Max J.

Review of Muji

01 Jul 07, 19:44

I love Muji

I'm a bit of a Muji obsessive.

Over the years my life seems to have been slowly infiltrated by Muji products, first it was stationary, passport holders and flip flops, and then when I finally settled down in London, it seems with each piece of furniture I've replaced over the years that Muji always wins hands down on quality, price and design.

As such this weekend, I've now added a Muji bedside tables to my Muji bed and Muji bedspread. Oh dear.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Review of Piada

01 Jul 07, 19:33

Italian Takeaway Made Simple

Choose from ten varieties of fresh fillings for your flat bread and you're done.

Prepared freshly while you wait, if you like Mediterranean food then its hard not to be impressed by Piada as an convenient lunch time option.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Review of Odeon Cinema

01 Jul 07, 19:28

Dirty, smelly cinema

Despite its beautiful facade, this screens at this huge Odeon complex are in dire need of refurbishment.

Every screen I have been to at this cinema has had dirty, sweaty, sticky seats which always leave you wondering what the place would look like when they put the lights up.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Review of Mildreds

01 Jul 07, 19:25

Vegetarian Restaurant for non-Veges

This place is a real find. Recommended by my dad, it has a great atmosphere and serves up some delicious food.

I'm not a vegetarian, though sit on the 'not bothered whether meat is part of my meal' side of the fence; however I'd be very surprised if a meat-eater was disappointed by Mildred's menu which offers a great range of solid classics such as curries, pies, Mexican and burgers using super-fresh organic ingredients in healthy portions

They also serve a great wide range of organic beers and wine to keep things green.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Review of Say Pasta

01 Jul 07, 19:16

Say Fresh Tasty Pasta

This is the the third restaurant to open at this site in probably just over a year, so the owner probably knows that to survive on Upper Street you've got stiff local competition.

The last two establishments on this site were higher-end take aways and so for some reason I thought Say Pasta was also a take-away when I rushed in to grab some pasta super fast before moving on.

Once inside I was surprised to see that they've managed to make the most of the small space by squeezing in ten or so tables, turning it into a proper restaurant.

With little time to find anywhere else I decided to stay and was pleasantly surprised. Great service, very affordable and importantly very tasty fresh pasta. Would definitely return.

1 out of 1 person found this review helpful.

Review of Tate Britain

01 Jul 07, 19:03

Great British Modern Art

Poor Tate Britain seems to be constantly overshadowed by its ever growing younger sibling Tate Modern which gets all the cool modern art.

While most of the museum's pay shows are predominantly aimed at a more traditional art loving crowd- think Turner and Hogarth rather than Warhol and Duchamp.

For modern/contemporary art-fans, Tate Britain houses a surprisingly impressive collection including some great works by Francis Bacon, Douglas Gordon and Sam Taylor-Wood.

Chris Offili's Upper Room has to be worth the trip alone - a dark paneled room housing a collection of 13 brilliantly coloured paintings of rhesus macaque monkeys. Google it to get a better idea, as my description won't do it justice.

Put simply, if you're visiting London and looking for a world-class modern art gallery don't forget Tate Britain as you'll be pleasantly surprised.

1 out of 1 person found this review helpful.

Review of The Photographers Gallery

01 Jul 07, 18:46

Fantastic Gallery

I love the Photographers' Gallery. Split across two small sites, it holds a wide range of accessible, but always fascinating and beautiful shows.

The most recent show 'Found Photographs' proved to be fun and thought-provoking which questioned the authenticity of the act of photography without ever veering into pretense. Situated just off Covent Garden and completely free, if you're ever passing by there should never be an excuse not to pop in and quickly check out what's on.

They also host the annual Deutsche Borse Photography Awards (or whoever is sponsoring them now) which always proves to highlight some of the world's leading photographers.

Also have a great cafe and book shop.

1 out of 1 person found this review helpful.

Review of Miso Islington

04 Jun 07, 09:13

Fast Food

Rik's comments above are fairly spot on, but I feel compelled to defend Miso, as I regulalry visit both their Angel and Hoxton branches.

Why? Because it usually takes them less than two minutes to serve your food from ordering. Don't visit Miso for a great meal, treat it like a fast-food outlet and your perspective on the place will change entirely. Your expectations will drop dramatically, and the food suddenly won't seem so bad in comparison to other fast food outlets in the area. Always my first choice for a quick bite when I'm in a massive rush.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Review of Curzon Soho

29 May 07, 19:20

London's best cinema

Why don't more cinemas followed the Curzon's template. Eclectic range of movies, lots of double-bills, interesting talks, host to every other niche film festival around and most importantly a cinema bar and coffee shop attached that you'd consider visiting even if you weren't there for the film.

Given that cinemas allege that the bulk of their profit comes from the concessions, I've never understood why it is so rare, therefore, to come across a decent coffee shop or bar attached to a cinema, especially as you have a near captive audience before a screening, and that after a movie whether you've seen Citizen Kane or Patch Adams, you tend to have something to discuss regard the film - that cinemas are so eager to push you out into the street and off to a nearby establishment for their trade has always confused me.

Rant aside, the Curzon cinema continues to show the best of world cinema and thanks to their great bar, is a cool place to hang out afterward.

Reading Neil's review above, I agree that it can attract a semi-pretentious crowd on occasions, but compared to some other cinemas - NFT, Renoir, they are a pretty subdued crowd.

While not at the electric cinema's cinematic-luxe end of the scale, the Curzon definitely leans towards making a night of enjoying a movie housing a Konditor and Cook coffee shop and a laid back bar, where you

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.