Joanna's reviews
Review of HobbyCraft
13 Apr 08, 14:42
Get creative! 
This shop brings out the creative side in everyone, with so much on offer from flower arranging, DIY bonboniere/wedding favour accessories, needlework, mosaics, make your own dolls house accessories, seasonal decorations, cake decorating tools, rubber stamping, homemade card accessories, fabrics, ribbons, paints and much more – if you have a hobby or arts and crafts need this shop has it all! They also have very handy leaflets all around the store with instructions on how to make various items and what you need to buy to make them. The store also offers lots of arts and crafts classes and master classes. Even if I’m not going to be creative I love wandering around this shop, it is really inspiring and kids also love it. Staff are very helpful and know a lot about the products offering good advice to customers which is good for arts and crafts beginners who have an idea of what they want to do but don’t know the products or accessories they need. I have take one star off as they have closed the café in this store which I used to love and was really useful as you can easily lose all track of time and spend hours in the shop and it was nice to take a break whilst shopping and have a cup of tea and cake whilst debating what to buy.
0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.
Review of Chimichanga
13 Apr 08, 14:23
Fan-chimichanga-tastic!
I love this restaurant – good food, brilliant music and atmosphere, nice décor, and very friendly and helpful staff. It is always really busy so book in advance if there are a lot of you or if you don’t want to wait for a table. In addition to the regular menu, they have a specials board with lovely, modern takes on traditional Mexican food. Most of the food is quite spicy so people who like plain food or can’t take spice may find it difficult to find something on the menu that they will enjoy. The food portions are massive and everything has always been cooked really well. The staff are happy to advise on food and drink and make recommendations if you are unsure of what to try. They play wonderful latino music, lots of Cuban salsa, and with the dark wooden floors which are perfect to dance on I always have to restrain myself from getting up and dancing!! As it gets very busy there the food can sometimes take a little longer than you would want to wait for it to be brought to the table, but the quality is so good and the food is always fresh and piping hot that the wait is well worth it. Would have awarded 5 stars if they had a few more plainer food options as if you want to go there with lots of people some may struggle to find something they like on the menu.
0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.
Review of A S K Pizza & Pasta
13 Apr 08, 14:07
Hair in food, rude staff 
A horrendous restaurant – rude staff who don’t know the meaning of customer service and very poor quality food. After arguing with staff over seating us then asking us to move and wait a further 30 minutes as they could make more money splitting our table into 2 and seating two parties instead of one, we had to wait over 30 minutes for the starters which they got wrong, a further 20 minutes for them to then bring the correct starters and then the same problems with the main meals. The main meals, when correctly brought to the table were either very burnt or very under cooked and one of our party didn’t get his main meal until everyone else’s plates had started to be cleared away. One of our party found a hair in her food and the manager told us it was the “hair from a mushroom” – when we pointed out that mushrooms do not have hairs he said “this is true” but then argued that they would provide a replacement meal that we had to pay for. We didn’t want a replacement meal and wanted to leave as soon as possible after that awful evening and had to argue to get the meal with the hair in taken off the bill. Most of us were either sick later that evening and.or had upset tums for the next couple of days. Inedible food, rude staff and a horrible experience – we will never go back again and I wouldn’t recommend this restaurant to anyone, not even my worst enemy!
0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.
Review of Yo! Sushi
12 Apr 08, 10:02
Friendly staff, good food
I now love sushi because of this particular restaurant in the chain. I’d never eaten sushi before and really wanted to try it and the staff were so helpful and polite and explained what was what and how to eat sushi and now I’m addicted!! I love the fact you can see them preparing the sushi in front of you and you know all the food is fresh, also if you want something on the menu that isn’t on the conveyor belt they make it fresh to order for you. The refillable water and miso soup is also brilliant. I like this particular restaurant in the chain as some of the others I’ve eaten in sit everyone on top of each other but this one seems to have a bit of space between the chairs. This chain is a bit expensive but it is lovely!
0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.
Review of Alisan
12 Apr 08, 09:46
The best Chinese food EVER! 
Went there last night and was totally blown away – the food, service, décor and ambience was amazing! The best Chinese restaurant I’ve ever been to and the best Chinese food I’ve ever tasted – quite frankly I doubt I’ll never enjoy any other Chinese food unless it is at Alisan, it was that amazing. The starter platters and dim sum platters were to die for. The staff are so attentive and helpful and were always refilling our glasses and ensuring everything was top standard all night. We gorged on the starters and were full by the time the main meal came, but the food as so amazing we polished off the mains and even ordered Chinese tea and desert too!! During the day the restaurant serves Dim Sum only and judging by the selection on the evening meal platter, it must be as amazing and I am definitely going back to try this out! The restaurant is closed on Tuesdays unless it is a Wembley event day. It can be a bit tricky to find as it is on the road that was the industrial estate but it is right next to the Stadium and the views from the restaurant are stunning. It’s also nice that the tables are nicely spread out so you are not sitting right on top of the people around you and can have an intimate meal even if all the tables around are busy. Booking on Wembley event days is recommended.
0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.
Review of Aroma Patisserie
12 Apr 08, 09:29
Greek Paradise!
This has to be one of my favourite patisseries – not only because it is Greek but because the cakes, food, service and just everything is absolutely outstanding. As well as cakes, bread, sweets and ice-cream that you can buy to take away, it is also a café. Everything is freshly made on the premises. They do the most fantastic cakes to order and can print photos on icing to put on top of cakes too – make sure you order in advance. I recommend enjoying a halloumi and lounza sandwich with a Greek coffee “medrio” followed by Rose ice-cream in the patisserie and then buying some lovely fresh bread, biscuits and cakes (my faves are dashinobita, baklava, kadaifi, lokmathes) to take home and indulge in!
0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.
Review of Lollipops The Christening Shop
12 Apr 08, 09:19
Almost a Greek Tragedy... 
When I Christened my Goddaughter this was the only Greek Christening shop I had heard of so went here as I’d never Christened before and needed someone to be able to tell me if there was anything I’d forgotten or was integral to the Christening. The owner was very rude and pushy, trying to get us to buy the most expensive and ugly (in our opinion) gowns there. She had a lot of stock reduced on sale to clear and make way for the new stuff but kept trying to put us off them and pushing full sale dresses in styles we weren’t interested in. Although it was going to be a traditional Orthodox ceremony, my Goddaughter’s mother told me there were some unnecessary traditional items we didn’t have to buy as they either are no longer useful in the service but the owner kept going on and on because we didn’t want to buy these items from her and that we couldn’t have the service without them and I may as well shouldn’t Christen if I wasn’t going to do it properly! One of the accessories she sold us was broken and she was funny about it when my mum took it back to the shop to exchange and implied that we broke it. Unfortunately she does have everything you need for a Greek Christening and it is convenient that everything is in one place which is why I’ve given it 3 stars, although the customer service should really be 2 stars.
0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.
Review of Oi! Bagel
12 Apr 08, 09:05
Brilliant Bagels!
If you're near Hammersmith tube station and feeling peckish, I really recommend Oi! Bagels. Freshly made with lots of choice, you can customise your bagel to be as healthy (or as unhealthy!) as you like. My favourite is definitely their breakfast bagels and when I used to pass through this station on my way to work I couldn’t function for the day unless I’d stopped here and had a breakfast bagel! Reasonably priced and staff always cheerful and friendly.
0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.
Review of Arena Restaurant
11 Apr 08, 13:54
Marvellous meze!
I've been here loads of times and it is a delightful family run business with delicious, generous portions of food and a wonderful atmosphere. The meze is brilliant and has loads of dishes, you will be stuffed and still more food is being brought to the table. Nice Greek music playing and when there are parties in there you will get to see/try Greek dancing. The restaurant also run nights with Mario, the Greek Elvis who is one of the better Elvis impersonators and actually appeared in the West End as Elvis which are also lots of fun but be sure to book in advance for an Elvis night to guarantee your table.
0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.
Review of TGI Fridays
11 Apr 08, 13:44
Sent steak back 3 times 
I've been to TGI's loads of times and the meals are generally ok. The restaurants are usually annoyingly loud and have always found staff to be either intrusively "friendly" and overenthusiastic in order to get tips or very rude with customer service as the last thing on their mind. For a safe bet, order a burger and do not order steak. I ordered a steak medium rare and it came well done so I sent it back; another was then brought over virtually raw and the third one was cooked properly but I had an after-taste of washing-up liquid in my mouth.... If there is anywhere else to go for food I'd pick that over TGI's and only really go here as a last resort.
0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.