Latest reviews by cbetta

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cbetta — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 21:44:01 +0000

Rating: 4.3

Location: 299 Portobello Road, W10 5TD, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 8969 0333

A bit boring but nice food

Lisboa Patisserie

cbetta — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 21:43:31 +0000

Rating: 4.5

Location: 57 Golborne Road, W10 5NR, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 8968 5242

Nice coffee and great cakes. Simple though.

Hummus Bros

cbetta — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 21:36:48 +0000

Rating: 4.4

Location: 37-63 Southampton Row, WC1B 4DA, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7404 7079

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

Tags: bargain

Who knew Hummus was that good?!One of my favorite places for lunch and dinner. Their free wifi deal is great and their upstairs area is great for meetups. Give them a ring if you want to book the upstairs room, they are always looking for people that want to have the best time at their place.

Definitely try the Aloe Vera juice and the brownies. Great stuff and healthy (except for the brownies maybe).

Vue

cbetta — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 15:41:49 +0000

Rating: 5.0

Location: Shepherds Bush Green, W12 8PP, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 0871 224 0240

Website: http://www.myvue.com

Tags: cheap, hollywood, quality, value for money

Best Cinema This Side of LondonThis is seriously the best cinema at this side of London. Why?

First of all they have 12 almost equally big screens. This means that you don't have to worry what screen the movie is showing, as they are all equal. The screens are about 5 to 6 meter high, which is acceptable but compensated because of the fact that the rooms aren't that big. In other words: any seat is a good seat.

Secondly, the seats are huge. Legs space is more than necessary. This makes it for me (1m85 Dutch guy) the ultimate cinema as I need some leg space. The sound is furthermore very good and I have never seen any "out of focus" projections.

Finally, you can order or reserve tickets online. There are digital terminals at the cinema if you want to skip the queue at the normal counter which also servers food. The big important thing is that the price is pretty low in comparison to some popular cinemas in the centre of London. They also accept students cards, which makes it a even more interesting price.

This is my "default" cinema to go for all those reasons. Any bad comment? Yes: they only serve M&Ms with nuts, which I really don't like.

Yo! Sushi

cbetta — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 15:14:20 +0000

Rating: 2.3

Location: 52 Poland Street, W1F 7LR, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7287 0443

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

Tags: japanese, cheap eat, good value, sushi, crowded

Sticky SushiNot my favorite Yo Sushi, but still good price for what you get. I found this Yo Sushi to make very thick and sticky rice, which meant I was filled up way too soon (good for me in one way, bad for them). Sadly though, the bad rice made me miss the freshness of the sashimi IN the sushi, and that's just sad. Sushi should be about fresh, lightweight food that's full of taste.

The overall experience was better though. I had quite a lot of fun. It is in a quite street in Soho, and the restaurant is clean and relaxed.

Odeon Leicester Square

cbetta — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 15:06:43 +0000

Rating: 2.6

Location: 22-24 Leicester Square, WC2H 7LP, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 0871 224 4007

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

Tags: expensive, hollywood

Unnecessarily ExpensiveThis is probably the most expensive Odeon in the whole of UK. It is used for big premieres and has gained some fame for that reasons.

I went here to see what the fuzz was all about, and was deeply disappointed. At a price of more than twice that of my favorite cinema, the experience was horrible. Yes, the cinema is BIG, it has a lots of seats in a wide range of prices, but all and all this doesn't matter if you keep the screen the same size as most other cinemas. The screen was disappointing, I know a few cinemas that are way cheaper and offer a screen maybe twice the size.

The sound was "ok" but the seats were way to far from the screen. I didn't like this cinema and will never be going back again.

Starbucks Coffee

cbetta — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 00:26:04 +0000

Rating: 4.2

Location: 178 Regent Street, W1B 5TH, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7287 9441

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

Tags: Good value, Family & Home feel

The OpenCoffee OriginalThis is the Starbucks that is the original venue of the OpenCoffee Meetup. It was chosen because it is always a quite place, and this is exactly why I like it. Most other Starbucks' are riddled with tourists, but this one is actually always deserted.

It is located in the Esprit in Regent Street and therefore secluded. It is on the first floor, and offers a nice view on the busy street. The staff is very nice and hasn't changed in months.

Ye Olde Cock Tavern

cbetta — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 00:19:46 +0000

Rating: 4.0

Location: 22 Fleet Street, EC4Y 1AA, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7353 3454

Tags: Lively, British, Family & Home feel, Cheap Eat, Business, Good value

Bigger than you would ThinkThis place looks small on the outside, but is way bigger on the inside. With 4 floors including 2 areas perfectly suited for parties or other activities, it is a good place to be. Located near some very prestigious buildings it is a nice and safe location to spend your evening getting wasted.

They are said to have some good food, and although I watched some friends eat some food here a few times, I never personally did. The food did look mighty good though.

This is also the place where occasionally Geek Dinners are held on the 3rd or 4th floor: Geekdinner.co.uk

Starbucks Coffee

cbetta — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 00:04:10 +0000

Rating: 4.7

Location: 140 Notting Hill Gate, W11 3QG, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7727 7890

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

Tags: American, Family & Home feel, Cheap Eat, Good value, Lively

Favourite StarbuckI think that if you are a Starbuck fan, you probably have a "default" Starbuck to go to. This is mine for more than one reason.

The first reason is that it is conveniently located near Portobello Road. If I take a Saturday walk through Portobello Road, I tend to start in the North in Golborne Road, go into Portobello Road and end up near Notting Hill Gate.

Now, the second reason is that, although there is a Starbucks near Notting Hill Gate, it is bloody busy on a Saturday and way to small. This Starbuck is right around the corner, a 3 or 4 minute walk west. It has almost always a place left to sit, and offers the same price and products as the other Starbucks'.

Clearly the secret to learn here is to always look in side-streets for hidden Starbucks' because they are way less crowded.

Itsu

cbetta — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 23:45:29 +0000

Rating: 3.5

Location: 103 Wardour St, W1F 0UQ, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7479 4794

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

Tags: Lively, Business, Pretentious, Expensive

AcceptableThis is the third sushi place in London I have ever been to. I went here after my experience with Yo! Sushi wasn't perfect. I must say that this restaurant has a very good cook. The sushi is traditional, well prepared, and full of flavor.

I like the way they present all the dishes on the sushi train with labels under them. This makes it easy to know what the dishes are, and maybe even more fun. I didn't like the venue though as it is a bit small, and therefore easily crowded. The seats aren't spacious either which might be fine for a Japanese person but not for a Dutch guy of 1m85.

All and all I liked the food, liked the service, enjoyed the stay, but simply found it a bit to "hectic" to relax. And for a price that is higher than standard I will have to say that this place is "acceptable".

Yo! Sushi

cbetta — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 23:31:33 +0000

Rating: 3.0

Location: 151 Queensway, W2 4YL, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7727 9392

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

Tags: Lively, Business, Good value, Pretentious, Crowded

Weird SushiI went to this place once, because it is very conveniently located. It is on the top floor of the Whiteleys of Bayswater shopping mall, and is literally next door to a bunch of other restaurants, cinema, and ice-cream stores. In other words: the location is the perfect place for a nice night out having some nice food, cinema, and a drink afterwards.

Sadly enough though, the sushi was a bit "weird". Now, I like sushi but I'm no expert, still this is the only restaurant where almost every dish was served with some weird brows sauce. At first it was a nice surprise, but in the end it was just annoying as it messed with the nice sushi. I never came back there, mainly because the cinema is not that good, and I found a different place to get sushi.

It is a very crowded place, as many people seem to like the area for the same reason I did. it is amazing though that the Yo Sushi in Farringdon is much less crowded while it serves way better food.

The Grove Bar & Restaurant

cbetta — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 23:20:51 +0000

Rating: 4.0

Location: 36 Golborne Road, W10 5PR, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 8960 6260

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

Tags: Lively, British, Family & Home feel, Good value, Pretentious

Good for a DrinkThis is my "local" bar as I live just around the corner. Its is a simple bar, although they pretend to be some kind of restaurant. In the weekends and during the summer it tends to be a crowded place that attracts many people that visit Golborne Road and Portiobello Road.

I only come there for some drinks, mainly beer, and I like it for this reason because they have a wide variety of beers, including some nice Belgian ones. I never ate there, as I live right around the corner where I can sit on my own couch and have a nice meal for less money and a better sit.

Still, the place can be crowded from time to time, for soccer or other events like the Notting Hill Carnival. They have a guy that sometimes sings with a keyboard. He is pretty annoying as he makes it unable to communicate with you friends. Outside though, is a good place to sit in the summer and enjoy the view of people passing by.

Yo! Sushi

cbetta — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 23:02:32 +0000

Rating: 4.0

Location: 95 Farringdon Road, EC1R 3BT, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7841 0790

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

Tags: Lively, Business, Good value

Better than some other Sushi placesI personally am a big Sushi fan, and after I got some discount tickets from the Yo! Sushi website, I went to one of the few places where my ticket was valid: Yo! Sushi Farringdon. I went to the one in Whitelys before which I didn't really like, but this one was perfect. We were early but got great service. Our tickets only allowed us to order from the sushi train, but because we were early and the train was fairly empty, we were allowed to order anything we liked.

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cbetta — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 11:30:04 +0000

Rating: 4.3

Location: 299 Portobello Road, W10 5TD, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 8969 0333

Nice bar at the end of Portobello road. Not the best location but definitely the best bar in the area by miles.

Moroccan Tagine

cbetta — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 03:05:50 +0000

Rating: 4.0

Location: 95 Golborne Road, W10 5NL, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 8968 8055

I must admit, their starters are brilliant. I ate there twice now and I did note that their main courses are a bit big and not as good as the starters. Additionally they tend to use the same salad in the starters and the main courses, which can be boring.