Daniel's reviews
Review of Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes
08 Oct 07, 14:57
Great Saturday Night Out 
I've been to just bowl at Bloomsbury a few times now, it's a great way to spend an afternoon but I must admit I was skeptical that you could spend an whole Saturday night there. Luckily I was wrong.
We arrived at around 8ish which is just when they start charging. £6 for normals and £4 for students, but if you email ahead (see the website above) you can get on a "guest list" which gets you in at a reduced rate.
The queue to bowl was massive so we headed straight to the diner and gorged on suitably themed American food. The burgers are actually really good, none of usual fast food crap, they actually look hand made. If you're sitting in the diner they'll also bring drinks to your seat.
From then on it's nothing but dancing, and relatively cheap drinks. Tip: try the bowling desk at around 10ish, if they have lanes left it's the best time to try and book. We managed to get one at 1.30 (last lane a 2 for a 3am close) and all we had to do then was drink.
Suffice to say bowling drunk is hard, but bloody good fun. A cracking night out, ignore the naysayers.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Review of Champers Wine Bar
08 Oct 07, 11:32
Friendly Bar, Good Wine List 
I'm not big on Soho wine bars, I like wine, but to be honest, I don't like Soho. Particularly this part of Soho, a weird mix of tourists, media types and townies.
That said Champers feels like a genuine place, the sort of place that scares tourists away because it looks like you need a BA in "London" to enter. The fact is it's actually quite a friendly joint, with a good selection of wine.
It also has a restaurant at the front that was serving what looked like some hearty grub.
I think I'll make an effort to go back.
1 out of 1 person found this review helpful.
Review of Soho Pizzeria
08 Oct 07, 11:17
Why bother? 
There is nothing strictly wrong with the Soho Pizzeria, the food is ok, the service is fast, and the location is good. I just don't understand the motivation behind opening a place like this in a market already crowded with Pizza Expresses, Asks, Stradas and alike. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not a huge fan of these places either, and would choose an independent over them any day, but most other people wouldn't. They're cheaper, the portions are bigger, and they have that chain familiarity that some people just love.
So if you're planning to open a pizza restaurant in Soho, at least have a go at giving it an original twist.
On a side note, outside the toilets hangs a quite famous print of Christine Keeler, which led my friend an I to wonder weather this was the place her an Profumo first met. Probably not, but it takes your mind off the average pizza.
1 out of 1 person found this review helpful.
Review of Imli
05 Oct 07, 09:56
Great Indian, doesn't need to be Tapas
I'm a big fan of tapas, and a big fan of Indian. QED right? Wrong. Indian tapas just doesn't work, allow me to explain.
Imli works like any typical Tapas bar or restaurant, order three to four small dishes or share a larger number between a group of you. What's more, Imli's Indian food is particularly good. Great use of spicing, and really complex flavours. But for me this is where the problem lies.
You miss the complexity of the individual dishes because you are too busy moving onto the next. We had the large tasting menu (not cheap either at £22 a head) and there was just too much food, I couldn't appreicate it all properly.
That said, you don't have to treat it as a tapas place, you could just have 1, at the most 2 dishes, and have rice and bread with it. This would most definitely be my advice.
To sum up. Great Indian food, lose the tapas.
I final word or two should be left for the ice cream, fig and ginger, which is quite possibly some of the nicest I have ever had. Make sure you leave some room for it at the end.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Review of Favela Chic
01 Oct 07, 17:28
No
The queue for this place is always huge. I don't get it. It's always heaving, you can never get to the bar, the music is just pop and most definitely doesn't warrant a DJ, and it costs £5 to get in.
I guess it's not targeted at people such as myself. I'd much rather be at the Foundry across the road.
I can't speak for the restaurant however, and I do have a number of friends who have noted how tasty it is.
1 out of 1 person found this review helpful.
Review of The Bedroom Bar
01 Oct 07, 17:21
East End Contingency Plan
I find that nights out with little planning can often descend into chaos. Everyone has a better plan than everyone else of what to do and they all tend to fail. Queues are too long, prices are too rich for some peoples wallet, and others just hate the idea of going somewhere crowded.
Faced with such a dilemma in Shoreditch and many end up heading home. I on the other hand have a East End ace in the hole.
Bedroom Bar is by no means the trendiest venue, the music can be hit and miss. But it is always cheap to get in, always open until 2 or 3, and reasonably priced. It has a smoking terrace for those who would complain otherwise, and a section at the back of the club for people who want to sit (or ly) down.
What's great is that it also has a humorous touch of Barley. Notice the clocks above the bar: Palestine, Groznia, Kabul, Shoreditch.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Review of The Chandos
28 Sep 07, 10:36
A Sam Smiths 
Pretty much what you would expect from a Sam Smith's pub but with added benefit of being next door to Trafalgar Square.
I tend to go here before visiting the ICA as the bar there can be full of you know whos and is definitely a lot more expensive.
1 out of 1 person found this review helpful.
Review of The Cardinal
28 Sep 07, 10:19
The pubs that keep on giving
Someone asked me over a pint at a Sam Smith's if they were the new Wetherspoons. "Definitely not," I said. "Yes, they're cheap. The food is cheap, the drinks are cheap, and the decor is...well not cheap but hardy glitzy, but they're definitely not Wetherspoons."
Sam Smith's are fiercely independent. They only sell drinks made at their own brewery and you won't have to endure any RnB.
The Cardinal is located just round the corner of Victoria station, like all Sam Smiths it is complete with Alpine Lager at £1.99, a dart board, and a good crowd.
The joy of Sam Smiths pubs isn't the pub itself, it's the feeling you get when you find a new one, and the satisfaction it gives other people when you say: "there's a Sam Smith's just around the corner."
1 out of 1 person found this review helpful.
Review of The Cock Tavern
21 Sep 07, 10:40
Great breakfast, great people
The Cock Tavern has a bit of a history. In 2000 it was featured in London hitman pic Gangster No. 1 and a year later it was featured in William Hague's 2001 general election campaign. I'll leave you to decide which is cooler.
This, nevertheless, pays testament to the range of people that pass through the Cock Tavern's doors. Media types, City boys, slaughtermen from Smithfield market and tourists. It's a unique mix that provides a really buzzy atmosphere.
The food itself is a breakfast fan's dream. There is at least a dozen different ones to choose from, including a mammoth meat fest the name of which I forget.
If you're looking for somewhere for breakfast in Farringdon I highly recommend this place. While it doesn't have the class of SOS it easily makes up for it in character.
1 out of 1 person found this review helpful.
Review of Browns
19 Sep 07, 12:30
Average
Strictly speaking there is nothing wrong with Brown's. The food is nice enough and reasonably prices, the decor is neutral, and the atmosphere is pleasant.
But for me that's also it's biggest problem. I can't really describe it but I got the overwhelming sense that I was in a hotel or airport restaurant. It just all felt a little to familiar.
Praise should definitely be given to the staff who on the night I visited were clearly sort a few team members, but nevertheless kept up and we're always friendly.
0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.