the Wool Pack, 1 Tuddenham Road, Ipswich IP4 2SH

This is a pub which tends to sell 3 or 4 real ales such as Tribute and Black Sheep plus others.  Beer is reasonably well kept so if you are in this part of ipswich visit for a drink. drinkers are encouraged even though this pub does food which I will concentrate on here.

 

Dave the chef in this pub seems to really like his fish dishes which change from day to day but may include a mixed fish curry, fish pie or a Portuguese fish stew.  This pub does not leave meet lovers disappointed.  offerings include a big mixed grille with chicken, liver, chops and steak.  Venison austridge and kangaroo stakes are also often available.

 

Yesterday I went to this pub with some friends and ordered mixed fish in garlic butter. 
This included Tuna, Swordfish, Octopus, langoustines, fresh sardines and white fish fillets  as well as about 20 mussels. all this was smothered in garlic butter .  there were also 2 bits of garlic bread and on a side plate there was a mini home made fish pie in a shell with squid, small prawns and white fish in a garlic white sauce covered with mash and cheese.

 

So this dish came to £16.00 but it was massive and all the fresh fish was of extremely high quality.

 

while this pub does mainly fish dishes other food lovers will not be disappointed.  this is really one of the largest food menus I have ever seen in a pub.

 

Staff are very helpful and friendly.  there is a very acceptable range of real ale and the food is better and more plentiful than you will find in many gastro pubs.  As this is a pub, I was not surprised to find that guide dogs are very welcome here.  I give this pub 8 out of 10 and highly recommend it.

 

Mr. G's Cafe 104 mile end road

this is the nearest cafe to my home. It sells good sandwiches with generous amounts of fillings. Breakfasts are also pretty good and I would recommend the liver which is cut thin and quickly fried.

On the down side roast potatoes are often a bit on the greasy side and the oil used is poor quality, maybe they just need to change it more. They do shepherds pie there and the mash is far too lumpy. They sometimes do a home made steak and kidney pie which has plenty of filling though the pastry tends to be rather soggy.

This cafe is pretty good though I think the quality of some of the hot dinners is disappointing.

There is no problem with guide dogs in this cafe and my overall mark is 6 out of 10.

Nico's Cafe Cambridge Heath Road Bethnal Green London E2 0EL

Nikos is a good honest traditional cafe. It sells many British favourites including bacon and egg, really good quality bubble and squeak, roast dinners and shepherds pie. It also sells home made steak pie which is great value and really large. Nico's also does a curry a spag bol and a couple of Greek dishes, Stifado and Cleftiko.

I have liked all the food I have tried in this cafe though the sausages are no better than low average. This cafe is rightly known for serving large portions. Staff are friendly and there is no problem bringing guide dogs in. This is a really decent cafe right next to Bethnal Green tube station and well worth a visit.

I give this cafe 7 out of 10 for decent service and unbeatable value.

Belgo 44-48 Clapham High Road London SW4 7UR

Belgo is a small restaurant chain in London.  There is a wide range of beers and a loosly belgium typed menu including mussels and typical double fried chips as served in Belgium.

 

I visited the Belgos in Clapham for a friend's birthday.

 

I had a starter of a warm salad of duck bacon black pudding and hard boiled eggs.  there were also potatoes and

garlic croutons on the side.  This was very enjoyable and there was a decent portion.  As a main I had the mussels Mariniere which are described as steamed with white wine, garlic, cream and celery.  I have had these in Belgium and there was not enough sauce though they were quite pleasant.  I also tried a friend's steak which was quite tender though it was burnt on the outside and slightly raw in the middle. she did ask for it medium rare so it should be a bit pink in the middle but not burnt on  the outside.

 

My pudding was a

Bread & butter pudding made with brioche, orange confit, dark Belgian chocolate and Mandarin Napoleon liqueur.  this was a really interesting twist on a bread and butter pudding and I really enjoyed it.  It was not as heavy as a typical english bread and butter pudding but the taste was more interesting and varied.

 

Over all, the starters and the puddings were great but I felt the mains were a little limited.

 

There was a massive range of belgium beers available and there should really be a drink for all tastes here.  at £5 to £6 a beer though it is not cheap.  some beers are on draft and having halfes could keep the price down.  Despite the poor range of mains and less than perfectly cooked steak I would give Belgos 6.5 out of 10 if it were just food and drink I was measureing.  for more info and to read the menus visit www.belgo-restaurants.co.uk

I do have some serious concerns about the level of service at Belgos. 

Staff were friendly but service was slow and we had to ask staff over a few times to order the next course or we had a bit of a wait to put in a drinks order.  There is supposed to be a 2 hour turn around time on fridays and saturdays and a member of staff even asked if it would be ok to bring the bill with the pudding but the bill didn't come and we had to get our coats on and almost threaten to leave without paying before they saw us and gave us the bill.  given this level of service we did refuse to pay the discressionary service charge because the service was poor.  when we didn't pay the waitress then tried to give us a sob story about restaurant pay being poor.  that's not my problem.  3 beers and a 3 corse meal cost £35 and with those prices a restaurant should be able to afford to pay staff reasonable wages.  The chef was from albania by the way.  Dig that authentic belgium touch!!

 

 

over all then there is potential here to have a really decent place but the service must be improved and I suspect more staff would be needed.  I can't give an over all mark of more than 5.5 out of 10.

Suvai Chettinad restaurant 207 High Street North Eastham London E6 1JG

This is a south indian restaurant generally known as the Suvai.

The food is South Indian rather than the food available in many curry houses. Alcohol is not served though I believe you can bring your own in.

This restaurant sells a wide range of south indian dishes including Dosas with various fillings and the curiously named Chicken 65 which is spicy battered chicken. They also sell a range of south indian curries and various rice dishes. The quality of food is excellent with plenty of fresh spices being used. You would struggle to spend more than £15 per head in this restaurant and you can probably eat quite well for £10. It is also worth noting that there is a big range of vegetarian options on offer.

I was recently in this restaurant with a friend who had a guide dog and we had no problems.

If you are looking For quality of food and value for money this restaurant is truly hard to beat and I would highly recommend it. English can be a little difficult and there is not always everything available that is on the menu but it's worth it despite occasional disorganisation.

I am happy to give this restaurant 8 out of 10.