Latest reviews by idoru's friends

Vapiano - review by caffeinehit

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 14:00:01 +0000

Vapiano - review by caffeinehit

Rating: 4.5

Location: 19-21 Great Portland Street, W1W 8QB, London, United Kingdom

I just popped in here for Friday lunch and was quite surprised/happy to see how much nicer it was than Mash (the old bar that used to be in the same location).

The choice of food was just enough and the decor was perfect. What made it even better was the fact that their payment machine was down so a meal for three was free, shame it wasn't my turn to pay!

Either way, a great little stopping point for the middle of town.

Vapiano - review by caffeinehit

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 14:00:01 +0000

Vapiano - review by caffeinehit

Rating: 4.5

Location: 19-21 Great Portland Street, W1W 8QB, London, United Kingdom

Tags: italian, good value, lively

Vapiano - review by caffeinehit

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 14:00:01 +0000

Vapiano - review by caffeinehit

Rating: 4.5

Location: 19-21 Great Portland Street, W1W 8QB, London, United Kingdom

Tags: italian, good value, lively

Vapiano - review by caffeinehit

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 14:00:01 +0000

Vapiano - review by caffeinehit

Rating: 4.5

Location: 19-21 Great Portland Street, W1W 8QB, London, United Kingdom

Tags: italian, good value, lively

Hopgoods - review by mundek

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 19:30:45 +0000

Hopgoods - review by mundek

Rating: 5.0

Location: 254 Trafalgar St, 7001, Nelson, New Zealand

Tags: romantic, international, good value, expensive

Widely regarded as Nelsons best restaurant, Hopgoods serves local produce lovingly prepared. During my last trip there I started with the special, seared scallops followed by the famous individual beef wellington (cooked rare) with caramelised apple tart with blue cheese and walnut ice cream for dessert. All of it was wonderful. I have had the fish of the day dish and carpaccio in past and these dishes were also great.

On all my visits service has been top notch, friendly and unobtrusive.

An extensive wine list and craft beers (try the Mussel Inn Captain Cooker - a Manuka (tea tree) beer) on tap perfectly complement the food. Bookings advisable.

Hopgoods - review by mundek

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 19:30:45 +0000

Hopgoods - review by mundek

Rating: 5.0

Location: 254 Trafalgar St, 7001, Nelson, New Zealand

Tags: romantic, international, good value, expensive

Hopgoods - review by mundek

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 19:30:45 +0000

Hopgoods - review by mundek

Rating: 5.0

Location: 254 Trafalgar St, 7001, Nelson, New Zealand

Tags: romantic, international, good value, expensive

Hopgoods - review by mundek

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 19:30:45 +0000

Hopgoods - review by mundek

Rating: 5.0

Location: 254 Trafalgar St, 7001, Nelson, New Zealand

Tags: romantic, international, good value, expensive

Franco Manca - review by Browners

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:04:27 +0000

Franco Manca - review by Browners

Rating: 4.5

Location: 4 Market Row, SW9 8LD, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7738 3021

Tags: italian, cheap eat, lively

I took the rare opportunity of a day off in Brixton to sample the pizza at Franco Manca. After an in depth article in OFM a couple of months ago, the internet has been awash with chatter about this place. And I felt like it was my duty as a Brixton resident and foodie to see what all the fuss is about.

Foolishly I forgot to take a note of the address, assuming that it must be easy to find. But I found myself walking back and forth along Electric Avenue, dodging the market vendors, trying desperately to find this "hidden gem". It always helps of course if you are actually on the right road. A quick call to 118500 and I was back on track. I was put through to Franco Manca who then guided me into the restaurant which was about 18 yards from where I was standing. The charming chap on the phone even spotted me and came to greet me. Top class service from beginning to end.

Snuggled into the heart of Brixton Market, remember, if you can, that it's Unit 4, Electric Lane. The restaurant bridges both sides of the covered market alleyway which adds a great natural flow to environment. On either side are large pizza ovens that have been hand build over in Naples. They generate a temperature of 500'C which is the key to their sourdough pizzas having such a crispy crust and soft middle. I inspected them with great interest, taking notes for next year's big project where I am planning to build an outdoor earth oven in the garden. Should be epic. If anyone's got any advice, I'd love to hear from you.

I ordered the chorizo pizza which comes with dry and wet sausage from Brindisa. It arrived almost as soon as I had spoken. Given all the hype, I was determined not to be prejudiced and was hoping it would live up to all the noise. And it did. As promised it was gorgeously charred on the outside, with the appearance of tiger bread whilst the mozzarella, tomato and chorizo was perfectly cooked as well. The puffy crust was crisp on the outside and pillowy soft inside. A bit like a savoury, hot macaron!

The chorizo had a lick of char and otherwise was simply irresistible. I was tempted to add pepper and chilli oil but didn't want to tamper with something that had been thought through so clearly. The mozzarella made almost made me giggle as it unwound as I tried to eat it like some sort of practical joke. All this fatty, carby goodness was washed down by a jar of their delicious home made lemonade followed the best espresso I've ever had for Â£1!

All the ingredients are impeccably sourced with superb credentials. But the crowning glory is the sourdough base that takes 20 hours of careful nurturing before it meets its glorious fate in the super charged ovens.

I was amused when two gentlemen in suits arrived and loudly asked "are you the guys who make the best pizza in London". I felt like I stood out pretty badly in my brown cords and blue v-neck jumper, but I was a chameleon by comparison. It seems that word has spread and that this gem is fast becoming a lot less hidden.

Be warned that Franco Manca is only open on week days from 12-5. My pizza, lemonade and coffee came to well under a tenner.

Franco Manca - review by Browners

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:04:27 +0000

Franco Manca - review by Browners

Rating: 4.5

Location: 4 Market Row, SW9 8LD, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7738 3021

Tags: italian, cheap eat, lively

Franco Manca - review by Browners

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:04:27 +0000

Franco Manca - review by Browners

Rating: 4.5

Location: 4 Market Row, SW9 8LD, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7738 3021

Tags: italian, cheap eat, lively

Franco Manca - review by Browners

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:04:27 +0000

Franco Manca - review by Browners

Rating: 4.5

Location: 4 Market Row, SW9 8LD, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7738 3021

Tags: italian, cheap eat, lively

Wellington Arms - review by Browners

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 16:18:05 +0000

Wellington Arms - review by Browners

Rating: 5.0

Location: Baughurst Road, RG26 5LP, Basingstoke, United Kingdom

Phone: 0118 982 0110

Website: http://www.thewellingtonarms.com

Tags: romantic, british, family & home feel, expensive

Isnâ¬"t it about time someone built a rapid exit road from South London that links directly to the M3? Iâ¬"m sick of having to crawl around the South Circular at a pace that makes Eric the Eel look like Michael Phelps. The grizzly shop windows look the same in Wandsworth, Putney and Sheen.

Having escaped the South Circular the M3 felt like one of those conveyor belts for lazy people in airports. We whizzed along without even trying. The jaundiced trees took on a trippy effect as they shed their leaves in the gusting wind. Rather than be mugged by the modern day highwayman that is the motorway service station, we had planned ahead and booked ourselves into The Wellington Arms, just north of Basingstoke.

Unusually, we arrived on time, which gave us a chance to admire their chicken coup and immaculate vegetable garden.

We read a glowing review of The Wellington Arms in Olive about 2 weeks ago and booked it on the spot. Further delving yielded warm reviews from Giles Coren and others. Weâ¬"d been looking forward to it from the moment we booked. Everything we had read about was true. It is idyllic and must be one of the most stylish country pubs in the country.

With only 8 tables itâ¬"s cosy and full of charm. It feels less like a pub restaurant and more akin to being in a friendâ¬"s living room. Our waitress was a delight. My pint of bitter was perfect and Cowieâ¬"s lime and soda was full of proper lime. With a pint in hand we surveyed the chalk board menu, standing behind a table of very loud parents from Marlborough.

We often find it hard to choose, but this time it was as if the menu had been written just for us. Cowie was torn between a double baked goatâ¬"s cheese soufflÃ© and the scallops â¬ as was I which made things eay! And for the main event Cowie immediately chose the brill and I almost shouted out venison pie!

Whilst waiting for our food I couldnâ¬"t help noticing the plaque behind me commemorating Jason Kingâ¬"s Junior Gold medal in the Cooking Olympics. This was a sign of the brilliance to come as we were feasting on a range of sensational breads. In particular the soft dark, treacly rye bread was first class â¬ itâ¬"s all made in the village by a chap whoâ¬"s name I read whilst having a wee!

My scallops couldnâ¬"t have been cooked any better. Some people donâ¬"t like their sea food covered in butter â¬ but I do! The bed of samphire had me purring like a kitten having his tummy tickled. I was so focussed on the scallops that I almost forgot to switch plates with Cowie. Her goatâ¬"s cheese soufflÃ© was just as good. Well risen texture melted into that unmistakable taste of goatâ¬"s cheese. Fortunately our plates were cleared before I had embarrassed myself by licking them clean!

The excellence of the cooking continued with our main courses. Whilst all the other boring people on the other 7 tables seemed to be having fish and chips we fell head over heels for our more interesting dishes. My venison pie had a lid on it that any chef in the country would have been proud of. It stayed crispy until I had devoured the last morsel. The venison filling was moist and deep. The binary opposite of the dry and tough meat that occasionally plays the part of an impostor.

Cowieâ¬"s brill was huge. Enough for 4 Cowies! The outside was perfectly seared to a crispy, buttery finish, whilst the flesh inside was soft and peeled away like skate. The real treat was yet to come as Cowie unearthed a line of sweetbreads. Our cabbage and roasted courgettes were just as perfect and left us feeling like weâ¬"d just experienced the platonic ideal of a â¬SSaturday lunch, just off the motorway, on the way home after a long week at workâ¬.

From now on, whenever we have a long trip on the cards we are going to make sure weâ¬"ve got a good rural pub that serves great food lined up to refuel us! In our little alcove we started reading some books by Diana Henry who has written about the Wellington Arms in her guide to Britainâ¬"s best gastro pubs. Iâ¬"ve already ordered a copy from the new and used section on Amazon and canâ¬"t wait to plan our next adventure.

http://aroundbritainwithapaunch.blogspot.com/2008/11/wellington-arms-hampshire.html

The Princess Victoria - review by sue

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 18:51:47 +0000

The Princess Victoria - review by sue

Rating: 4.2

Location: 217 Uxbridge Road, W12 9DH, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 8749 5886

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

Tags: friendly, gastro pub, different pub food, gastropub, wine, pub

Sunday lunch at the Princess Victoria with friends was bound to be goodâ¬¦. I hoped. Well, it had recently been voted "Best Gastropub 2008", so I figured it must be pretty special.

It looked the part, with an attractive, high-ceilinged bar at the front and separate dining area to the rear. The dining area turned out to be noisy and I wished we were sitting in the bar area as it had a better atmosphere. Service was friendly and efficient, though attentiveness dropped off as the place filled up. Didn't attack the wine list, but it did look interesting - not many bottles under Â£20 though. Oh - I did like the complimentary sparkling water!

For lunch we started with the Crab bisque with rouille, gruyere and croutes, and the Terrine of confit rabbit with chestnuts, Serrano ham, celeriac and apple remoulade. Both dishes were nice, but we'd had better examples in other gastropubs.

We all chose the same main course - the Roasted belly of Gloucester Old Spot pork, with roasted potatoes, apple sauce and crackling (though I don't recall any crackling). Again, nice flavours, but nothing special. Shame. For dessert we shared the Sticky toffee pudding with vanilla ice cream, and the Steamed apple sponge with cinnamon ice cream. Both desserts were simple but tasty.

All up, the meal was fine, but didn't live up to the "best gastropub" hype IMHO. Prices were reasonable though, and if you lived locally you could do a lot worse.

Cantinetta Luca - review by sue

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 09:34:59 +0000

Cantinetta Luca - review by sue

Rating: 4.0

Location: Dolores Street Between Ocean and 7th, 93921, Carmel By The Sea, United States of America

Phone: 831.625.6500

Website: http://www.cantinettaluca.com/

Tags: italian, lively

Carmel is filled with so many great sounding restaurants it was hard to choose where to dine out when we had one night only. We decided to go to the latest place the locals seemed to be raving about (well in the Carmel magazine in our hotel room anyway), Cantinetta Luca.

This is a modern Italian restaurant and bar, apparently more San Francisco style than Carmel. The large restaurant was full and I think we were very lucky to walk in and get a table without having made a reservation.

Cantinetta Luca specialises in antipasti, and cure many of the meats on the premises. After reading this on the menu, we decided to start with the Artisan and House Made Salume, along with some Caseficio Gioia Burrata Cheese and some bread. The generous servings were well presented and loved most of the meats, which went so well with the cheese (which was up-sold to us by our helpful waitress).

For main course we had the Tagliatelle, Chanterelle Mushrooms, Organic Peas and Pecorino Toscano Cheese and the Grilled Baby Octopus, Salame Calabrese, Broccoli and Potatoes (starter size). Both dishes were very flavoursome and plates were cleaned. We shared a Chocolate & Hazelnut Tart for dessert.