It's not the kind of place that you could normally drag me into but I was with two mates who didn't actually offer a choice and for them it was the obvious place to go.
It's quite small there is a long table down the centre and lots of tables and chairs, they were all full. We were told we had just 40 minutes until closing time but were welcome to order.
I don't drink coffee for political reasons so I try to avoid anywhere that magnetizes picky coffee addicts and they give me a queasy feeling in my stomach! Unfortunatley my two mates are indeed picky, unashamed coffee addicts, which leads to interesting discussions and for me a need to drink alcohol!
The wine menu is of course excellent and the waiter was happy to discuss the various merits of the wines but I tend to know what I like and go for countries as much as grape sorts.
I have to say although my hackles rise at the price of food (and pretty much everything else) in London the standard of the food and service make this a very reasonable place to go. Apparently it's a favourite of theatre buffs heading for the Almeida, which is just across the road.
The Salads were exquisite, perfectly cooked aubergine with yoghurt dressing, broccoli with chillies and garlic, and a mixed bean green salad which all very delicious with the last being superlative, we had ordered a large salad and our friends a small one but we ended up with the small salad because they brought the large with a basmati salad and coleslaw, which I refused to eat as the rice was a little under cooked (In my opinion grains are supposed to be firm yet soft not nutty - only nuts as supposed to be nutty) and the coleslaw had more fruit than cabbage in it (YUK!)
The potions are reasonable to fairly generous and as I said the service from our Italian waiter and the maitre d' was excellent; friendly, chatty, helpful.
As I said at the beginning there are a lot of tables/people in quite a small space but it it light and has a feeling of space but any less of either and the priced would undoubtedly be higher.
Three coffees, one glass of wine, one small and one large salad came to just over forty quid.
Tuesday, 12 May 2015
Monday, 11 May 2015
Byron proper hamburgers Shoreditch
It said proper hamburgers, I passed it on my way to buy a ukulele case. On the way back I decided I needed a treat so I went in.
It wasn't busy, there are a lot of tables in there. The menu was a stunner, including an explanation of why your beer is served in cans! What can I say? They do indeed make well proper hamburgers.
The service was excellent, unobtrusive but I was checked twice during the meal to make sure I was happy. In a way I wish I hadn't been so I know how they deal with issues but everything was fabulous, though I probably shouldn't have had the second beer.
I ordered 'Le Smokey' with chipotle mayo instead of chilli bbq sauce - no problem and no extra charge - with extra jalapenos and portobello mushroo, no bun which meant that you automatically get a side salad which was great, baby spinach, beet greens and rucola, toms, cuke, a piquant yet smooth, herby dressing and not too much of it. (No bun is called a skinny burger, I couldn't bring myself to actually call it that and I'm sure the waitress had a twinkle in her eye when she said it!) The burger was a perfect medium, the portobello juicy, a serious portion of jalapenos and the chipotle mayo really tasted of chipotle. I had courgette chips and was seriously impressed by houw good they were, I make them at home but these wiped the floor with mine. two cans of Brooklyn lager 35,5 mls and 5,2% served in an iced glass and a second glass was no problem, when I asked for it (though I wasn't offered it).
It's the trendy end of London so it came to just under 30 quid with a tip which means that it's not like an American burger at all in the sense that they are not only great but usually cheap too!
http://www.byronhamburgers.com/menu
It wasn't busy, there are a lot of tables in there. The menu was a stunner, including an explanation of why your beer is served in cans! What can I say? They do indeed make well proper hamburgers.
The service was excellent, unobtrusive but I was checked twice during the meal to make sure I was happy. In a way I wish I hadn't been so I know how they deal with issues but everything was fabulous, though I probably shouldn't have had the second beer.
I ordered 'Le Smokey' with chipotle mayo instead of chilli bbq sauce - no problem and no extra charge - with extra jalapenos and portobello mushroo, no bun which meant that you automatically get a side salad which was great, baby spinach, beet greens and rucola, toms, cuke, a piquant yet smooth, herby dressing and not too much of it. (No bun is called a skinny burger, I couldn't bring myself to actually call it that and I'm sure the waitress had a twinkle in her eye when she said it!) The burger was a perfect medium, the portobello juicy, a serious portion of jalapenos and the chipotle mayo really tasted of chipotle. I had courgette chips and was seriously impressed by houw good they were, I make them at home but these wiped the floor with mine. two cans of Brooklyn lager 35,5 mls and 5,2% served in an iced glass and a second glass was no problem, when I asked for it (though I wasn't offered it).
It's the trendy end of London so it came to just under 30 quid with a tip which means that it's not like an American burger at all in the sense that they are not only great but usually cheap too!
http://www.byronhamburgers.com/menu
Sunday, 29 March 2015
Art Expo at Number 3, Deptford, London -27th March 2015
I think it would be only fair to say a great night was had by all!
Number 3 is an up and coming venue Sarf of the river, in the desperately up-marketable Deptford. New posh housing projects are scrambling into the sky all over the Borough of Lewisham. It's accessibility to the City, East and West End, to Hackney and the Deep South (via the East London line overground) and zone two status are encouraging developers to try to market the former 'murder mile' as THE place to be. (As long as you avoid all contact with the locals!)
This former warehouse forms a mini Mecca with sister venues The Big Red and the Birds Nest pub all within spitting distance at the beginning of Creek Rd.
This area has been named Rocklands for a reason there are a plethora of venues playing every kind of music you could want from the Jazz, spoken word, rock, blues open mic nights to bands galore and festivals. For the eaters there is a true world cuisine Chinese, Jamaican, Indian, Vietnamese traditional and modern English encompassed in the High Street and surroundings
Enuf about Deptford! Number 3's mini festival show cased and highlighted, local festivals (Brockley Max, Cross Wires), artists, photographers, theatre company (Glass Moon) bands ( I especially loved Cat, Bear, Tree), the great spaces available, the super supportive staff and a delicious new Spanish beer.
And there's no point hiding my light under a bushel. Number 3 sponsored 'Musically Magical Moments' to great success - but no reviews as yet. An unique experience that can de stress, revitalize or just carry you away and bring you back safely in 10 minutes!
Monday, 2 March 2015
The Forge (& Foundry) Delancy St Camden London
It's a great location, easily accessible. Decor/layout - fantastic, the music - superlative, dancing space - excellent; Ultimately unimpressed with the place because once you get past the former, the food and the staff's level of service orientation are actually the most important aspects of any venue and both of these were in a very sorry state the night I went. 21st Jan 2015
Luckily the bar staff were so shit, I had great contact with many of the other customers - nothin like contempt for a third party to bring two parties together!
The space is excellently designed with a stunning green wall of living healthy plants - sorely in need of a good cleaning. There is a glass roof that angles into 2 metres of glass wall that backs a mezzanine/balcony. that though not in use that evening would be a fabulous place to dine. It must give 100% available daylight to the plants
At first glance the drinks are great value. Happy hour from 5-0, w shots with mixer for 6 quid, a single is 4. After 9pm it only goes up to 6.50. the problem is that the doubles are no way doubles!. firstly the strengh of the drinks in terms of taste varied every drink but the amount of ice was constant and you can't fit that amount of ice and a double and a mixer in a glass the size they were using.
After 6 doubles even dancing as much as we did and my capacity for spirits my level of sobriety and ability to speak and think lucidly wee barely grazed. I knew I was right when I didn't even get vaguely bolshy at the appalling treatment I recieved from the bar staff and the fact I held a tune in the taxi on the way
home!
Presuming that they used the smallest legal measure in the UK a double spirit should be a minimum of 50ml(max of 70ml) 300ml (6 small doubles). The glasses were under probably about 300ml size. Try it fill a glass that size with ice, then add your mixer - normally a mixer is 1.5 - 4 times the amount of spirit, now try and see how much spirit you can fit into the glass. The put the spirit in last and didn't stir so the first drink was heady but, we were drinking gin and tonic and I always stir and squeeze the lemon.
I didn't bother complaining, the band were fabulous and I had so much fun with the other customers also complaining about them in front of them I thought that was enough compensation.
The bar was busy, not helped by the fact that the staff were the worst trained I've come across in years in London. The lack of consistency in strength of the drinks made it worthwhile waiting for one of the staff, the price difference made it worthwhile waiting for another one. Every body tried to avoid getting served by two of them who were rude, preferential - one only wanted to serve pretty girls the other pretty boys, they also charged the most and served the weakest drinks!
It says that it's restaurant but the kitchen was closed before 9pm and the only thing available was a "Pork sausage roll"which looked like good value for 3.50 in that it was a fairly large slice. The pastry was good! I mean excellent actually with a % of lard and the rest butter, light melt in your mouth but held it's shape. The meat on the other hand had been good at some point, possibly 2 days previously. This was apparant in that despite the texture being like straw encased in cardboard if you chewed bravely on, it eventually disintegrated and went down.
The bar staff lied about the roll - which they said was delicious. so either they ate it hot, straight out of the over or with some kind of a sauce or they were just liars.
Luckily the bar staff were so shit, I had great contact with many of the other customers - nothin like contempt for a third party to bring two parties together!
The space is excellently designed with a stunning green wall of living healthy plants - sorely in need of a good cleaning. There is a glass roof that angles into 2 metres of glass wall that backs a mezzanine/balcony. that though not in use that evening would be a fabulous place to dine. It must give 100% available daylight to the plants
At first glance the drinks are great value. Happy hour from 5-0, w shots with mixer for 6 quid, a single is 4. After 9pm it only goes up to 6.50. the problem is that the doubles are no way doubles!. firstly the strengh of the drinks in terms of taste varied every drink but the amount of ice was constant and you can't fit that amount of ice and a double and a mixer in a glass the size they were using.
After 6 doubles even dancing as much as we did and my capacity for spirits my level of sobriety and ability to speak and think lucidly wee barely grazed. I knew I was right when I didn't even get vaguely bolshy at the appalling treatment I recieved from the bar staff and the fact I held a tune in the taxi on the way
home!
Presuming that they used the smallest legal measure in the UK a double spirit should be a minimum of 50ml(max of 70ml) 300ml (6 small doubles). The glasses were under probably about 300ml size. Try it fill a glass that size with ice, then add your mixer - normally a mixer is 1.5 - 4 times the amount of spirit, now try and see how much spirit you can fit into the glass. The put the spirit in last and didn't stir so the first drink was heady but, we were drinking gin and tonic and I always stir and squeeze the lemon.
I didn't bother complaining, the band were fabulous and I had so much fun with the other customers also complaining about them in front of them I thought that was enough compensation.
The bar was busy, not helped by the fact that the staff were the worst trained I've come across in years in London. The lack of consistency in strength of the drinks made it worthwhile waiting for one of the staff, the price difference made it worthwhile waiting for another one. Every body tried to avoid getting served by two of them who were rude, preferential - one only wanted to serve pretty girls the other pretty boys, they also charged the most and served the weakest drinks!
It says that it's restaurant but the kitchen was closed before 9pm and the only thing available was a "Pork sausage roll"which looked like good value for 3.50 in that it was a fairly large slice. The pastry was good! I mean excellent actually with a % of lard and the rest butter, light melt in your mouth but held it's shape. The meat on the other hand had been good at some point, possibly 2 days previously. This was apparant in that despite the texture being like straw encased in cardboard if you chewed bravely on, it eventually disintegrated and went down.
The bar staff lied about the roll - which they said was delicious. so either they ate it hot, straight out of the over or with some kind of a sauce or they were just liars.
Thursday, 26 February 2015
Don Giovanni Borg
If you ever find yourself travelling overland between Mainland Europe and Denmark you will either cross the bridge or take the ferry in Germany. The ferry is shorter and more expensive. Most people don't realise that the port of Puttgarden is actually on an Island called Fehmarn, which is linked to the mainland by a bridge. Roughly half way between the bridge and the port, to the East of the E47 is the small town of Burg (Auf Fehmarn). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fehmarn.
After a long drive we decided to stay as close to the Ferry as possible for the night before setting off earlyish the next day for the last 600 km of our journey. The town greeted us with an incredible display of Xmas lights and a 'kerstmarkt' still in business, though clearly it was just mates hanging out at the end of a day of fun.
Most of the stalls were out of food or had closed for the night but the mulled wine and the beer were as always in Germany seemingly unabating. But it was December and cold so when we had shared the one sausage that was left at the stall we had chosen and drunk 2 cold beers we looked for our companions who had adjourned inside.
I had hoped that they would be in the Greek restaurant recommended by the hotel and also nearest to the marktet. We found them further along in an Italian. We walked into the restaurant, saw them, headed towards them and began to move to a larger table. The waiter came through and offered us a menu. We said "thank you" as the other three practically yelled
"No!" We looked at them and said that we respectively wanted pizza and pasta as half a sausage was not going to keep us going til the breakfast buffet.
What followed was a masterpiece of salesmanship with a basis in a product of the highest quality that needs to be shared. Disappointment with my companions made me determined to repay the impeccable hosting with a massive review for the BEST alio olio I have had out in YEARS! Absolutely delicious.
Great service - the waiter could sell sand to a Bedouin! He sold us an amazing anti pasti for 5 in which every single thing was exquisite and scrumptious.
We ordered a salami pizza - which someone who 'wasn't hungry' scoffed quickly without offering any one else a taste! He threw a mini wobbly because there was no oregano (with an American accent). The waiter came with a small bowl of fresh super aromatic herb. When that had been added 'his majesty' said it was the best pizza he'd had in more years than he could remember.
The rucola pizza that was piquant and still tasty the next night! (don'tknow why they call it rucola when the main ingrdiend is ham) And of course my alio olio.
The wine was pretty good (though I'm not over keen on Chianti).
Then came a tiramisu for 5! - I rarely do desserts and had definitely over eaten to finish my pasta - but it was it was ordered and eaten by a dement who claimed to have a gluten allergy, shared by someone who
'couldn't eat a
thing' but clearly felt obligated to support idiocy! It lasted less than 5 minutes and looked like a fairy tale come
true!
I had ordered a glass of house red wine, which came in a small carafe of about 1/4 litre, very passable. We also ordered a bottle of Chianti classico, 2 large beers, 2 small beers and one specialist beer.
The whole thing was ridiculously cheap, worth much much more than we paid!
It seems quite incredible to me but their rating on google is 2.2. - 19 reviews mostly 1 star. It may have gone up slightly thanks to my addition.
Having 'read' some of the reviews (they're in German) I get the idea their delivery service sucks
Don Giovanni Am Markt 28 23769 Burg auf Fehmarn
After a long drive we decided to stay as close to the Ferry as possible for the night before setting off earlyish the next day for the last 600 km of our journey. The town greeted us with an incredible display of Xmas lights and a 'kerstmarkt' still in business, though clearly it was just mates hanging out at the end of a day of fun.
Most of the stalls were out of food or had closed for the night but the mulled wine and the beer were as always in Germany seemingly unabating. But it was December and cold so when we had shared the one sausage that was left at the stall we had chosen and drunk 2 cold beers we looked for our companions who had adjourned inside.
I had hoped that they would be in the Greek restaurant recommended by the hotel and also nearest to the marktet. We found them further along in an Italian. We walked into the restaurant, saw them, headed towards them and began to move to a larger table. The waiter came through and offered us a menu. We said "thank you" as the other three practically yelled
"No!" We looked at them and said that we respectively wanted pizza and pasta as half a sausage was not going to keep us going til the breakfast buffet.
What followed was a masterpiece of salesmanship with a basis in a product of the highest quality that needs to be shared. Disappointment with my companions made me determined to repay the impeccable hosting with a massive review for the BEST alio olio I have had out in YEARS! Absolutely delicious.
Great service - the waiter could sell sand to a Bedouin! He sold us an amazing anti pasti for 5 in which every single thing was exquisite and scrumptious.
We ordered a salami pizza - which someone who 'wasn't hungry' scoffed quickly without offering any one else a taste! He threw a mini wobbly because there was no oregano (with an American accent). The waiter came with a small bowl of fresh super aromatic herb. When that had been added 'his majesty' said it was the best pizza he'd had in more years than he could remember.
The rucola pizza that was piquant and still tasty the next night! (don'tknow why they call it rucola when the main ingrdiend is ham) And of course my alio olio.
The wine was pretty good (though I'm not over keen on Chianti).
Then came a tiramisu for 5! - I rarely do desserts and had definitely over eaten to finish my pasta - but it was it was ordered and eaten by a dement who claimed to have a gluten allergy, shared by someone who
I had ordered a glass of house red wine, which came in a small carafe of about 1/4 litre, very passable. We also ordered a bottle of Chianti classico, 2 large beers, 2 small beers and one specialist beer.
The whole thing was ridiculously cheap, worth much much more than we paid!
It seems quite incredible to me but their rating on google is 2.2. - 19 reviews mostly 1 star. It may have gone up slightly thanks to my addition.
Having 'read' some of the reviews (they're in German) I get the idea their delivery service sucks
Don Giovanni Am Markt 28 23769 Burg auf Fehmarn
Saturday, 6 December 2014
Café Route Hackney
Great location, beautiful building, cool interior design. Lots of light, 2 glass walls, great hanging heaps of dried stuff along the bar. The staff were relatively friendly have definitely been treated worse.
I thought the place was a massive potential health hazard, food poisoning hovering at the edge of perception. As you come in the door all the salads are laid out, uncovered directly in the doorway. This means that every passing draught coats the salads as well as the coughs and splutters and general conversational comments of every individual who enters – YUK!
The meat looked great but I didn't have any and I didn't touch the salad they eventually brought having lied about the ingredients – more on that later.
The food is served on wooden platters - see first sentence previous paragraph – You can't put wood in the dish washer. Do they separate the meat boards from the salad boards? How do they clean them and what with? Where and how are they stored?
Service?
Well the waiters are all very pretty, great eye candy and on the surface very friendly, smiley, helpful. But I found the service all in all dire.
I asked if they had any salads that didn’t contain dairy, fruit or vinegar. I was told that the ‘Tabbouleh with cannelini beans’ fitted the criteria. She lied.
First we ordered drinks and then decided that we wanted something to eat. My companion had ordered tea and said she would like her tea after the food. It got to the point where we felt obligated to take the tea after they asked four times if we were ‘ready for it now?’. I did not like any of the food we ordered and the three people who asked my companion how she was finding the food studiously avoided asking me the same question.
They also made no enquiry when I asked (and had to ask twice) for them to take the (full bowl of) soup away. Just to rub in the shitty service when we asked for the bill the young woman ignored us and went to have a conversation for about 15 minutes with the spunky waiter who had just come on duty. When we reminded her she was more irritated (‘Oh yes, I forgot’) than apologetic.
Food
Actually the tabbouleh looked pretty good it had the right parsley to couscous ratio - very rare. However there were about three cannelini beans in my portion and to add insult to injury effing oodles of pomegranate in fact there was as much pink in the salad as green - YAK!
The soup on offer (the only other vegetarian dish with no dairy, fruit or vinegar) was carrot and coriander. The soup was way too salty in my opinion and there was no coriander in the soup itself only a garnish of fresh floating on top which pretty much disappeared in terms of flavour when stirred in.
The wine was OK and it looked like a cool place to hang.
I thought the place was a massive potential health hazard, food poisoning hovering at the edge of perception. As you come in the door all the salads are laid out, uncovered directly in the doorway. This means that every passing draught coats the salads as well as the coughs and splutters and general conversational comments of every individual who enters – YUK!
The meat looked great but I didn't have any and I didn't touch the salad they eventually brought having lied about the ingredients – more on that later.
The food is served on wooden platters - see first sentence previous paragraph – You can't put wood in the dish washer. Do they separate the meat boards from the salad boards? How do they clean them and what with? Where and how are they stored?
Service?
Well the waiters are all very pretty, great eye candy and on the surface very friendly, smiley, helpful. But I found the service all in all dire.
I asked if they had any salads that didn’t contain dairy, fruit or vinegar. I was told that the ‘Tabbouleh with cannelini beans’ fitted the criteria. She lied.
First we ordered drinks and then decided that we wanted something to eat. My companion had ordered tea and said she would like her tea after the food. It got to the point where we felt obligated to take the tea after they asked four times if we were ‘ready for it now?’. I did not like any of the food we ordered and the three people who asked my companion how she was finding the food studiously avoided asking me the same question.
They also made no enquiry when I asked (and had to ask twice) for them to take the (full bowl of) soup away. Just to rub in the shitty service when we asked for the bill the young woman ignored us and went to have a conversation for about 15 minutes with the spunky waiter who had just come on duty. When we reminded her she was more irritated (‘Oh yes, I forgot’) than apologetic.
Food
Actually the tabbouleh looked pretty good it had the right parsley to couscous ratio - very rare. However there were about three cannelini beans in my portion and to add insult to injury effing oodles of pomegranate in fact there was as much pink in the salad as green - YAK!
The soup on offer (the only other vegetarian dish with no dairy, fruit or vinegar) was carrot and coriander. The soup was way too salty in my opinion and there was no coriander in the soup itself only a garnish of fresh floating on top which pretty much disappeared in terms of flavour when stirred in.
The wine was OK and it looked like a cool place to hang.
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