Latest reviews by allolex

Mucho Mas

allolex — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 17:14:43 +0000

Rating: 4.2

Location: 27 Upper St, N1 0PN, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7704 2123

Website: http://www.mucho-mas.co.uk

Tags: mexican, cheap eats, good value

More Mexican than the competitionThere have been a number of burrito places that have recently opened up in London, and Mucho MÃ¡s is one of the latest. Conveniently located near the Angel shopping centre on Upper Street, I'm sure this location will be crawling with punters in no time at all. They have competition down the street in almost exactly the same formula: assembly-line burrito production in front of the customer using fresh ingredients.

The burritos here have a rustic quality that reminds me of the cheap Mexican hole-in-the-wall joints that abound in my native Southern California. The hot sauce is really hot and most locals should stick with the medium or mild unless you like your curries vindaloo. The guacamole is good, but overpriced at Â£1 to add it to your burrito. The pricing for extras reminds me of Hamburger Union, in a bad way. The Mexican girls behind the counter know their way around a burrito and you'll find none of the "design flaws" that you get down the road at Tortilla. However, their customer service skills don't hold a light to those at the competition.

Mucho MÃ¡s has plenty of space, but they seem to like to keep the upstairs area closed.

Tortilla

allolex — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 17:03:44 +0000

Rating: 4.0

Location: 13 Islington High Street, N1 9LQ, London, United Kingdom

Website: www.tortilla.co.uk

Tags: american, cal-mex, californian, cheap eat, good value, crowded, mexican, lively

Good, fresh Cal-Mex foodI've been to this restaurant twice since it opened. I'll have to hedge on an unqualified vote of confidence in the food at Tortilla, but they seem to have the right idea when it comes to customer service. I grew up in Southern California, by the way.

The ingredients are fresh, and every burrito is prepared fresh in front of you, using chafing dishes and containers much like you might find at Subway.

You get a choice of two kinds of rice ("Spanish"--actually Mexican, and lemon/coriander) and two kinds of beans (pinto or black--go with the pintos for a truly Californian experience).

You should also be able to choose from three kinds of meat, but I haven't yet had the carnitas (pork); it was not available because they were still "perfecting" the dishes. Carnitas is by far my favourite burrito meat, so that was a disappointment. The other options are, of course, chicken and beef (carne asada [de res]).

The hot sauces aren't hot and you shouldn't take their advice for the pairings. The salsa verde is better with pork than with anything else, but I'll always go for the hot sauce.

There are other ingredients as well. Guacamole costs 50p extra.

They have a tendency to overfill the burritos so that they burst when you are eating them. This is a sign that the staff are still learning the ropes. Try asking for less rice, maybe, since it's not really an integral part of a burrito.

The staff also got the order wrong on three of the five burritos we have ordered here. The mistakes were fixed, no questions asked.

Their rubbish disposal system is abysmal, with frustrated customers just piling the rubbish up on the bins.

I recommend this place, but I think the burritos at the place up the road are a bit better (and the hot sauce is actually hot!) It's a pretty close call, though, since I think that Mucho MÃ¡s overcharges on guacamole (Â£1).

The Islington Tapas Bar

allolex — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 16:38:18 +0000

Rating: 2.5

Location: 21 Essex Road, N1 2SA, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7226 3272

Tags: spanish, cheap eat, good value

(3.5 stars) A good budget to mid-priced optionThis restaurant is a 3.5/5 in my book.

I've been to the Islington Tapas Bar (ITB) about six times since discovering them about a year ago. My partner and I are big fans of tapas and Spanish cuisines in general and had been looking for something in North London for quite some time. and Islington's close enough to North London for us.

The food here will not knock your socks off like the dishes they serve at Barrafina, but I think the ITB serves good food, especially considering the price. Try the croquettes and any of the chicken dishes. Make sure you order bread to soak up the sauces.

We generally order Ã la carte, but have also tried the "tapas for a tenner" offer they have. They would go out of business if they allowed their customers to order willy-nilly, so they restrict the menu to less expensive dishes and logically require that you finish the three (or so?) dishes you can order in one go. The trick is to order the light options first and the heavy ones last.

Two people can eat here for less than Â£40 with wine. We generally come in around Â£50-60 because of what and the way we order.

Vrisaki Kebab House

allolex — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 23:09:31 +0000

Rating: 3.0

Location: 73 Myddleton Road, N22 8LZ, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 88898760

Tags: mediterranean, friendly waitstaff, cyrus, cypriot, out of the way, grill, greek, seafood, cheap eat, good value

Celebrity-frequented Cypriot gourmet heavenVrisaki has been something of a hot tip among my co-workers for years and it took me a couple of months to go try it. I first had a döner kebab from the front of the restaurant, which looks like a standard kebab shop. It was very good. I went back the next week and had the grilled chicken kebab, which was even better--although it did seem suspiciously good for me.

It took me another month before I sat down in the restaurant itself. The kebab shop front opens into a space with about fifteen tables for proper seated dining. On the menu, I found just about every grilled item they make up front, plus a large number of salad options, seafood, and traditional Cypriot dishes--mezes and the like.

The portions are generous, and you should never bother ordering a salad since the mains all come with a mixed salad, not to mention the olives, radishes, houmous, feta, and pita that are automatically served to you once you sit down.

The grilled dishes are all excellent, but the single best meal I had was the fried red mullet, which you are supposed to eat whole "like chips", as our waiter put it.

The area around Vrisaki is not particularly scenic, but it is only five minutes from Bowes Park overground station, straight down Myddleton Road. Vrisaki is definitely worth a detour.

Barrafina

allolex — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 22:40:36 +0000

Rating: 4.5

Location: 54 Frith St, W1D 4SL, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7813 8010

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

Tags: tapas, barstool seating, catalan, wine bar, good value, spanish, friendly staff

A real hommage to Cal PepAs far as I'm concerned, Barrafina has no direct competition in London. The food is excellent, service very food, the location ideal, and the lack of comfortable seating keeps the non-serious eaters away and the serious ones from settling in for too long.

But we keep coming back!

The menu options are wide-ranging, with a strong bias towards grilled and flash-fried seafood. It also appears to be seasonal, always a good thing.

Since it's a tapas restaurant, how much your final bill will be really depends on how much of a glutton you are. My girlfriend and I tend to order quite a bit, but spend on average about 100-120 for both of us, including two bottles of cava. Even the cheaper wines are excellent here and nothing tastes better with this food than a bit of the bubbly.