Sarah's reviews
Review of ESHK Hair
18 Oct 07, 10:31
meg is a colour genius 
Wanted to give Meg and co at ESHK a bump as they are still preposterously fantastic and should be better known.
No one has ever coloured my hair as brilliantly (who me? no I'm a natural blonde!)
Long may she continue to be the best hairdresser in town, with prices that do not match the hype. Too cool for school.
No 56 bus goes straight past too. Tell them I sent you!
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
Review of New Tayyab
18 Oct 07, 10:27
still the best
Been again this week and can confirm that this place is still A) rammed B) amazing value C) the best curry in the east end QED London D) has the most attentive and efficient staff on the down side (is there one?) the more people that know about it the longer the queues get and if you sit too near the kitchen you are half choked with throat-burning chilli fumes but even that is more than worth it And gosh I love their mango kulfi lollies
1 out of 1 person found this review helpful.
Review of Fig
18 Oct 07, 10:18
Food glorious foam
Blimey yes, this food at this little restaurant (ate there this week, Tuesday night) was absolutely beyond our expectations, quite amazing! Everything I ordered seemed to have a delicious 'foam' or veloute element and the combinations of ingredients were surprising but turned out to be fresh, seasonal and glorious.
Not too expensive and a must return restaurant in a sweet neighbourhood (cor wish could afford to live there) well served by the no 53 bus - stops just outside. Very lovely staff and a genius (Danish?) chef who was unperturbed by my nut allergy, hoorah! We enjoyed a very romantic dinner there on a quiet night and would certainly recommend it!
1 out of 1 person found this review helpful.
Review of My Life In Art
30 Sep 07, 20:50
Nice space, some good stuff 
Small contemporary gallery that is relatively brave in what it shows (ie it is not just aimed at the bloke furnishing his loft and hasn't the increasing blue chippery of Vyner Street either).
Generally worth a pop in for 5 minutes if you are in the area for the market, the bookshop or pie and mash. The guy who runs it is nice and approachable which is good.
Shows some younger, up and comings - not highly priced - artists, sometimes their twoperson shows are slightly odd combinations but there's usually some interesting work included.
1 out of 1 person found this review helpful.
Review of Modern Art
30 Sep 07, 20:42
Always worth a look 
One of the easier to find blue chip art spaces on this street chock full of commercial galleries that are all disguised as anonymous industrial units.
Beautiful exhibition space and a consistently good set of shows, never seen a bum one. This gallery was one of the first serious players that put Vyner Street on London (nay Europe)'s contemporary art map and it has maintained its must-see lead in my opinion.
If you are in the area, go see whatever they are showing, even if not your cup of tea you can be pretty sure it will be first rate and stimulating not-your-cup-of-tea.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Review of Sainsburys
30 Sep 07, 20:31
Now bigger, and better possibly
It's a Sainsbury's so you know what it does right? and this branch just what you'd expect just right (except their plastic baskets are vile and dirty, whose great idea was that then?) plus it's not a scary one (unless you find anywhere outside of Fulham scary that is).
Anyway my point about this branch just behind the Idea Store (that's a library to you and me) on Whitechapel Road is being expanded and looks like it might be quite good once finished. Bigger certainly. Better would be nice too, or just clean those baskets anyway.
Okay so today they were unable to cope with the numbers (we all shop at about a quarter to 5pm on a Sunday round here, didn't you know?) but handing round chocolates to keep us sweet was a nice try at calming the hoards. And absolutely all of the till staff there are simply lovely, kind and friendly - I'm not kidding, they are wonderful, really. Or perhaps just well-trained and highly motivated to be nice.
1 out of 1 person found this review helpful.
Review of Almeida
27 Sep 07, 10:17
Delicious, a real treat
Taken here for a special treat meal on a Tuesday night when it was quite quiet (but booking still advisable) and really loved it. A not-so's-you'd-notice Conran restaurant opposite the theatre of the same name. Great lowlit plush red bar to wait in for my date to turn up and discreet waiter furnished me with an aperitif.
Once at our big round table we had lovely service, delicious food and wine and enjoyed ourselves immensely. The perfect acoustic of the room meant we could hear only each other rather than the conversations of other diners although most of the tables around us were full. Not cheap I gather, but an utterly lovely experience.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Review of Bureau
27 Sep 07, 10:06
That's damn fine stationery (not stationary)
Now to some people stationery is just the stuff you doodle on at the office or lugged around in your school bag. But to others (myself included) a good pad of fine quality (preferably squared and ideally French) paper and a beautiful ink pen to write on it with are transporting delights.
If you fall into the latter category, or just want somewhere with a really good selection of pens, paper, wrapping stuff, cards, desk accessories, bags, and other desk-related things to choose from then this cool little shop is for you.
It is located in that short cross street between Leicester Square and Long Acre, Covent Garden, right by The Photographers' Gallery, down at the bottom of Charing Cross Road where it meets St Martin's Lane. Been there years, hope it never folds (do you see what I did there? stationery, folds...)
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Review of Daunt Books
26 Sep 07, 09:22
So much more than guidebooks
Find it hard to express how much I love this bookshop, without sounding slightly unhinged. It is one of the best places in London. I could pretty much live there.
It devotes much of its stock to travel and far flung places, but gives you the novels and poems and cultural histories you might want to read en route as well as the necessary guidebooks to the place you are visiting.
They also have a great children's section and fiction and cards and all the other stuff you'd hope to find in a wonderful bookshop.
All that is missing is the supermarket hype that the chain bookstores foist upon us. The polar opposite of Borders and may it please never change that.
1 out of 1 person found this review helpful.
Review of Broadway Bookshop
24 Sep 07, 11:50
Cherished independent bookshop
Love this tiny independent but really well-stocked bookshop at the bottom of Broadway Market and try to buy my books here whenever possible.
The staff are always helpful and knowledgeable and I have never had less than perfect service when shopping or enquiring about a new title here. They have a good stock that includes some second-hand volumes at the back.
Far from the impersonal supermarket pile 'em high approach you get from most of the chain bookstores in the centre of town and should be highly cherished for it.
0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.