Latest reviews by johnspier

Mar I Terra

johnspier — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 09:12:02 +0000

Rating: 4.5

Location: 14 Gambia Street, SE1 0XH, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7928 7628

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

Tags: lively, good value, spanish

A little gemMar I Terra is a Tapas bar / restaurant hidden in the back streets of Waterloo, the delicious food and drink are both wonderfully authentic, and coupled with the reasonable price of about Â£30 per head for a selection of tapas and wine, it makes for a great night out.
In my opinion the only way to eat at Mar I Terra is go with a few friends so that you can reach across most of the menu and fill your table with a wonderful selection of almost everything.
To pick out a particular dish would be foolish, as I can only suggest trying them all; it really is as simple as that!
The only complaint I have is that you canâ¬"t book in advance, and so you may have to wait for a table, but itâ¬"s worth waiting.
Whether you decide to have a sherry or some wine or beer with your food â¬ the flavours of Spain come through with a resounding success. I do have to make a recommendation though; please do try the Premium Spanish brandies as they are fantastic.

Henry's Cafe Bar

johnspier — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 11:29:07 +0000

Rating: 3.3

Location: 5 Henrietta Street, WC2E 8PT, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7379 1871

Website: http://www.the1440.co.uk/Venue/HenrysCafeBar-CoventGarden.aspx

Tags: lively, british, cheap eat, business

What a shameOn first impressions Henrys bar (Convent Garden) kind of looks like a Wetherspoons clone pub, and unfortunately the similarities donâ¬"t stop at the door.
We were shown to our table (we had pre-booked a â¬ÜMeal and Theatre ticketâ¬" deal on LastMinute.com) by a very friendly member of staff, she pointed out our options and we ordered our food.
Before I describe the food, I should say that the service at Henrys was really excellent, much better than a lot of places that Iâ¬"ve been to recently â¬ they understood that we were off to the theatre and checked to make sure that we were â¬Üon timeâ¬" and OK. Unfortunately even the great service could not hide the poor food.
Iâ¬"ve read loads of reviews which say that Henrys is a great place for cocktails, after work drinks and also pre-theatre drinks. Maybe sticking to the drinks menu is the best thing to do.
We had ordered chicken Tempura and potato wedges for starters. The chicken had no substance â¬ I hate to think how much water had been pumped into the chicken meat as there was nothing there, the tempera batter was more like something you would find at your local fish and chip shop, thick and heavy and greasy â¬ just the opposite of what tempura should be. The potato wedges were also disappointing as the â¬Üstraight from the freezerâ¬" taste and texture was still lingering.
For the Main course I had a â¬Ücorn fed chicken on a bed of mashâ¬" which turned out to be a piece of reasonable chicken sitting on a lake of greasy, oily, melted cheese covered powdered mash. In a word - disgusting. The other main course were salmon and crab fish cakes, these too had been made using the powdered potato mix, and were more like a cloying, tasteless, hard to swallow mess.
Not really the type of food that leaves you feeling as though you want more, as I shudder to think of the amount of fat and grease that was in each portion.
The only redeeming point to the visit was the staff, very friendly and very helpful.

I would return again, but only to have a pint or cocktail and a bag of crisps, and I certainly wont be eating from the menu, unless there is an ambulance outside ready and waiting to take me to hospital for the inevitable cardiac arrest!

Match Bar

johnspier — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 19:31:56 +0000

Rating: 4.3

Location: 37-38 Margaret Street, W1G 0JF, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7499 3443

Website: http://www.matchbar.com

Cocktail HeavenWorking with the master mixologist Dale DeGroff, the Match Bar serve some absolutely delicious cocktails in a chilled out environment, the staff are friendly and the prices are reasonable.
Turning up on a mid week night it was nice that the Match Bar wasnâ¬"t too busy; we could find a table and enjoy our cocktails. The cocktails themselves were fantastic and not what I would consider overpriced, we had a little food which went down very well with the flavours of the cocktails and didnâ¬"t realise that it was nearing midnight and time to leave.
As well as serving some great cocktails they also serve some good beers and wine, all at a reasonable price. The staff are friendly polite and willing to help, and we had a great evening.
The only thing that lets the bar down (and Itâ¬"s a small thing) is the state of some of the dÃ©cor, on first impression its very swanky, but a bit of a closer look reveals that it could do with a little touch up here and there, but aside from a table that needs a little bit of TLC, the drinks are great and I canâ¬"t wait to return.

Gilgamesh

johnspier — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 18:37:07 +0000

Rating: 3.9

Location: Chalk Farm Road, NW1 8AH, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7482 5757

Website: http://www.gilgameshbar.com/

Tags: lively, thai, expensive

GilgameshLeaving the 'hustle and bustle' of Camden behind using the Gilgamesh escalator, arriving in Gilgamesh is an amazing experience. The entire place is fitted out, top to toe in what looks like hand crafted wooden and copper panels on the walls and ceiling with lush seating areas lit in a low light, the overall effect is of a wondrous Asian Middle Eastern hybrid exclusivity. The staff are smartly dressed in understated black and the place is screaming fashionable taste.

The cocktail menu is as individual as Gilgamesh is. Nothing of the usual here, with some very tempting ideas unfortunately the couple of (maybe too adventurous) cocktails that we had, failed to produce anything that I would want to try again, the flavours were muddled and there was no theme for the taste.
Moving through from the lounge area to the restaurant, the awe inspiring themes and decoration continue to amaze, the menu is Asian fusion, which I found at odds from who Gilgamesh was (In Mesopotamian mythology he was a demigod), still the menu has some wonderful examples of Asian cuisine, be it Sushi, Dim Sum, Thai or the Gilgamesh main courses.
We ordered a few Dim Sum as starters, which when they arrived were delicious (one arrived while we were eating our main, it was still good but the taste didnâ¬"t really work alongside the main course).
The main course beef and lamb were excellent cuts of very fine meat, beautifully cooked, nice and rare and melt in the mouth stuff, and the side order of stir fried Asian greens was the perfect accompaniment.
The dessert was an interesting affair, a selection of Japanese â¬Ütea cakesâ¬" - delicate little things with a subtle flavour, these were a little too nice and deliacte and I felt that they didnâ¬"t work after the spice of the main course, not enough substance to stand out so a little disappointing.
All in all a good meal and at the price of Â£50 per head somewhere that is best left as a treat.
Although I can think of other places that do far better cocktails and Dim Sum combinations (Ping Pong), and dare I say better food for a more reasonable price, you canâ¬"t beat the glamour and opulence of Gilgamesh for a truly memorable night out.

Ping Pong Dim Sum

johnspier — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 09:56:56 +0000

Rating: 3.3

Location: 45 Great Marlborough Street, W1F 7JL, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7851 6969

Website: http://www.pingpongdimsum.com

Great place, good vibe.

Been twice and had a great time on both occasions. As the place is always very busy it can take the staff a bit longer to get to you, but they have always been polite so I've had no problems.
The cocktails are fantastic, lovely flavours and a good amount of booze.
The food is great and it's very easy to get carried away and order too much, go slow and you can always order again - that's my advice!

Bierodrome

johnspier — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 16:49:03 +0000

Rating: 2.7

Location: 67 Kingsway, WC2B 6TD, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7242 7469

Website: http://www.belgo-restaurants.com

The choice of beers is superb, the beers themselves taste superb, the only thing that brings down the rating is that it gets very very busy and if thats coupled with the frequently too-loud music it can make for a slightly difficult conversation.
The food is a always good but the beers are always better!

Atari-Ya

johnspier — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 16:36:45 +0000

Rating: 5.0

Location: Finchley Road, NW11 0AL, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 8458 7626

The sushi at the small sushi bar is very good, but be warned that the sushi bar / counter is very small so you may have to wait. But waiting is no problem because you can browse the Japanese food store. The sushi is (as should be) made fresh infront of you, and the staff are always very friendly.

Daruma San

johnspier — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 16:26:30 +0000

Rating: 4.0

Location: 356 Regents Park Road, N3 2LJ, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 8343 2608

Very good Japanese restaurant, the food is always freshly made by the chef, (if you sit at the 'bar' you can observe him making the dishes) and the sushi is just brillant. The only downside is that the ambience is sometimes not quite right - but the food more than makes up for it.

Ambiente

johnspier — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 16:14:39 +0000

Rating: 4.7

Location: 101 Ballards Lane, N3 1XY, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 8343 1414

Tags: italian, cheap eat, good value, spanish, warm, friendly, restaurant, romantic, lively

AmbienteFantastic place, really good vibe.
Its relaxed with a great atmosphere, and the food is very good. Its a mix between Italian and Spanish and the menu is not too big as to let it run away out of control.