Latest favourites and wishlist by barbd

Shunt Vaults - review by Brooklyn45

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 02:38:14 +0000

Shunt Vaults - review by Brooklyn45

Rating: 4.6

Location: 20 Stainer Street, SE1 9RL, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7378 7776

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

Tags: friendly, mature, cool & smart, young professionals, underground

Not sure what the Shunt Vaults are like today. But, when we visited two years ago (to see a show called "Tropicana") the experience was terrific. Tropicana was the show and the main task (at least for us) was to find out how to get in. The entrance to the "show" was through a door in a wall (very well concealed) in the side of a tube station. Once we figured this out we were escorted through the entrance into what appeared to be the locker room for the tube employees. Then we went through a locker (no kidding) and entered into an area where we could order (and get) drinks through a rather small window. After that we went down an elevator to the "vaults". The rest of the evening was a mixture of completely dark (entirely) and then rather extraordinary props and characters. Overall it was a great evening. We would do it again in a heartbeat. And now that the UK pound is coming down from the stratosphere we may very well be in London in a few weeks. We always look forward to our return. We love the U.K. and can't wait to get back.

Coffee @ Brick Lane - review by CristinaA

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 14:04:15 +0000

Coffee @ Brick Lane - review by CristinaA

Rating: 3.8

Location: 154 Brick Lane, E1 6RU, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7247 6735

Tags: quick bite, good brew

So so chilled. I love this place.

You can use their internet facilities (it's cheaper in the internet cafe up the road) and it's colourful and vibrant.

I could sit in here and do work or sit outside and chat, it's not too noisy and the interior is unique.

Oh... And the coffee is quite good too!

Barrafina - review by sulin

Sun, 26 Oct 2008 00:14:26 +0000

Barrafina - review by sulin

Rating: 4.5

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

Phone: 020 7813 8010

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

Tags: lively, spanish, crowded, expensive

A good friend of mine happened to be in town last week and so we arranged to meet at Barrafina, one of his favourite restaurants in London and one that Iâ¬"d been meaning to try. We met there at noon on a Saturday and were the second and third people to grab seats at the bar. The place filled up within half an hour so it seems the best thing to do is to get there when it just opens (they donâ¬"t take bookings).

When I saw ham croquetas on the menu, I knew I had to have them! We ordered those while still perusing the menu. They were extremely creamy inside and crisp on the outside and exactly how I like my croquetas!

From the daily specials, we ordered the grilled razor clams with olive oil, garlic and parsley. These were probably cooked a la plancha and were not at all rubbery but tender and so flavourful. My friend recommended the grilled lamb cutlets from the regular menu and so they went into our order. Very soft and we got stuck in with our fingers here. Also from the specials was the cavolo nero, braised with olive oil and garlic. Beautiful! The cavolo nero still had a bite but was tender and had toasted patches that were wonderful. I just bought some cavolo nero at my farmersâ¬" market to try replicating it this week. Another special - this time it was grilled squid, stuffed with tomato and chorizo. Again, this dish was faultless.

We were starting to get full at this point and so focused our attention on desserts! I chose the chocolate tart while my friend ordered the fig salad with creme chantilly and toasted sliced almonds. Both were truly delicious. There was a bit of cream alongside my chocolate tart, which was rich and dense and a little of eating like eating dark chocolate ganache in a thin pastry shell. As for my friendâ¬"s fig salad, it was fresh ripe figs with a huge mound of creme chantilly (I originally mistook it for ice cream). I could have eaten a huge bowlful of this - the almonds and caramel sauce over top made it perfect.

It seems strange that we didnâ¬"t order any of their sliced jamon but though they had a leg prominently displayed on the counter, no one was having any. It was hot food all the way for everyone. Their tortillas looked fantastic too - little individual ones with soft innards - Iâ¬"ll definitely try one next time.

However, it wasnâ¬"t a cheap lunch. For all the food, one glass of wine and all the tap water we could drink, it was Â£50 for the two of us. However, even with the limited seating, we never once felt rushed and our waitress was happy for us to order one or two tapas at a time. Thereâ¬"s a small counter along the wall where you can wait with a drink and a small bite for a seat - but as I noticed above, itâ¬"s probably easiest if you show up when they just open. I canâ¬"t wait to return (after Iâ¬"ve saved up a bit)!

Photos at the blog: http://tamarindandthyme.wordpress.com/2008/10/20/a-tapas-lunch-at-barrafina/

Lounge Bohemia - review by HelenFirst

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 23:06:04 +0000

Lounge Bohemia - review by HelenFirst

Rating: 3.7

Location: 1E Great Eastern Street, EC2A 3EJ, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 07720 707 000

Website: http://www.loungebohemia.com/

One of the most terrible experiences in Shoreditch.
I went there with my friend and we were second couple in the room, the rest is completely empty. When we asked to be seated two girls at the bar pointed at the table of two other customers. We couldnt believe that in an empty bar we are getting seats at other people's table. We werent happy and wanted to leave and a girl at the bar yelled at me: "Next time book darling!"
Definitely wont be coming back.
September,24

Shunt Vaults - review by gregwo

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 13:04:58 +0000

Shunt Vaults - review by gregwo

Rating: 4.6

Location: 20 Stainer Street, SE1 9RL, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7378 7776

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

Tags: relaxed, cool & smart, young and fun, underground, friendly

The Shunt Vaults have an atmosphere that can't be matched-- deep in the tunnels of London Bridge Shunt is making amazingly craetive work in the context of a members bar. It's a fantastic evening where you can enjoy some drinks and check out whatever is on offer that week to see-- bands performance art, theatre or a range of other things. The place has a great buzz about it and there's nothing that I know of like it around. The work they create there is so interesting and diverse, you'll always be in for something new every time you go!

Most definitely worth checking out!

Lounge Bohemia - review by chrisp

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 11:11:47 +0000

Lounge Bohemia - review by chrisp

Rating: 3.7

Location: 1E Great Eastern Street, EC2A 3EJ, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 07720 707 000

Website: http://www.loungebohemia.com/

Tags: cool, late license, cool & smart, different pub food, underground, trendy, friendly

A bar so discreet and hidden away to be almost invisible from the street, we spent about 15 mins wandering around Commercial Road trying to find it, and we even had the address! But once inside you can see what the fuss is about. Genuinely brilliant cocktails, made with care and with startling ingredients, superb service, low lighting and cool background music, Lounge Bohemia is simply the perfect bar. They have a policy that if the seats are all taken, you can't come in - a fantastic way to keep the atmosphere relaxed and pleasant, even if it does mean you either have to get there early or book an alcove. Go now - you won't be disappointed (unless you can't find it!).

Barrafina - review by bellaphon

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 21:44:26 +0000

Barrafina - review by bellaphon

Rating: 4.5

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

Phone: 020 7813 8010

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

Tags: lively, spanish, crowded, expensive

On the four occasions or so Iâ¬"ve been here, luck often prevails with me securing a seat within ten minutes of queuing. This place has to be one of the highlights for me this year. The food, service and ambience were all pretty much faultless. The catches of the day from the wet fish counter and the Jamon de Jabugo are well worth the expense and repeat visits. Other memorable dishes sampled included Grilled Quail with Allioli, Pork Chop with Cauliflower Puree, Ham Croquetas, Ariston and on and on. This place is good; so good that I feel totally spirited away and it sort of turns me into a happy shiny person. I would have given the perfect 10 for the food except that the acquired blandness of the Classic Tortlla renders the verdict otherwise.

Barrafina is expensive, but then again itâ¬"ll cost even more to go to Barcelona these days.

Shunt Vaults - review by girlswear

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 20:11:44 +0000

Shunt Vaults - review by girlswear

Rating: 4.6

Location: 20 Stainer Street, SE1 9RL, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7378 7776

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

Tags: live music, indie, cool & smart, live, electronica, young and fun, pool, underground, trendy, friendly, cool

This is one of my favourite places in London. The Shunt Vaults situated beneath the London Bridge, you can still feel the dampness and musty air of this Victorian vault.

No matter how often you visit, it's a different experience on it's own, mainly because each week is curated by a different artist including art, performance art, dance, live band and DJs. Permanent area includes a small pinball arcade and pool. You can go into different rooms with different things happening, or find that secret vault with your friends. Shunt is a MUST experience if you've never been, and you'll be addicted.

Shunt Vaults - review by chrisp

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 14:02:31 +0000

Shunt Vaults - review by chrisp

Rating: 4.6

Location: 20 Stainer Street, SE1 9RL, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7378 7776

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

Tags: trendy, cool & smart, young professionals, glamorous, young and fun, students, sexy

An extraordinary place, like stepping into a Jack-the-Ripper film set, only with alcohol and burlesque dancers. Set in a good acre of sooty disused railway arches and long-forgotten brick vaults underneath London Bridge station, Shunt is a completely unique experience and well worth the effort finding it (it's almost invisible from the outside). Drinks may be nothing special, and they didn't even serve food as far as I could tell, but you can have hours of fun just wandering through the grimy urban spaces, hiding in the shadows or dancing in the spotlights. There's nowhere else like it.

Barrafina - review by Alita

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 18:16:43 +0000

Barrafina - review by Alita

Rating: 4.5

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

Phone: 020 7813 8010

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

Tags: lively, spanish, crowded, expensive

Barrafina is a little tricky to find since it announces its presence with little more than a word on the front door, but you'll find it easily enough if you look for a small restaurant with a queue flowing down the street. In fact, the second time I visited I was initially turned away but remained steadfast in the queue, was joined by my friend and (eventually) sat down to a very nice meal.

The staff are attentive and serve drinks and small snacks while you're waiting. Be prepared for a long queue, especially on weekends.

The food itself is generally excellent and mouth-watering, though I found the Pan Con Tomate less flavoursome than I hoped. The prawn and pepper tortilla was cooked in front of us and was deliciously runny inside (a personal favourite) and I can recommend the Sardines la Plancha. Though I do have a thing for sardines. The Creme Catalana was nice, if a touch too sweet. Our chef was incredibly jovial and made some good suggestions.

I'm no wine drinker but I managed to imbibe two very nice glasses of red, one at the bar and one during.

Expect to pay over Â£60 for two with wine for a modest tapas meal and far more for a spanish feast.

Barrafina - review by chrisp

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 13:47:35 +0000

Barrafina - review by chrisp

Rating: 4.5

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

Phone: 020 7813 8010

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

Tags: expensive, spanish, crowded

There tends to be a pattern when new styles of cuisine are introduced to this country. The pioneer restaurants will be toned down, tame versions of the originals, designed to appeal to the masses; think Pizza Express in the 60s or Yo! Sushi in the 90s. Nothing too weird, nothing too offensive to the timid British palette, but due mainly to the novelty factor they are wild successes, at least for the first few years. Then once the novelty wears off, a new wave of more adventurous outlets open that offer something more closely approximating the "authentic" taste from abroad. So then you start noticing things like octopus or squid in your nigiri, or fresh basil and real buffalo mozzerella on your pizza. I'm generalising of course, but with passing time it seems diners, having gotten over the original shock factor and bragging rights of trying something new, will demand a more genuine experience. At least, snobs like me do.

There is sometimes a "Stage 3": Having mastered the said style of cuisine, some brave restauranteurs will take it one step further, and you end up with bizarre fusions like French-Japanese or Afghan-Ethopian. Most of these are hideous, so it's generally in the what I like to call "Stage 2" restaurants are you most likely to get a good meal. So where La Tasca bravely brought spanish tapas to an anonymous shopping mall near you, Barrafina in Soho ups the ante by actually trying to do it well.

However, this is London, and there are certain conditions. Tapas in Spain (at least outside the tourist areas of Catalonia) are little plates of bitesize morsels (chorizo, bread & tomato, croquettas, etc.) that are placed on your drink for free (yes, free!) whenever you order. In Barrafina, you pay Â£7 for a tiny plate of skewered quail and then have to cough up another Â£5 for a glass of Manzanilla sherry. Still, you'd think I'd be used to it by now.

Moaning aside, Barrafina was actually a reasonably enjoyable way to spend an evening. Looking less inside like an authentic tapas bar than a 1950s American diner, there were a dozen or so red leather stools alongside a gleaming chrome bar. The food (at least most of it) was cooked on a hot plate just behind the bar in full view of the diners, which was great fun to watch. Serving staff and kitchen staff all wore the same white outfits and moved around in the same space so you actually felt quite involved in the whole process. We randomly picked a few things from the menu and sat back and watched as they were cooked in front of us.

First to arrive was Pan amb Tomate (tomato bread), which was actually as good as I've had in Spain. Tomato flesh on crunchy bread spiced with raw garlic, it is admittedly a difficult thing to get wrong but even so was very nice. A board of sliced chorizo appeared next, which were only OK but swiftly followed with sweet and succulent whole prawns cooked in salt, the best of all the dishes we tried. The special tomato salad was full of flavour but hugely overseasoned - it was crunchy with salt. I saw the chef loading it with the stuff as I was sat about 3 foot away whilst the dish was being prepared, and I probably should have said something at the time, but never mind. Next, a couple of roast quail were tasty and succulent but with quite a layer of fat and again overseasoned. The accompanying aioli was delicious however, and we kept it back to dip our pimientos in. Finally, a dish of lamb cutlets was well cooked and presented, although I'm not sure how closely this fits the "tapas" brief.

The bill, with a couple of glasses of sherry and some nice Catalan red wine, came to Â£70 for two. This is a lot for tapas (I can only imagine the amount of food you'd have if you spent Â£70 in a tapas bar in Madrid), but not a lot for London to be honest. And we did have plenty to eat and drink. So I can recommend Barrafina - they're doing the best they can providing food such as this in one of the most expensive cities in the world, and they do it with a certain amount of style.

Bistrotheque - review by barbd

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 16:20:48 +0000

Bistrotheque - review by barbd

Rating: 4.3

Location: 23-27 Wadeson Street, E2 9DR, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 8983 7900

Website: http://www.bistrotheque.com/

Smashing place for Saturday brunch or dinner. Nice decor and friendly staff...they do a mean cocktail too.

Quite hard to find, and it's a bit of a trek to get there but once you're there it's fab...

The Spence - review by andybrown

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 23:32:34 +0000

The Spence - review by andybrown

Rating: 4.8

Location: 178 Stoke Newington Church Street, N16 0JL, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7254 9753

if only for the chocolate brioche. and the unfeasibly sexy staff.

Shunt Vaults - review by kellytron

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 23:12:39 +0000

Shunt Vaults - review by kellytron

Rating: 4.6

Location: 20 Stainer Street, SE1 9RL, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7378 7776

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

Tags: relaxed, young and fun, students, underground, trendy

This place just amazed me. I couldn't think of a more perfect venue. Massive space (with hidden nooks and crannies so pick how loud/busy an area you want to be in), performance, live music, art, pinball machines, cheap booze and even a truck with chairs on the tray to sit in. I actually passed about 30minutes pretending to drive this truck and honking the pretend horn - but this isn't compulsory although it does speak volumes about how much of the aforementioned cheap booze I may have consumed.

It's the sort of place you could take a jaded Hoxton-ite and actually get an impressed look out of them.

Coffee @ Brick Lane - review by subterranean

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 13:58:51 +0000

Coffee @ Brick Lane - review by subterranean

Rating: 3.8

Location: 154 Brick Lane, E1 6RU, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7247 6735

Reminds me a lot of a coffee shops in San Francisco. Very good feel to the place - relaxed atmosphere for hanging with with a good book, the paper, using your laptop or just whiling away the hours listening to the Dylan tunes they play. Oh, and good chairs - lots of knackered comfy leather chairs and sofa....always a plus.