Benjamin's reviews
Review of The Bombay Bicycle Club
09 May 07, 17:56
Freewheelin' Curries 
If all bicycle clubs were like this I might be tempted to buy a bike. Delicious modern curries, cracking poppadoms and all the usual glorious flavours of the sub-continent sit cheek-by-jowl with oh-so-21st century graphic design, web ordering and heat-retaining packaging. Truly a takeaway for the Monocle magazine generation. Swaad!
1 out of 1 person found this review helpful.
Review of Euphorium Bakery
19 May 07, 13:54
Bready or not here I come... 
This tiny branch of the Islington-based bakers (2 stores, the other is on Chapel Market) produces some of the best bread I've ever tasted! Cracking croissants, fantastic French sticks and brilliant brioche. Well worth a visit early in the morning when the bread is fresh out of the oven.
1 out of 1 person found this review helpful.
Review of Snappy Snaps
20 May 07, 18:05
Snappy Snaps
This a great little branch of the Snappy Snaps phot developing chain. Its hidden away in a tiny unit in historic Leadenhall Market, just off Lime Street in the heart of the City. The quality of prints that the staff churn out is consistently higher than most other high street developers and they have no problem in adapting to white borders, black and white prints or printing from old negatives. They also have good deals on bulk processing of digital images.
0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.
Review of Bar 43
20 May 07, 19:00
Posh Nosh 
When Fresh'n'Wild opened on Stoke Newington Church Street they sealed the deal on the vibrant Hackney thouroghfare's claim to be the next Upper Street. Attracting scores of Guardian-reading yummy mummies, Fresh'n'Wild is a supermarket that panders to the grown up hippy in all of us. Everything in the store is expensive - but most of the stock is Organic, fresh, guilt-free and good for the planet. The cafe section is good (excellent Muffins), but the only seating is outside so is best avoided in the Winter.
0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.
Review of Oliver Bonas
22 May 07, 11:24
Performance Bonas
Yet another quirky furnishings/gifts/clothes shop on Upper Street; joining the ranks of Aria and Revel Lloyd. This branch of the upscale homeware retailer is very pleasant for a quick browse after picking up your Brioche and Lattes from Euphorium Bakery, down the road. Oliver Bonas is worth popping into if you're looking for a quirky gift (its all a bit girlie so you'll probably find something for your mum or girlfriend). They're currently selling a rathe rnice Cake Stand for £20 or a Pearl Choker for £49.
0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.
Review of Morrisons
25 May 07, 12:25
Less Reasons To Shop at Morrisons 
Sean Bean may make great stay of the fact that there are 100s of reasons to shop at Morrison's - but as far as this branch goes, there are only two things that make it worth going: 1. The cheap prices on everyday essentials (sponges, tomato ketchup, the Islington Gazette) 2. The branch is very near to a Marks and Spencer's and a Waitrose, so when Morrison's inveitably either run out or do not stock what you're after; you can simply nip next door and pick up what you're after.
0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.
Review of Apple Store
25 May 07, 14:30
Podtastic
The Apple Store on Regent Street is everything you might expect from Apple - shiny, modern and innovative. More than just a store - they have dedicated customer service computer geeks at the "genius bar", regular talks and presentations on Mac-related things and a rather impressive transparent staircase. There's lots of opportunity to get hands-on with the various ipods and Macs on display (even if this does mean there's usually a lot of foreign students using Hotmail on the store's broadband connection!). In a rather cool break from retail convention, if you buy a product on the shop floor (from one of the Apple staff with a portable till) they will email you your reciept. The store is sometimes extremely busy at the weekends and there are often long lines to have a go on the various hands-on toys, but generally this is a good shopping experience.
1 out of 1 person found this review helpful.
Review of Robert Dyas
29 May 07, 12:20
The best
This is a great little chain of shops, a self-styled ironmongers that actually has more in common with Richer Sound's "pile 'em high, sell 'em cheap" ethos. This particular branch is very handy for City types looking for all the bits and bobs that make modern life function - TV signal boosters, SCART splitters, desktop crumb hoovers in the shape of pigs; that sort of thing. In the summer they do a great line in collapsable chairs of the type that annoy everyone at Glastonbury. The real secret of these shops is their incredible deal on bin bags - their prices on the indespensible black plastic sacks make their rival's efforts seem, well, rubbish.
0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.
Review of Muji
03 Jul 07, 20:42
Mugenius
This particular branch of Muji is a two-floor affair (mainly clothes upstairs, mainly stationary downstairs) and operates much like the many other stores in the chain. Highlights on offer include fantastic minimalist furniture, pencils and photo albums. Lowlights are the slightly less than fantastic cut-to-size rain macs and odd-flavoured Japanese fizzy pop.
Muji is especially reccommended at Christmas time - for those hard-to-buy-for relatives nothing says "merry christmas" like a Muji lint roller.
Random fact - in Japan you can buy a Muji house.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
Review of Peyton and Byrne
09 Jul 07, 21:00
Traditionalesque Delights
From the people that brought you Inn The Park and the cafe at the National Gallery, this tiny bakery (sandwiched between Heal's and Habitat on Tottenham Court Road) is a masterpiece of retro styling and canny 21st century presentation.
The shop's self declared aim to bring “old-school†baking into a modern environment is manifested in classic british cakes, post-modern 'builder's tea' and incredibly luminescent cupcakes (perhaps the day-glo green icing is an attempt to cash in on the new rave movement?).
What saves this place from being a traditionalesque nightmare is the quality of the produce on offer. The aforementioned cupcakes are incredible and wouldn't be out of place in the most du jour bakeries in NYC. Trust me - bring some of these into the office on your birthday and Julie from accounts will be a mate for life.
In summary, top quality cakes served up from a contrived, yet lovely, shop.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.