Latest reviews by allolex's friends

Four Seasons Supermarket - review by savagepink

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 14:03:15 +0000

Four Seasons Supermarket - review by savagepink

Rating: 3.0

Location: 281 Green Lanes, N4 2EX, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 8800 3453

Tags: mediterranean, mediterranean cornershop

Usually have good quality fresh veg, big selection of Turkish and Polish deli goods, and the usual household items. Decent selection of wines. Ice. Newspapers. Recently added Oyster cards to their list of available services. Open til 11pm.

The Nelsons Head - review by savagepink

Sat, 20 Oct 2007 13:03:59 +0000

The Nelsons Head - review by savagepink

Rating: 4.0

Location: 32 Horatio Street, E2 7SB, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7739 6054

Tags: pub unique

We stumbled across the Nelson's Head by accident. A cosy corner pub on an unassuming side street (between Hackney Road and Columbia Road), the decor is charming -- all dark blues, cinema seats around the walls, big wooden tables and lots of candles, with a great nautical twist. Very friendly staff and a good selection of beers. Dog friendly too -- there were some charming Jack Russells there when we visited.

The Nelson's doesn't do food - but (this is so cool) they have all the local delivery menus, and will give you crockery and cutlery, candles and napkins -- the works. Sit down, have your meal delivered, and someone else does the washing up. Genius!!

Highly recommended.

Pappagone - review by savagepink

Sat, 20 Oct 2007 12:52:41 +0000

Pappagone - review by savagepink

Rating: 3.8

Location: 129-131 Stroud Green Road, N4 3PX, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7263 2114

Website: http://www.pizzeria-pappagone.com/

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

Pappagone is a place that I return to again and again. You are always assured of a warm welcome. The restaurant is big, and nearly always full & buzzing (so many diners can't be wrong). Their kitchen consistently produces great pasta, pizza cooked in a wood-burning stove, and some excellent main courses including T-bone steak. Everything is fresh and made with top quality ingredients. The service is fantastic. When they added the gelato bar at the front, I knew my thighs were in trouble. Even if you're stuffed, you'd be stupid to skip the gelato!
I know I'm raving, but I have never had a bad dish there.

Pizza Hut - review by savagepink

Sat, 20 Oct 2007 12:26:55 +0000

Pizza Hut - review by savagepink

Rating: 2.0

Location: Unit 3, N16 7HU, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7923 1133

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

Tags: pizza delivery takeaway

This is my local branch. Generally I opt for more "authentic" pizza, but sometimes nothing other than "trash pizza" will scratch the itch.

I usually avoid ordering from this branch as I find it below-par, even on the Pizza Hut scale. Don't know what they are doing wrong but they are always late, messy, and covered in grease.

Yeah I know... it's Pizza Hut! But it's a "7" on the PH scale. There is a Domino's near by, if you must indulge in the trash pizza experience.

The Empress Of India - review by savagepink

Sat, 20 Oct 2007 12:16:53 +0000

The Empress Of India - review by savagepink

Rating: 2.5

Location: 130 Lauriston Road, E9 7LH, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 8533 5123

Website: http://www.theempressofindia.com

Tags: lively, gastro pub, crowded, expensive

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!

La Porchetta - review by savagepink

Tue, 03 Jul 2007 18:55:35 +0000

La Porchetta - review by savagepink

Rating: 4.1

Location: 33 Boswell Street, WC1N 3BP, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7242 2434

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

Definitely one of the best pizzerias in London, and they have other branches in Stroud Green (the original) and Roseberry Avenue. Excellent value and fresh ingredients add up to a winning combination. Not a gourmet joint by any standards, but good hearty fare and a good time.