Latest reviews by mario

Istanbul Kebab House

mario — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 18:18:04 +0000

Rating: 5.0

Location: 19 Upper Tooting Road, SW17 7TS, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 8767 7500

excellent fresh Shish kebabsWhile I haven't tried the Doners (unlike the previous reviewer), this place does make excellent, freshly prepared Shish (chicken and lamb) kebabs.

Noodle Express

mario — Tue, 27 May 2008 19:31:57 +0000

Rating: 4.0

Location: 47 Trinity Road, SW17 7SD, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 8767 0087

Tags: lively, oriental, seafood, family & home feel, cheap eat, good value, chinese, japanese

Affordable (and delicious) sushi and noodlesThis is one of our family favourites for a quick and affordable bite to eat in the evening, and (as I work from home) a nice place to have Sushi for lunch.

Apart from the delicious sushi, not to be missed are the Oregano Chicken (my daughter's favourite, in addition to the crispy duck) and Gyoza dumplings for starters, and really any of the various noodle dishes for a main course - I've never had anything that wasn't really tasty. And it's very very affordable!

You're welcome to bring your own wine/beer, helping to further keep expenses down :-)

Aroy

mario — Tue, 27 May 2008 11:00:09 +0000

Rating: 5.0

Location: 186 The Broadway, SW19 1RY, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 8540 8887

Tags: thai, family & home feel, good value

Simple but delicious Thai foodThis is a fairly new place, a small, family-run Thai restaurant and take-away.

Nothing too fancy, but nice bright interior and absolutely delicious food - I had steamed dumplings for starters, and stir-fried squid and prawns for main, with a Singha beerâ¬¦ all of it very tasty and very reasonably priced.

Chadwicks Butchers

mario — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 23:29:05 +0000

Rating: 5.0

Location: 208 Balham High Road, SW12 9BS, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 8772 1895

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

Tags: delicatessen, butcher

Small but perfectly stockedYou really do see me here every week..

It's a small (ok, tiny) shop right next to Balham tube, but manages to fit in more than you'd think. The obvious is the meat - organic/free range, and great home-made sausages and pies. But they also sell some delicatessen like cheeses and cured meat etc..

If this doesn't convince you to buy your meat here, then perhaps the fact that one of the guys working here played a butcher in Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd will! :-)

Masaledar

mario — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 23:21:37 +0000

Rating: 3.3

Location: 121 Upper Tooting Road, SW17 7TJ, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 8767 7676

Tags: lively, cheap eat, good value, indian

Great food, if a little noisyWe often get take-aways from Masaledar, so absolutely no gripes with the food - my personal favourite is the Fish Masala.

If you do visit the restaurant, the only thing I'd say is that it can be quite a noisy place, possibly due to the layout of the place. So as long as you don't mind that, highly recommended!

The Exhibit

mario — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 23:18:08 +0000

Rating: 4.3

Location: 12 Balham Station Road, SW12 9SG, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 8772 6556

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

Tags: lively, movies, modern british, british, good value, mediterranean

A very cool placeI remember when they first started to refurbish this place, and it's quite amazing what it turned into.

For a start, although central (in Balham terms), its location could hardly be less picturesque - it overlooks the local Sainsburys car park and is next to Balham train station. Despite this, they have managed to create a very trendy and friendly place, including some nice outside spaces.

On the ground floor there's a trendy but still friendly bar, serving drinks and bar snacks. The first floor is an excellent but affordable restaurant, serving what I guess you'd call modern British food. And finally on the third floor, there's a small and comfortable cinema showing a variety of films.

Especially recommended are the "dinner & film" type deals, a cheap way to get an early dinner and catch a movie straight after.

Blithe Spirit

mario — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 23:09:07 +0000

Rating: 2.3

Location: 157 Balham High Road, SW12 9AU, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 8772 0082

Tags: beer garden, modern pub, standard pub food

OK if not outstandingIt's a fairly nice place for a drink, but there's not really too much to distinguish it from other pubs. There are other places in Balham with far more character. Having said this, its location is convenient and I do drop in for the occasional pint after doing some shopping..

Gazette Brasserie

mario — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 17:40:55 +0000

Rating: 3.5

Location: 1 Ramsden Road, SW12 8QX, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 8772 1232

Tags: lively, family & home feel, good value, french

Perfect little French BrasserieThis seems to be a new place (although from their business card, it seems there is an older sister restaurant in SW11), in the spot of the Patisserie Ann Marie, which closed recently.

Itâ¬"s very French, with a seasonal menu that contains much of what youâ¬"d expect in a French brasserie. Our starters (pan fried foie gras and moules mariniere respectively) were excellent, and the main course, a cote de boeuf for two with dauphinois potatoes, was perfectly cooked and could easily have fed three!

Service was very friendly and helpful - when we asked for our daughterâ¬"s bavette without the shallot sauce, the waitress happily suggested they could serve it with a pepper sauce instead. Which, judging by our daughterâ¬"s comments, was excellent as well.

Definitely worth a visit!

Balham Bowls Club

mario — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 17:21:45 +0000

Rating: 4.5

Location: 7 Ramsden Road, SW12 8QX, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 8673 4700

Tags: relaxed, wifi, beer garden, pool, friendly

Unique..Quite a unique place, but all the better for it. Totally unmatched, old and worn furniture (seemingly what was left over from when it was an actual Bowling Club), but somehow it works and makes for an incredibly relaxed and comfortable place to have a drink.

They also do something they call "international tapas" and some bar food, but I haven't tried that yet so can't comment. Noticed that they just opened one of the additional rooms as well, with a couple of pool tables in it, which appear to be in regular use already.

And last but not least: it has free Wifi!

Mini Mundus

mario — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 16:45:43 +0000

Rating: 4.5

Location: 218 Trinity Road, SW17 7HP, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 8767 5810

Tags: french, family & home feel, good value

our favourite FrenchI can't believe we have lived within walking distance of this restaurant for years (actually remember it in its previous incarnation as an Italian), but haven't visited it until last week.

The menu is quite short and changes regularly, and the food was absolutely excellent! I had a very filling cassoulet (delicious, with belly of pork and a duck leg). The cheese selection was vast compared to what you often get even in restaurants that call themselves French, and I was so full that I actually struggled (well, a little bit) with the dessert (apple tart with cinnamon ice cream). And the bill for the whole lot was more than reasonable.

Unusually for a French restaurant they also have a take-away menu, but the extremely friendly atmosphere makes a visit in person certainly worthwhile.

This is now definitely our new favourite French restaurant in London, especially since the Old Clapham has closed down.

The Fish Club

mario — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 16:51:46 +0000

Rating: 3.3

Location: 57 Clapham HIgh Street, SW4 7TG, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7720 5853

Website: http://www.thefishclub.com

Tags: lively, british, seafood, cheap eat, good value

posh fish'n'chipsI think this is the second Fish Club restaurant (the original being in Battersea), and it opened recently on the site where the Sea Cow (another "posh fish'n'chips" place) used to be.

I dropped in for a quick bite and went for the really basic stuff - battered coley, chips and mushy peas. The highlights were the batter (lovely and light) and the very tasty mushy peas; definitely a step up from your average fish and chips shop. They also do much more complex dishes... I'll try one of these next time!

Microbar

mario — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 16:41:23 +0000

Rating: 4.5

Location: 14 Lavender Hill, SW11 5RW, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7228 5300

Website: http://www.microbar.org.uk

vast selection of beers and free wifi...... what more could you want? Self-explanatory really :-)