R Bar, 237 Mile End Road, Stepney Green, London E1 4AA Revisited

 

This pub used to be Loasis which was a gastro pub and I wrote a less than complimentary  review about it back in March when it opened as the R Bar.

 

Well since then it has changed a bit as there is a new manager and some attempts are finally being made to make the place a bit more interesting.  I visited this pub last Thursday after being told the menu had changed.  The steak sandwiches, chicken sandwiches (both with or without chese) Lamb shank and pasta have been swept away.  This was ok but 5 average dishes was never going to be a sustainable menu.  Now we have Mediterranean  tapas with a Turkish or greek feel including coftas of chicken or lamb, Pickled Octopus salad, filau pastry filled with cheese or lamb, calamari and mixed olives to name a few dishes.  Also they have taken my and a few other local suggestion to heart and started doing bottled real ales, currently including the range available from the wichwood brewery such as Hobgoblin and Scarecrow.  The place is a little busier now and staff are a bit more friendly.  You are for example far more likely to be asked if your food is OK.  Prices of dishes vary but expect to pay around £2.50 per dish.  3 of these dishes with pitta bread should fill most people as portions are quite generous and some dishes come with rice or mixed vegetables on the side.

 

I had Lambs liver fried and served on a sizzling  hot plate with onions and peppers, Calamari with mayo and lemon, pastry stuffed with chese and mixed olives and toasted pitta.  I was bursting after that lot and with 2 pint sized bottles of scarecrow the total came to just over £15.

 

I’d like the option of a full meal or tapas some tapas dishes consisting of rice, vegetables or fried potatoes or similar to give dishes a bit more bulk.  Now some dishes come with rice and others with mixed veg and others nothing at all.  There are too many chill out sofas and not enough eating space perhaps but over all new management arrived at the R Bar not a bit too soon.

 

I give it 7 out of ten and look forward to seeing how things develop.

 

Denleys, 61-64 High Street, Topsham, Exeter, Devon, EX3 0DY

 

Denleys is a curry house that is also a wine bar so it sells a decent range of drinks as well as excellent food.

 

I visited Denleys last week with 3 friends.  The curry is not like the cook at home kind of curry you will find in the best restaurants in Leeds, Bradford and parts of Birmingham.  In stead I would describe it as banquet style with lots of rich thick sauces but all fresh spices.  For starters I had a dish called Roshini Mushroom  which was mushrooms with loads of garlic in a fairly mild thick sauce.  I also tried a starter that one of my friends had which was Haryali Piazee Mussels which was mussels in a rich curry sauce.  The other 2 people had Chicken Chat and Mulligatawny soup and both said the starters were good.

 

For main I had a dish called Tava which was described as being made with whole kashmiri spices.  It was about madras strength and again it was a thick rich sauce with a bit of cream in it I think.  The lamb was gorgeous.  2 often in curries the lamb is chewy or rubbery.  It is often old and very poor quality. This stuff was as good as the best Sunday roast lamb!  It was tender and really tasty.  I had mushroom rice with this which   had plenty of mushrooms and chunks of onion in it. Lovely!  I also tried my friend’s duck balti which was of a similar strength but the source was slightly less thick.

 

My only real criticism of this restaurant is that in a couple of instances they got the food descriptions wrong.  One of my friends asked for a chicken  Passanda which was described as being cooked in a cream and wine sauce.  In fact it had loads of coconut in it which was a surprise as coconut was not mentioned on the menu when describing this dish.

 

I rounded things off with a chilli nan which was fresh and there were plenty of chillies in it.  2 of us also had liqueur coffees to finish with and these were well prepared.  2 of us had pints of Otter bitter, one had a pint of cider and the other had a large glass of white wine.  The total came to about £102 which is not mega cheap but the quality of food was excellent and the staff were friendly. 

 

For menus visit

http://www.denleysessenceofindia.co.uk

 

I give this restaurant 8 out of 10.  Ingredients were top quality. The staff were helpful and the website is informative and up to date.  My only criticism as pointed out here is that a couple of dishes are not described properly and on the main menu dishes appear in an odd order with desserts being listed before the traditional curries.

 

everest karahi 31 longbridge road, Barking IG11 8TN

I visited this curry house with 2 friends at about 9 o'clock on Friday
evening. It claims to be Nepalese.

This is a relatively new curry house and I was told it was good when it
first opened. Indeed, staff were friendly and reasonably helpful though for
much of the time we were the only customers there.

I had a dish rather similar to Chicken Chat for starter and something called
Lamb Sherpa for main. These were average curries with a fairly thick sauce
which I personally think probably came from a packet. There were some fresh
spices but really I can't say the food was anything special and it was a bit
on the greasy side. 2 of us had 2 large pint sized bottles of ale each and
the other of us had one glass of wine. We all had 2 courses each and the
price came to about £63

There are better curry places to be found. In general the meat was of low
quality with chicken being watery and stringy and the lamb being tough and
chewy. My understanding is that quality has gone down and on the evidence
of my visit I would say this curry house is nothing to write home about. At
the time of writing a tandori chef is being sought and I understand why.

The website is badly constructed and some of the pages don't work but for
more info visit

www.everest-karahi.co.uk

I can only give this restaurant 5 out of 10. It is expensive and while not
absolutely horrible it is not worth travelling any distance for either. .

cask pub and kitchen, 6 Charlwood Street, Pimlico, London SW1V 6EE

                this pub specialises in northern beers and the food is gastro pub food, a primarily modern European format that typically leads to pubs selling food at

mid range restaurant prices. I stuck to a relatively weak beer called W90 which had a strong hoppy taste despite being only 3.8 percent volume. it was

brewed by the Marble brewery in Manchester.  The Cask pub and kitchen is not cheap.  This beer cost £3.35 a pint but then Pimlico is on the posh side.  This pub should be visited by all people who think the British can’t brew beer.  They will taste some British beers that prove Britain is just as good as Belgium and Germany when it comes to brewing.  In Belgium and Germany however they had the sense to produce bottled versions of ales as well.  We are starting to do this as you can tell by visiting any supermarket but I digress!

 

for food I had baby squid stuffed with chick peas and chorizo Spanish sausage served with French bread. this was a beautiful starter and a small meal in

itself. for main I had an 8 ounce rib eye steak served with béarnaise sauce and home made chips. they insist on calling them hand cut on these stupid gastro

menus but the way the chip is cut is not the point.   The real question is whether the chip is fresh or frozen and it would be good to know what kind of oil it is fried in. The chips were good and crispy anyway. the Béarnaise sauce was not quite as buttery as some I have

had though there was plenty of pepper corns in it.

 

The food in this pub is not cheap though it is pretty good.  Words like “Hand cut”, “placed on a thick bed of”, and the use of terms like Jus all point to   a gastro menu.  My squid starter cost about £7 and the steak cost me £15 but at least portion size was quite generous.

 

The web site for the pub is

www.caskpubandkitchen.com

If you visit the home page you will get an idea of the music that is played.  It’s all background jazz music and for me all this does is to make the atmosphere slightly pretentious and arguably even intimidating or elitist, not to say a little boring for those who work there.  I would even say that I visit this pub because of its great beer and I go back despite the slightly ponsy up its own arse atmosphere.

 

Despite the music however I have generally found staff to be helpful and quite knowledgeable about their beers.  I would give this pub an over all mark of 7.5 out of 10.  If I were just going on beer alone it would get 9 out of 10.  High prices would mean that it would be hard to make this pub a real local visit for a few beers a day job.

 

Suvai Chettinaad 207 High Street North, East Ham, London E6 1JG

The Suvai Chettinaad often just known as the Suvai has been one of my favourite south Indian restaurants for a couple of years now and the quality has remained generally very high and the value is unbelievable.

 

There is a website at

www.suvai.co.uk

and you can take a look at the menu there for proof of good value.

 

Yesterday I visited this restaurant with a friend and we had 3 courses and a mango lasi each.  I also had a masala tea and a diet coke and the lot cost us £20.  Certainly some of the English spoken by staff is a bit limited but staff are generally quite patient and it is generally possible to get what you want.

 

Yesterday I had a   lamb fry, and Egg Bonda, an Indian dish like rice pudding but made with thin noodles, a diet coke and a masala tea.  My friend had a fish roast (fish cooked in chilli powder with onions and peppers)  a potato bonda (spiced fried mashed potato balls) and a chicken biriani.  We also had a mango lasi each.  The lot came to £20.

 

I have been here with friends that have guide dogs in the past and there has been no problem.

 

For more info including menus visit

www.suvai.co.uk

 

I give this restaurant a 9 out of 10.  The only problem I have is that if you do not know the menu, getting what you want can sometimes be tricky due to lack of English but staff try their best to be helpful.

 

maedah grill, 42 Fieldgate Street, London E1 1ES

Last week I visited the Maedah Grill which is a Turkish restaurant hidden away in Whitechapel  where the restaurants are generally low budget and fairly low quality Bangladeshi curry houses.  The Maedah Grill itself is on the same street as the ridiculously busy but ultimately fairly average New Tayyab which is famous throughout London.

 

Maedah Grill is an average quality Turkish restaurant based on my one visit and my reading of reviews.  For a starter I had a Turkish pizza which consisted of a thin layer of bread covered in spicy mince.  This was certainly quite tasty but it was prepared so quickly I suspect it had been microwaved.

 

My main was a lamb shish kebab served with rice and salad.  This was unremarkable though it was quite large.  I could actually distinguish the meat as being Lamb and this is not always the case.

 

For main I had Baklava which was pretty standard.  The Turkish coffee was strong and welcome however and this meal cost me less than £20.  Staff were generally helpful and they spoke reasonably good English so as I live in this area I will happily  revisit this restaurant.

 

I would give this restaurant 7 out of 10  and I look forward to visiting it in the future.

 

the rumblin tum, Prince of Wales Drive, Exmouth, Devon EX8 4SW

This is a pub in Exmouth selling traditional food of decent quality.  I visited this pub last week with 2 other people.  Staff were on the whole quite helpful and competent  though special mention needs to be made of the trainee who provided my friend with a fork for eating soup.  Let’s give him the benefit of the doubt and say it was beginner’s nerves!

 

There’s none of your gastro pub stuff here.  The menu looks rather late 1980s and belly pork or  field mushrooms with a blue cheese sauce is as exciting as it gets.

 

I had Chicken Goujons  with a garlic mayo for starter and an American Combo for main which consisted of a rack of barbecue ribs, spicy chicken wings, a breaded chicken breast and chunky chips referred to as fries on the menu.  Home fries or Chunky Fries might have been a more appropriate description.  Another friend had tomato soup for starter and beef lasagne for main.  He said the Lasagne was a bit overcooked.

 

My other friend had Mushrooms in blue cheese sauce for starter and a seafood pasta as a main.  She liked the mushrooms but said that the seafood pasta was rather bland.

 

Portions are generally of a decent size and I was the only one   piggy enough to have a sweet.  I had a white chocolate  and raspberry tart which was well flavoured with a thick creamy filling.  I also had an  Irish  coffee which was well made with cream floating on the top.

 

This pub served generally good food though it is a little out of the way and the choices are rather unadventurous.  Food quality was generally good but overcooked lasagne was a concern.  Over all the Rumblin Tum serves decent sized portions of reasonable  if rather unadventurous food.  A 3 course meal and a drink will set you back around £25 with starters and sweets costing around £5 and mains costing around £10

 

This is really more of a restaurant than a pub and I can’t imagine going to the Rumblin Tum just for a drink.

 

Over all then meals were unadventurous but mostly of good quality.  Staff were helpful on the whole and I would give the Rumblin Tum 7 out of 10.

Graham

 

Carluccios 1 The Brunswick Centre, London WC1N 1AF

Carluccios is an Italian chain of restaurants based mainly in London but with branches opening up in other cities.  I have heard the food there is pretty good so myself and 3 friends went there yesterday for a meal.  I had heard that Carluccios was expensive but a look at the menu suggested otherwise.  For more info including an accessible PDF version of the menu visit the website at

http://www.carluccios.com

 

Myself and the other 3 people I ate with have  no sight or at least not enough to read the print menu at the table.  In this situation good service is critical.  It is simply not enough for some brain dead waiter who can’t even speak English to come to the table and expect people to point at the menu because he or she can’t even read it!  I am very pleased to report  that we had none of these problems.  In fact all the staff we met were courteous and more than willing to help.  The whole menu was read to us and, despite the restaurant being quite busy, time was taken to help us choose and queries were answered by staff who had some knowledge of what they were serving to us.  This all helped to make it a pleasant evening.  We did not have a guide dog with us but I have heard of people being let in to other branches of Carluccios with no problem so guide dogs should be let in without the need to bring your own personal lawyer to explain the legal position!

 

For starters I had home maid  fish cakes which were not perhaps  that Italian but they were very pleasant and served with a garlic mayo.  I also got to try the garlic bread which was quite pleasant and very plentiful though perhaps slightly over done.  I love my garlic bread to be intense and full on and this was acceptable but I have had better.  Another person had the brochette and I am told that this was also good quality and tasty.

 

For mains I had the seafood linguini which contained mussels squid rings and prawns without shells and heads but with tails still attached.  The portion of sea food was quite generous and the linguini came with a decent amount of garlic.  I also got to try the chicken escallop which was quite bland but that is what was offered on the menu so fair enough.  Another friend had the Penne with sausage sauce  and liked it.  The pasta with capers anchovy olives and garlic was also good so no complaints about main courses.

 

I had chocolate Fondant pudding for dessert.  This had a nice soft centre  but I would have liked it to be pure chocolate with maybe almonds on the outside.  Having the almonds mixed in with the melted chocolate in the centre detracted slightly from the experience though the pudding was quite acceptable.  2 of my friends had the Italian ice cream and one had puff pastry with cream and strawberries inside and they both really liked it.  My only other complaint was that Carluccios does not offer liqueur coffees.  Instead we finished off with a hot chocolate which needed a good stir but which turned out to be dark and quite strong.

 

So on the whole while I can think of some improvements that could be made, the whole evening went very well and my criticisms of the garlic bread, the chocolate fondant and the lack of liqueur coffees are minor points that should not deter anyone from going out for a decent meal.  I almost forgot to mention that we had a house bottle of red wine which for a house red was really very acceptable indeed with a good rounded slightly spicy flavour.  One member of our group had apple juice and this seemed quite acceptable.

 

So we had 3 courses each, a bottle of wine, 2 of us had a beer and we all had a hot chocolate and the total bill came to £105 between 4 of us which I felt was a very reasonable price.

 

 

Over all then I give Carluccios 8 out of 10 and would recommend it.

Gold Mine, 102 Queensway, W2 3RR

This is a decent Chinese restaurant  In Bayswater.  I have been to this restaurant twice and after a little bit of uncertainty at first, staff have proven to be really friendly

 

They did not object when we went there with a guide dog either and that is worth noting.

 

So far I have tried szetsuan  pork, chilli crispy beef, Prawn Kung Po, special fried rice, mutton with ginger and spring onion spare ribs in chilli with sea salt and hot and sour soup.  Most of these dishes were generous and not at all greasy, though I thought the mutton had surprisingly little taste.  There are cheaper restaurants in this area but if you go to eat in the evening they get incredibly full.  Decent food and helpful staff mean that I give this restaurant 7.5 out of 10.

Il Padrino 115 Oxford Road, Manchester M1 7DU

This is a large take away which apparently looks quite inviting from the outside.  It is certainly large and when I visited on Saturday it did not smell bad at all.  The member of staff who served me had a Manchester accent and his English was good.  Communication was no problem at all.

 

That is where positive comments stop however.  This fast food restaurant sells Jacket Potatoes, Burgers, chicken and kebabs.

 

Now admittedly I chose a Lamb Doner Kebab.  This is usually one of the lowest quality products on offer but I do expect some standards and the only good thing I can say is that there was plenty of meat for the price of £3.00 in every other way though the quality was poor.  There was no cabbage or cucumber for a start.  These are important constituents of a kebab in my opinion.  The nearest thing to cabbage I could get was Coleslaw which is cabbage I know but it’s also full of mayo!

 

The meat itself was spongy and it only tasted a bit of lamb. It also had a strange taste that reminded me of the meat I once had from an illegal hotdog vendor I once used near Embankment station in London.  I am no expert in the taste of off meat but I do have to say I wondered about the state of this low quality rubbish very much indeed.

 

I have looked on the web and found 4 or 5 reviews of Il Padrino  and all of them give the place 2 stars or less.  The unanimous advice is to avoid the place and I can only agree.  If you want disappointment and you feel like running the risk of being layed low for a week or 2 with the gurgles then go there by all means.

 

I can only give Il Padrino 2 out of 10.  The only saving factors are communicative staff and a lot for your money.  What you get is of a low standard however and there are plenty of other places near by.  In comparison, Stepney kebabs near where I live are beautiful and that shows how poor this place was.