kebabish Original 230 Mile End Road, London E1 4LJ

Kebabish Original, also known as The Thrill of the Grill is a chain of fast food restaurants which now has over 60 branches throughout the UK.

 

The restaurant sells grilled food and curry.  This combination is no stranger to Stepney Green.  Stepney Green and mile end is full of rather scummy Bangladeshi restaurants selling low quality chicken, burgers and curries made from dodgy packet ingredients.

 

Kebabish Original is really rather a mixed bag.  It is often quite busy which is partly due to the fact that the chain is fairly well known in London and partly due to the fact that some effort has been made to employ people who can actually speak enough English to help people with the menu and generally make people feel welcome so, surprise surprise, they seem to have been successful in attracting students and others in the area who want quick cheap and cheerful food.

 

Kebabish Original is probably a bit better then than the worst of the chicken places along Mile End Road.  It is probably in competition with outlets such as Lollipop Limited next to the station and Grillz Base (formally Barbecue  Base.

 

Some of the products sold by Kebabish Original, in particular the grilled chicken, the pakora and the samosas are excellent.  The chicken is crispy and it has that nice smoky just off the barbecue taste.  The samosas are unusually large and they are full of vegetables or meat.  The pakoras come in a large portion and they are full of vegetables.  I’d also recommend the sheek kebabs.  They are dense and made from reasonable quality lamb.  The lamb chops are also spicy and generally not too over cooked.  The grilled dishes are served with onions and they reach your table on a sizzling platter which all helps with presentation.

 

I have had the curries from Kebabish Original.  I had a lamb karahi and a vegetable curry.  They were not bad I suppose though they were a little greasy and I suspect that packet sauces play a part here. 

 

The grilled dishes can be served with chips which are fries and they are disappointing.  They are just cardboard, thin  and taste like they are cooked in cheap oil.

 

Kebabish Original sells a chicken tika burger which is really quite pleasant but the quarter pound beef burger is spongy and I doubt it’s 100 percent beef.  If you want a beef burger go to Lollipop limited near by or at lunch time the Greedy Cow on Grove road at Mile End does burger chips and a drink for £5.95 which is excellent value.

 

Sadly, the lamb doner meat is some of the worst kebab meat I have had anywhere, even in Stepney!  It was soft and spongy and very processed.  Hot Lamb Luncheon meat!

 

In general, the food at Grillz Base just down the road a bit towards white chapel is better quality food all round but it is a lot more expensive.  The owners of Kebabish Original seem to want to do a good job and initially the restaurant has been popular so I wish them success.  If they have any control over it however, they do need to up the quality of lamb doner kebabs and beef burgers.  On the whole though Kebabish Original is quite clean and staff are helpful.  I give it 6.5 out of 10 and with a few better quality food products  such as curries and kebabs the  mark could easily go up to 8.

closure of R Bar on Mile End Road London

Finally, after basically limping it’s way along for about 2 years or so the R Bar on mile end road is finally closing.  Today is in fact the last night.

 

This pub has served some interesting food during its time and it’s a shame to see it go.  I’m not sure however that its closure  is really much of a surprise.  I don’t believe the landlord took responsibility enough for the direct running of the place e.g. working regularly behind the bar and becoming a person that locals knew.  It’s important for any pub opening next to wetherspoons to have something unique in order for it to survive.  At various times, the R Bar employed cooks preparing Turkish food and Mediterranean food of really high quality but they never stuck at anything for long enough.  There is a real lack of pubs in the Stepney Area where as it seems chicken places can just be opened at will.  I do believe the area could support at least one other pub if it were ran well.  It would probably need to serve good beer and reasonably priced food, but there is a largish body of students and other well paid people living in the area who would I suspect appreciate something better than Bangladeshi chicken shit to eat every day!

 

I am told that yet another Indian take away is to open up in place of the R Bar.  If it’s another chicken shop then I think there is cause for some complaint to the council as surely there must be limits on the number of any type of business that can just open in an area.  I will keep a look out to see what kind of business does replace the R Bar.  

Sufi Persian Restaurant 70 Askew Rd, London W12 9BJ

Last Saturday myself and 5 friends went to the Sufi Persian restaurant near Hammersmith for a meal and a get together.

 

One of us had a guide dog and there is no problem taking a guide dog into this restaurant.

 

For starters I had Olivieh   which describes itself on the menu as a Delicate mixture of shredded chicken, potato, green peas, gherkins, eggs & mayo.  This was certainly an interesting dish though I would have liked the gherkins to have more prominence..  I am also told that the  Hummus was good though I must admit I can’t remember what everyone else had.

 

For my main dish I had 2 kinds of lamb.  There was a spicy fairly aromatic portion of minced lamb  in 2 thick sausage shapes and a slice of flat lamb about half an inch thick.  This was served with rice and salad. 

We also had freshly baked Persian  flat Nan bread with  sesame seeds which was delicious.

 

For pudding I had a portion of baklava   which is nuts sugar and phyllo pastry  followed by a portion of faloodeh  which is Persian sorbet made of thin vermicelli noodles and rose water served with lemon.

 

2 portions of dessert is a bit greedy but it finished a pleasant and very filling meal off nicely.  Next time I go to a Persian restaurant I will try the stews which sound interesting.

 

The staff at this restaurant speak good English so they were able to explain some of the kebab dishes which sound rather similar to each other.  I would give this restaurant 8 out of 10 as we paid about £23 each for 3 courses and a soft drink and we were all well full.

 

Palmers Restaurant 238 Roman Road London E2 0RY

Palmers is a new British/European restaurant which opened about 2 years ago on Roman Road.  For anyone who knows the area it used to be Winkle’s seafood restaurant.  It is run by a Czech family.  The father works front of house and his sons are the chefs.

 

I visited this restaurant along with my friend and semi regular eating companion on a Monday Miss S for a meal.  Starters cost between £4 and £7 and mains cost between £8 and £20.  The menu changes approximately once every 3 weeks.

 

There were 5 starters including Mackerel with a horse radish sauce, Pork and Black Pudding Terrine with home made piccalilli, Charcuterie    (mixture of cooked cured meats)with pickles, Garlic Prawns and  Buillabaisse (French fish stew).

 

I chose Pork and Black Pudding Terrine and miss S chose Garlic Prawns.  Both portions were reasonably generous.  The Pork and black pudding terrine was served with a mixture of pickled vegetables including green beans, cucumber, cauliflower and pickled onions.  Both dishes came with good quality fresh bread and butter.  The terrine was meaty with good quality black pudding and the prawns were cooked with plenty of garlic.  Over all we were both very satisfied with the starters and I would have happily chosen any of them.

 

The mains included 3 different steaks i.e. rump, ribeye or fillet all served with home made chips and salad, Piri-Piri chicken with new potato salad,  Lamb cutlets on a bed of puy lentils, Lemon Dover Sole, and vegetable   risotto made into balls, fried in breadcrumbs and served in a tomato sauce.

 

Miss S and myself both opted for steaks.  I had the 10 ounce ribeye steak which was beautifully tender.  It came with home made chunky chips and salad.  The chips were crispy on the outside and soft in the middle.    The steak was also served with a pot of Chimichurri and a pot of Béarnaise  sauce because I wanted to try both! Chimichurri sauce is similar to salsa and Béarnaise  sauce is clarified butter emulsified in egg yolks with various flavourings including shallots, Chervil, peppercorn  and    Tarragon.  It has the consistency of slightly thin mayonnaise with a very buttery slightly peppery flavour.  I preferred the Chimichurri.  I also had Sauerkraut as a side dish which was nice but slightly under flavoured compared to German versions of this dish that I have tried.

 

The whole meal was in general perfectly cooked and while at £16 for the steak it might not be the cheapest 10 ounce ribeye I have eaten, it was among the nicest I have ever had.

 

Miss S had the fillet steak and she also says it was beautifully tender.

 

For dessert I had chocolate pudding.  This was really a  chocolate fondant pudding.  The outside was hard and the inside was beautifully rich.  It was clearly made with dark chocolate.  Miss S also had this and found the chocolate to be a bit strong and overpowering.  It really was a chocolate lover’s dream.  Miss S also opted for a second dessert.  She had an apple crumble with pistachio  custard.  She did not seem that keen on this pudding but I was too full to try it.

 

We shared a bottle of fairly pleasant drinkable southafrican red wine which cost about £16

And had an Irish coffee each.  A 3 course meal each with whine and a liqueur coffee will set you back about £40 but the quality of food was excellent and the owner of the restaurant was talkative and knowledgeable about his food.  I am told a Sunday roast costs about £10.95 so I am going to try it in the next few weeks.

 

I give this restaurant 7.5 out of 10.  I would have liked some slightly more unusual main dishes though I could have easily had any of the starters or desserts no matter what the menu.  There are only 5 or 6 dishes for each course so this may not be the ideal restaurant for fussy eaters.

 

I will be visiting this restaurant again without a doubt and I am looking  forward to it. 

The Peterboat, 27 High Street, Old Leigh, SS9 2EN

The Peterboat is a pub owned by the East Anglia Pub Company situated in Old Leigh which is a part of Leigh on Sea near \Southend.  I visited this restaurant with 2 people, Louise and Tina, last night for food and a few beers.

 

I am told that in the summer this pub gets very  busy with tourists but on a Monday in mid march it was pretty quiet.  There were 4 different ales on offer and the Brewers Gold brewed by Crouch Vale brewery was very well kept.  It is the food however that really made this pub stand out.  Portions were very generous and all of us were really quite satisfied with 2 courses.  The food is quite traditional British fare using a touch of wine and garlic to make things a little more exotic.  Starters cost £5 to £7 and mains are £10 up to £18 or so for some steaks.  This is good basic restaurant food but the size of the portions are generous.

 

For starters, Louise had garlic prawns which were cooked in garlic and white wine.  They come with their heads still on but the kitchen staff happily  removed them on request.  Tina and myself had Cockle Leak  and smoked fish chowder.  This was  locally caught cockles, smoked white fish and leeks with bacon and some other vegetables in a thick soup which was more like a stew.  This was served with bread.  It really was a small meal in itself.  We opted for the small starter portion but I understand it is available in a larger portion for a main meal.  The garlic and white wine sauce used  in this dish helped give it a real warm rich hearty taste with bags of flavour.  I don’t generally like cockles from seafood stalls as they tend to be full of grit and they often come in vinegar which I am also not keen on.  I’m glad though that I tried this dish.  I understand the Peterboat is famous for this chowder and that’s totally fine by me. It’s well worth a try!  It’s also worth pointing out that there is an on site cockle shed selling cockles to eat on the premises or to take away.

 

Other starters included white bait, soup of the day, prawn and salmon cocktail and   breaded mushrooms

 

For the main course, Louise had a dish called Peterboat Drunken Chicken  which consisted of chicken in a thick sauce wrapped in bacon.  I think the sauce was quite sweet though I had so much of my own food to eat that I didn’t really try it.  Tina had lamb  Kleftiko which is essentially slow cooked shoulder of lamb.  She said it fell off the bone and was extremely tender.

 

For my main course I had calves’ liver and bacon served with mash  and shallot and red wine sauce.  I also got a dish of vegetables containing cauliflower, carrots and spiced German style red cabbage.  The liver was, as you would imagine, very tender.  The bacon was of good quality and the mash was smooth and creamy.  It was really like very good quality home cooking and I can’t really fault it. 

 

Other main dishes included Lancashire hot pot, Irish stew, home made chicken pie, fish stew, fish and chips, Cajun fish cakes  and belly pork.   we all left the restaurant bursting full, unsure whether a sleep or a walk would be the best thing in the world!  In reality, Louise and Tina had to get home to Southend and I had to get the train back to London so we walked about quarter of a mile or so to Leigh on Sea station and went our separate ways all full and happy with the meal.

 

I did try for dessert but they were all heavy school dinner desserts such as apple pie, fruit crumble, treacle sponge and custard, etc.  there was also a gateaux   I believe as well.  I decided in the end I was just too full to eat anymore!

 

Our experience at this pub and restaurant was very enjoyable.  I liked the fact that the food area was kept separate from the bar.  The restaurant and bar were not far away, there was indeed an adjoining door.  I do think however that keeping the bar and the food a little separate is a good idea which allows the Peterboat to be both a good pub and a restaurant so that those who just want a drink still feel quite welcome.

 

We were almost the only people in the restaurant though a few people did come in later on.  Staff were still very attentive and helpful and they were happy to help us read the menu and answer any questions.  In fact, Tina was able to read the menu but it is good that they offered.

 

In summary, the Peterboat should be seen as a pub with a restaurant attached.  The prices are typical of a mid range restaurant and the food is somewhat better quality than typical pub food with good home made dishes  served in very generous portions.  We paid £33 each for 2 courses and 3 drinks each.  Louise had 3 hot chocolates with whisky and Tina and myself had 2 pints of brewers gold and an Irish coffee each.  I suspect the drinks would have cost about £12 a head    for tina and myself with Louise’s drinks costing maybe £15 so I would say that the 2 generous courses cost us about £20 each.

 

Staff were helpful but then the pub and restaurant were not busy on a Monday evening.  I would give this restaurant an 8 out of 10 for now.  if the service remains as good when the pub is busy then it would certainly deserve a 9.  There  could perhaps be a better variety of starters, but this is splitting hairs somewhat.  If you are in the area then the Peterboat is definitely worth a visit.

 

Lollipop Diner 169 Mile End Road, Stepney Green, London E1 4AQ

This is a relatively new restaurant that used to be called Halal Bite.  It is almost next to Stepney Green Underground station and it is one of the better cheap eats establishments in the area.  Halal Bite shut early last year and it has now been taken over by new owners who renamed it.  It describes itself as an American restaurant but the Bangladeshi owners also make their mark very clear on this restaurant though they do serve some distinctive food that makes them a cut above the rest of the chicken slop shops in the area.

 

They do sell chicken slop.  They do fried chicken and shish kebabs that have that local taste as well as very low quality lamb doner meat but there are numerous saving graces.

 

I have been quite ill for the first 2 months of this year so I have not been out that much.  This eatery provided me with a very welcome break while on the way back from the co-op when I had a chest infection. Staff are generally quite friendly and they are reasonably quick to serve you.  they sell average quality fresh ground coffee and a range of cakes.  They also sell a decent selection of ice cream and they make milk shakes using chocolate such as maltesers, flakes and snickers bars.  These trends have  caught on in some of the posher Bangladeshi restaurants though few are worth travelling any distance to.  This place at least smells clean and staff seem to speak enough English to be helpful.

 

The Lollipop Diner does have distinctive features however.  They make their own beef and chicken burgers for a very reasonable £3.45 for a half pounder.  These burgers are made with 100 percent beef and are in my opinion at least as good as anything you would get in Burger King.  You can buy them as a meal deal with chips but the chips are just average quality fries and are nothing special.  They also sell hot dogs which come with sausages similar to jumbo sausages available from many chip shops.  They are typical chip shop low quality but better than most hot dogs you buy from mobile vans etc.

 

They also sell a range of curries but I am yet to try these.

 

Lollipop Diner is probably not worth travelling to though if the curries turn out to be exceptional I will of course update this.  It is however quite clean.  It sells a good range of food including decent burgers and ice cream.  It does a reasonable cup of coffee for £1.55 and it’s generally one of the best places in the area.

 

The food is a bit variable so I give Lollipop Diner an over all mark of 6 out of 10 with some things such as the burgers being worth 8 while other foods such as chicken dishes being worth a 5 and the doner kebabs are worth no more than 4.

I have not visited this place yet with anyone that has a guide dog but if this is a problem I will of course produce an update.

 

 

Magic mushroom restaurant Barleylands Road, Billericay Essex CM11 2UD

I visited this restaurant with a friend known in the facebook comments as Miss S yesterday.  The original review of this restaurant was largely written as a group of facebook comments so rather than rewriting I will post it in this way.  In brief though, the food was good and definitely above average.  The staff were really helpful and service was genrally of a very high quality.  The menu is  similar to that of a gastro pub but it is a bit on the expensive side.  We paid £47 a head for 3 courses each, a bottle of wine between us and a liqueur coffee each.  We also got mince pies and chrackers as it was the Christmas season when we visited.  To be fair, a full meal and wine in the evening there would be more like £38   if you had the 3 course set menu but that’s still quite a bit.

 

Before our starters arrived we were given a bread roll and a slice of brown bread.  the butter  at the Magic Mushroom was oddly shaped.it was ribbed like a sheet of pasta and cut into strips.  it was then rolled into a sort of snale shape.

 

my starter was probably my favourite bit of the meal.  I had Smoked Wood Pigeon

with Cinnamon & Pear Chutney and  Toasted Pine Nuts

it was a fairly small starter I suppose but the meat was really rich and gamy. the sweet anchutney set off the flavours nicely.  the pine nuts were inoffensive

but really didn't add that much to the dish I didn't think.             

 

Miss S had Mignons of Beef in Blue Cheese & Cashew Nut Cream Sauce with Tossed Watercress.  She said it was very tasty and the beef was tender which is good.

 

For main I had   Pot Roast Pheasant

with Braised Chicory, Wild Mushroom & Tarragon Jus.  this was quite nice though parts of the meat were perhaps a little dry.  the vegetables with the meal (wild mushrooms and braised  Chicory) were unusual.

the mushrooms have a different texture to those you have with a fry up.  they are a bit more chewy and they have more flavour.  Miss s and me had the

same vegetables that came with the meal but she did not have sprouts so she had just the potatoes and green beans.  they were meant to be potatoes cooked

in their skins but while they were soft enough they were not in any way fluffy like roast potatoes so I would guess they were boiled in their skins.

 

Miss s had Crispy Pork Belly, on Creamed Savoy Cabbage with Apricot & Thyme Jus.  She commented that the pork was tasty and it had crackling with it.  Belly pork is really nice but it can have a lot of fat with it.

 

Vegetables were served in separate dishes with the food.  there were sprouts, green beans and the potatoes I mentioned above.

 

For pudding I had a portion of Christmas pudding and brandy sauce which also came  with Chantilly Cream  which is nearly as thick as the devon clotted cream but it added quite nicely to the texture. Miss S had a fierce dessert which really needs more explanation.  the menu does not describe the chocolate  Marquis.  it turned out to be a really rich

chocolate mousse that was so thick it was on the verge of being solid.  it was made with dark chocolate and cocoa.  it was beautifully rich.  I have looked

on google and the pudding seems to be actually called  Chocolate Marquise and it should be actually solid.  I only tried the last couple of spoonfuls of

miss s's Marquis and then it was like very thick melted chocolate.

 

We had a bottle of house red Merlot  to share and I had a quantro coffee and miss s had a hot chocolate with rum

 

In general I thought the food was very good.  The slightly dry pheasant  and the texture of the potatoes are small complaints and I would not mention them at all if the food were not slightly expensive.  Generally I give this restaurant an 8.  I would say it may be worth going there for a set meal on Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday when you will a bit more money.

 

 

 

Graham Page

Mobile: 07753 607980

Fax:  0870 706 2773

Email: gpage@useit.plus.com

MSN: gabriel_mcbird@hotmail.com

Skype: gabriel_mcbird

 

Pride of Asia, 207 Mile End Road, London, E1 4AA

I have reviewed the Pride of Asia twice in the past.  First I reviewed it when it was a decent quality Indian restaurant and I reviewed it again when it turned into a rather expensive chicken shop.

 

Last year the grill was taken out altogether and the Pride of Asia turned into a buffet restaurant and take away.  For £7.99 a head you can eat all the curry you want.

 

The quality of food is certainly better than any other outlet selling curry in Stepney with the possible exception of the hayfield masala when a decent chef is working there.  In the pride of Asia, the food is consistently good.  There are usually 2 starters, a veggie and a meat starter, with 3 lamb curries, 3 chicken curries, a chickpea dish, a mixed vegetable curry, spicy potatoes and often a fish curry.

 

Yesterday for example the starters were spicy chicken pieces and vegetarian samosas.  On other days there are sheek kebabs vegetarian spring rolls or Alu Tikka.

The mains were jalfrezi, korma and Bhuna available in both chicken and lamb.

 

The curries are generally well flavoured with plenty of meat.  While I do think ground spices are used rather than fresh spices on some occasions, the curries do have a home   taste about them.  These curries are more like standard Asian curries rather than some of the rich creamy curries that restaurants like some of those on brick lane serve.  Some are a little greasy but nowhere near as greasy as some of the other curry shops in the area.

 

If you are still feeling that you have room after your starter and your main, a pudding is included in the price.  Generally it is Indian semolina  which comes in small rectangular bricks with jelly and fruit cocktail.  Expect to pay about £1.50 for a diet coke which is a little expensive, though many buffet places make money on drinks.

 

Staff are generally helpful.  I can visit this restaurant on my own knowing that staff will help me by reading what is available   and serving the food up from the buffet for me.  I have visited this shop with a guide dog owning friend and there weren’t any “no dogs” problems.

 

Over all I give this new pride of Asia 7 out of 10 and would recommend it if you are in the area.

Porters English Restaurant, 17 Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, London WC2E 8QH

I visited this restaurant last Thursday with 6 other people.  all of us were blind or we had so little sight that we couldn't read the menu but never mind, this is an English restaurant!!

 

Well when we got there things didn't look that hopeful.  the staff guiding us in were not English and we were all given menus even though it was quite clear that many of us could not see.  thankfully however things went rapidly uphill from there!

 

The manageress ended up serving us and sadly I did not get her name though she was helpful and patient.

 

It's worth commenting on the ambiance at this point.  there was taped music with pop tracks from the 1960s to the 1990s.  I don't mind a bit of background music in a restaurant but for me this was slightly loud meaning that you could hear the person next to you and opposite   you comfortably enough but a bigger group conversation was out of the question.  Personally I like conversation when eating but this does not mean the music is really that loud, it's just a preference of mine to have quiet music or even no music at all while eating in a restaurant.

 

Back to the food anyway. the manageress was excellent and she kept us to order so we all heard and she read through the whole menu answering any questions as she went.  what I liked here was that she gave us an idea of the headings such as pies, fish dishes etc.

 

I opted for the London Particular as a starter.  this is a thick pea and bacon soup.  it had a slightly smoky taste and the name apparently refers to the thick fogs that used to happen in London when more manufacturing went on in the city and more coal was used.  the soup was only spoiled marginally by the lack of appropriate bread.  a basket of bread was given to us but the pieces of bread were made of French stick of rather thin diameter.  guys, this is an English restaurant!!!  give us slices of chunky bread that you can dip in your soup.  Yes I know some people argue this is bad manners  but it's fair to say this is a debateable point unlike, say, talking with your mouthful which most people would agree looks disgusting and is not on in most cultures.  The bread was fresh enough but not really the right thing for soup.

 

for main I had a game keepers pie.  this was a good meaty pie in a full short crust case rather than the pastry lids many put on top of a stew then call it a pie.

 

as  there was a full pastry case,  there was no need to serve the pie in a bowl as well as on a plate.  the manageress did offer to tip the pie out of the bowl which was a nice touch.

 

the pie itself was full of meat and port and red currant sauce.  It was served with a jug of gravy.  the pastry was not too thick and the pie had a rich pleasant gamy taste.  Very enjoyable.

 

I was a bit disappointed with the accompaniments.  The pies, along with other dishes, came with one side dish free.  this meant you could have potatoes or vegetables but not both unless you paid extra.  Hello!  where I come from at least, a pie would always be served potatoes and at least one vegetable.  I have no problem with offering a choice but offering one side when they know well you will need to buy another one is a bit deceitful.  the side I did choose was Covent garden vegetables  and the portion of these was quite large.  it could have been made smaller and a few new potatoes could have been included as well.  the vegetables consisted of carrots, peas, green beans and mange tout.  One English tradition which happily has fallen by the wayside is overcooking vegetables.  these vegetables were nice and crunchy, probably steamed.

 

For pudding I chose  Iced Berries served with  hot white chocolate sauce.  the manageress poured this all out onto a plate and I would have rather she left it as it was.  the key here is to give people a choice.  I'm not complaining here so much as making what I consider to be constructive comment.

 

I am pleased to say there was English beer on offer.  Draft Tetley’s and fullers London pride were available.  not that keen on these particular beers but still so many restaurants avoid English beers altogether and in an English restaurant this would be inexcusable.

 

Generally then the food was very good.  I felt that the portions were quite adequate and with a couple of side dishes included in the price the portions would have been decent and generally well worth the money. as it was, with side dishes  not even priced on the menu, I would imagine you would pay about £2.50 or so for them.  pie with potatoes and veg for £15 is a bit steep.

 

While the manageress was extremely helpful, I don't think the squad of staff had that much in strength and depth.  Some of the waiters possessed  little in the way of English which is a shame.  more side dishes and English bread would have been appropriate to.

 

2 of us had guide dogs and this caused no problem at all.  The manageress brought them some water in fact.   so chalk this up as a guide dog friendly venue.

 

 

Despite a few little negative comments, this was still an enjoyable experience however and I give the restaurant 7 out of 10 and would say it is well worth a visit.

 

For more info including menus visit

http://www.porters.uk.com

 

 

Saint George and Dragon, Clyst St. George, Exeter, EX3 0QJ

This is a nice country pub with low ceilings, an open fire and generally a good traditional pub feeling though it is really more of a restaurant  than a pub.

 

We were a little underwhelmed by the size of the portions and the quality of some of the produce left a little to be desired.

 

For starters I had seared king scallops with slow roast belly pork and Braeburn apple and mustard dressing. It was very nice but I got only 4 scallops

and a tiny piece of pork, no more than one mouthful. There was also loads of dressing poured on but no way of mopping it up so had to get an extra portion

of garlic bread. Roy and Martin had Tomato and basil soup which was the soup of the day and they said the portions were adequate and it came in small high

bowls rather than British soup bowls which is good. Debbie had the forest and flat mushrooms in white wine and herb cream with crispy bacon and toast.

The bacon was just a standard rasher and it was not smoked. She said the size of the portion was reasonable and it was quite a good starter.

 

Mains is I think where the real problem with portion size and quality came. I had venison steaks which came with caramelised onion gravy, a flat mushroom,

A plumb tomato and steak chips

 

Usually the venison would be served with a red wine sauce or perhaps a juniper berry sauce but the gravy here turned out to be no better than Bisto onion

gravy, a real disappointment. The Venison was well cooked and there was a reasonable amount of it and on the table they had a sweet garlic and onion chutney

which I used all of to create a slightly more interesting sauce by mixing it with the gravy. The chips were soggy, slightly undercooked and almost certainly

frozen. The portion was not generous. For £16 this is not really good enough and if all I had to eat was a main course I would give it a 4.

 

Martin had the mixed grill which should have consisted of lamb cutlet, black pudding, white pudding, sweet cure Bacon, rump steak, sausage, egg,

tomato, flat mushroom, garden peas and chips. He’s not that big an eater and we thought that if this meal was as good as advertised, he would probably

be overfaced and need to share his food. as it turned out he had no problem getting it down. The black and white pudding was no better than average and

there was one thin slice of each. The lamb cutlet was mainly bone and the steak was chopped up into little pieces and dotted about on the plate. The amount of each ingredient was rather small and the chips were of course the same as mine.

 

Roy had the Shropshire chicken which was a chicken breast stuffed with Shropshire blue cheese, spinach and fig on roasted route vegetable risotto. He said

it tasted good but the portion was tiny.

 

Debbie had the Sole and smoked salmon roulade on buttered wilted spinach, samphire and baby potatoes with white wine and dill cream. She also said her

food was nice and well cooked but the portion was tiny.

 

As I have often said, I do hate the practice of selling meals in a restaurant and then making people purchase extra side dishes for exorbitant prices.

It’s far better to quote a price and then give people a choice of a couple of side dishes from a list that are bundled in with the price.

 

Presentation generally seemed to be more important than ensuring that people got value for money. I do accept that presentation does matter but at the

end of the day you are eating the meal not keeping it for posterity in a glass cabinet. Decent restaurants look after the eyes but consider the belly first!

 

The puddings fared rather better on the whole. Roy and martin had Apple, pear and sultana crumble. This was described as being ideal for sharing but they

said they got a decent portion of it though it was still really only a generous portion for one.

 

Debbie had the cheese board. . It was supposed to consist of local cheddar, brie and stilton served with celery, chutney and Bath Oliver biscuits.

 

Amusingly, the stilton was not available because it had gone mouldy but Debbie was given a choice of which cheese to have as an extra. I have never heard

of bath Oliver biscuits but they turned out to be a bit like Cornish wafers. These have a slightly soggy consistency and would not be my choice of biscuit.

Only having one kind of biscuit is also rather lacking in imagination. She said the portion size was quite reasonable.

 

Before the meal, I joked about the possibility of having the chocolate trio. This cost almost twice as much as the other puddings and was meant to be for

sharing. Oh dear. It was lightweight!!

 

It consisted of Double chocolate torte, which turned out to be chocolate flavoured clotted cream with a thin layer of sponge at the bottom, giant profiterole

which was rather dry with a little cream in it and a chocolate brownie which was a touch dry but the richest part of the pudding. This was for me a real

disappointment and I heartily wish I had gone for one of the ordinary puddings, the raspberry crème brulee perhaps.

 

This eatery is a pub and the drinks are well kept and there is a decent range of real ales and wines. 2 of us had pints of St Austell tribute ale which was very well kept.

We also had a bottle of rose which was an Italian merlet. It was fairly dry but fruity and for £10.75 a bottle it was well worth the money.

 

2 of us went for liqueur coffees and these were a real disappointment. The coffee was low quality instant coffee and there was no cream. Measures of spirit

seemed to be very minimal and I even wondered if my Irish coffee contained real whisky at all or just some kind of syrup or essence. Debbie had a brandy

coffee and she seemed no more impressed than I was.

 

Staff were generally friendly and reasonably helpful but the service was rather slow considering how quiet the restaurant was. There were other people

eating for sure but it was not crammed full.

 

Over all then our view of the food was that, with the exception of the chips and the way in which the venison was served, it was well cooked though portion

size was underwhelming to say the least with emphasis put on presentation at the expense of the actual eating experience. It should be possible to do rather

better than this for the money. The bill for 4 of us came to £129.00 including drinks. Drinks were generally well priced and of high quality but avoid the

liqueur coffee. The unanimously agreed mark was 6 out of 10 though looking back on the experience over all this could be a touch generous.

 

for more info including menus visit

http://www.vintageinn.co.uk/thesaintgeorgeanddragonclystsaintgeorge/