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Thai Fountain - review by lmcturk

Sat, 27 Sep 2008 19:26:05 +0000

Thai Fountain - review by lmcturk

Rating: 4.0

Location: 2 Woodside Crescent, G3 7UL, Glasgow, United Kingdom

Tags: thai

This was one of my favourite restaurants when I studied in Glasgow between 1998 - 2002. When I returned in Feb08 I was grossly disappointed with the food. The red thai curry the only thing I would class as edible, everything else was almost tasteless. Also, the staff reacted very poorly to my constructive feedback. I would not recommend this and will never be returning. :-(

Thai Fountain - review by obidder

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 13:58:59 +0000

Thai Fountain - review by obidder

Rating: 4.0

Location: 2 Woodside Crescent, G3 7UL, Glasgow, United Kingdom

Tags: lively, family & home feel, good value, crowded, thai, romantic

Unfortunately i don't live in Glasgow any more, i had to move down south because of work. One of the things i miss is my visits to the Thai Fountain. It is such a wonderful restaurant, i sometimes think about coming up specifically to have a meal here! The ambiance of the place is fantastic, with the water features - my kids loved them! The menu is extensive and has all types of different dishes, so you won't have any difficulty finding something you like. All the meals i have ever had here have been delicious, and cooked to perfection. I've not had anything like it since!

Sagar - review by CPaskell

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 14:11:55 +0000

Sagar - review by CPaskell

Rating: 4.5

Location: 157 King Street, W6 9JT, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 8741 8563

Tags: indian, good value

This is a lovely, relaxed and modern looking South Indian restaurant serving vegetarian food. The quality and taste of the food are great - and you can get dosa, poori and battura bread, which you can't find in regular Indian food places. The prices are good too - Â£4 for a curry, such as daal or chana massala. The garlic rice is also a favourite of mine. The staff are friendly and don't buzz around you, so there is a nice relaxed atmosphere. Generally this place does not attract the loud beer-guzzling Hammersmith Friday-night crowd, which is a plus (maybe that's because it's a veggie restaurant?) and they do good value for money lunch menu options. The decor is quite bright and warm, with smooth wooden tables and chairs - some people don't like this because of the lack of a 'private' feel, but for me it means that you know it's definitely very clean and they are not hiding dirt in any hidden-away dark corners.

Thai Fountain - review by Promethea

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 04:18:04 +0000

Thai Fountain - review by Promethea

Rating: 4.0

Location: 2 Woodside Crescent, G3 7UL, Glasgow, United Kingdom

Tags: romantic, thai, expensive

Corny pun but what the heck: this is a great restaurant. And they do have little water features! Very extensive menu, very classy atmosphere and sophisticated waiting staff. It is located in a side street quite near the Mitchell Library and Clydesdale Bank. My favourite dish there is the Thai Green Curry, simple but very well made. It is fully licensed and has a good range of wines. Just whatever you do don't drink too much and go to the karaoke bar across the road, you will regret it. We did and ended up singing Black Velvet - worse, we had to listen to some guy doing Dancing On The Ceiling.

Gaucho Piccadilly - review by DanWilkinson

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 09:47:43 +0000

Gaucho Piccadilly - review by DanWilkinson

Rating: 3.4

Location: 19 Swallow Street, W1B 4DJ, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7734 4040

Website: http://www.gauchosgrill.com

Tags: lively, argentinean, piccadilly, steak, london

Now, for some reason, the below-mentioned hype surrounding this place has passed me by, which probably contributes to my positive review. All I'd heard was that the steaks were pretty good, and Gaucho more than delivered on that.

The missus took me here for my birthday, as she knows all too well how much I like a nicely-treated ribeye. It was a Wednesday night, and the place was rammed, but the sort of 'lively' rammed, rather than the 'sardines' type. Despite this, our waitress managed to deliver the sort of prompt, attentive and competent service that should really be standard in London, but which is sadly somewhat rare.

We kicked off by sharing a ceviche platter, partnered by a lovely light, crisp Torrontes which said waitress had recommended. Torrontes can be a bit oily and over-aromatic in the wrong hands, but this was spot on, cutting through the lime, chilli and herbs in the ceviches and gently underpinning the more delicate seafood notes with ease.

The steaks were indeed excellent, although the practice of bringing examples of all of them to the table was pretty superfluous and a bit gimmicky if I'm honest. Mine was as rare as I'd asked for, which in itself isn't that common for steaks in London. The Norton Privada that accompanied it was as great as always, so good to see that wine on the list too.

With a well-kept selection of cheeses to finish with and a complimentary glass of birthday Champagne too, I couldn't fault the entire experience.

I'm sure that, if you've been to Argentina, or if you've been told this is up there with the Fat Duck, you'll be disappointed. However, Argentina this is not, and it's a high-mid-priced central London restaurant, so with that in mind I think you'll find it's really pretty good.

Gaucho Piccadilly - review by vexille

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 18:48:49 +0000

Gaucho Piccadilly - review by vexille

Rating: 3.4

Location: 19 Swallow Street, W1B 4DJ, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7734 4040

Website: http://www.gauchosgrill.com

Tags: Steaks, Argentinian Steak

...in London?

Well, that's what I thought! It's a quarterly outing for myself, friends and family. Situated just by Picadilly Circus you wouldn't really expect it to be tucked away when the food is that good.

The ambience is fantastic, light enough to be comfortable and everthing looks as you would imagine in a far pricier restaurant. Cow skin seats and chandelliers litter the room.

Service is again top notch, waiters and waitresses taking their time to explain each cut of meat, where it's from and the best way to enjoy it. Always at your beck and call but never obtrusive. The selection of beef is incredible from clean cut steaks to 30 days marinaded cuts. Chose from selected sizes or ask for the largest cut you can handle!

Price is very reasonable for what are very good cuts of meat, approximately Â£35 per head with wine.

Highly recommended!

Gioia Mia - review by Sterix

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 11:40:32 +0000

Gioia Mia - review by Sterix

Rating: 4.2

Location: 270 Uxbridge Road, W12 7JA, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 8743 5500

Tags: italian, family & home feel, good value, crowded, romantic, lively

Was a wonderful restaurant, so many happy memories of the place. Feel like I have lost a very good friend. Had not been for 6 months due to birth of our daughter. We were planning to go this week for our first meal out since the birth only to find it shut and being wrecked by builders.
Even worse news it is now being converted to a chicken Cottage, not too late to stop the licence please go to the council website and under planning search for 270 Uxbridge road
and oppose the licence to try and stop the onward march of rubbish Chicken joints down the Uxbridge road

Gaucho Piccadilly - review by Browners

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 16:36:20 +0000

Gaucho Piccadilly - review by Browners

Rating: 3.4

Location: 19 Swallow Street, W1B 4DJ, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7734 4040

Website: http://www.gauchosgrill.com

Tags: expensive, argentina, business, steak

Victoria and Alex gave us a very good pre meal analysis. Expect glitz and glamour; immaculate mear; slick service; steep prices; good chips. But occassionaly watch out for inconsistent service, greasy vegetables and listen to how you should have your steak.

Armed with this wealth of advice it all seemed to correct as we shown to our table amongst a dark and sultry dining room. A huge space, crawling with money and girls who had spent hours getting ready and men who were about to spend a fortune.

We settled in and were shown the array of steaks on a wooden board. The waitress gabbled through the description so rapidly we didn't catch a word she said. But Victoria had given us a good sumamry so we weren't too fussed. I ordered a 400g lump of rib eye which the waitress advised me to have medium. I insisted that it should be pink and she said it would be. Cowie ordered a trout ceviche and a prawn and palm heart salad.

The trout ceviche wasn't. It was a collection of three generous slices of cured trout. But it hadn't been cured in citric acid. Now I am clearly no Peruvian but I did think that lemon or lime juice was the central ingredient. A bit like ordering toast and getting bread. It was very tasty, just a bit of a problem for anyone who gets annoyed by misdescriptions.

Then onto the main show. The warm up was over and the headline act was taking the stage. My mega steak arrived with great cermeony. Lots of bernaise. Some chips. A big hunk of....

O dear....

Massively overcooked steak. Grey and rigid it stood lifeless like those a performance artist in Covent Garden. And the chips were cold.

We called over the waitress with a smile and a firm look. She whisked it away and told the chef to cook a fresh one. Meanwhile Cowie devoured her prawn and palm heart salad. It was tasty but incredibly stingy. Cowie counted six medium sized prawns. And then realised that they had all been sliced in half so she had actually only had 3! Three prawns! Not good enough.

10 minutes later my replacement steak arrived. I could hear it mooing as it arrived. As I sliced it in half I could hear the staff collectively sigh with relief. Or maybe I could hear myself. It was tender, juicy and tasted of animal. You could really taste the beef. A delightful piece of meat. The bernaise sauce was fantastic but the second bowl of chips were as cold as the first. Disappointing.

Our carafe of Malbec was delicious. But we didn't need it pouring for us. If you are given a jug of wine the protocol is that you pour it yourself. Cowie only wanted one glass. Having finished her first glass the waitress steamed over and agressively filled it to the brim leaving me with 3/4 of a steak to eat with no wine. Yet another irritant. Cowie and I swapped glasses. But we shouldn't have had to.

Scanning the room we completely agreed that this is one of the best restaurants we have been to for people spotting. Over Cowie's left shoulder was a girl tarted up to the nines wearing a short black dress, some scary heels with a tattoo on her foot. The both fesated on well done steaks whilst drinking glasses of rose topped up to the brim. Kissing and fondling their way through the meal they were having a great time.

It's also great fun to watch the chef at work on the grill. With an earpiece wedged into the side of his head I was surprised he managed to completely balls up my steak.

It was one of the best steaks I have had in London. But given that the first was awful the overall mark averages out as being well below par. Add to that Cowie's measly prawn salad and the abysmal service and you've got glitzy money trap. Give me the steaks we had in Buenos Aires or the USA anyday.

Bistro 1 - review by Coffeegeek

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 21:15:51 +0000

Bistro 1 - review by Coffeegeek

Rating: 3.6

Location: 75 Beak Street, W1F 9SS, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7287 1840

Tags: lively, cheap eat, mediterranean

Cheap eats with well cooked food served by nice people. The food is basic grilled meat/ fish with rice and salad but cooked well and very reasonably priced.

I've eaten here many times over the years and this weekends experience was as good as ever. We got my fave table, in the window, and had bread and olives, two starters, two generous mains and a bottle of gluggable house red. The bill was Â£32 + a well deserved tip.

A if that wasnâ¬"t enough, thereâ¬"s always a lively atmosphere with a good mix of locals and tourists.

If you want dinner in Soho and donâ¬"t want expensive or fancy you canâ¬"t do much better than here.

I hope to be returning many times in the future.

Gaucho Piccadilly - review by Thomasinho

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 11:33:02 +0000

Gaucho Piccadilly - review by Thomasinho

Rating: 3.4

Location: 19 Swallow Street, W1B 4DJ, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7734 4040

Website: http://www.gauchosgrill.com

Tags: expensive, crowded

When I was asked to Join a group of friends to grab a steak at Gaucho, I was filled with the excitement, you might expect a child to have, on the way to visit the ultimate tellie tubbies celebration. A good steak is fantastic to someone who spent four years living in the South of Brazil in the city of Curitiba, So I have had my fair share of Latin American Steaks. I was expecting a fine, delicious piece of meat, but was frankly dissapointed,
The place was packed full of people, the atmosphere, was similar to what you may find in a busy mall restaurant, the waitress came presenting a tray with examples of meat, and I made my choice.
When it came, it was nothing like the meat I had experienced in Sao Paulo, at some of the fine argentine steak houses they have, or Mario's in Rio. It was lesser quality, less taste. The wine was good, the service rubbish, and I just felt I could have got a better deal somewhere else.
I think Floridita makes a better steak, for a better price, and you get great ambience, and ok service.

Bistro 1 - review by SallyYSP

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 22:15:55 +0000

Bistro 1 - review by SallyYSP

Rating: 3.6

Location: 75 Beak Street, W1F 9SS, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7287 1840

Tags: lively, cheap eat, brasserie

This place is great for a group meal. Had a birthday bash here and the food was great, excellent value and the staff were lovely.

Do try it, well worth an impromptu drop in at the weekend with two courses for a tenner. Can't lose!

Sagar - review by ruperthowe

Wed, 05 Dec 2007 16:42:53 +0000

Sagar - review by ruperthowe

Rating: 4.5

Location: 157 King Street, W6 9JT, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 8741 8563

Tags: indian, good value

This place really can be stunning.

When it first opened, it had huge plate glass windows and very bright lights and was always empty, despite the quality of the food - my mother-in-law, who's a cookery writer and an Indophile who LOVES it here, made it her personal crusade to get them to dim the lights and soften the atmosphere and post their rave review in Time Out in the window, which they eventually did, slightly amused and bemused.

Now they're deservedly busy. Because of the food. They still have things to learn about ambience.

Don't sit near the stairs, for instance. For as long as it's been open, that part of the restaurant has always smelled of amazingly acrid cleaning chemicals.

Puris for dessert are fabulous.

Gioia Mia - review by amandaharrison

Wed, 05 Dec 2007 14:14:22 +0000

Gioia Mia - review by amandaharrison

Rating: 4.2

Location: 270 Uxbridge Road, W12 7JA, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 8743 5500

Tags: italian, family & home feel, cheap eat, crowded, romantic, lively

When I lived in The Bush Gioia Mia was a regular haunt, a perfect neighbourhood local. Cosy and warm, romantic and busy, a great place and I've had many lovely evenings here.

Gaucho Piccadilly - review by GreenHippo

Wed, 05 Dec 2007 13:31:30 +0000

Gaucho Piccadilly - review by GreenHippo

Rating: 3.4

Location: 19 Swallow Street, W1B 4DJ, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7734 4040

Website: http://www.gauchosgrill.com

Tags: american, steak, good value, cocktails, crowded, central

I had heard of Gaucho - something about steak and being not bad so my expectations were not that high...

However, I experienced this place last week when I took a client for lunch. Let me start with the greeting - the girl on the door was fun and had a real sense of humour. I was greeted by name when I went upstairs (so I guess the door girl was efficient too!) and shown to a "quiet" table (something I had requsted at the time I booked).

The decor is cool - cowhide on the walls and a preponderance of wood and leather....but swish too.

They had a good cocktail list - and the mojitos were fab - so good that I found myself ordering two (even though this was lunchtime!).

But you come here for the steak - and the choice was pretty substantive. Various choices of cuts, side dishes, etc. The waiter explained the choices in detail which was much appreciated as some of the cuts were Argentinian and not that familiar. Personally, I thought the food excellent - decent in quantity and quality.

I will definitely come back....

Gaucho Piccadilly - review by mad4IT

Tue, 04 Dec 2007 15:19:09 +0000

Gaucho Piccadilly - review by mad4IT

Rating: 3.4

Location: 19 Swallow Street, W1B 4DJ, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7734 4040

Website: http://www.gauchosgrill.com

Tags: brazilian, middle eastern, expensive

Gaucho's do unarguably good steaks, but it's expensive and dull.

Avoid if you have vegetarians in your group!!!