Greg's reviews
Review of All Bar One
12 May 07, 13:34
Not the best All Bar One 
It's like the poor relation of the chain of All Bar Ones that populate the town. It's a bit grotty, badly furnished but it's in the square so what can you expect? Its saving grace is that it stocks (as do all the other A.B.O.s), a cider of such caliber, that your own mother would swap your kidneys for a bottle of it. If one takes the time to sample the fine nose of this nectar you will not get faint traces of honey suckles or a spicy oak tree, or a bit of dockleaf. You get apples. Thats it. It's as clean and appley and crisp as they come, and it's called Aspall Cider. It's the only reason I ever patronize this particular establishment. The A.B.O on Dean Street, Soho however is one of the better of the group. With quick and friendly service and bustling trendy atmosphere on the weekends it's superior in all ways, and well worth a visit.
0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.
Review of Fire and Stone
12 May 07, 20:27
Stylish pizza 
I like this place. It's a modern trendy pizzaria where you order your pizza by region... well continent actually. Whether you decide on something fragrant from the East, or something "traditional" from the US, it's gonna be good. The ingredients are fresh, and the combinations are creative and so far I've enjoyed everything I've tried including the desserts. Prices are run of the mill for Covent Garden (about £6 - £10 a pizza). If you want to eat there during peak times try to book in advance (you can do it online), cos it can be difficult to get a table on the fly. A good place for one of those last minute, "shall we go out for food?" nights.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
Review of Wong Kei
15 May 07, 11:40
Cheap, tasty and entertaining!
I can only imagine that owner of this place is a cross between Easy Jet's Stavros and a Storm Trooper General. Let me explain, the food is laughably cheap for china town, at less than £4 for a plate of decent tasty (wok style greasy) food you can only celebrate. On the flip-side you will be welcomed like a fart in an lift, a really small lift with no air vents. You will be immediately shoved upstairs if you are sober (the place is massive about 4 floors) or downstairs if you're not. Your order will be taken as they hand you the menu, and you food delivered before the waiter can be bothered to say, "thank you." You will get free green tea (which is very tasty, and you only have to leave the lid open and they will replace it with a fresh pot at no charge!). After sniffing your food for the first time, another waiter will throw the bill down in humble silence in front of you and rush off so as to avoid the embarrassment of the copious praise you will wish to bestow upon him. Don't bother tipping they won't remember you, and don't take anything personally, just sit back and enjoy the show! Well worth a visit or two.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Review of Wagamama
21 May 07, 18:01
This is about as Japanese as a Lamb Bhuna
After you have sat down at your table with a bunch of randoms, do not expect even a glimmer of Japanese authenticity. This is strictly eastern fusion food, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. So, the quality of food varies from just about okay to quite good. In my opinion the curries are a waste of time 'cos they taste like they were microwaved in a carrier bag. However the noodle soups are wholesome, filling, flavourful and generally pretty satisfying. As far as starters go they aren't great value, though some of them are tasty (like the prawn dumplings). If the beaver in you takes over and you feel like eating little chunks of mahogany go for the spicy chicken nugget thing to start. But whatever you do, wash it all down with a Kirin Ichiban beer, Japan's best export after Takeshi's Castle. This chain of restaurants is just one of those, "we can't think of anything else" places to eat, but I know I will end up eating there again anyway. Oh well...
1 out of 1 person found this review helpful.
Review of Satay House
29 May 07, 12:27
Might be excellent... 
Very busy (book in advance) Malaysian restaurant. Situated on two floors, the basement is has a private feel to it, in part due to the compartmentalisation of the space. Contemporarily furnished, it features large flat panel television screens and unobtrusive background pop music. Upstairs is decorated similarly but without the televisions or divisions of space, and has a intimate cafe feel to it. The food was pleasingly authentic, the starters (mixed satay selection) and mains (I had a beef rendang with a roti chani) were excellent, and tasted just as I had hoped. However, a shortage of staff meant service was lacking and as a result, a minor problem with my food was never fixed. At the end of the meal the manageress sincerely apologized, and discounted the meal significantly. As such, I can recommend this restaurant on the quality of the food alone, in the hope that I was just unlucky with a temporary blip in service.
1 out of 1 person found this review helpful.
Review of Crispy Duck
09 Jun 07, 12:19
Lots of lovely dim sum
Sitting inconspicuously amid the miriad of generic shopfronts in the heart of chinatown, this is a great place to grab a bite of lunch to eat with friends. Specialising in dim sum, it doesn't pander to a British palette and is a refreshingly authentic gaffe in the sea of sweet and sour houses that surround it. Go here with three or more friends, order about four dishes each and indulge in the resulting huge variety for about a tenner. Oh, and their jasmine tea is nice too.
1 out of 1 person found this review helpful.
Review of Crispy Duck
13 Jul 07, 10:57
Lunch is better
This is my second review of Crispy Duck, and I was slightly disappointed that the evening meal I had there with Rik (below) wasn't as good as the lunch I had had there on a previous occasion, even though it was perfectly palatable (chiu yim baby squid). My advice is to go before five to take advantage of the wide range of scrummy Dim Sum, because after that it's just another sweet and sour tourist trap.
1 out of 1 person found this review helpful.
Review of One Tun
13 Jul 07, 14:33
Go here! Get takeaways. Run away!
As you walk into this pub, there's a hybrid Thai restaurant/chippie tucked away in the corner. I ordered my lunch to eat in (take away available) which was served about 20 minutes later on this busy day, and I expected it to be at best average. However, looks can be deceiving, and the food was actually really good for a fiver (I had one of several available types of red curries with rice), unfortunately I made the mistake of sitting down. If I had chosen the take-away option, I'm sure I would have been perfectly happy and given four stars. But, the plate was cold, so the food went cold really quickly and on top of this, upstairs is run-down and looks like a cross between a school canteen and a working man's club. Oh, and they have blue plastic school chairs too. I will definitely go to the takeaway again, because the food's so good for a fiver, but I will never again patronise its grotty surrounding canteen-esque pub. My advice: go here, buy a takeaway and avoid the chairs at all costs.
0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.
Review of The Porterhouse
15 Jul 07, 03:02
Decent Pub in Covent Garden
This pub is pretty big with three floors and a little court yard at the front. The beers are pretty good, (no tasteless wash) and there's a huge selection, including the Special Brew beating ~14% Santa Claus Brew. I like sitting downstairs, because the lighting is pretty low, the atmosphere is relaxed so you can just forget that it's still day on the outside. Another reason why I prefer downstairs is because the decor down there shifts away from that of the rest of the pub (where the same styling is ubiquitous throughout), so it doesn't have such a chain pub feel to it like that of the upper two floors. The music is probably to the tastes of the average Radio One listener, and it's not loud or obtrusive. There lots of comfy seating, and there's plenty of table areas for big groups too. And although I haven't tried their food yet, I will based on the fact the chips are big and fat and look really tasty. Not bad for such a huge tavern.
0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.
Review of Misato
15 Jul 07, 03:35
Loads of food, small bill.
This place is great to overstuff your face with filling japanese food (not an oxymoron). In fact, I don't think I have ever managed to completely finish a portion of food from here. Their cutlet curries are a bit bland for my liking because they lack punch spicewise (I love chillies), though they still pass as perfectly legitimate meals. However for about £5 you can get a really big plate of japanese style deepfried chicken (available with a variety of sauces) with rice and salad. The chicken is always tasty and succulent (I think it's basically chicken thighs), and it comes with a big dollop of "homemade" mayonaise, which happens to taste just like salad creme, but maybe I'm just a cynic. If you want to feel like a proper porker for very little money go here. It's one of my regular weekend easy lunches, however, sometimes you may have to queue for twenty minutes to sit down because it gets really busy.
0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.