Latest reviews in Hackney Wick, London, United Kingdom

Jongleurs Comedy Club - Curtis Walker top show by Rhydster

Rhydster — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 04:05:06 +0000

Review by Rhydster

Rating: 4.00

I went there to see a Curtis Walker show, which was fantastic and well worth the effort.

The good: the venue itself is cool with a bar area before you enter the stage seating, which is darkly decorated giving a theatrical effect. There's plenty of prompt table service to avoid the need to return to the bar yourself for top ups.

It's located amongst nice wharf dockside scenery, as you approach this could help to set your mood. Curtis Walker was excellent and I would highly recommend it to anyone. I would even consider a revisit. Just donâ¬"t sit in the front row if you're sensitive!

The bad: drinks are a bit pricey. Itâ¬"s quite remotely located from Mile End station.
I went there to see a Curtis Walker show, which was fantastic and well worth the effort.

The good: the venue itself is cool with a bar area before you enter the stage seating, which is darkly decorated giving a theatrical effect. There's plenty of prompt table service to avoid the need to return to the bar yourself for top ups.

It's located amongst nice wharf dockside scenery, as you approach this could help to set your mood. Curtis Walker was excellent and I would highly recommend it to anyone. I would even consider a revisit. Just donâ¬"t sit in the front row if you're sensitive!

The bad: drinks are a bit pricey. Itâ¬"s quite remotely located from Mile End station.

Fat Cat Cafe Bar - Cool, chilled hangout by topruss

topruss — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 11:24:41 +0000

Review by topruss

Rating: 5.00

Phone: 020 8983 4353

Website: www.fatcatcafebars.co.uk

Tags: cosy, smoking, lunch

A Cool, chilled hangout for the area . Food is good value and staff are friendly all though a little slowA Cool, chilled hangout for the area . Food is good value and staff are friendly all though a little slow

Fish House - Fish House by topruss

topruss — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 10:05:20 +0000

Review by topruss

Rating: 5.00

Phone: 020 8533 3327

Tags: lively, british, good value

Not the cheapest around ( Â£10 for cod, chips and mushy peas ) but my god its the best . The portions are huge so dont plan to do much after here as all i could manage was the sofa .
Highly reccomend and ring to book table outside .Not the cheapest around ( Â£10 for cod, chips and mushy peas ) but my god its the best . The portions are huge so dont plan to do much after here as all i could manage was the sofa .
Highly reccomend and ring to book table outside .

Namo - Best Spare Ribs by sokratis

sokratis — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 10:09:18 +0000

Review by sokratis

Rating: 4.00

Phone: 020 8533 0639

Website: http://www.namo.co.uk/

Tags: vietnamese, good value, lively

I'm not exaggerating. I went to Namo with friends this weekend and the spare ribs are simply the best I have had in the UK. Melt-in-mouth tenderness, full flavour without excess grease to spoil the package. The rest of the food was delicious with the soft shell crab, Vietnamese spring rolls and my chilli beef with aubergine providing a fuss-free, ideal pre-Saturday night out feast. The mango cheesecake in the end was quite refreshing as well.
Accompanied by a very modest and well-priced wine list and attentive and friendly staff, this is a genuinely good Vietnamese, with an average price of Â£20-25 per head for a three course meal and wine.
The crowd is neo-Hackney urbanites (i.e. predominantly white, Guardian readers in their late twenties, early thirties), which I guess is a good thing. Try Namo, I'm sure you'll like it.
I'm not exaggerating. I went to Namo with friends this weekend and the spare ribs are simply the best I have had in the UK. Melt-in-mouth tenderness, full flavour without excess grease to spoil the package. The rest of the food was delicious with the soft shell crab, Vietnamese spring rolls and my chilli beef with aubergine providing a fuss-free, ideal pre-Saturday night out feast. The mango cheesecake in the end was quite refreshing as well.
Accompanied by a very modest and well-priced wine list and attentive and friendly staff, this is a genuinely good Vietnamese, with an average price of Â£20-25 per head for a three course meal and wine.
The crowd is neo-Hackney urbanites (i.e. predominantly white, Guardian readers in their late twenties, early thirties), which I guess is a good thing. Try Namo, I'm sure you'll like it.

Elbows Cafe - My favorite one... by Vasso

Vasso — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 23:22:34 +0000

Review by Vasso

Rating: 5.00

Tags: cosy, takeaway, quick bite

Really good coffee, great 'homemade' food, excellent service (always smiley and polite). Definitely try it for breakfast or brunch. Especially on a sunny day! Victoria Park is 2mins away for an after walk.... to digest!! :)Really good coffee, great 'homemade' food, excellent service (always smiley and polite). Definitely try it for breakfast or brunch. Especially on a sunny day! Victoria Park is 2mins away for an after walk.... to digest!! :)

The Empress Of India - Disappointing but not disastrous by savagepink

savagepink — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 12:15:51 +0000

Review by savagepink

Rating: 2.00

Phone: 020 8533 5123

Website: http://www.theempressofindia.com

Tags: gastro pub, lively, bar

We made our first visit to the Empress on a Saturday afternoon. We called and booked a table for 3pm, only to be told on arrival that the kitchen closed at 3pm, and our booking shouldn't have been taken. The hostess offered to serve us one course. After asserting ourselves, she agreed to speak to the kitchen again and we were told we could order as we wished. An inauspicious start.

We kicked off with a pint of prawns each. All of the prawns were full of roe which made the job of eating them particularly messy, and I'm never comfortable eating prawns which have been harvested during spawning. Â£8 a pint was a bit steep.

As a main we both opted for the sirloin steak with hand-cut chips. The cuts were on the bone, but particularly thin (about 1/2 to 1 cm thick) and laden with fat & gristle. They were perfectly cooked (rare and medium as requested) but under seasoned. The chips were excellent, fat cut and fried twice - lovely and crispy outside and fluffy inside. Again, overpriced at Â£15.50 a plate, considering the poor cuts of meat.

The wine list was excellent - we had a glass of Chapel Down sparkling wine with our prawns and an excellent bottle of Coto Imaz Rioja.

The restaurant itself was busy and *very* noisy -- a downfall of the room's acoustics. After the faux pas on arrival, the service was generally quite good, though we had to search for someone to bring us salt & pepper.

With three bottles of water and 12.5% service, our bill came to Â£106 - a bit more than I would have expected for lunch!

Conclusion: Good service, very average food, restricted menu (not generally a problem where more imagination is employed) and certainly very overpriced considering the portion size and quality of ingredients. I won't be tempted to eat here again, but I might have a bottle of wine and some chips!
We made our first visit to the Empress on a Saturday afternoon. We called and booked a table for 3pm, only to be told on arrival that the kitchen closed at 3pm, and our booking shouldn't have been taken. The hostess offered to serve us one course. After asserting ourselves, she agreed to speak to the kitchen again and we were told we could order as we wished. An inauspicious start.

We kicked off with a pint of prawns each. All of the prawns were full of roe which made the job of eating them particularly messy, and I'm never comfortable eating prawns which have been harvested during spawning. Â£8 a pint was a bit steep.

As a main we both opted for the sirloin steak with hand-cut chips. The cuts were on the bone, but particularly thin (about 1/2 to 1 cm thick) and laden with fat & gristle. They were perfectly cooked (rare and medium as requested) but under seasoned. The chips were excellent, fat cut and fried twice - lovely and crispy outside and fluffy inside. Again, overpriced at Â£15.50 a plate, considering the poor cuts of meat.

The wine list was excellent - we had a glass of Chapel Down sparkling wine with our prawns and an excellent bottle of Coto Imaz Rioja.

The restaurant itself was busy and *very* noisy -- a downfall of the room's acoustics. After the faux pas on arrival, the service was generally quite good, though we had to search for someone to bring us salt & pepper.

With three bottles of water and 12.5% service, our bill came to Â£106 - a bit more than I would have expected for lunch!

Conclusion: Good service, very average food, restricted menu (not generally a problem where more imagination is employed) and certainly very overpriced considering the portion size and quality of ingredients. I won't be tempted to eat here again, but I might have a bottle of wine and some chips!