Sea Fresh Takeaway Food 8, London Rd, Twickenham, Middlesex TW1 3RR

This is a fish and chip shop that also has a table and some shelving round the walls you can sit at.

 

It is quite expensive.  A piece of haddock on its own cost £4.80 and a portion of chips was £1.40

 

The food came on cardboard plates with plastic knives and forks so I am glad there was no extra charge for the take away.  Cans of soft drink cost 70 pence which is about what I would expect.  There is a lunch time deal available.  I was charged £4.80 for the cod and chips I think and this makes the price reasonable enough at lunch.

 

the haddock was pretty good.  There was plenty of it and the batter was fresh and crispy and there was just the right amount of it for me.  The chips were crispy and well cooked and not greasy.  I think vegetable oil was used and the chips and they did lack flavour.  There was a decent portion however.

 

This was generally a decent place to grab a bite to eat and the staff were helpful enough.

 

I would very happily use this chip shop if I was passing and particularly felt like fish and chips but I couldn't get that excited about it.

 

I would give it 7 out of 10.

Sea Fish 205 Upper Street Islington London N1 1RQ

This is a fish and chip shop in Upper Street which is full of take aways and it tends to be quite expensive.  This fish and chip shop has a restaurant at the back and a traditional take away at the front.  Generally fish and chips costs about £5 in the take away part and £9 or so in the restaurant.  These prices are what I would expect for a London chip shop.  Prices in chip shop restaurants are always ridiculously hyped and this is no exception.

 

The good news however is that there is a lunch time deal that allows you to get cod and chips for £5.  After doing some work in Upper Street I was pointed towards this chip shop when I stopped someone on the street and asked about any decent places near by to eat.  I am from Yorkshire where in many cases chip shops still fry chips and fish in lard or beef dripping.  these chips tasted as though they had been cooked in dripping.  They were fairly crispy and quite freshly cooked.  The fish also tasted fresh though the batter was perhaps a little bit on the soggy side but believe me I have had a lot worse.  I also had 2 cans of ginger beer and was charged £1.75 each for them.  this is ridiculously expensive for a standard can of fizzy drink.

 

The staff working in Sea Fish were helpful and were prepared to read the menu to me which is basically standard fish and chip shop food with a decent range of fish including haddock, cod, skate and scampi.  I suspect they sell Rock fish too.  Anyone who eats here can truly say they have tried proper British fish and chips as the meal should be cooked.  You could take it away and eat it on the street if you want an even more traditional and much more cost effective fish and chip experience. 

 

This is certainly one of the better fish and chip shops I have visited in London and I would certainly suggest giving it a go if you are in the area.

 

If you eat here you will know what proper fish and chips should taste like.  You'll pay a considerable premium to use the restaurant and I was particularly surprised by the price of ordinary cans of fizzy drink.  I still give this place 7 out of 10 because of relatively reasonably prices in the take away part of the business and the quality of the food.  This place is run by people from Turkey and it is to their credit that they have took time to learn to fry proper fish and chips in the British way.

 

Queen Victoria, Tudor Street, Exeter, Devon EX4 3BR

The Queen Victoria, I am told, used to be a pub for local people that did quite well.  About 4 years ago it was taken over by someone who wanted to change the image of the pub.  She banned smoking before the legal smoking ban and got rid of quizzes,karaoke etc.  She did not introduce gastro pub food and the pub is a bit out of the way being down near the key.  Unsurprisingly the venture finally failed.

 

The Queen Victoria has recently reopened under new management and it seems they are trying to make it back into a pub again, designing it to meet the wants of local residents who's support  will always be required if this pub is to prosper.

 

I went to the Queen Victoria on Sunday with 2 friends.  There were 3 of us and we went to try the Sunday roast.  It cost £4.95 and includes a dessert.  This is great value for money so we wondered what we would get for that.

 

This pub is just opened and there only seemed to be 4 or 5 other people eating.  Not surprisingly therefore we got decent service with food arriving promptly.  The roast is available between 12 and 5 at the moment so you don't have to rush to be right there at lunch time.  I have to say that for the money the roast was excellent and could quite reasonably be served at this price without a dessert.  The choice of meats this week was Pork or Beef.  2 of us including myself had pork and one of us had beef.  Both the pork and the beef came in a generous  thick cut slab.  Both were well cooked and tender.  the meal came with roast potatoes, mashed potatoes, Yorkshire Pudding, carrots cauliflower and peas.  The pork also came with apple sauce and there was crackling.

 

The roast potatoes were crispy enough.  I have had better but I have had many worse.  They were real potatoes  rather than frozen ones.  the mash was also proper mashed potatoes and not instant mash.    It was a little lumpy perhaps but quite acceptable.  The vegetables were not overcooked.

 

This was a good big meal and well worth the price on its own.  When we had eaten the meal we were told that apple pie was available as a dessert for no extra price.  This was a bit of a disaster owing to a cooking error.  the pie was home made.  It had plenty of apple in it and the pastry was nice and light but the chef put far too much salt in the pastry  making it inedible.  I pointed this out. the chef tried it and the pie was taken off the menu and ice cream was offered instead.

 

This is a new pub and the error with the dessert was unfortunate but the chef took the right course of action once the error was pointed out.  The pie would have been very acceptable with less Sault so I suspect that in future weeks the dessert will be every bit as good as the roast.

 

This pub should also be commended on its policy on real ales.  Trade is relatively slow at the moment as the pub is newly reopened after closure and a period of what some would call misguided management.  Instead of trying to maintain draft cask ales, the Queen Victoria sells Speckled Hen and another ale, possibly London Pride, in bottles.  This is an good compromise and I wish more pubs could offer draft ales in bottles to give those of us who do not like lager something to drink.

 

I would strongly encourage anyone in the Exeter area to come and support this pub and give the roast a go on Sundays.  The roast is available at an amazingly good price and in my opinion far better than the roasts offered by large chains such as Whetherspoons.

 

I give this pub 8 out of 10 and say it is well worth a visit.  If trade gets better and draft real ale can be

viably sold then the mark could increase further.

Graham Page
Home Phone: 0207 265 9493
Mobile: 07753 607980
Fax:  0870 706 2773
Email: gpage@useit.plus.com
MSN: gabriel_mcbird@hotmail.com
Skype: gabriel_mcbird

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Denise's Restaurant, 79 Southampton Roe, Holborn London WC1B 4ET

This restaurant is about 5 minutes walk from Holborn station.  A friend of mine uses this restaurant quite often so I thought I'd give it a go.  there is a website 

http://www.denisesrestaurant.co.uk/

with all the details you need including a full menu.

 

Although this restaurant describes itself as a French restaurant on the web page, this description is rather inaccurate.  there are certainly plenty of French dishes but there are lots of Italian pasta dishes such as various kinds of pasta and dishes such as mixed grill and strawberries and cream which are quite English.  Traditional European might be a better description.

 

Prices at lunch time are the same as those in the evening.  I tried this restaurant at lunch time because it was more convenient to do this but you it's a labour of love!  I wouldn't generally suggest going here for lunch because of the prices.

 

Staff were generally helpful.  they were prepared to read the whole menu and explain dishes where necessary.

 

I had scampi salad to start with.  this was pleasant enough but the scampi was only frozen breadcrumbed stuff with a bit of ordinary salad leaves.  Leaves
may look great but generally they are not a taste sensation in my book.  Lettuce would almost be banned if I had my way!   The tartar sauce was acceptable
with a few bits in it and maybe home made. 

 

The main course I selected was called   Boeuf de Normandie.
This was prime sirloin
stake in a garlic and tomato sauce which was really very pleasant.  There was a decent amount of sauce and I was also asked if I wanted them to cut up
the steak.  I am happy cutting my own meat but when there is a lot of sauce having the meat  cut up for me without having to really ask makes things
easier and I was pleased I was given the choice. 

 

This dish should have come with French fries and when I asked I was told these were frozen.  Now I appreciate the honesty but for the price which I will
reveal in a bit, I think it would be reasonable to expect home cooked fresh potato products.  I asked if sautéed potatoes could be given instead and these
were provided.  I think they were home cooked and they were done in olive oil with a few herbs, Italian style I would say.  The sautéed potatoes were also very nice.  The veg was a few bits of cauliflower
and a few carrots.  Not overcooked but a little miserly.  I always like a decent amount of veg. 

 

For dessert I had fresh strawberries and cream.  Nothing to say about these though of course they were chopped into pieces to make it look as though you
got more of them.  I also had 2 glasses of lemonade and a coffee.  I felt nicely full after the meal but I didn't go in to the restaurant ravenously hungry.  I would say that portions were acceptable in size but not massive.

 

That lot came to just over £36.00. including 12.5 percent service charge which was added to the bill.  I think adding service to the bill is outragious.  You can't serve yourself so I think restaurants should just charge a fixed price which takes into account the cost of employing serving staff and let the customer decide whether or not service goes beyond the call of duty and so deserves a tip.

 

It was great that staff were helpful and honest.  Guide dogs are welcome and this is a place you could take people knowing you will get good service.

 

Portions were acceptable though  they could have been bigger and veg could have been a bit more plentiful
and varied.  frozen Scampi and frozen fries should be nowhere to be found at this price. 

the menu looks a little bit old-hat and on the unadventurous side.  at this price, I feel customers should expect top quality cuts of meat as well as plenty of vegetables.  While the service was good, the food fell a little below expectations though the steak was done perfectly and I liked the sauce it came with.

 

In short, if you find yourself in the Holborn area and you need a reliable place to eat in a hurry consider Denises.  while not being that adventurous, there is something most can eat.   It's rather expensive however.

 

Over all I give Denises 6 out of 10.