the potatoes I mentioned above.

 

For pudding I had a portion of Christmas pudding and brandy sauce which also came  with Chantilly Cream  which is nearly as thick as the devon clotted cream but it added quite nicely to the texture. Miss S had a fierce dessert which really needs more explanation.  the menu does not describe the chocolate  Marquis.  it turned out to be a really rich

chocolate mousse that was so thick it was on the verge of being solid.  it was made with dark chocolate and cocoa.  it was beautifully rich.  I have looked

on google and the pudding seems to be actually called  Chocolate Marquise and it should be actually solid.  I only tried the last couple of spoonfuls of

miss s's Marquis and then it was like very thick melted chocolate.

 

We had a bottle of house red Merlot  to share and I had a quantro coffee and miss s had a hot chocolate with rum

 

In general I thought the food was very good.  The slightly dry pheasant  and the texture of the potatoes are small complaints and I would not mention them at all if the food were not slightly expensive.  Generally I give this restaurant an 8.  I would say it may be worth going there for a set meal on Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday when you will a bit more money.

 

 

 

Graham Page

Mobile: 07753 607980

Fax:  0870 706 2773

Email: gpage@useit.plus.com

MSN: gabriel_mcbird@hotmail.com

Skype: gabriel_mcbird

 

Pride of Asia, 207 Mile End Road, London, E1 4AA

I have reviewed the Pride of Asia twice in the past.  First I reviewed it when it was a decent quality Indian restaurant and I reviewed it again when it turned into a rather expensive chicken shop.

 

Last year the grill was taken out altogether and the Pride of Asia turned into a buffet restaurant and take away.  For £7.99 a head you can eat all the curry you want.

 

The quality of food is certainly better than any other outlet selling curry in Stepney with the possible exception of the hayfield masala when a decent chef is working there.  In the pride of Asia, the food is consistently good.  There are usually 2 starters, a veggie and a meat starter, with 3 lamb curries, 3 chicken curries, a chickpea dish, a mixed vegetable curry, spicy potatoes and often a fish curry.

 

Yesterday for example the starters were spicy chicken pieces and vegetarian samosas.  On other days there are sheek kebabs vegetarian spring rolls or Alu Tikka.

The mains were jalfrezi, korma and Bhuna available in both chicken and lamb.

 

The curries are generally well flavoured with plenty of meat.  While I do think ground spices are used rather than fresh spices on some occasions, the curries do have a home   taste about them.  These curries are more like standard Asian curries rather than some of the rich creamy curries that restaurants like some of those on brick lane serve.  Some are a little greasy but nowhere near as greasy as some of the other curry shops in the area.

 

If you are still feeling that you have room after your starter and your main, a pudding is included in the price.  Generally it is Indian semolina  which comes in small rectangular bricks with jelly and fruit cocktail.  Expect to pay about £1.50 for a diet coke which is a little expensive, though many buffet places make money on drinks.

 

Staff are generally helpful.  I can visit this restaurant on my own knowing that staff will help me by reading what is available   and serving the food up from the buffet for me.  I have visited this shop with a guide dog owning friend and there weren’t any “no dogs” problems.

 

Over all I give this new pride of Asia 7 out of 10 and would recommend it if you are in the area.

Porters English Restaurant, 17 Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, London WC2E 8QH

I visited this restaurant last Thursday with 6 other people.  all of us were blind or we had so little sight that we couldn't read the menu but never mind, this is an English restaurant!!

 

Well when we got there things didn't look that hopeful.  the staff guiding us in were not English and we were all given menus even though it was quite clear that many of us could not see.  thankfully however things went rapidly uphill from there!

 

The manageress ended up serving us and sadly I did not get her name though she was helpful and patient.

 

It's worth commenting on the ambiance at this point.  there was taped music with pop tracks from the 1960s to the 1990s.  I don't mind a bit of background music in a restaurant but for me this was slightly loud meaning that you could hear the person next to you and opposite   you comfortably enough but a bigger group conversation was out of the question.  Personally I like conversation when eating but this does not mean the music is really that loud, it's just a preference of mine to have quiet music or even no music at all while eating in a restaurant.

 

Back to the food anyway. the manageress was excellent and she kept us to order so we all heard and she read through the whole menu answering any questions as she went.  what I liked here was that she gave us an idea of the headings such as pies, fish dishes etc.

 

I opted for the London Particular as a starter.  this is a thick pea and bacon soup.  it had a slightly smoky taste and the name apparently refers to the thick fogs that used to happen in London when more manufacturing went on in the city and more coal was used.  the soup was only spoiled marginally by the lack of appropriate bread.  a basket of bread was given to us but the pieces of bread were made of French stick of rather thin diameter.  guys, this is an English restaurant!!!  give us slices of chunky bread that you can dip in your soup.  Yes I know some people argue this is bad manners  but it's fair to say this is a debateable point unlike, say, talking with your mouthful which most people would agree looks disgusting and is not on in most cultures.  The bread was fresh enough but not really the right thing for soup.

 

for main I had a game keepers pie.  this was a good meaty pie in a full short crust case rather than the pastry lids many put on top of a stew then call it a pie.

 

as  there was a full pastry case,  there was no need to serve the pie in a bowl as well as on a plate.  the manageress did offer to tip the pie out of the bowl which was a nice touch.

 

the pie itself was full of meat and port and red currant sauce.  It was served with a jug of gravy.  the pastry was not too thick and the pie had a rich pleasant gamy taste.  Very enjoyable.

 

I was a bit disappointed with the accompaniments.  The pies, along with other dishes, came with one side dish free.  this meant you could have potatoes or vegetables but not both unless you paid extra.  Hello!  where I come from at least, a pie would always be served potatoes and at least one vegetable.  I have no problem with offering a choice but offering one side when they know well you will need to buy another one is a bit deceitful.  the side I did choose was Covent garden vegetables  and the portion of these was quite large.  it could have been made smaller and a few new potatoes could have been included as well.  the vegetables consisted of carrots, peas, green beans and mange tout.  One English tradition which happily has fallen by the wayside is overcooking vegetables.  these vegetables were nice and crunchy, probably steamed.

 

For pudding I chose  Iced Berries served with  hot white chocolate sauce.  the manageress poured this all out onto a plate and I would have rather she left it as it was.  the key here is to give people a choice.  I'm not complaining here so much as making what I consider to be constructive comment.

 

I am pleased to say there was English beer on offer.  Draft Tetley’s and fullers London pride were available.  not that keen on these particular beers but still so many restaurants avoid English beers altogether and in an English restaurant this would be inexcusable.

 

Generally then the food was very good.  I felt that the portions were quite adequate and with a couple of side dishes included in the price the portions would have been decent and generally well worth the money. as it was, with side dishes  not even priced on the menu, I would imagine you would pay about £2.50 or so for them.  pie with potatoes and veg for £15 is a bit steep.

 

While the manageress was extremely helpful, I don't think the squad of staff had that much in strength and depth.  Some of the waiters possessed  little in the way of English which is a shame.  more side dishes and English bread would have been appropriate to.

 

2 of us had guide dogs and this caused no problem at all.  The manageress brought them some water in fact.   so chalk this up as a guide dog friendly venue.

 

 

Despite a few little negative comments, this was still an enjoyable experience however and I give the restaurant 7 out of 10 and would say it is well worth a visit.

 

For more info including menus visit

http://www.porters.uk.com

 

 

Saint George and Dragon, Clyst St. George, Exeter, EX3 0QJ

This is a nice country pub with low ceilings, an open fire and generally a good traditional pub feeling though it is really more of a restaurant  than a pub.

 

We were a little underwhelmed by the size of the portions and the quality of some of the produce left a little to be desired.

 

For starters I had seared king scallops with slow roast belly pork and Braeburn apple and mustard dressing. It was very nice but I got only 4 scallops

and a tiny piece of pork, no more than one mouthful. There was also loads of dressing poured on but no way of mopping it up so had to get an extra portion

of garlic bread. Roy and Martin had Tomato and basil soup which was the soup of the day and they said the portions were adequate and it came in small high

bowls rather than British soup bowls which is good. Debbie had the forest and flat mushrooms in white wine and herb cream with crispy bacon and toast.

The bacon was just a standard rasher and it was not smoked. She said the size of the portion was reasonable and it was quite a good starter.

 

Mains is I think where the real problem with portion size and quality came. I had venison steaks which came with caramelised onion gravy, a flat mushroom,

A plumb tomato and steak chips

 

Usually the venison would be served with a red wine sauce or perhaps a juniper berry sauce but the gravy here turned out to be no better than Bisto onion

gravy, a real disappointment. The Venison was well cooked and there was a reasonable amount of it and on the table they had a sweet garlic and onion chutney

which I used all of to create a slightly more interesting sauce by mixing it with the gravy. The chips were soggy, slightly undercooked and almost certainly

frozen. The portion was not generous. For £16 this is not really good enough and if all I had to eat was a main course I would give it a 4.

 

Martin had the mixed grill which should have consisted of lamb cutlet, black pudding, white pudding, sweet cure Bacon, rump steak, sausage, egg,

tomato, flat mushroom, garden peas and chips. He’s not that big an eater and we thought that if this meal was as good as advertised, he would probably

be overfaced and need to share his food. as it turned out he had no problem getting it down. The black and white pudding was no better than average and

there was one thin slice of each. The lamb cutlet was mainly bone and the steak was chopped up into little pieces and dotted about on the plate. The amount of each ingredient was rather small and the chips were of course the same as mine.

 

Roy had the Shropshire chicken which was a chicken breast stuffed with Shropshire blue cheese, spinach and fig on roasted route vegetable risotto. He said

it tasted good but the portion was tiny.

 

Debbie had the Sole and smoked salmon roulade on buttered wilted spinach, samphire and baby potatoes with white wine and dill cream. She also said her

food was nice and well cooked but the portion was tiny.

 

As I have often said, I do hate the practice of selling meals in a restaurant and then making people purchase extra side dishes for exorbitant prices.

It’s far better to quote a price and then give people a choice of a couple of side dishes from a list that are bundled in with the price.

 

Presentation generally seemed to be more important than ensuring that people got value for money. I do accept that presentation does matter but at the

end of the day you are eating the meal not keeping it for posterity in a glass cabinet. Decent restaurants look after the eyes but consider the belly first!

 

The puddings fared rather better on the whole. Roy and martin had Apple, pear and sultana crumble. This was described as being ideal for sharing but they

said they got a decent portion of it though it was still really only a generous portion for one.

 

Debbie had the cheese board. . It was supposed to consist of local cheddar, brie and stilton served with celery, chutney and Bath Oliver biscuits.

 

Amusingly, the stilton was not available because it had gone mouldy but Debbie was given a choice of which cheese to have as an extra. I have never heard

of bath Oliver biscuits but they turned out to be a bit like Cornish wafers. These have a slightly soggy consistency and would not be my choice of biscuit.

Only having one kind of biscuit is also rather lacking in imagination. She said the portion size was quite reasonable.

 

Before the meal, I joked about the possibility of having the chocolate trio. This cost almost twice as much as the other puddings and was meant to be for

sharing. Oh dear. It was lightweight!!

 

It consisted of Double chocolate torte, which turned out to be chocolate flavoured clotted cream with a thin layer of sponge at the bottom, giant profiterole

which was rather dry with a little cream in it and a chocolate brownie which was a touch dry but the richest part of the pudding. This was for me a real

disappointment and I heartily wish I had gone for one of the ordinary puddings, the raspberry crème brulee perhaps.

 

This eatery is a pub and the drinks are well kept and there is a decent range of real ales and wines. 2 of us had pints of St Austell tribute ale which was very well kept.

We also had a bottle of rose which was an Italian merlet. It was fairly dry but fruity and for £10.75 a bottle it was well worth the money.

 

2 of us went for liqueur coffees and these were a real disappointment. The coffee was low quality instant coffee and there was no cream. Measures of spirit

seemed to be very minimal and I even wondered if my Irish coffee contained real whisky at all or just some kind of syrup or essence. Debbie had a brandy

coffee and she seemed no more impressed than I was.

 

Staff were generally friendly and reasonably helpful but the service was rather slow considering how quiet the restaurant was. There were other people

eating for sure but it was not crammed full.

 

Over all then our view of the food was that, with the exception of the chips and the way in which the venison was served, it was well cooked though portion

size was underwhelming to say the least with emphasis put on presentation at the expense of the actual eating experience. It should be possible to do rather

better than this for the money. The bill for 4 of us came to £129.00 including drinks. Drinks were generally well priced and of high quality but avoid the

liqueur coffee. The unanimously agreed mark was 6 out of 10 though looking back on the experience over all this could be a touch generous.

 

for more info including menus visit

http://www.vintageinn.co.uk/thesaintgeorgeanddragonclystsaintgeorge/

 

Merlins Tandori 193 Wellingborough Road Northampton NN1 4EA

                this is a curry house in Northampton.  This is not really a review of the food but a warning about the restaurant itself.  If I know a restaurant accepts guide dogs then I mention it.  This restaurant however recently refused 2 friends service on the basis that they were trying to get in with a guide dog.  this happens quite often most of the time when restaurant owners express reservations, they are generally amazed at how calm and well behaved the dog is once they have been persuaded to let the person stay.  My friends were able to record the event of them being thrown out and I have included the Audioboo link to the audio at the end of this post.  I understand they have already taken the story to the local press and I understand they intend to carry on the fight until the owner of Merlins either unreservedly  apologises  or the restaurant closes through lack of visitors.  The reviews I can find are not very complementary about Merlins anyway and there are plenty of other good restaurants including curry houses near by on the same street.  The reaction of one customer in Merlins when Adam appeals for support is also fairly disgraceful.  for more visit

http://audioboo.fm/boos/500542-no-guide-dogs-allowed?playlist_direction=forward

The Chronicle, 3 Chapel Hill, Exmouth Devon EX8 1NY

Last month 3 of us went to the Chronicle to celebrate a friend’s birthday.  The Chronicle is a new restaurant in Exmouth which sells food similar to that which you might find in a decent gastro pub.  Prices are reasonable and the chef prepares the food herself.   This is genuinely a family run restaurant.  There is the chef, Kathy and her partner Ricardo and that’s it.  Both of them were friendly and they made us feel welcome. 

 

For starters Debbie and myself had a cold starter of Smoked Trout served with pickled onions and Celeriac.  Martin and Roy had the soup of the day which was Celeriac and apple soup.  The soup was good and thick.  Our starter was a generous portion with plenty of trout.  The starters came with brown bread and home made warm soda bread.  For Main I was undecided.  I wanted scallops with black pudding mash and leaks and also rather fancied the pork seared in cider with   potatoes gratin and cabbage.  I had fish for my starter so the pork won.  The  potatoes were really nice and creamy and the cabbage was till crispy.

 

Debbie had the duck which had plenty of meat on it.  Roy had chicken and Martin had a pasta dish with minced pork and beef.

 

All the dishes were fresh.  Martin didn’t have a pudding.  Roy and myself had chocolate not together pudding which was a chocolate sponge with clotted cream and chocolate sauce in separate pots.  This was very pleasant but not as exciting as I would have thought.  Debbie had cheese and biscuits and the portion was huge.  It came with brie,, Devon blue cheese and cheddar with plenty of water biscuits, celery, pickled onion, gherkins  and walnuts, grapes and apple slices.  There was loads  of it and my only criticism was that there was only rather boring water biscuits. A variety would have been nice.

 

After our meal Debbie got chatting with Kathy the chef who was happy to discuss the way she cooked dishes such as the soup which was particularly thick and warming.  Ricardo  was also a friendly talkative front of house person.  This restaurant is perhaps a little off the main drag and it has a lot of competition.  I see that it has some very good reviews on trip advisor and I wish them well.  The website is

http://www.chronicalrestaurant.co.uk

 

On this page it says the restaurant is open at lunch time.  For the time being at least this is not true and they should correct this.  This restaurant would certainly not be out of place in any city in the UK and I hope it succeeds.  I give it 9 out of 10 and would certainly visit it if you are in the area.  My only criticisms were the slightly boring chocolate pudding and the lack of a biscuit choice but these really are minor points.

Graham Page

Mobile: 07753 607980

Fax:  0870 706 2773

Email: gpage@useit.plus.com

MSN: gabriel_mcbird@hotmail.com

Skype: gabriel_mcbird

 

The Mexican, 17 - 19 The Parade, Exmouth, Devon, EX8 1RS

This restaurant  is a Mexican restaurant in the centre of Exmouth.  Menus are available at the website http://www.eatmexican.co.uk

 

I visited this restaurant yesterday with 2 friends.  In brief, the menu is a little limited but the portions are large, the quality of food is good and the staff were generally attentive and professional.

 

For starters I had grilled spicy sausage  which came with bread and a bit of salad.  The sausage was cooked in red wine  which brought out the spicy meaty flavour nicely.  The bread was really a bit like bloomer bread, quite thick but nothing really memorable.

 

One of my friends had the corn tortilla chips which came with Guacamole, tomato salsa and sour cream.  The corn tortilla chips were fresh and the dips were quite plentiful.  Another friend had  Mixed Jalapenos and Jalapenos stuffed with  Jalapenos stuffed with Feta.  These were really tasty and the chillies were again fresh and not soggy.

 

For main Myself and one of my friends had the  Chicken Mexicana.  This is described on the menu as A chicken breast cooked in a sauce of hot chillies, garlic, white wine and tomatoes and accompanied with chilli potato wedges and salad garnish.  This is typical of the rest of the menu which is descriptive and helpful without being over flowery or making false claims for the food.  I found the chicken quite spicy without   being killer hot but Debbie, who does not eat hot food, found the chicken quite fierce I think.  Debbie went for the lamb Burrito.  This was filled with lamb stew cooked with almonds and the flavour reminded me a bit of Moroccan   food.  It was very tender and quite rich.

 

None of us had a main course as we were all quite full.  I ate some of Debbie’s main course in fact.

 

Instead of a dessert, we had Liqueur coffees.  Myself and Martin had Irish coffee and I think Debbie had Quantreau    coffee.

 

We also had a beer each.  Mexican beers are really nothing special and they insist on putting a piece of lime in the top.  I am told this is done in Mexico to keep flies out of the beer and this could make sense in hot climates.

 

The wine list looks quite extensive with house wine costing £12.95 a bottle.  This is a fair price and wines were not generally dearer  than about£16 a bottle.

 

The staff were helpful and knowledgeable about the food.  Our server warned us that the Chicken Mexicana was hot and she advised us that we would probably not need extra side dishes unless we were particularly hungry.  I appreciate this degree of honesty.

 

Our meal came to just over £67 for 3 of us. This may seem quite expensive but as I have said the portions were generous and the food was high quality.  Even though the menu is a little limited, I would go back to this place at least one more time.  I would like to try the Fajitas and possibly the Devilled mushrooms and the lunch time menu also looks quite appealing.

 

Over all then, the menu is rather limited particularly in the area of main meals but the quality of the food and helpfulness of the staff compensate for this.  I give the  Mexican 7.5 out of 10 and would certainly recommend it even for those like me who generally find Mexican food in the UK to be rather lacking in variety and expensive.

 

 

salsa restaurant 34-36 London Road, Southend

Last week I visited the Salsa Restaurant in Southend.  Generally the food was good, staff were helpful and while the prices were maybe a little high they weren’t totally unreasonable.

 

The menu offers Mexican, Portuguese and Italian food.  I went there with 2 other people.

 

for starters I had mushrooms stuffed with pate. the menu did not say what kind of pate was used and I would have liked a little more of it perhaps. the mushrooms were served in a thick crushed tomato and garlic mixture which also had a hint of chilli in it. Ideally the pate could have been slightly more strongly flavoured but I suppose it's hard to please all people and I'm not saying that this dish was bad in any way. I'm just expressing personal preference. One friend had prawns cooked in garlic and white wine and the other had calamari. Both liked their starters.

 

for main I had a Portuguese casserole containing Tomato, mixed meat, sausage, red kidney beans and spices. I had this with sauté potatoes. This was really quite nice though I would have liked a bit more spice in the sauce. I eat anything so mixed meats to me were not a problem. some of the meat had a kidney kind of taste with a more meat like texture. I wonder if this was heart? Nothing wrong with that as far as I am concerned but if you are fussy it is worth asking. Black pudding was also included in this dish and though I am not worried about this, the black pudding was not mentioned on the menu. in general This was a basic really hearty dish and the quality of the meats was quite high. a bit of black pepper might have improved things a bit, I could have asked for some. The sauté potatoes were also fresh and made from real potato rather than frozen and they were well cooked. One of my friends had Beef in a wine and garlic sauce which and the other had Chicken, bacon and broccoli in creamy Parmesan sauce with penne. both people liked their dishes and commented on freshness and quality of ingredients.

 

For pudding I had Crème Brulee which was home made and full of rich thick custard. it was meant to be flavoured with baileys and though you could tell the flavour was there it was very much in the background. the waitress advised me that this is because children can eat this pudding so understandably the amount of baileys had to be kept to a minimum. one of my 2 friends also had this pudding and we agree that it was still quite rich and satisfying.  It was served with vanilla ice cream which was quite acceptable but not remarkable in any way.

 

The other person with me had a vanilla cheese cake and again liked it.

 

to end the meal (there is a posh French term for this I am sure) I had an Irish coffee which was made with good strong fresh coffee and plenty of whiskey with cream. I think there should really be some sugar in it as well but in many places poor quality instant coffee is used so the good fresh coffee was a nice touch.  2 of us had Irish coffee with the third having rum and hot chocolate. Normally rum and hot chocolate is not on the menu but hot chocolate is so making one with rum was not a problem for the staff. this flexibility is certainly a plus point. the measure of rum in the chocolate seemed very generous indeed and I wonder if the required amount of rum accidentally got added twice? no complaints there though!

 

The waitress who helped us was very friendly and patient. she went through the whole menu with us and we did not feel rushed. She also seemed reasonably knowledgeable about the food and in general she was attentive without being too in your face. we did not have to wait ages for the bill and she calculated our bills separately as well as giving us the price of the lot. this was thorough and it gave us full flexibility in deciding how we should split the bill.

 

for 3 courses, a bottle of wine and a liqueur coffee each we paid just over £30 a head excluding service charge. Tips go directly to the person who serves you by the way. this is not dirt cheap but you can pay a lot more for a meal of this quality. portions were generous and, importantly, the staff were helpful and knowledgeable. Good staff can make all the difference between a good night and a disaster so examples of good practice are very much worth a mention. I gave this restaurant 8 out of 10 and at least one of my friends thinks I am being a bit harsh. it is true that my criticisms are minor but for me an 8 means very much worth a visit. If anyone else who has visited this restaurant puts together a well justified argument for an extra half mark then maybe I can be persuaded.

 

Graham Page

Mobile: 07753 607980

Fax:  0870 706 2773

Email: gpage@useit.plus.com

MSN: gabriel_mcbird@hotmail.com

Skype: gabriel_mcbird

 

Albion Cafe, 2-4 Boundary Street, Shoreditch, London E2 7DD

I visited this eatery about a month ago after an assessment in the area.  Albion Café describes itself as selling:

Typical British caff food, nothing challenging or complicated, just straightforward hearty ingredients and recipes.   First of all, some of the foods such as Rabbit stew are hard to find in most if not all British cafes.    The menu includes breakfast served throughout the day, fish and chips, pies, sandwiches, puddings and fruit crumbles. Open all day for coffees, teas, English ales, juices, biscuits and cakes. The late-night menu includes Welsh rabbit, kedgeree and hot chocolate with shortbread.

 

Secondly, the food might be basic British but the prices are quite fierce.  I had a full breakfast, a dessert of mixed berries and pastry with cream, a coffee, a grapefruit  juice and  a ginger beer.  That little lot ended up costing me over £28.

 

It’s worth looking at prices in detail where I have them.  In particular the breakfast came to a rather heavy £10.00.  a typical greasy spoon will sell something similar for half that price so is the extra £5 really worth it?

 

My breakfast consisted of:  one egg, 2 rashers of bacon, one sausage, a tomato cut in half, a large flat mushroom, black pudding, bubble   and squeak and beans.  I also got 2 slices of fresh bread and all the butter I needed.

 

The egg was fried and the yoke was hard.  This is how I like it but that might not please everyone.

 

The bacon was of good quality and had quite a porky taste which I liked.  It could have been thicker.

The sausage was certainly of good quality and better than  most cafes have to offer but it wasn’t absolutely premium by any means.  I have had similar quality sausages from the co-op where you get 8 Cumberland sausages for about  2 pounds.  One sausage seemed a bit stingy to me as well.

 

The tomato was unremarkable.  Just an average tomato cut in 2.

The flat mushroom was equally unremarkable.

 

The black pudding was spicy and it had a nice crumbly texture.  This was pretty good quality and this was some of the best black pudding I have had in London.

 

The bubble tasted as though it had been made with coleslaw.  It seemed to contain mainly mashed potatoes with cabbage that had a slight hint of vinegar to it.  Not that nice at all I’m afraid.

The baked beans were also rubbish.  They were quite hard like some of the cheapest brands of baked beans and they had a rather watery tasteless sauce.

 

The bread was fresh crusty bread which tasted really nice.  It was sliced thick and generally quite satisfying.

 

So in general, this breakfast was a mixed bag with better than average parts to it.  £10 seems far too much to pay for what you actually get.  I think a price of £7 might have been more realistic though this is the top end of what I think the breakfast is worth.

 

The dessert was a bit of a disappointment.   It was described as mixed berries with Chantilly cream and puff pastry.  Chantilly Cream is whipped cream with added sugar and vanilla.

 

The  berries and cream was separate to the puff pastry which came in a block like a small croissant.  The pastry was rather tough and though it tasted ok the texture felt less than fresh.  I would have thought the berries and possibly the cream would have been inside the pastry.

 

The coffee was fresh ground and of a decent quality.  The ginger beer was just a standard bottle though the grapefruit juice came in a half pint glass making it quite generous compared to the small glasses  of juice you often get with breakfasts in the UK.

 

 

I would have considered £20 or £21 acceptable for the amount I had if perhaps on the expensive side.  I do not know what the other parts of the meal cost individually though I did get the waitress to go through it at the time to make sure that no mistake  had been made.

 

Staff were generally quite helpful and prepared to go through the menu.  At this price I would certainly expect nothing less.

 

More information including some sample menus can be found by visiting the website at http://www.albioncaff.co.uk/

 

Even the website has a pretentious name.  the couple on the table next to me were in the process of selecting a honeymoon apartment  in the Seychelles with a rep for example.  Don’t pretend it’s a basic caff when it isn’t, it only makes it look more pretentious.

 

In brief, the food was quite good and staff were very helpful but the place is simply far too expensive.  I can only give it 4 out of 10.

 

 

Update, Soma Kitchen, 230 Mile End Road, Stepney, London, E1 4LJ

The Soma Kitchen has started to lower some of its prices and they have started selling kebab wraps for £5.50 which includes a can of coke.  Also you can get a Lamb Shawama for £6.45 where as the price used to be £8.45.  This is more sensible pricing I think.  People still do complain of long waiting times however.