El Rincon Quiteno 235 Holloway Road London N7 8HG

I did an assessment just off the Holloway road today and wondered where the hell I was going to go for food round there afterwards as this area is a bit of a desert.

 

Well I asked a couple of people who told me of a place called chicken Village.  Well the sooner places like that burn down or get shut down the better as far as I am concerned unless 10 pints have been had on Saturday and there's nowhere else open!

 

The third person I asked mentioned this south American restaurant called El Rincon Quiteno which he said was a Ecuadorian cafe.  Not surprisingly I was intrigued.

 

The person who told me about this place lead me there as he was going there himself.  He suggested a south American breakfast which I went for.  It consisted of  some kind of bread with rice and beans, plantain and 2 chunks of slightly spiced belly of pork that tasted a bit like pate.  I also had some sausages on the side which turned out to be home made  Chorizo which was really meaty and very good.  the pork was tough and fractionally dry but it had an interesting pate kind of taste and was generally quite pleasant.  the chorizo sausages were homemade and really meaty.  Coffee was fresh ground and good and strong.  I also had an orange juice and something that was described to me as south American Iron Brew.

 

Some of the food was a fraction on the dry side but over all it was a little unusual and very worth the find.  Most of the people in the cafe, though by no means all, were Spanish speakers which is often a good sign.

 

the complete meal cost me £11 which, as it was a bit unusual, I was very happy to pay.  Staff were helpful about reading the menus and I certainly did not leave hungry!

 

This is a basic cafe that is well worth a visit in what is a bit of a bleak area for fodder.  I give this cafe 7.5 out of 10. 

 

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.

 

The Ship and Mitre, 113 Dale Street, Liverpool

The Ship and Mitre is primarily a pub selling British real ale and beers from around the world.  Expect to find 10 or more real British beers available as well as draft and bottled imported beers.  Beers are well kept by people who know what they are doing so the pub is worth a visit for the beer alone, even though it is a bit out of the way for many people.

 

I visited this pub last Sunday while staying with a friend.  we had a few beers and a bite to eat!

 

Food is served at lunch times.  the pub specialises in home made burgers and there are also a few starters and things such as chilli that can be served with bread, rice, salad or wraps.  The burgers were, however, the most interesting part of the menu.

 

Often with different flavoured burgers you just get a beef burger with different toppings. Here the burgers were home made and the flavourings were mixed in with the beef before it was cooked.  I was with 3 other people.  2 of us had beef burger with coriander and chilli and the other 2, including me, had a Moroccan lamb burger with apricots.

 

These burgers contained decent quality mince meat that was well flavoured.  they came in a bread bun and were served with chips that I think were freshly made rather than frozen.  I wanted a soup starter but there was none left so the chef sorted us out some spicy prawns with good thick hot chilli sauce instead.

 

The range of beers served in the Ship and Mitre is well known in Liverpool and this alone makes it well worth a visit.  the time during which food is served is quite limited at just 12:00 to 2:30 each day but prices are very fair at about £6 for the burger with chips.  I regard this as primarily a food blog but I assure readers that the Ship and Mitre is really worth visiting for its beers.  I had a couple of pints of TopBank Bowltown and it was kept faultlessly.

 

Staff were generally helpful though wan person was serving food in 2 bars which meant service was a bit slow.  this is a proper pub with a carpeted lounge bit and what would have been the public bar in the past.  I think that prices are the same in all parts of the pub now however.  I assume that in times when they know it will be busy they have the staff to cope.

 

Not surprisingly, as it is a pub, there was no problem with guide dogs.

 

I give this pub 7.5 out of 10.  the ale is great and varied, it would be good though if they served food for a few more hours each day.

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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the Well House, 16 -17 Cathedral Yard, Exeter EX1 1HB

I visited this pub last month with 2 friends to try out the Sunday Roast.

 

This is quite a famous pub near the Cathedral in central Exeter and so I expected it to be rather expensive.  In fact, a roast dinner was £5.99 which is quite reasonable.  the portion was quite acceptable rather than being really generous, but considering that for this price you also get a soup of the day with bread you really can't complain.  I had Lamb and I would say the meat was particularly good.  It was thick, tender and really tasty.  vegetables were not overdone though I would have liked a few more of them as they were really nice.  MangeTout and carrots were among themm.  The soup was curried vegetable which was an unusual and quite welcome choice.  I may well eat here again and would certainly give it 6.5 out of 10 for the food I have tried given its price.  I would not have minded paying a couple of pounds more and getting a larger meal however.

 

 

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Banger Brothers, The Piazza, Euston Station

I first visited this sausage shop wile travelling home from    euston station after working nearby.
Since then, another branch has opened up at London Bridge station.  banger brothers is a small stall located on the piazza just outside the station.
Lets cut the pretentious crap, its the place where people gather for a quick fag before getting their trains.
I was offered a choice of sausages served in a bun and wile for testing purposes I should perhaps have gone for the basic British sausage, I actually chose the polish smoky sausage instead.
The sausage was of high quality with a really smokie flavour and it came with crispy shallots and pickles.
At 3 pounds 95 its not cheap but I would rather pay that 4 a really good sausage than 2 pounds 50 for something of poor quality.  Since then I have also tried the Chorizo sausage which I also liked and the British sausage which impressed me somewhat less.  It tasted a bit spongy and was no better than Sainsbury butchers choice!

 

Staff were reasonably helpful though not particularly enthusiastic.
I must say I am really looking forward to trying the other kinds of sausage available at this store as well as the bacon. This is a really welcome addition to the food on offer at euston station. For more info including the menu visit http://www.banger-brothers.co.uk
I hope this stall keeps up the quality and proves to be successful. I give it 7out of 10.

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Chutney's, 124 Drummond Street London NW1 2PA

chutneys is a vegetarian restaurant that specialises in Indian food, particularly from south India.

you will find dishes such as dosas that you will not normally find in typical Bangladesh style restaurants.  A Dosa by the way is a kind of pancake rolled around a filling such as potatoes and chick peas.

 

The website for chutneys is http://www.chutneyseuston.co.uk/

 

 

there is a link to a menu here which is helpful though rather short on descriptions of dishes.  Don't let this put you off though.  staff are really helpful and they will explain the dishes to you

 

I visited this restaurant with 6 other people on Friday.  the restaurant gets quite full so it is worth booking, particularly at weekends.  We had 4 guide dogs with us and getting in was  not a problem at all.

 

I had the Chutneys special Puri as a starter.  this contains crispy bread bits and slightly larger bready bits in a spicy sweet and sour sauce followed by Aloo Tikka Chat which is potato cakes with chick peas.  I then had a masala dosa which is a dosa filled with potatoes and vegetables.

 

I was bursting full after this lot.  I had 2 bottles of cobra with the meal and it came to just under
£20.

 

In general the staff at Chutneys are helpful.  the food is of good quality and it is not greasy. service is quick and efficient.  my only real complaint is that the menu should have a bit more description to help those new to this kind of cuisine.  guide dogs are welcome as they should be everywhere

I give Chutneys 8 out of 10 and highly recommend it.

 

Tarantino's Italian Restaurant, 51 High Street, Hornchurch, Essex RM11

Guest contributor: Adam

For our 9th wedding anniversary, my wife and I headed to Tarantino's
Italian restaurant in Hornchurch, after being recommended it by a
work colleague.

Well, thumbs up to her, for this place was everything I'd been told it
would be. Firstly, the service was really friendly. I think this is
partly due to the place being local, with another branch in Brentwood.
Very much a family affair then, and all the better for it. It avoids
any sense of corporate blandness you sometimes find in Italian
restaurants, though nearby Zizzi doesn't do too badly in this respect
despite it being part of the ASK group. Tarantino's has a regular menu
plus a couple of weekly changing specials.

I was told that the portions would be large, and that the quality
would be high. Both assertions were not wrong. I'm a big lad.

For my starter, I ordered baby back ribs with honey barbecue sauce,
and that's exactly what I got - the taste was both tangy and sweet - ,
with the ribs falling off the bone. The portion on the platter was
main meal sized. My Dearly Beloved had meatballs which were the best
I've tasted, made of a combination of beef and veal, very finely
minced and evidentially made using quality meat. Again, a larger than
average portion. So far so good.

Next we both had a tagliatele dish. Mine was served with creamy tomato
and garlic sauce, with strips of scotch steak. The beef tasted like it
was not from the cheapest cut - I guess it came from sirloin, and was
very tasty and perfectly cooked, so chewy enough without arguing with
the teeth. This was, perhaps, the best pasta dish I've ever eaten. The
sauce was delicious and robust, matching the steak strips perfectly,
and the pasta firm and not claggy in the slightest. The Wife also gave
her pasta dish eight out of ten, though I never tasted any of hers as
it contained broccoli. I'd rather die before eating this.

Mrs Wife was full up after this extravaganza of flavour and so went
straight to coffee. I ploughed on with strawberry cheesecake, which I
would rate highly, though it didn't have the wow factor of the pasta.
Big portion though, so gets 7 out of 10.

Overall, I'm going to give this place a highly recommended rating. I
do love Italian and it is quite easy to get a pasta dish right. But
it is very difficult to make a pasta meal exceptionally well, and
that's just what they've done here. Its won two awards, one being the
"Best Regional Italian Restaurant" award. With good reason.

Despite Essex's reputation of being a food desert, Hornchurch is an
area of well-kept secrets, with Bonaparte being better than most
French restaurants in London I've tried. Tarantino's has barged its
way into my "restaurants I now love" list. Out on a limb in the RM
postcode area, all these delights are skipped by the London critics
who tend to stick around the West End, Mayfair and Kensington, plus a
few of what I'd imagine can only be the local haunts of particular
journalists. Great if you live or work there. However, for us in the
far eastern suburbs, Hornchurch is an unsung oasis.

Ssssshh. We'll keep it to ourselves before all those peasants further
west discover it.

Cafe Za Za 117 New Road Whitechapel London E1 1HJ

Last week I was in Whitechapel and I intended going for a curry at the New Tayyab on Fieldgate Street.  I got given help across New road and ended up discussing local eating places.  The guy helping me said I was near Cafe Za Za which  served Mediterranean food at cheap prices.  I was curious and this lead to a change of plan.

 

I sat down in this cafe and asked for help with the menu as I cannot see to read it.  the girl who read the menu spoke poor English but I was able to get the idea of the food on offer.  Meals seemed to be mainly pasta based with every flavour of chicken imaginable.  as readers of my blog will know, I am amazed at the love affair this area's Bangladeshi population seems to have with chicken.  but this place did pasta with Coronation chicken, pasta with Italian chicken, pasta with spicy chicken and pasta with chicken and pesto and many others besides.  Hidden in this deluge of chicken were a few oddities such as pasta with fresh minted lamb, vegetable lasagne and pasta with tuner.

 

I was feeling disheartened and thinking of reverting to my original plan when the person reading the menu told me that Cottage pie was a special.  Cottage pie is nice and comforting and is a dish I sometimes use to gage the quality of cafes so I went for it.

 

The potato was really nice and creamy.  there was a bit of gravy but not too much.  the mince was very finely minced, probably too finely minced.  a small amount of curry spices had been used which gave the dish a nice taste, one that was enhanced with a liberal lashing of chilli sauce!

 

over all though there was not enough mince and the mince was too finely chopped so there was too much potato texture to make it a really good cottage pie.  At £5.00 the price was reasonable without being exceptionally good value for money.

 

The coffee was disappointing. I think it was filter coffee but of rather low quality. it tasted a little bitter and it was certainly not strong enough.  I also had a pain au chocolat which had been microwaved.  there was far too much pastry and only a little chocolate.  It tasted anything but home baked.

 

On the whole , staff were acceptably helpful without being outstanding.

 

My impression of this place is that it is run by Asians who want to dabble with Mediterranean food  without having to really cook too much.  there is far too much premade cheap food that does not taste as though it has been done fresh with care.  It is not bad but I just came out of there feeling slightly underwhelmed by the mediocrity of Cafe Za Za.  It is just too average and unremarkable and it certainly falls below the standards of many budget Italian coffee shops.

 

I give cafe Za Za 5 out of 10 as it does rather flatter to deceive and did not really live up to expectations.

wild west beef jerky

Wild West Beef Jerky is an online retailer selling Beef Jerky.

visit www.wildwestjerky.co.uk

 

I ordered samples of all 3 varieties of beef jerky sold at this site in different flavours.  Beef Jerky is dried cured smoked lean beef.  The Jerky on this site is sold as Tender Bites which are small nuggets of quite tender jerky, Gourmet which is traditional American slab beef jerky and All Natural which is described as premium beef jerky.  I think over all the Gourmet is my favourite.  the Gourmet hot and spicy and the

All natural Extreme heat both carry a good spicy kick which should bring a smile to your face while the traditional and Teriyaki flavours will suit those with less of a need for mindless spice!

 

My order was despatched within 3 working days and it was sent by royal mail which is great since I was out when the order was delivered.  If this happens with a royal mail parcel you can have the order delivered to a post office, have it redelivered or collect it from the sorting office.  this is far more flexible than having to go to the depot of a currier company.

 

Jerky is often compared to Biltong which is dried meat with an African tradition see the Savanna at www.thesavanna.co.uk to buy Biltong.

 

The Wild West Jerky site describes Biltong as being tougher and less versatile than Jerky and I would agree with this though the biltong is tougher so flavours can be released more slowly.  I liked my jerky so much that 5 packs lasted barely 12 hours!  maybe the product could have been despatched on the day it was ordered rather than a day or 2 later but this is a really minor gripe.  I give this store 8 out of 10.

Minster Tavern, 1 Minster Place, Ely CB7 4EL

The Minster Tavern is similar to a whetherspoons pub.  It is part of a chain called Town Pubs.   for information about the pub including menus visit http://www.greatvaluepubs.co.uk/theminstertavernely/

 

I visited this pub on Saturday evening and Sunday lunch time in Ely, primarily for food.  they had Spit fire on while I was there but that was the only real ale.  I would say that the food is of higher quality than whetherspoons and prices of food are in fact cheaper .  Most meals cost less than £5.

I think the spit fire was just over £2 a pint so it was a few pence dearer than whetherspoons.

 

On the Saturday night I had Steak on Moroccan flat bread.  I got about 5 ounces of reasonable quality rump steak cut into strips served with chips and salad garnish along with a bowl containing plenty of chilli sauce which was really quite hot.  also for £1.25 I got 3 corn on the cobs cooked in butter with Asian spices which I thought was good value for a side dish.  I really thought this was considerably better than most of the food I have had in whetherspoons pubs.

 

On Sunday we visited this same pub for a roast dinner.  I have to say this was more disappointing.  a roast dinner and a pint for £4.99 is excellent value but there were some problems with the food which could have been avoided.  The mash was cold.  the roast potatoes and parsnips were underdone.  I chose roast beef and this turned out to be slow roasted top side.  It was melt in the mouth tender and really nice.  On the Sunday I had Belgium Chocolate Waffles and Ice Cream.  they just met expectations though there was meant to be a chocolate sauce.  while this was there I do not think it was thick enough.  If you like chocolate as I do then the range of puddings at the Minster Tavern is great but every pudding is chocolate!

 

If the roast on Sunday had been well cooked I would have given the Minster 8 out of 10.  My only criticism would have been disappointing real ales.  I am concerned however about the unnecessarily poor quality of the roast on Sunday so regretfully I have to give this pub 6.5 out of ten.

street cafe 4 High Street ely

The Street Cafe may sound as though it is posh.  Maybe you think Paris or perhaps you think of pasta dishes and good Italian coffee.  Or maybe you think of the various attempts to give the UK a bit of European street culture.

 

Forget all about these ideas.  The Street Cafe is a Greasy Spoon cafe lifted straight from the east end of London, or that is exactly what the food is anyway.  If you want the crappiest sausages, sweaty bacon, bubble and squeak that was frozen or a big mixed grille of lamb chops, pork chops, burger sausage and chips that is in fact all fried then you are in the right place.

 

The food is very cheap and plentiful but like many of these kind of cafes the quality is not great but it will do, particularly if you are quite hungry but relatively broke.  I had a breakfast of sausage, bacon, egg, hash brown, beans, 2 slices of toast and a tea for £4.99

 

OK every expense had been spared in purchasing some of the ingredients.  the sausages were of predictably low quality and the bread was on a par with a supermarket's basic range.  I generally avoid the coffee in these kind of places.  I find tea is a much safer option.  But for just shy of £5 what can you expect?  I certainly came out of there full for sure and did not need to eat again until tea time.  staff said hello and goodbye when we left and they were generally quite friendly.  the food was hot and freshly fried so while quality did not exceed expectations I would say that, for its market, this cafe is on the good side of average.  I give it 6 out of 10. 

ely cathedral

While visiting Ely last week, we wondered into the cathedral.  this is easily the largest building in Ely.  Mark and Debbie were certainly wooed and wowed by the size and magnificence of the place but, apart from wondering briefly about the history of the toilets and what they had been used for in the past, my chief concern was the quality of the cafe!  If you want other facts figures and info visit the cathedral website at www.elycathedral.org

 

the cafe is a typical churchy affair selling mainly pastry.  there were 2 vegetarian quiches, sausage rolls, various sponge cakes,a few rather basic sandwiches in the cheese and tomato, ham and tomato or plain cheese style and of course tea, coffee and juice.

 

I opted for a mixed pepper quiche with coleslaw and salad leaves.  the quiche was home made and maybe someone had made it at home then hidden it in the cupboard for a while and forgot about it.  It was rather dry. not stale but I am glad it was a small one.  the coffee was I think made from ground rather than instant coffee but it was not of the highest quality.  After a wonder around then this cafe was a welcome break.  Staff were quite helpful and friendly.

 

I can not give this more than 5 out of 10.  If you are visiting the cathedral then by all means go there for a cupper and something to eat but this cafe is not an attraction that stands up in its own right and it is not worth a special visit for purely culinary purposes.

USA Fried Chicken, 3 Forehill, Ely, Cambridgeshire, CB7 4AA

Last weekend I paid a visit to Ely with some friends.  After the customary Friday night of gentle beers we decided to go for something to eat.  My friend Mark fancied a kebab so we went out on the look out for one.

 

Fairly near the centre of Ely we discovered USA Fried Chicken which seems to sell most of the fast foods that are popular in the UK with the exception of curry.  It sold fried chicken of course, chip  shop food such as fish, pies and chips, pizzas, ribs and kebabs. 

 

It seems that the chips were made with real potato though when we got there they had been sitting in the fryer for a while as it was at about half 10 just before the big pub rush.  Mark and myself went for Doner kebabs which I would describe as above average.  you could tell the meat was lamb. it was not too greasy. the pita bread was freshly toasted. there was plenty of cabbage and onion and the chilli sauce was quite hot though maybe a little thin.

 

Given that this is not a specialist kebab shop, I would have to give the quality of the kebab 6.5 out of 10.  Doner meat is generally too artificial and I would have liked the whole thing to stay together better but in general I would say a good effort for a non-kebab specialist.  Staff did ask us what we wanted as well rather than just assuming we were drunk so we just wanted everything.

osgrow exotic meats

Osgrow sells a wide range of exotic meats to both restaurants and consumers.

 

visit http://www.osgrow.com to buy interesting meats including Zebra, Camel, Ostrich  and Kudu.  try locusts or chocolate covered ants if you want to try some insects.

 

No, this store is not for everyone and it may not be the cheapest but I found the sales person working at Osgrow to be really helpful.  I ordered from home in London and had food delivered to Exeter.  The sales staff contacted me and made sure that all the food I had ordered was in stock and also contacted me to tell me the day the food would be delivered.  all went well and the food we ordered has provided various fun meals since Christmas.  Zebra was a particular favourite of mine.  Zebra tastes similar to horsemeat which is like strong tasting steak.  I was not so keen on camel which was like pork but rather tough.  I had great fun getting people to try chocolate covered scorpions or chocolate covered ants when they were drunk and I also have some Thai Green Curried crickets and some locusts to try so if you want to try something really different look on the web site and give Osgrow a ring if you want to order and check stock then order online.  this is a great place to buy a Christmas or birthday hamper for an adventurous friend.

 

I give this store 8 out of 10.

Hot-headz.com

Hot-Headz is a major UK supplier of some of the hottest sauces, crisps, pickles and other fiery snacks available from around the world. Visit www.hot-headz.com
I have tried Blair's Death Rain crisps, Ass-kicking peanuts from the US and Who Dares Burns which really is wickedly hot sauce that should really be delivered in a bottle with a dropper as 2 or 3 drops should heat up a whole casserole nicely but I would not recommend a party trick I once saw where a guy who was sleeping had a drop of this dripped into his nose with a straw. He woke up and wondered if he had been given cocaine for a second but I'm surprised it didn't strip the lining of his nose! Who dares burns is truly fierce as are many of the sauces sold here. treat them carefully!

I have found this store reliable though stock of some items can run out and it may be a while before there is more of the product as there needs to be enough demand for it, particularly if it has a short shelf life. this is not a cheap store but it is certainly good for the occasional treat or for conveniently keeping really hot sauces at your finger tips.

I would give this store 7 out of 10.

the Savanna South African food and drink

The Savanna started out as a shop in London which has opened a number of branches throughout London.  The most recent branch of this shop opened in Liverpool Street Station.  Visit the website at

http://www.thesavanna.co.uk

 

I have visited branches of this shop myself on several occasions and have brought a range of products including Biltong which is dried beef  similar to Jerkie, Droewors which are dried sausages and Boerewors  which are high quality fresh sausages made with beef and pork.

 

Various flavours of Biltong and sausage are available as well as pickles, chutneys and a range of south African crisps sweets and drinks.

 

I placed an online order from home in Stepney using my own debit card and had it delivered to an address in Exeter.  The ordering process went well and the products were delivered in a reasonably timely fashion though the currier did deliver them a day later than expected along with dog food ordered from a different supplier.  This was not the fault of the vendor however.

 

I am not south African but I am advised that the taste of the sausages is reasonably authentic and I do rather like their texture which is  coarse and meaty though the Boerewors do leak a  fair  amount of fat.  Biltong is dried meat that you can chew on.  I rather like it though it is not everyone's thing but if chewing on highly flavoured dried meat sounds as though it may interest you then Biltong is worth a try then give it a go.  It does soften up nicely in your mouth.  The Droewors are dried Boerewors and they are not as hard to chew as Biltong though they have quite a long shelf life.  I have also tried Chutney flavoured crisps or chips as they are called on the site made by Simba.   I found them rather morish I must say.

 

I would highly recommend this south African deli and I give it 8 out of 10

specialist online food and drink shops

I know that people read this blog in various parts of the UK and I am well aware that I do not review food venues in many locations.  Reviews have been concentrated largely in London with a few in Exeter and various parts of northwest England.  I therefore intend to add some good online food and drink shops that I have used and found to be helpful.  I may include online food shops if I have found them to be bad of course.  Most people are aware of the main supermarkets that offer online shopping namely, Sainsburys, Tesco, Ocado/Waitrose and Asda.

 

I intend to include specialist suppliers of food and drink here .  Of course, all reviews and recommendations are welcome.  If you do decide to give me a review give me the website along with any details of products you have ordered that you think deserve a mention.  I will add your review along with your name if you wish.       

 

Happy Troughing!

 

New Capital Chinese Restaurant 9 Nelson Street, Liverpool Liverpool, L1 5DW

I visited this restaurant on a Sunday about 4 weeks ago while visiting a friend.  I had a pork bun and hot and sour soup as a starter and a spicy dish with mince meat and bean curd as a starter.  the soup and main were both good and spicy and portions were massive.

 

Staff did not speak the best English but they clearly wanted to be helpful and a good attitude certainly goes a long way towards making a meal enjoyable.

 

I have only been to this Chinese once but the portions of food were so big I had to take some home and the quality was decent so I would certainly recommend this place.

I give it 7.5 out of 10.

 

 

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Shahenshah 135 Wilmslow Road, Rusholme, Manchester M14 5AW

The Shahenshah is a largish comfortable Indian restaurant in the Manchester district of Rusholme which is famous for curry houses.

Myself and a friend visited Shahensha at about 3 in the afternoon on Saturday.

Shahensha has a large menu though it seems to specialise in Punjabi food.
I had a Mushroom Pakora for starter and my friend had a portion of Veg Samosa. these were average unremarkable starters. I would have liked a little more spice in mine but at least it was freshly fried and not microwaved.

I had a main dish called Haleem and my friend had a main dish called Punjabi Lamb Special. we both gave the food 7.5 out of 10. Mine was very tasty though perhaps a little watery. I know that Haleem is a slow cooked dish with plenty of liquid but there seemed to be a fraction too much water and it could have done with a bit more of a tomato flavour. The curry was not greasy however and it seemed to contain a decent amount of fresh spices and some vegetable.

My friend's Punjabi Special was meant to contain chilli garlic and ginger. He says that it was a nice curry though the ginger and garlic could have been more pronounced.

Staff were friendly and attentive. while English was not always that good, I felt that staff made a reasonable effort.

Over all this is a reasonable place to eat without being absolutely mind blowing. the menu has lots of differently named dishes that I suspect may be relatively similar. this seemed a good safe place to eat, but while looking for the correct address for the Shahenshah I found the following manchester Evening News article describing how the restaurant was shut down for hygiene reasons in April 2008. I do not know if it is owned by the same people now. look at http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/1062930__filthy_curry_house_fined__

Before reading this I thought there are better and worse places in Rusholme to eat. many kitchens are I suspect not as clean as they might be but the fact that the owners didn't even bother to show up in court concerns me and means I cannot really recommend the Shahensha unless it has changed hands.


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Hardman Pizza Co, Hardman Street , Liverpool

this is a small place which is primarily a take away though it has a few tables inside.

 

I visited this eatery while on a visit to Liverpool with a friend.  We went for a quick bite to eat before going out on the beer.

 

My friend had a hot and spicy pizza which he rated as being of average quality, I believe he gave it roughly 5.5  out of 10.

 

I had a Lamb Shish kebab and sadly mine was not as good.  the kebab came wrapped in a japati which is lighter than the Nan Bread many places now use and personally I prefer this.  It's just a shame that what came inside the japati was of such low quality.  the lamb was not really recognisable as lamb.  it was tough and rather lacking in flavour and it took some chewing through.  the chilli sauce was at least quite potent and the salad was of reasonable quality.  given the awful meat however I can not give this place more than 3 out of 10.  This means that the average mark shared between the 2 of us is 4.25 which is well below average.

 

In summary Hardman Pizza Co is alright if you are passing and fancy a quick pizza but it's a disaster for kebabs.

 

Original Kebabish 154 The Grove Stratford East London E15 1NS

this is part of a small chain in east london which sells a now quite familiar format of indian food  donna kebabs and burgers.  The food in Original Kebabish was acceptable and portions were generous.  I had a Lamb Tikka roll, 2 meat samosas and a portion of Aloo Chat which in this case was really a potato curry.

 

The samosas were larger than average and quite full of meat.  Its a shame they were microwaved rather than fried fresh.

 

The Aloo Chat was a nice warming potato curry with onion in it.  I suspect it was just a packet sauce but it was pleasant enough and not too greasy.

The Lamb Tikka Roll was quite generous and tasty though the lamb was a little tough.  the lamb was however chopped up quite small and combined with peppers and onions.  the lamb had also been marinated in yogurt and spices which makes it lamb tikka.

 

The food at Original Kebabish was acceptable without being in any way outstanding.  those 3 dishes cost me just under £8.00 which is really quite acceptable.  Quality was certainly a step up from that offered by places like the Perfect Fried Chicken places found around Stepney where I live.  most of these should really be avoided.  This being said, I wouldn't travel specifically to visit Original Kebabish though if you are near by it is quite a reasonable option to take.

 

Over all I give this 6 out of 10.  Prices are competetive and food is of reasonable quality without being top class.  Portions are quite generous.

 

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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.

   I visited this pub for a birthday do in early February after finding reviews of it on the internet.  It's a large pub that serves a range of real ale and mid priced food.  Most of the real ales come from the Milton brewery  in Cambridge though there is a regularly changing range of guest beers as well.the food menu also changes from day to day though there are some dishes that are always present.  For more details visit the website at

http://www.individualpubs.co.uk/pembury

 

My main impression of this pub is that the staff are friendly and service at the bar is excellent.  Food can take a while to arrive but it is generally fresh and of decent quality.  I had pork pie with pickles and salad followed by Thai spiced fish cakes and spicy rice.    Pork pie was decent supermarket quality.  the fish cake was like a large English fish cake but with Thai spices.  I wanted to have some pudding but I was truly stuffed and couldn't eat anymore..  Others tried the sausage and mash and Pork in cider was also on the menu and people seemed to like the food.  Ales were generally well kept and while I have seen larger collections in one pub, this one has enough choice to keep most people going.

 

The atmosphere in this pub is a bit like being in a hall or school gym.  there's a lot of echo and it can be quite hard to hear people over the other side of the table even though there is no music.  It reminds me a little bit of the old Firkin pubs of a few years ago in that way.  All wood, no soft furnishings at all.

 

I was generally impressed with the quality of the beer and the food.  Some of the people there had guide dogs and there was no issue with this at all.  the dogs were welcomed.

 

Over all I give this pub 7 out of 10 and say it is well worth a visit.

Anatolia Ocakbasi 253 mare Street Hackney

This is a Turkish restaurant that appeared in Timeout's cheap eats guide a and a friend of mine wanted to review it before having her birthday do there so I said I'd go along.

 

It's a mid sized restaurant that probably seats 40 or so people.  things  such as kebabs are cooked on an open fire so you can see it being cooked and the cooking area and everything seems clean.

 

I had a starter of green beans with onion and garlic followed by a Lamb doner kebab.  I thought a basic doner would be a good way of testing quality.  The starter was pleasant though the beans were a bit overcooked.  I don't know enough about Turkish food to say whether or not this is the norm for this dish.  The lamb doner was in fact slices of real lamb.  It was a bit greasy but very tasty.  It came with rice, a big varied salad with coleslaw, parsley, radish, onion, raw carrot  and peppers.  I had to take some of it home.  portions were massive and they give you plenty of bread with your meal to.  I will be going there for my friend's birthday next month and hope to try Pide which is a kind of Turkish pizza I am told.

 

I was quite impressed with this restaurant.  Staff were friendly and a 3 course meal with a glass of wine came to less than £20.  I am looking forward to going back there for my friend's birthday.

 

I give this restaurant 7.5 out of ten while the meat was tasty enough I would have liked it to be more spicy.  there was chilli sauce but it wasn't really hot enough.  Again I need to try more Turkish food to get an idea of how authentic this.

Revisit Red dragon Halal Chinese Restaurant 86 mile end road

following Jacky's comments I thought it was only fair to go back to this restaurant last week and try it. The food quality is still the same to me. starters lack imagination and quality with an offering of chips, onion rings, spring rolls, crispy seaweed and prawn on toast. These things do not work well on a buffet and the quality in my opinion was not great anyway. the spicy Thai veg soup and chicken and sweetcorn soups were average enough. I found that the range of main dishes was a little limited. this is partly because this is halal so sadly no pork. I think pork works particularly well in Chinese cooking and it is often my first choice. That is what they choose though so of course I don't adjust marking as I know they won't have pork before I go in there. Beef in black bean sauce was probably my favourite dish. I also quite liked the special fried rice though it had got a little hard.

Last time I visited this restaurant my main criticism was the smell. I am pleased to say that the damp smell seems to have gone so, if I want some Chinese food at a budget and don't want to go too far I would certainly consider this place. It's not excellent quality however and I have to say I don't think I'd travel a significant distance to eat the food. I give it a 5 out of ten. If you insist on halal meat then the red dragon may be slightly more attractive to you but there appear to be at least 2 other options in the area, Michaels on Commercial Road and the Maeda Indian and Chinese eatery on Roman Road. I haven't tried either of them so can't give an opinion.

revisit - caribbean scene restaurant jerry raffles square stratford london

This is a restaurant in Jerry Raffles Square in Stratford, East London very near to where the main events of the Olympics will take place.  Unsurprisingly therefore this part of Stratford is the nearest we get to the cultural district.

 

As any watchers of this blog may know I first visited this restaurant in July 2008.  then I rated it as being quite decent with a good range of food and helpful friendly staff.

 

I therefore decided to revisit this restaurant on my birthday earlier this month with a friend.  I have to say that we were disappointed and both felt that this restaurant has gone down hill.

 

I had a salt fish fritter and a beef pati for starter and was dismayed to find that they had both been microwaved.  at £2.75 I would expect something a bit fresher.  \the salt fish fritter came swimming in a spicy sauce which was ok but this meant you had no choice whether or not to have the sauce.  My friend had festival which is a kind of fried bread flavoured with vanilla and she said it was reasonably acceptably fresh.  My friend had Oxtail as her main with white rice and I chose \ackee and salt fish with rice and peas.  My friend is Caribbean herself and suggested we tried Hard Food which is a combination of yam, green banana and dumpling.  I wasn't that keen on the green banana but my friend said it was fine.  The problem was that the Hard Food was brought to the table cold.  I wouldn't have known but my friend pointed out that this should be hot.  The Hard Food was therefore taken away and microwaved but no apology was given. I'm glad we went for the Hard Food by the way as though it was not quite my cup of tea the size of the other portions was pitiful and I would have needed to buy something more on the way home.

 

We also had 2 Guinness punches which were nice though they put a load of ice in the first one which means of course they get away with putting less in the glass.

 

My over all impression of the staff was that they seemed a bit overstretched and demoralised.  They were in general polite but not that friendly.  I feel that this restaurant is quite expensive, we paid £26 each and I have had better food from take aways.  I would ignore this place because of poor quality and small portion size.  I give it 3.5 out of ten but my friend who found the service with the cold Hard Food particularly poor could only find it in her heart to give the Caribbean Scene a 1 out of ten.

 

If you want Caribbean food in Stratford and it is before half 9 in the evening give Caribbean Flavours inside the theatre royal a go.  portions are cheaper, bigger and more importantly better quality.

 

Happy Chops Chinese and Thai cafe 2A Grove Road London E3 5AX

Happy Chops is really a takeaway.  It sells pretty much the usual things you would expect a chinese take away to sell and the quality of food and range of dishes is really quite similar to the Golden Dragon which is a takeaway in Stepney with an entry in this blog.

 

A few tables have been put in so you can eat in as well as take away but this is really a cafe in the old slightly sloppy down at heel way of most cafes before places called cafes became trendy and expensive.

 

This cafe does sell an decent thai selection including beef, duck, pork prawn and various vegetables thai style as well as thai style noodles and rice.  there are also thai soups and thai fish cakes available.  This is a nice extra touch but I haven't tried the thai food yet so don't know about its quality.

 

I had chicken wings in salt and pepper and a hot and sour soup followed by Szechuan Pork with plain Chow Mein and a pot of chinese tea.  One nice thing about this restaurant is that you can choose to have most dishes with rice or noodles on one plate.  you still get a good plate full but not quite as much as you would if you bought separate dishes with rice in a different container or on a different plate.  Buying meals in this way drastically reduces price.  My Szechuan pork and plain chao main cost just under £5.  My total bill came to £11.50 which is pretty cheap really.

 

The food is acceptable but it is a little greasy and meat can be a bit tough.  I wouldn't go a long way to visit this takeaway and cafe but I would happily use it if I were in Mile End and I wanted a chinese meal.  Service was reasonably quick and I found the staff generally helpful and most staff seemed to speak quite good english.  I would give this place 6.5 out of 10

Good points are that it's cheap.  Service is quite friendly and speedy and portions are large.

 

Against, it's only average quality and food is a bit greasy.

La Figa, The Mosaic, 45 Narrow Street, London E14 8DN

 

I visited this Italian restaurant with a friend who lives near by on Friday for lunch.  The staff were welcoming, portions were generous and the food was of high quality.  I would have no hesitation  in recommending this restaurant if you are celebrating a special occasion.  The prices are quite high though so i would say it is not really suited for casual dining.

 

I had a dish called beef carpaccio as a starter.  It is made with roar beef sliced very thinly with Rocket and other salad.  This was a bit of a mistake on my part as I would have liked something more highly flavoured but there was plenty of it and this was really my falt for not asking about the flavour in more detail.  Looking this dish up on the internet suggests that the main bits of this dish giving flavour are Parmesan, Rocket and Basil.  Still there was plenty of it.

 

The main was a ravioli dish with Gorgonzola and lots of cream.  It was quite comforting and rich and again there was plenty of it.  My dessert was a Tiramisu which was also plentiful.  I also had a lemonade, 2 large glasses of white house wine and a quantro liqueur coffee.

 

That lot came to just short of £45 which is definitely at the upper end of what I would pay for any meal at any time and is far beyond what I would normally pay at lunch.

 

I have no criticism of the quality of the food and staff are helpful and quite patient.  My friend has a guide dog and this restaurant is definitely guide dog friendly.  At this price however, I would expect the restaurant to have a website with an up to date menu including a list of the daily specials updated each day. 

 

If the price does not put you off then I would have no hesitation in recommending this restaurant as the quality of food and the size of the portions will not dissapoint.

 

I give this restaurant 6 out of 10. the mark is let down a bit by the price and lack of a propper website.

 

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The Greedy Cow 2 Grove Road Mile End London E3 5AX

The Greedy Cow has been open for aproximately 1 month at the time of writing. Essentially it is a Gourmet Burger type of operation selling a range of predefined burgers and allowing you to make up your own burger of choice. There are beef, fresh fish, chicken, veggie and lamb burgers to choose from and you can add your own toppings in a similar way to building a pizza.

Lamb chops, steaks and chicken are also available along with a range of salads and a small selection of starters and desserts. Smoothies milkshakes soft drinks beers and wines are also available.

I had the Chorizo Salad as a starter which contained plenty of cherizo but I would have liked some onion as well as the cherry tomatoes, lettuce and rocket that was on the plate.

As a main I had a lamb burger with a topping of sausage. The topping was a quite generous portion of reasonable quality english sausage. I had pepper sauce with this which was pleasant though it could have had more pepper corns in it. I also had onion rings which were fresh and probably home made as they contained propper rings of onion in them. I also had a home made lemonade and a coffee..

Over all the quality of ingredients was quite high but that lot cost me £20 and if I had been hungry I would have probably wanted a dessert.

Prices and quality are pretty similar to those available from chains such as the Gourmet Burger Kitchen so if you like that you will not be disapointed. Personally I get a bit bored with burgers though they will swap a bun with salad which could be a good option if the salad is interesting.

Staff were quite friendly though the music that people call R & B today is not my favourite music by any means but it was fairly quiet so not intrusive.

The staff do seem to be quite professional and ingredients are of high quality. If it can survive in the East End of London at this price point then I see no reason why it should not prove to be a popular option. It is certainly a refreshing change from the budget greasy bangladeshi chicken shop which so dominates this part of London though it is pricey for a burger joint.

I give it 6.5 out of 10

For more information visit www.greedycow.com
This site is currently under construction but you can download a menu fromhere.

pride of asia revisited

I first visited the Pride of Asia last year when it opened. I was rather critical of it because of the limited food and the high prices charged. I feel I was right to be somewhat chritical of the Pride of Asia at the time for this as the food was really no better than that served in the half million or so chicken places to be found in Stepney and Whitechapel.

well I visited the Pride of Asia once just before Christmas and once yesterday. A new cheap menu has been introduced that usually has 3 starters, 3 mains and a choice of boiled rice, Pilau rice, Nan or Roti. Yesterday for example the choice was Spicy Vegetable Spring Rolls, Chicken Tika or Sheek kebab for starter and Lamb Danzak, Chicken with spinach or Dahl for main. I had a nan bread with this and was well satisfied. This meal costs £5.95 plus drinks. Staff were helpful and had a good level of english, certainly enough to read the menu.

I am not sure about prices outside the cheap menu, but all I can say of the food is that it was of good quality and not too greasy. Good for a meal on a budget if you are not a fussy eater and hapy to take what is on offer. I now give the meal deal 6.5 out of 10 which is an improvement for sure!