Joanna N.

Review of Nandos

10 Apr 08, 13:30

Piri-piri good!

I'm sure that almost everyone knows what Nandos is, but for those of you who don't, where have you been when all these fab restaurants have been opening up!?! It's menu comprises predominantly of Portuguese style flame grilled chicken, but they also offer a couple of vegetarian options and a steak option (Prego Steak Roll).

Nando, for those of you who haven't read the scribbling that make up the decor of some of the restaurants, is short for Fernando and I believe he was a chicken that saved a pilgrim’s life in 14th century Portugal, enough history lesson, back to the restaurant!

If you haven’t been to Nandos before, on arrival you are greeted and assigned a table, given a table number and menus and you place your order at the till and pay up front. When choosing your food, you are always asked "How spicy?" and if you aren't sure all the tills have a "spicometer" indicating how hot each sauce/dressing is. You can of course ask for your food to be plain but where's the fun in that? If you are dining with kids, bear in mind that if you order anything that comes with mayonnaise, the mayonnaise is mixed with a bit of piri-piri sauce to make it spicy.

If there are a lot of you, the meal deals or "platters" are great value for money and come with sidelines and sometimes drinks too depending on which "platter" you have gone for. If you want to share a platter with someone and they like loads of spice but you don't, they can cook half chickens with different spice and clearly label them so that when it's brought to the table you don't have to do a taste test to see which is which. Other good points are the "refillable drinks" as the hotter the sauce the thirstier you'll get!!

Once you have ordered, you help yourself to the plates, cutlery, refillable drinks (if you've ordered them!) and bottles of sauce if you want extra with your meal. Many Nandos restaurants have slogans inviting you to treat it like home - help yourself to cutlery, eat with your hands and use the communal sink that is right out in the open somewhere in the midst of all the tables in the middle of the restaurant. The sink is usually very popular with kids!!

I’ve had a couple of deserts at Nandos and they are quite good; I usually opt for the frozen yoghurt. This is also refillable and a great way to cool your taste buds if you have indulged in lots of spicy sauce with your main meal!

Nandos have recently added more to their menu and extra sidelines include couscous salad and a rich and creamy sweet potato mash. Their sidelines are good value for money as most options on the menu come with a price with and without sidelines.

As everything is cooked to order, you know that the food is fresh and it is always very good quality. I also like the fact that they serve the salad dressing in a separate pot so that you can add as much as you like and you can also see that the salad is fresh and hasn’t been drowned in dressing to hide or disguise it’s freshness and quality. Service is also very quick and staff are very friendly.

Something that is available at the Covent Garden branch of Nandos that I haven’t seen at my more “local” Nandos restaurants are cocktails and drinks with Nandos piri-piri sauce!! A lot of you may be thinking that sounds horrible, but I’m still very tempted to try a tomato juice with Nandos piri-piri sauce as a substitute for Tabasco sauce – as with your food you get to choose how spicy you want your drink.

The reason I haven’t given it 5 stars is that in certain branches of Nandos they don’t keep white wine somewhere cool and it is served warm (yuk!) and on a few occasions I’ve been there they have run out of chicken livers (they are lovely, served with a Portuguese bread roll, try them medium spicy – yum!) and green salads.

1 out of 1 person found this review helpful.

Review of Browns

10 Apr 08, 14:14

Pre-theatre menu fab value!

Browns is a lovely restaurant and if you want something that’s not too expensive but feels a bit posher than your average local restaurant, Browns is the place to go. If you are dining after 7pm, expect to wait a few minutes in the bar before a table becomes available. With some very expensive and some very reasonably prices dishes on the menu, together with the daily meat, fish, pasta and desert specials, there will be something to fit everyone’s dietary requirements. If you can get there between 4pm-6.30pm do ask for the pre-theatre menu to take advantage of getting 2 courses for £12.95 – fantastic value for money when you consider that most main courses cost this price or more. I wouldn’t recommend it to people who would have young children with them as there isn’t much plain, child-friendly food on the menu and I don’t recall ever seeing children there when I’ve eaten there. Service is very good but can be a little slow when they are very busy. I recommend the very posh Black Pearl Scallops starter and if nothing on the special boards takes your fancy the Steak, Mushroom and Guinness Pie is fantastic!

0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.

Review of La Porchetta

10 Apr 08, 14:24

This little piggy....

La Porchetta is Italian for "little pig" and that's exactly how I always feel after eating there! This is an amazing restaurant and after you’ve dined here you will get that feeling that I can only describe as one you get when you’re on holiday and have found a real gem of a restaurant where the food is good, plentiful and very reasonably priced. The portions are massive and prices so reasonable, the service is also brilliant. The atmosphere is always quite buzzing and it’s also nice to see the pizza being prepared and baked in an open “bar” section of the restaurant near the door – watch them fling that pizza dough in the air! Be prepared to queue up on Friday nights and the weekend if you haven’t booked a table, it is also quite noisy on these nights as it is always fully booked. The pasta is lovely, I recommend the home made, fresh lasagne which takes 20 minutes for them to prepare and cook (they do warn you about the wait). Pizzas are massive, one is enough to share between two people. I haven’t had desert there yet but have heard that it is also just as good as everything else on the menu.

0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.

Review of Tootsie Restaurant

10 Apr 08, 16:43

Poor service, cold and undercooked food

When we saw the empty restaurant and remembered it always seems to be empty, warning bells should have rung but instead my good man and I decided to try the restaurant out – big mistake. The menu is not very unique, usual American diner type food that is done much better in TGI Fridays. The service was so slow and we had to wait ages to order and again for our food to arrive – we couldn’t understand why as the restaurant was virtually empty. When our food finally did arrive, they got our order wrong and the food was cold. The burgers were very served very rare and we had asked for them to be cooked well done. When we tried to raise this with our waitress she was very moody and almost suggested that we didn’t order their food correctly! Overpriced and poorly served food with bad service to boot – will definitely not be returning and would not recommend this restaurant to anyone.

0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.

Review of Toffs

10 Apr 08, 16:50

Toff Nosh!!

When I’d read an article in a newspaper about the best fish and chip restaurants in London and featured Toffs, I had to try it! I’d driven past there many times before and seen people queuing up well outside the shop and had always wondered if it was really worth it. I ate in the restaurant rather than getting take away and I can honestly say it was the best fish and chips I’ve ever eaten in this country. It’s a bit pricey compared to your normal chippy but when you taste the food you’ll know why – it’s so delicious! The portions are also massive - when I finally admitted defeat it looked like I’d hardly eaten anything as the piece of fish was huge. If you sit in the restaurant you can also get fish grilled rather than battered and it’s really nice to have that choice. I’d recommend this to anyone and everyone as the ultimate fish and chips!!

0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.

Review of Gordon Ramsay At Claridges

10 Apr 08, 17:13

Fit for a princess!

My dad booked a table for the family to eat here after my graduation to round off the celebrations and it was absolutely amazing – the most amazing food I’ve ever eaten. We had several courses, and were given a couple of complimentary courses in between. It was so luxurious, so indulgent, I felt like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman after she’d had her makeover experiencing the finer things in life for the first time!! It is expensive, but it is totally worth it.

0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.

Review of Brooklyns Grill

10 Apr 08, 17:32

More than a cafe

This very popular and always busy café serves excellent food, massive portions and all very reasonably priced and the staff are very friendly and really look after you. The menu has loads to offer and as well as having all the usual café food, they also have brilliant Turkish grill / kebab food. With meze starters from £1 each you can’t go wrong. I recommend the Sheftalia or mixed kebab with lamb kofte and chicken skewer. Most of the kebabs come with a choice of chips or rice and virtually all come with salad. The plates are like platters, they are huge and full of delicious, well cooked food. This restaurant gets very busy and is very popular, expect to wait for tables almost every night of the week and calling in advance to reserve tables is recommended.

0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.

Review of Hilton Cobham

10 Apr 08, 20:37

Peaceful, relaxing and romantic

Stayed here recently and it was really lovely. Don’t go by the outside of the hotel, as from the outside it looks a bit old and run down, but inside it is really nice and has a really modern restaurant with views over the hotel garden. When we went the hotel was quite empty so they upgraded our room which made the difference as our new room was bigger and had lovely views over the hotel garden where we would watch the wild rabbits foraging around. The restaurant is big, and bright and has a brilliant breakfast buffet with lots of hot and cold fresh foods to choose from and a wonderful evening menu. The evening menu can look quite expensive at first glance but don’t be put off as they do a special offer of 2 courses for about £18 which is only a pound or so more than the average main meal price so is very good value for money. The leisure club is nice, the gym overlooks the hotel garden and it has a small swimming pool, jacuzzi, sauna and steam room. Recommend for couples on relaxing and romantic breaks.

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Review of Hilton Wembley Plaza

10 Apr 08, 20:46

It is not a tower block!

Stayed here a couple of times since the hotel has been refurbished. Don't let the outside of the hotel put you off, it looks like a tower block on the outside, but inside it is lovely. The ballroom, bar, restaurant and bedrooms are so much nicer now. The rooms I have stayed in have been average size, very clean and modern. The restaurant offers a brilliant buffet breakfast with a good selection of fresh hot and cold foods and the evening buffet is superb. The bar area is nice but can be very loud and buzzing on nights where there are events at Wembley. I haven’t used the leisure club but the swimming pool looks nice and clean. A brilliant place to meet friends before going to a concert at Wembley and also lovely to stay over too.

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