Latest reviews by genfink http://trustedplaces.com/user/genfink Place reviews by genfink en Latest reviews by genfink http://trustedplaces.com/uploads/userpics/genfink_bc653932.120.jpg http://trustedplaces.com/user/genfink The Bear http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/bar-pub/1c64l76/the-bear

Rating: 3.7

Location: 296a Camberwell New Road, SE5 0RP, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7274 7037

Website: http://www.thebear-freehouse.co.uk/

a diamond in the roughI dined at the Bear (on the corner of Camberwell Station Road and Camberwell New Road) for a late sunday lunch with my Mum yesterday and it was brilliant.
It's previous incarnation about 6 months ago was a slightly less pleasant pub of no particular standing but since the refurbishment I have been very impressed!
The house red (a merlot i believe) is very drinkable and the roast dinner for 2 ppl was very reasonable at £21 for both. The Roast beef and vegetables were delicious.
I believe they have a pub quiz on tuesdays but have not been yet so I can't review that.
However if the standard of the food on Sunday was anything to go by I'll be back soon.
The service was also great especially as we were sitting next to a table of 30, one might fear of being forgotten about but the waitresses and bar staff were very good.
Plus they serve Illy coffee which is my favourite!
All in all a really enjoyable sunday afternoon.]]> Mon, 10 Dec 2007 11:54:01 +0000 /review/uk/london/bar-pub/1c64l76/the-bear66115155 genfink 51.47767 -0.101951 La Poule Au Pot http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/restaurant/173z88/la-poule-au-pot

Rating: 4.8

Location: 231 Ebury Street, SW1W 8UT, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7730 7763

Tags: lively, family & home feel, crowded, expensive, french

just fabulousI recently dined at the Poule au Pot with a group of friends, it was possibly one of the best suppers I have ever had.
The restaurant itself is in a lovely area, Pimlico Green could hardly be described as anything but affluent! You cna walk from Sloane Square or get a bus from Victoria.
The restuarant has the feel of true french country lifestyle, although the hops and lavender hanging from the ceiling makes it feel a bit on the cramped side. We sat in a window alcove surrounded by bookshelves. Although some people may not like having to wedge books in the window to open it up a bit i thought it was great!
The waiters were charming, although i found the relaxed parochial ambience at odds with the fact they had a different waiter for every foodstuff (a mild exaggeration perhaps) with these prices one would expect a sommelier but we had another guy for water, another one for bread and three or four for the courses!
Onto the food, which was exquisite!
Three of my party dined on the crab salad for a starter although it could easily have been a main course, it was delicious! We also had the snails, and the foie gras which was very nice although tainted with an unpleasant ethical taste in the mouth!
for the mains we had on the table 2 rabbit dishes, both very nice, 2 steaks - some of the best I've ever tasted, a boeuf bourginon and my dish was the venison in red wine sauce. I had never had venison before and it was unprecedented in being the best meat dish i have ever eaten, also decided by table vote that mine was the best dish on the table, out of this world! We were too stuffed for dessert but the coffee was nice enough and the chocolates proved very popular.
However now comes the price, well considering our party of 6 started the evening with 2 bottles of champagne, and then followed with 5 or 6 more bottle of wine (we're not alcoholics I promise you)the night ended up being £90 a head! Hence living on rice and porridge for the rest of the month.
It was the most expensive meal I've ever paid for but boy was it worth it! Honestly the price was bumped up by the drinks, the food is gorgeous and not at all over priced, my venison was in the region of £20 which i don't think is extortionate, and if you like seafood you could quite easily have the crab salad for a main course, so it doesn't have to be too expensive.
Go all of you, at once!]]> Thu, 15 Nov 2007 12:08:44 +0000 /review/uk/london/restaurant/173z88/la-poule-au-pot207023153 genfink lively family & home feel crowded expensive french 51.490844772936 -0.15335962517684 Sun & Doves http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/bar-pub/1i01w8t/sun-and-doves

Rating: 4.8

Location: 61-63 Coldharbour Lane, SE5 9NS, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7924 9950

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

Tags: lively, gastro pub

Probably the best pub in the world......I may be a bit biased with this as the S&D is kind of my local, however many reviews from friends visiting from outside the area lay weight to my claim that this is definitely one of the best pubs around.
We recently attended the Halloween pub quiz, which was great fun. The food was very nice though in the past the service has been a bit hit and miss. We went for fairly basic fayre, nachos and some bowls of chips but they were very tasty!
The quiz was great fun and seems to happen weekly rather than monthly as indicated above. I haven't had the chance to attend the film nights as yet but certainly plan to in the future.
Also, San Miguel on tap, bonus!]]> Wed, 07 Nov 2007 09:57:59 +0000 /review/uk/london/bar-pub/1i01w8t/sun-and-doves2002987692 genfink lively gastro pub 51.469254279206 -0.096637681141033