Tom H.

Review of Icco Pizza

30 Oct 07, 16:17

Cheap Fun

This place was a legend in my first year of Uni. With self catered halls just up the road and pizzas in the £3.50 region, it was a total bargin.

Four years later, I'm happy to find the cheap buzz continues. Your only real worry is getting a seat.

For cheap eats this place comes highly recommended.

1 out of 1 person found this review helpful.

Review of Shervingtons

17 Oct 07, 23:07

A tabacco lover's dream.

Now I know that smoking isn't healthy, and is Not A Good Thing, but this is a great shop.

It really will supply all of your tobacco dreams, from the well stocked humidor to a pack of 20 Camel Lights. The gemtlemen who work here ignored me initially, but nowadays seem much happier, perhaps they were just having a bad day the first time.

Now i go in there all the time for interessting rolling tobacco for ciggies, i like the vanilla one the best, and also for pipe tobacco of wihich they have an excellent selection.

Also there are a number of non-smoking related impliments, such as badger hair brushes and proper shaving kits. Lovely.

1 out of 1 person found this review helpful.

Review of Monmouth Coffee House

17 Oct 07, 16:24

A whole new world, of coffe

Now I know that coffee comes from two different types of beans and that there were more types than just instant or 'proper' coffee as we call it in my house. And that Nescafe carefully selected and blended their beans in an effort, at least it seemed to me to produce brown muck, but basically I knew nothing about coffee.

In to the picture swims Monmouth coffee. The first one I visited was in fact in the west end, near to seven dials, but this branch on a corner in foodie mecca, Brough Market is just as lovely.

I always used to think that the high pressure continential way was the best, but Monmouth use a simple combination of fresh grinding and drip filtering to produce quite some of the nicest coffee I have ever tasted. There's a long and complex menu setting out the coffee's by region, and giving an explanation of the flovour, much like a wine list. All very interessting, but ignore that and go straight for the coffee of the day. Some days it'll suit your tastes better than others, but it'll always be a new experience. I love Monmouth coffee, the sweetness and richness of some of the African coffee's is quite the revalation, just don't go messing it up with milk and sugar now, you heathens!

1 out of 1 person found this review helpful.

Review of 54 Restaurant

17 Oct 07, 13:59

For the love of pork.

Pork belly has to be one of my altime favourite dishes, and generally speaking i can find something to love in even the most unsympathetically cook swine's belly, but this one really was something else.

Underneat a perfect layer of crackling lay soft and yealding meat, with all of the fat gently cooked out to leave some the moistest (is that even a word) and giving pieces of piggy flesh it has ever been my joy to sample. I'd go back again just for this dish. Loveley apples, nice gravy beautiful stiff by smooth mash and some nice and fresh cale rounded off a superb dish.

I had other food as well, a lovely rabbit terine with some yummy puy lentils cooked in garlic, and the bread was fried giving an excellent crunch for the soft terrine to sit on.

Dessert of cooked figs and cream and banana ice cream was so good one of my companions tucked in as heartily as I did. Other dishes around the table looked equally as lovely, but for me, the star of the meal was the pork, really, really, i can't say really enough really, great.

Oh, and mustn't forget the service, our lovely Canadian waitress was a delight!

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Review of Myeyes

16 Oct 07, 02:05

Excellent

I've always had the most professional service from this excellent little independant opticians.

Any problems I've had with my glasses have been fixed swiftly and the selection of frames is contempory and stylish. Highly recommended.

1 out of 1 person found this review helpful.

Review of Prince Of Wales

16 Oct 07, 01:59

Little pub, big quiz

This is one of the hardest pub quizes in the country. I mean this as a challenge to pub quiz goers, you've got to try this one. The scoring of any points here is an enormous achievement. Apart form this, the Prince of Wales is a cozy little local right on the High Street, with a table out the back overlooking Pond Square for the smokers.

0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.

Review of Rose Kebab

16 Oct 07, 01:50

The best kebab shop in the world?

Rose's serves all your kebab favourites and always with a smile.

As one who has sampled most nearly all of the menu, i must say that these are the highlights:

The large lamb shish The large kofe The quarter pounder with cheese The Dave Special (one layer of beef, one of chicken, all topped off with cheese and salad [no onions] in a bun)

Stick with these and the excellent chips and you're in post pub heaven.

0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.

Review of Tinder Box

16 Oct 07, 01:47

Nice!

This light and airy coffee house has one really great feature, airline seats!

These seats look staight out of business class complete with fold out tables, and are great fun. The coffee's nice, but the seats are the winner.

0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.

Review of The Jerusalem Tavern

16 Oct 07, 01:45

Ale ale ale

This tiny pub was once voted most romantic in London, with its little tables forcing drinkers to sit quite close. This is, of course, not really a bad thing. The Jerusalem is the only pub selling the micro-brewed St Peter's ales in London. For an ale lover the St Peter's brewery is a dream come true, an enormous variety and each as individual and flavourful as the last. A trip to the Jerusalem is always a treat.

1 out of 1 person found this review helpful.

Review of The Cock Tavern

16 Oct 07, 01:41

Ah, meat!

The interior of this workmans pub, beneath Smithfield Market leaves somthing to be desired. In fact i think it looked better befor the upgrade.

If you can ignore the interior, and the large TV's dotted around, you'll find a true diamond in the rough. The food is excellent. the breakfasts especially so. With meat being traded throughout the night up above, the pub opens at 6am and begings serving booze at 6.30. And a pint of Guiness is just the tipple to go with the full Smithfield breakfast, chips, bacon sausage, eggs, tomato, black pudding, liver kidney and steak, and any combination you like.

If you've got a big day ahead of you check it out, you wont need to eat again till supper.

1 out of 1 person found this review helpful.

Review of Highgate Village Fruiterers

16 Oct 07, 01:22

Beautiful produce

The greengrocers at the bottom of the High St is how i prefere to refer to this great little shop. It's always full of such lovely fresh and seasonal food i defy anyone not to be inspired in their supper plans from just the briefest visit. The guys who work there are very knowlageable and always willing to give advice on preparation, or just a bit of idle chat, whichever takes your fancy

The flowers outside are regularly delivered and generally in a wonderfully wide selection. These can be delivered to the local area.

Everytime I leave I'm always heartened by having a bag full of real food rather than just the usual supermarket rubbish.

0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.

Review of Central Cuts

16 Oct 07, 01:15

The only place i get my hair cut.

That may sound like a strange title, but you see, i have a terrible fear of hairdressers.

At least thats my excuse. I never know what to do with my hair, and other people ave always seemed full of ideas, and march me off to the hairdressers, and i never leave very happy.

I need a relaxed atmospher in my slaon of choice, I get flustered by all the different choices and i never even seem able to remember which number i like my beard trimmed to.

All this adds up to making a trip to the hairdressers very stressful for me, which is why i like central cuts. The lovely ladies always manage to make me feel at ease, and ester seems to understand my desire for longish, but faff free hair. the job is always done quickly, and they even have manly magazines for me, all in all, i like it!

0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.

Review of C&S Motor Group

16 Oct 07, 01:06

24 hour vans

This is a van hire company with a big advantage over many others, its open 24 hours.

I find, having a busy working week means my only available time to hire a van is at the weekend. But then i find myself charged for two extra days, as many are closed on a sunday and in London, don't accept out of hours reterns. C & S is different, with the office open 24/7 you can hire and return at any time.

The vans are modern, well serviced, clean and most importantly, totally perfect for any white-van-man wannabe, cup holders aplenty and the radios tuned to speed garage stations, all superb. The rates are competitive and the only drawback being the slightly off the beaten track location, C & S answers all my hire needs, and i dont bother going anywhere else.

0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.

Review of James Smith and Sons Umbrellas

15 Oct 07, 23:57

Superbly esoteric shop

Looking for a different present for my girlfriend i wandered into this wonderful old shop slap bang at the bottom of Gower Street.

The staff were very helpful, although, as one unaccostomed to umbrella purchasing i was a little taken aback by the prices. However i have since found that the joy a unique and fun umbrella far outweighs the cost.

Great staff, wonderful shop, and every true lady or gent really should have a proper umbrella.

1 out of 1 person found this review helpful.

Review of Eagle Bar Diner

15 Oct 07, 01:11

Go for the 'Hard Milkshakes'

The menu of the this bar cum burger place is impressivly long, and flicking through you quickly realise that its mostly booze.

And what booze it is, the food is good, with big meaty burgers from a variety of animals, and good chips, but for me, the drinks shine.

The hard milkshakes, filled with yummy alcohol are a particular highlight, as is the root beer.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Review of 93 Feet East

15 Oct 07, 00:32

B52's

Really big B52's for £4, good value! Many different rooms, good music and a very very large car park out the back, seriously massive, 2 football pitches at least.

1 out of 1 person found this review helpful.

Review of Gerrys Off Licence

15 Oct 07, 00:01

Absinthe heaven

If you're looking for an unusual and ecclectic range of spirits, beat a path to Jerry's door.

With a vast selection of vodkas, rums and wines, absinthe where Jerry's really wins for me. With a selection ranging from the bog standard La Fee through the wild and wacky bottles to the 89.9% alcohol Hapsberg Special Reserve, Jerry's is the best place for your absinthe needs.

0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.

Review of The Flask

14 Oct 07, 23:50

Nice local boozer

The Flask has to be one of the most popular pubs in Highgate, with an extensive outdoor area with heaters in the winter, and a pleasingly cramped and cozy interior.

I noted on my last visit, last saturday that it was named eving standard pub of the year in 1974. Well the evenind standard crew really should drop by again, as it's still an excellent pub worthy of more up to date praise.

Some of the quirks of the place are found in the extensive outdoor area, which being entirly covered in tarmac, reminds one slightly of a carpark. The heaters also throw out a tremendous ammount of heat, and did in fact melt a picture frame hung outside.

The food is best described as standard, but quite good, british gastro pub fare. It's not exceptional and the quality can drop markedly when it kitchen is under pressure of a sunday lunch time.

Having said all this the flask is a nice little pub, well worth a visit.

1 out of 1 person found this review helpful.

Review of The Pineapple

14 Oct 07, 19:36

Good little local

I too would like to consider myself a regular of the quiz night, though i never seem to do very well.

The main room of the pub is rather dominated by the bar, with a small but good selection of beers on tap, not a massive choice, but something for everyone. There's a good selection of spirits as well with each major group being represented by some nice and not too expensive choices. I've never tried the relativly new Thai menu, but the look of the food is mouth watering.

One word of warning though, if you're going for the quiz on a monday, go early. You can't hear the questions in the much larger back room, and the front fills up.

0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.

Review of Kurz and Lang

14 Oct 07, 19:29

Some of the finest post fabric dining

I love this place. Working in a bar just around the corner until 4 am, can leave one ravenous, especially with the family meal in the bar being served some time around 6pm the previous day. Post shift food in the area is sandwiches or the burgers of tinseltown.

For a fiver you get the choice of sausages (i like the Kaiserwurst, a blend of pork and beef with a seam of cheese melting down the middle), what are described as cubed potatoes, but are in fact chips, sauerkraut and really nice bread. Wash it all down with a diet coke from a glass bottle, and I'm in post shift heaven.

1 out of 1 person found this review helpful.

Review of Ravi Shankar

11 Oct 07, 22:43

good stuff

I try and take myself off to ravi's about once every two weeks. The menu isn't extensive, and free of standard curryhouse fare.

But this is a good thing. As a die hard carnivore, my love of shankar's dhal is perhaps confusing, until of course one tries it. Early in the week it tends to be a bit thicker and adhers to the chipartis a little easier, but i like fridays, with an excitinly flovoured thin dhal, two chapartis and the friday special of vegetable biriani.

Not the cheapest lunch spot but well worth trying on a friday, and if not, go for the Mysor Thali, an Indian set meal.

0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.