Ben J.

Review of Green Papaya

07 Aug 07, 09:12

Best on Mare Street

There are a smattering of vietnamese restaurants on Mare Street, as well as a lot of vietnamese supermarkets. The quality of the restaurants though isn't as good as on Kingsland Road. Green Papaya is a happy exception to the rule, it's a great local.

The starters in particular are worth the visit. Of particular note are the squid rings in salt and chilli, and the rare beef salad. I'm not alone there either - the last time we visitied, the guy at the table next to us ordered them for his main course too! Staples such as spring rolls are also good, or the huge "Banh Xeo" pancake.

The main courses are more of a mixed bag, with some of the stir-fry type food being a little underwhelming. The bbq dishes such as the lamb on skewers or the chicken with satay are very good though, as is the "pho", or noodle soup.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Review of The Dolphin

07 Aug 07, 09:17

A great dive

The Dolphin is not somewhere to take someone on a first date. It's low down and dirty as pubs go. To be fair, whilst the gentrification of Hackney has it's effect on places like the Cat and Mutton, turning them into gastro pubs with djs, the Dolphin hasn't been completely unaffected. They haven't decorated or anything drastic like that - it's still a fairly grotty pub with some interesting decor. But now it firmly has its place in the London Fields circuit. All roads lead to the Dolphin, come chucking out time at all the other pubs. Whilst this leads to a fairly interesting mix of people, especially late on, it does also mean that they've started charging on the door.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Review of Hakkasan

07 Aug 07, 09:41

Not your local chinese takeaway

Hakkasan is very cool, and boy does it know it. I took my better half there for her birthday one year, and for this sort of event dining it is pretty good. You wouldn't have thought it when you first arrive, located as it is in a side street round the back of Tottenham Court Road. When you make the way down to the restaurant though, it's a different story. It's full of teak blinds, black walls, and subdued lighting. We were ushered to the bar, where we ordered a couple of glasses of champagne whilst they prepared our table. So far, definitely not the Golden Gate takeaway in Hackney.

Apparently Hakkasan is owned by Alan Yau, who turns out to be the guy behind wagamamas. After selling that, he made Hakkasan, and more recently Yauatcha in Soho, which is a similarly trendy tea and dim sum place. Both have Michelin stars, which is again something that the Golden Gate is unlikely to attain. There are some things that grate with Hakkasan though. Firstly, you are told that you can have the table for only two hours (it's less at 90 minutes at Yauatcha). They really do take themselves seriously, we ordered food, then a french sounding sommelier came to ask us about our wine order. As good as the food is (and it really is quite special), I'm not sure chinese food needs a sommelier.

We had dim sum to start, which were the best I've had anywhere. We also ordered prawn toast, mainly to see just how good prawn toast could be at 8 quid a portion. turns out pretty bloody good. We then had venison in chilli, seafood platter, and bok choi in oyster sauce. All the food was top-drawer stuff, but you'd expect that from mains that cost 26 quid, in the case of the seafood. It is worth mentioning though that they do have shark's fin soup on the menu. Now I know this is an authentic chinese delicacy, but it has all sorts of moral difficulties, and some people object to it so much that just the thought of it might put them off their prawn toast, which would be a shame...

0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.

Review of Buen Ayre

07 Aug 07, 11:34

Best steak in London

No really, it is the best steak in London. Buen Ayre has been a Hackney favourite ever since it opened, and its repute has since spread. To be honest, I'm half way between being pleased for them, and a bit miffed that my local restaurant is now attracting custom from much further afield than Hackney. It's getting much harder to get a table.

It's an authentic argentinian steak restaurant, and by authentic I do not mean the cow print kitsch of the Goucho Grill. This is a small place, with friendly staff grilling steak on a parilla. Not a place for vegetarians. There are veggie dishes available, but then there are starters available too, but that's not why you're there. The menu is quite naturally dominated by steaks of all sizes and cuts. The meat is apparently imported from Argentina. You might think that might affect its freshness, until you realise that the sea trip is exactly how long it takes to hang good beef.

The steaks come relatively unadorned. You do not need to mess around with stuff that's this good. They come with a bit of salad and some chimichurri. Sides are available, essentially salad and chips. They serve beers (local and south american) and a wine list heavy on the industrious reds such as the obligatory malbecs. They do have some desserts on the menu, but I have to admit that I've never tried them, I've always been too full.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Review of Le Mercury

07 Aug 07, 15:38

Cheap as frites

Le Mercury is ridiculously cheap for Upper Street. Mains are just over six quid, starters 3-4. It's on three (albeit fairly cramped) floors, so it's also reasonably easy to get a table, or book for larger parties. The food is ok, very reasonable for the price, but don't go there expecting haute cuisine. The portions also aren't huge, starters like melon and jambon de bayonne came in well arranged but dainty slices. What I think this place is perfect for is a large-ish group of friends to meet for some grub at the start of a night out. You won't be too full to hit bars and clubs afterwards, and your funds won't be too dented either.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Review of Tre Viet

09 Aug 07, 22:37

BYO + noodles

Well this would be a 2 star review, but it's a BYO, which puts it up a notch. It's not that Tre Viet is bad, it's not, it's ok, just there's better eating to be had just down the road from this place. However, you can't sniff at somewhere that lets you bring your own booze. Although confusingly there are currently two places pretty much next to each other that call themselves "Tre Viet", so in the interests of clarity, I'm talking about the place next to the turkish joint. Oh, and coincidentally the one that says "Bring your own wine" in the window.

The beef in betel leaf is excellent. After that it's a bit of a blur. I think the noodle soup was good. Did I mention it was a BYO?

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Review of Radha Krishna Bhavan Restaurant

09 Aug 07, 22:54

Fantastic Keralan

This place is great, I can't say enough good things about it. First, the decoration, it's garish in the best possible way. The works, statues of hindu deities, the walls have giant murals of palm trees and stuff. It's very reasonable, bordering on cheap. Most importantly though, the food is great. Getting good indian food in London is getting easier, but it's because of places like this (and others in Drummond Street). This isn't your bog standard chicken bhuna type of place. You can't get bhunas, it's keralan food. Indian friends of mine that live outside London come to visit us so that they can eat massala dhosa in places like the Radha Krishna. They tend to have dhosas for starters and mains. And, to be honest, a dhosa takeaway when they arrive in London before they even show up with their bags at our house. The lamb fry massala is my favourite main, the chilli chicken is also excellent.

0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.