Central Cafe, 1 Station Approach, Selborne road, London, E17 7LP

Walthamstow is generally a pretty good place for food in my experience as it
is a racially diverse area and you don't get one nation's food dominating.
There are very few places to eat right near the main railway station
however. I was therefore quite pleased when I was introduced to this cafe
after doing an assessment and over all I would say it turned out to be quite
a find.

This is really your typical London cafe. It sells all the breakfast stuff
including bacon, sausage, black pudding, eggs, Bubble and Squeak etc. It
also does roast dinners with lamb chicken beef pork etc. and there are also
a few pasta dishes and the odd pie to be had. I chose a breakfast type of
meal consisting of sausage, egg, black pudding, Bubble and mushrooms with a
black tea and a diet coke. Quality of sausages is one of the things I look
for in a cafe. If the sausages are good then it is likely that other things
have been well taken care of. Here the sausages were better than many I
have had in local cafes. they had some meatiness about them and they
weren't just sponge. this being said they were by no means premium butcher
sausages either. They were probably at the top end of average, and in fact
they were better than many cafe offerings. The black pudding was quite
tasty and it again had some texture and spiciness to it. The mushrooms were
fresh and the egg was fried with a hard yoke which is how I prefer a fried
egg.

It was the bubble and squeak that really did stand out in this cafe. It was
clearly home made. The mash was smooth and creamy and there was plenty of
cabbage and peas in it. This is probably the nicest bubble I have had
anywhere in London and the cafe is worth a visit for this alone with the
rest of the food providing steady though not exceptional backup.

The staff behind the counter were generally helpful and I would certainly
revisit this cafe again if in the area. It is open quite long hours to,
from 6 AM until 7 PM every day accept Sunday when it does not open at all.

I give this cafe 6.5 out of 10 and would say that over all it is at the top
end of average with sensational bubble and squeak.

A'la Pizza, 201 Mile End Road, Stepney Green, London E1 4AA

This is another in my occasional Kebab Roll review series. When I first
thought of checking out some of these rather dodgy chicken shops and putting
my thoughts on them down for future reference, I rather liked the idea of
completing this little project in Lent. After all, most people give things
up for lent so why not take something up instead?

Well I'm going to fail I think. the quality of the kebab meat in many of
these places is really quite dreadful and eating it gives me no pleasure.

A La Pizza is poor. the meat is not as spongy as that from the Halal Bite
but it has no taste and in fact it actually tasted less than fresh to me. I
had a piece of Tandori chicken with my meal which tasted tough and old.
This shop does 6 inch pizzas for £1.50 but they are thin and greasy. This
shop actually used to be one of the better chicken shops at one time and it
was the first to bring in grilled chicken. The owners have changed and I
can say that the kebab roll now costs about £2.50 but it and the rest of the
food was not only of low quality but it was not fresh either . It also took
over 10 minutes to prepare the kebab even though the shop was empty so sadly
I cannot give this establishment more than 3.5 out of 10. It seems to me
that even the locals have abandoned this place as well!! I would definitely
give it a miss.

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E Pellicci Cafe 332 Bethnal Green Road London E2 0AG

This is quite a well known cafe which has been run by Italians since the
1950s at least. I have seen quite a few reviews that talk about the classic
looks and the friendly atmosphere of the cafe but I wanted to find out a
little more about the food so I went there yesterday lunch time.

This cafe sells a few home made pasta dishes and other dishes often found in
cafes such as chicken escallop with spaghetti or in a sandwich. On the day
I visited there was also a home made steak pie available as well as roasts,
chops, all day breakfasts and the other kinds of food one may expect to find
in a greasy spoon cafe.

E Pellicci is not really a typical greasy spoon however as many of the
dishes are home made and some attention appears to be paid to quality rather
than just providing cheap frozen products fried in the cheapest possible
oil.

I was told that ham off the bone was available and that chips were home made
rather than frozen so I chose Ham, chips, a sausage on the side and peas.
this gave me a chance to check out the basics which is often a good idea on
a first time visit.

The chips were hot, clearly home made, quite crispy but somehow rather
uninspiring. They reminded me of chips we used to get at school which were
also home made but a little tasteless. fresh fried chips should be a bit
comforting and warming and yes they do need to taste a little fried even if
they are fried in vegetable oil. These were better than fries but they did
not excite me.

The ham was of good quality and actually it was very plentiful though it was
cut rather thin. peas were frozen I think and quite acceptable for a cafe.
The sausage was not the thickest I have ever had and it was not up to the
standard of top quality premium sausages from a good butcher or supermarket
but they were a lot better than some of the economy poor quality sausages
found in many cafes and they at least met expectations.

I had a white coffee and a can of lemonade to drink.

The coffee may have been filtered but it was a little bitter and low
quality. It was better however than some of the really horrible coffee
offered in many greasy spoon cafes.

Staff were generally helpful and they did a good job of walking between
visitors and regulars alike and checking they were ok and the range of
customers was really quite amazing. there was an old guy and his mother
that I would have expected to see eating somewhere posher. I got the
impression this couple was known but that they were occasional visitors.
There were also a number of local construction workers some students and
quite a few tourists.

Over all, E Pellicci seems to be a good quality cafe that has become quite
famous. I have not tried the home made food and if I am back in the area I
will certainly check it out. I would compare it to Nico's cafe in many
respects. Nico's is Greek for sure but they also make quite a lot of home
made dishes. In E Pellicci the raw ingredients may be better. the
sausages are for sure. The ham was great though it could have been thicker.
Chips were disappointing and coffee nothing to shout about.

Over all I would go back to E Pellicci if I was in the area but I would
not travel a long way specially to go there. I paid £8.60 for one sausage,
ham, chips, peas and a coffee plus a can of lemonade to drink. I thought
this was a little overpriced so despite the helpfulness of the staff I can
only give it 7 out of 10

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The Fly in the Loaf, 35 Hardman Street, Liverpool L1 9AS

The Fly in the Loaf is one of a few pubs in Central Liverpool that sell a
good range of real ales. This pub has a lot of hard surfaces inside and it
can perhaps sound a little loud but it has plenty of space and it can
accommodate plenty of people. There are generally at least 5 or 6 draft
ales on as well as a good range of bottled European lagers and the usual
British lagers on draft. Staff generally seem to know something about their
ales and the service is efficient and staff are very helpful.

While I have visited this pub quite often in the evenings for beer, I
visited it last Sunday for the first time to try the food. I had a
Minestrone soup for starters which had plenty of vegetables in it as well
as pieces of pasta. the soup was also pleasantly spicy and due to the
chunky nature of this soup it was almost a small meal in itself. It was
served with good quality crusty bread.

The main roast consisted of Roast beef, Yorkshire pud, roast potatoes,
mashed potatoes, mashed carrot and Swede, cauliflower and peas as well as
gravy.

This was a good big roast and on top of the soup it certainly filled me to
the brim!

The meat was good quality, tasty and thick. I would say it was a little
tough but taste made up for this. the roast potatoes were crispy and good
though to match the very best I would have liked them to be a little more
fluffy in the middle. \The mashed potatoes and mashed carrots and Swede
were both rich and smooth. the peas and cauliflower were not overcooked and
the Horseradish sauce was plentiful and reasonably hot.

I love stuffing whether you normally have it with beef or not and its a
shame this wasn't offered. the beef and roast potatoes were both good and
my slight criticism should not put you off the food. at £10.00 for a good
quality soup and a very acceptable plentiful roast this is a worthwhile
place to go for a good roast and I give it 7.5/10

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Halal Bite, 169 Mile End Road, Stepney London London E1 4AQ

OK so here comes the first of the kebab roll reviews and I have to say It
does not start off promising.

There are at least 10 chicken shops within easy walking distance of my
house. Halal Bite is one of the largest of these and to be fair it is one
of the cleanest too. It is next to the mosque and I believe this building
is actually leased from the mosque so its a shame that after what is
presumably uplifting prayer those who attend the mosque come back down to
earth with a very hard bump indeed after visiting this place, certainly if
the kebab roll is anything to go bye.

A full lam doner kebab costs £3.00 which is not much at all and the doner
roll costs £2 and is in truth not that much smaller. the meat was spongy
and it was difficult to determine exactly what meat it was. The meat had
been cooked in a spicy sauce with onions and chilli but the meat had no
taste itself and the soft texture was a real disappointment. There was also
no shortage of grease either. So this was a step up from the Snacksters
Doner Kebab mentioned in a previous post, but believe me that is not hard.
I cannot give this kebab more than a 5. In its favour there was plenty of
it and the price was cheap.

Against it was the fact that the taste was indeterminate and the texture was
rather spongy though not as spongy as the Snacksters offering. The meat was
also incredibly greasy.

The Dove Street Inn 76 St. Helens St, Ipswich, IP4 2LA

The Dove Street Inn is an excellent pub offering a vast range of real ales
at affordable prices. Unusually there is a live web-based stock list which
is updated at least once a day. More can be found at:
http://www.dovestreetinn.co.uk/

Beers are generally well kept and this is a must for people visiting Ipswich
who like real ale.

The food is generally quite basic and it includes home made chilli, curry
and some decent quality pies and pasties.

I visited this pub last Friday with a friend. we wanted a nibble and opted
for a cheese platter each. at £5.00 we did not think the platter would be
massive. We were wrong about size for sure. each platter consisted of a
whole packet of cream crackers, at least half a pound of mature cheddar and
most of a medium sized onion cut up into pieces. Neither me or my friend
ate even half our platter as it was so big and boring!! We gave them away
for the rest of the pub to nibble on.

So, while the ales are excellent and the food is generally very acceptable,
the cheese platter needs to be changed. there needs to be a variety of
biscuits and not so many of them. 2 or 3 different kinds of cheese would
also be good as well as a bit of celery to complement the onion. The cheese
platter did give us a laugh though if nothing else!

Over all I give this pub 9 out of 10.

It is not at all pretentious and the range of ales on offer is amazing for a
pub of its size. The live stock information is particularly welcome and
unique as far as I know.

Tiroler Hut Restaurant 27 Westbourne Grove London W2 4UA

This Austrian restaurant is a 10 minute walk from Bayswater station.
Upstairs there is a bar selling various Austrian beers and snacks and down
stairs is the restaurant itself. I attended this restaurant with a group of
17 people for my 40th birthday. You need to book a couple of weeks in
advance, even for a week day as this restaurant is popular with groups of
people celebrating various events. When I attended there was another
largish group of people celebrating a 40th birthday. Menus available
include a set menu for parties costing £23.50 for 3 courses at the time of
writing. Entertainment is also provided throughout the meal and people who
have been to Austria tell me that the entertainment as well as the food is
quite authentic. More information can be found by visiting the website at
www.tirolerhut.co.uk
I started off with a portion of pickled herrings which came with a sour
cream dressing, apple, onions and salad. They wer fairly sweet pickled
herrings and I enjoyed them. This was followed by Bauernschmaus which
consisted of a wooden platter with smoked pork, german sausage, a dish like
black pudding, dumplings and Sauerkraut. The meal was completed by chopped
pancake with raisins and Plum Compote. The variety of meat in the main
dish was pleasing and well bulked out by the dumpling. The Sauerkraut added
a welcome tasty vegetable accompanyment . the pudding was also a generous
portion and over all I was well filled up. While we ate, we got austrian
entertainment. Not surprisingly, songs from The Sound Of Music appeared
regularly.

Due to the entertainment this is not a place where a couple would go for a
romantic meal but if you are looking to celebrate an event with a group of
people this venue is ideal. the atmosphere was relaxed and informal. the
entertainment was fun and, most importantly, the food was excelent. There
was also a small range of german beers and other drinks. More information
is available on the website.

I did not inform staff that I am visually impaired and there were 4 people
with guide dogs and there were no problems at all. Staff were generally
helpful and attentive.

This was a hastle free enjoyable night out. Things can often go wrong when
there are large groups of people attending a restaurant but the Tiroler Hut
caters very well for large parties and I give it 8.5 out of 10. I have no
real complaints but it would have been nice to have tried some of the stuff
from the main menu.

supermarket Doner Kebabs

I recently bought an online order from Asda and one of the things I ordered
was Snacksters Doner Kebabs.

The area in which I live, Stepney East London, is full of low grade dodgy
chicken shops that the Bangladeshi community seems to have gone mad for.
The food is truly rubbish but though they all do Doner Kebabs and I would
probably not recommend any of them, none are as bad as the snacksters
offerings!

It's Lent and everyone is giving up things for a 40 day period that started
in mid February. I'm not interested in this abstinence rubbish so over the
next few days I will try kebab meat in a bun in some of these places and
compare/contrast. I have tried 3 of them already in fact and will report!

The Sea Cow 37 Lordship Lane London SE22 8EW

The Sea Cow in Lordship Lane near East Dulwich station in South East London
is best described as a very posh chip shop.

All fish is freshly cooked but the range on offer goes far beyond your usual
Cod and Haddock. choice is seasonal but when I visited last week there were
other choices such as Red Snapper, fresh Tuna steak and John Dory which
apparently is not the remains of the next door neighbour fried up in a pan!

Cod and Haddock are cooked in batter but the rest of the fish is generally
grilled. You will probably pay between £7 and £10 for fish and chips which
is not cheap but I found the quality astoundingly good. The Red Snapper was
cooked to perfection with no bones and the chips were crispy, fresh and not
greasy. OK so these chips were cooked in vegetable oil. everyone knows
that chips from a chip shop should really be cooked in dripping but for
upper class radio 4 chips these were not half bad!

Staff were attentive and friendly. the person who served me was happy to go
through the menu. There was even fresh ground coffee available! There was
no curry sauce or gravy available which is a bit of a shame!

There is a website available at
http://www.theseacow.co.uk
this is flash based but it will at least give you an idea of the choices
available on the menu.

Over all then the food was great and really very fresh. staff were helpful
and I would say this place is well worth a visit. You can eat in or take
food away though eating in is recommended because of the freshness. I give
the sea cow 8.5 out of 10.

breakfast on east coast line

While travelling up to York on the East Coast Line yesterday I opted to buy a full English breakfast from the buffet.
This is cooked fresh and includes smoked bacon, fried or scrambled egg, one sausage, a large flat mushroom, 4 cherry tomatoes, baked beans, black pudding and a potato cake.
This breakfast costs  6 pounds 95.
Generally the food was good though the sausage was no better than a Sainsburys butchers choice so it was of higher quality than a typical basic cafe sausage but not outstanding.  The black pudding had good coarse texture but it was not really spicy enough and it was a little bland.  The breakfast did not include toast but there was a potato cake which helped add bulk.  The cherry tomatoes were a nice touch as they are sweeter and more tasty than larger tomatoes.

 

The breakfasts are cooked fresh and served to passengers in first class on plates with proper knives and forks.  When you buy the breakfast from the buffet however it comes on a plastic tray with a lid and you only get plastic knives and forks which always feel a bit insubstantial.

I also bought a coffee which cost about £2.00.  . It was proper ground coffee and it was the best coffee I have had on a British train.
Amazingly there was also instant coffee available.
Are there really people who prefer instant coffee to freshly ground coffee

 

Over all I felt this breakfast represented good value for on-train catering.  It probably cost 2 pounds more than a similar breakfast would cost in a cafe but the quality was very higher than average.

 

I would give this breakfast 7 out of 10.  I would have liked a little more of it.  2 eggs and 2 sausages would have been good and the option of toast would have been welcome.