Joelle M.

Review of Rasa Travancore

10 Dec 07, 14:43

Delicious Keralan food - not your bog standard English curry

The first thing I love about this restaurant is the bright pink paint on the frontage of the eight Rasa restaurants in London. But the main thing is the food, which is wodely agreed to be heavenly.

I'm a fan of curries, but I get rather bored of 'English' standards like bland chicken korma and oily saag aloo. Rasa's fare is worlds apart - interesting and varied flavours from Kerala in southern India. On my last visit I had fish in a delicately cardomom spiced sauce which was delicious and the freshly made pickles and chutneys are excellent. You really get the impression that thought and pride go into the selection and preparation of the food here. Prices are reasonable too - less than £20 each for a very satisfying meal. The service was efficient and the atmosphere was pleasant with lots of 'mmmms' and 'yums' issuing from the people on the other tables.

Opposite is the first of the Rasa chain, which is an award winning vegetarian restaurant. Rosa Travancore serves meat and seafood, and just a few vegetarian options.

To discover a different side of Indian food from the usual curry house fare, you can't go wrong here.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Review of Shanghai

18 Nov 07, 02:45

Surprising spot

I'd never have found this place if not for a friend's recommendation, but I'm glad I did.

For great dim sum, excellent value, and a wonderful art nouveau tiled interior from a former life as a pie and eel shop, this place has no equal. We couldn't choose so had them bring us a selection of dishes they'd recommend and all were really nice. There's a more restauranty feel to the room at the back, and apparently some private kareoke rooms, but I preferred the booths in the front.

The Kills were in there having dinner when I last went so you can take their recommendation too.

1 out of 1 person found this review helpful.

Review of Huong Viet

18 Nov 07, 02:30

Authentic

I second everything Sorrel M said above.

Very tasty authentic food. Busy little place with waiting staff often rushed or confused. Rather off the beaten track, and the place to take your foodie friend to impress them with your ability to find this little gem. Not a place to go for a romantic date or if you are in a hurry but if you want quality Vietnamese food for not much money you won't be disappointed.

1 out of 1 person found this review helpful.

Review of Two Wheels Good

18 Nov 07, 02:02

Non intimidating local bike shop

To start with, please understand I am a very keen cyclist, but I do not own a single item of lycra, nor do I know my derailleur from my elbow. My bike is a beautiful old dame of a thing, very slow and cranky, with a wonky basket and lots of personality. My style is pootling along humming, not speeding along, not weaving through traffic, not bunny hopping up the kerb.

Why do I tell you all this? Because most bike shops seem to cater for bicycle geeks, speed demons and fanatics who think nothing of spending £££. And frankly I always find them unfriendly and intimidating.

Two Wheels Good on the other hand realise that there are people whose bikes are basically transport rather than a hobby. They welcomed my bike in for a service without chastising me for not oiling it religiously enough, they fixed up my broken mudguard for £2 rather than insisting I buy an expensive replacement, and were just generally nice and approachable about the whole thing.

To my mind they seemed very knowledgeable and the small shop was well stocked with plenty of fancy gear, but if you are the bike nut breed (and I don't have anything against them, I'm just not one) you might not find me the best judge of that.

1 out of 1 person found this review helpful.

Review of Itto

23 Oct 07, 17:58

Great neighbourhood oriental restaurant

I was really hoping this little restaurant, just round the corner from my house, would be the type of place I imagine is scattered all over New York. You know, the cheap little neighbourhood Japanese restaurants where locals go for quick bowls of steaming noodles when they can't be bothered to cook anything.

It certainly looks the part, a homely purple painted place with wooden tables and stools, and the menu in the window displaying Japanese, Chinese, Thai and Vietnamese dishes with little costing over £5. Worried my high hopes were unrealistic, I had to try this place out.

And guess what? I've found exactly the place I was after.

My benchmark testing phad thai was yummy, if a little sweet, with good thick noodles and fresh ingredients. My husband's wonton soup had loads of nice soft dumplings and great flavour. The menu says they'll fix up what you want if it's not on the menu. Service was quick and friendly and the atmosphere is chilled. They also do take out and free home delivery for orders over £10. I just know I'll be coming here often.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Review of Askew Eyewear

15 Oct 07, 12:30

Friendly service and very nice specs

I hate looking for glasses. It's hard buying things to put on your face. I always end up trailing round so many places and trying so many pairs and get all flummoxed and overwhelmed.

Anyhow, this time Askew took a lot of the pain out of the process. It's only small, but their stock is so well chosen that I quickly found several pairs I liked more than any in my trawls round 2 massive high street opticians. I got very helpful advice and good service. It's just so much more pleasant a place than most opticians. Stylish without being stuffy.

1 out of 1 person found this review helpful.

Review of The Rose and Crown

10 Oct 07, 17:51

Is it possible to be too cosy?

Roaring open fires on a mild early October evening? Is that strictly necessary? It was indeed boiling hot, but still rather nice, and come some seasonally cold weather that will be grand. There's proper wooden chairs, some hewn from beer barrels and a good selection of ales. It's an Old Truman Brewery pub and feels like a proper cosy old pub.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Review of The Three Crowns

10 Oct 07, 17:34

Classy local

The food in here is brilliant, with a different menu everday, though rather pricey. There's a dining area with proper tables and a pub area with a nice mishmash of old furniture, comfy seats and cosy lamps, so it does both gastropub and pub pub equally well. Nice and chilled in the afternoons, bit livelier on an evening but you should still get a seat. There was a DJ in the other Friday playing decent enough stuff but really quiet. People in there are mostly local thirty somethings, quite cool but not overly so. Staff are the same and friendly.

Thumbs up.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Review of Canteen

10 Oct 07, 17:21

Gastropub food in a minimalistic design concept

I like Canteen but not quite as much as I'd hoped I would.

Personally, all the food I've had has been pretty great. It's carefully sourced British food. Braised lamb was wonderfully tender and the mackeral salad was tasty. Chocolate and beetroot cake was yummy; the additional of custard would have raised it to heavenly.

The design is very sleek and modern and the pared down font they use is extremely stylish. Thank goodness they have replaced the benches at the long shared tables with individual stools now though so you don't have to bother people or else clamber inelegantly in to sit down.

What underwhelmed me? I dunno. Maybe because I was sat in a draft, but the comforting nature of such good hearty grub was somewhat lost. It was like a gastropub found itself in a page spread Wallpaper magazine. Maybe the two don't fit together.

Still, I'm rating it 4 stars for the quality of the food and the design which are better than most places.

1 out of 1 person found this review helpful.

Review of Hookah Lounge

10 Oct 07, 16:54

Laid back drinking of fancy teas

I spent yesterday evening rediscovering a part of London I thought I'd grown bored of and trying places I'd not been. Like this hookah lounge which I ventured into now that the smoking ban has banished the hookahs to the pavement outside.

And what a pleasant surprise. Lovely laid back place with a long menu of wonderful unusual teas - Middle Eastern and Oriental. Good cocktail menu and the mezze looked really nice.

Friendly staff, nice atmosphere, low seats with cushions and lots of wood. A very good place to while away the evening and a nice healthy alternative to the usual pubs.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Review of The New Rose

31 Aug 07, 12:26

I spend way too much time in this pub

It's an important part of London life to have a decent local, and the New Rose is mine.

Just far down enough on Essex Road to avoid the idiot hoardes of Angel and Upper Street, it nonetheless has a lot of regulars and is lively on a night, especially when they have DJs in on a weekend. Decent DJs mind, playing indie, rock, country and such, to match the pretty decent jukebox. They also have some nice events on from time to time like the monthly 'ladies night' with craft and cocktails and sometimes have football on the big screen but only big matches like the world cup or FA cup final. Weekend days are about roasts and reading the paper. The drink selection is fine but nothing special - not one for your special beer fans or real ale people.

The other excellent thing about the New Rose is the awesome pizzas. And it's named after a Damned song.

Generally a pretty sweet place to hang out.

0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.