Latest reviews by ramanauskas

Magdalen

ramanauskas — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 13:44:43 +0000

Rating: 4.2

Location: 152 Tooley Street, SE1 2TU, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7403 1342

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

Tags: good value, british

Marvellous Meal at MagdalenReally excellent meal here recently.

Our pals misread the Open Table email and arrived half an hour late, but the staff were very pleasant and didn't fuss at all. Restaurant was almost completely full - we sat downstairs by the bar, which was a bit distracting with staff to-ing and fro-ing. I recommend you book upstairs which is cosier.

Starters:
Watercress and potato soup with oysters.
Rather peculiar texture combination, with cold raw oyster in the warm creamy soup, but very interesting tastes. Alas was not profferred any of the foie gras with blood orange - eating out with greedy people is no fun. Must take someone skinny next time.

Main: Pheasant and bacon pie to share.
Wonderful presentation: enormous pie arrived in big white dish with deep golden pastry and a lump in the middle. Lots of speculation about the lump, which turned out to be a marrow bone, which is why they also provide a picky thing to winkle out the marrow. Pastry was delicous - quite thin and not at all flaky and probably loaded with butter. Oh dear. Lots and lots of meat, though the pheasant wasn't as gamey as I'd have liked. Served with a big bowl of red cabbage which was mostly hoovered up by Greedy Friends as we were full of pie.

Dessert:
Rhubarb and custard ice cream - did what it says on the tin, pretty good. Came with home made (I'm pretty sure) shortbread which I though had too much sugar on but OH didn't, so he ate that as well as his mille feuille.
Chestnut and pear mille feuille - deee- licious. Again a very short pastry, full of flavour, with the sweetness of the chestnut countered by tangy pear puree.

Wine was reasonably priced; I ordered the white in a hurry and chose an Italian Chardonnay which was fine but nothing outstanding - but also about Â£17 I think. And a good bottle of Rioja (Crianza) matched well to the pheasant.

Total bill was startlingly good value at Â£45 a head for three courses, 2 bottles of wine, a coffee and service.

Le Cercle

ramanauskas — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 10:38:20 +0000

Rating: 4.0

Location: 1 Wilbraham Pl, SW1X 9AE, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7901 9999

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

Tags: romantic, good value

Very sexy indeedGot a date you want to impress? Round about that stage in the relationship when they might come back to yours after dinner? Take them to Le Cercle. It will tick most, if not all, of their 'is this guy/gal serious 'n sexy 'n cool' boxes, and if it doesn't, I suggest you don't bother with the next date.

It's hidden away down a side street behind Sloane Square (expensive location: tick) and looks extremely exclusive, with a minimalist name hidden behind a screen of bamboos (gotta be in the know - tick). Hand your coat over at the door and then descend past a lounge area (hip hotel look-alike: tick) to the dining room (cosy banquette nooks and flattering lighting: tick and tick).

Staff are young and good looking, and just a bit ditzy. There's a dimly-lit bar area where you can perch with champagne cocktails. Other diners are also young and hip (especially considering we're slap bang in the middle of Chelsea). The wine list is varied and reasonably good value, and the bill overall should be around Â£40 each, unless you've plied him/her with a couple of bottles.

Oh - the food? Marvellous. The idea is French tapas, but executed with great style and superb ingredients. (Means you can eat quite a bit without being too full ...) Choose 3 or 4 dishes each from a selection of 5 or 6 from the different menu sections - vegetable, fish, game, meat. This changes regularly, but our dishes included pumpkin veloute, teal, onglet, and rabbit. Yes the portions are small but so full of flavour and interest that we didn't need dessert, but we were heading home afterwards to drink pink champagne and eat macaroons ..

Hibiscus

ramanauskas — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 10:23:56 +0000

Rating: 4.5

Location: 29 Maddox Street, W1S 2PA, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7629 2999

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

Tags: michelin stars foie gras

Expensive food for expensive peopleHibiscus is an interior-designed space in Mayfair with smart flower designs and an uncomfortable seating area. Hibiscus had 2 Michelin stars when it was in Ludlow and is gunning for at least the same number here. Hibiscus has very snazzy crockery, many many black-clad staff and a reverential atmosphere. Oh, yes, and it serves food. However, don't come if you want a fun night out. Do come if you want an extraordinary meal and a wallet-straining bill. We ordered the 'surprise' menu at Â£75 each (yes, each - the a la carte is Â£55 each for 3 courses) and received the following 8 courses. Plus very tasty parmesan cheese puffs to start.

Amuse: egg shell perched in salt, containnig a 'lightly poached' (i.e.near-raw) egg yolk at the bottom, topped with a potato foam

First: small tower of chestnut puree and blue cheese sorbet sat on a purple cauliflower bake surrounded by a cauliflower veloute.

Second: crab meat in an open raviolo thing with pear and acaicia honey. Plate strewn with herbs and a violet.

Third: Carpaccio of pollack with black radish and truffle. Great texture, great combination of flavours.

Fourth: Fillet of sea bream with mushroom quenelle and caper sauce.

Fifth: (groan) the famous foie gras icecream. Very rich, too much so for this stage of the meal. Gloopy, with the gloop slightly offset by little bits of crisped celeriac, which were just like rice crispies.

Sixth: Shropshire veal with roasted potatoes and goats cheese. Shropshire is a very nice place and the calf had obviously had a very happy life, ending up buttery and full of flavour. The potatoes were also very good with an amazing herb coating.

Seventh: Pre-dessert of apple puree with lemongrass foam. Yummmmeee. The lemongrass foam was made with cream, flavoured with lemon grass and was absolutely delicious.

Eight: Whinberry cheesecake with earl grey icrecream. Whinberries are blueberries who didn't make the grade.

Will we be back? I don't think so. London has so many good restaurants, which are fun to eat in, which serve great food, with good value interesting wine lists, and where you don't have to worry about whether or not your Amex card trumps your neighbours, that Hibiscus was definitely a once only event. Unless, of course, someone kindly offers to buy me dinner there ...

Whole Foods Market

ramanauskas — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 10:52:57 +0000

Rating: 3.2

Location: 63-97 Kensington High Street, W8 5SE, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7368 4500

Website: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/uk/kensington

Over priced, now over here
If you have more money than sense, Whole Foods has taken over from Fortnum and Mason as the place to buy your apples.

Yes, I know it's beautifully laid out. Yes I know it's supposed to be in the vanguard of organic food consumption.
But somehow it just seems to try too hard? And the prices are definitely too much.

For example, 250g dorset sheeps cheese is (gulp) Â£8.49, which you can get in the slightly less grand surroundings of the John Lewis Food Hall (Oxford Street) for I think Â£6.79.
The draw for me is the fantastic range of US wines - lots of Californian wines which I haven't seen elsewhere in the UK. But even then, a bottle of Zin I bought recently (Â£8+) was corked and undrinkable, and I didn't have time to take it back and complain. Next time I go in I'll let them know and see what they say.

We've been to the gastro-palace upstairs once, for breakfast. Again, very expensive even for Kensington, though a beautiful space with great tall windows overlooking the High Street. The yoghurt was sweetened and the staff (admittedly in the first couple of weeks) a bit clueless.

To sum up: an expensive curate's egg.

The Hummingbird Bakery

ramanauskas — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 22:19:14 +0000

Rating: 3.2

Location: 47 Old Brompton Road, SW7 3JP, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7584 0055

Website: http://www.hummingbirdbakery.com

Tags: cup cakes icing

Overpriced gunkApparently there's another branch on Portobello Road, which must be supported by deluded tourists and Notting Hill trust fundies. I popped into the Old Brompton Road branch the other day, seduced by the decor and a vague recollection of a review of 'the best cup cakes in London'.

Dearie me. Â£1.75 for a cup cake?! I mean, I know London is one of the most expensive cities in the world, but almost 2 quid for a very small amount of sponge cake, some sugar icing, and some sprinkly things on top? I had a lavender one, which was unpleasant and sickly and went straight in the bin (waste - tut tut). And a chocolate one with vanilla icing. The chocolate sponge was OK but the icing was way too sweet.

The shop also has a range of large and intimidating-looking cakes under glass covers but I didn't dare ask how much a slice would be as I haven't had a pay rise recently.

If this place is still open in 6 months time, it will show how much Londoners are prepared to spend on style over substance.

Bincho Yakitori

ramanauskas — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 21:59:44 +0000

Rating: 4.0

Location: 2nd Floor, Oxo Tower, SE1 9PH, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7803 0858

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

Tags: yakitori charcoal saki river views

Chicken skin and sparkling sakeNo really, the chicken skin is really tasty.
Pretty much evry table has a view of the river, plus a view of the Japanese chaps in bandanas turning chicken-y bits over the open charcoal grills.
Order lots and lots of bits - chicken, pork, mushrooms with bacon (mmm), eel (if you like), more chicken, tuna ... Four people can end up with a couple of dozen empty sticks, which with beer and sake still ends up being a very cheap night out.
I love the 'sake in a box' pouring ritual, even if I'm not sure if you should drink the extra sake from the box or pour it into the galss. If you find out what the accepted process is, do let me know.
Staff are ultra-friendly and good at explaining what's palatable to non-Japanese tastes.

Shampers

ramanauskas — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 20:37:17 +0000

Rating: 4.2

Location: 4 Kingly Street, W1B 5PE, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7439 9910

Website: http://www.shampers.net/

Tags: french, good value, crowded, brasserie

Great grouse!This wine bar is a deservedly popular fixture in WeHo (West Soho - I just made that up).
Wine list is much longer than even that very tall Chinese guy's arm and at a very reasonable mark-up. The verdicchio is especially tasty and a steal at Â£15 a bottle.
The food is generally comfort staples - steak and chips, sausage and mash etc. with a variety of daily specials. Last time we were there I had roast grouse for the stunning price of Â£16 - half the price of any other restaurant in London.
So, drop by any time and try and squeeze into a table, but definitely go in late August.

Yauatcha

ramanauskas — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 20:28:12 +0000

Rating: 4.5

Location: 15 Broadwick Street, W1F 0DL, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7494 8888

Tags: chinese, good value, pretentious

Beautiful and reasonable valueGo for:
- the steamed venison buns
- the cocktails
- the very cool slate sink in the ladies loo
- the aquarium bar
- the sticky rice
- a box of chocolates from the shop on the ground floor

Do not go for:
- a night out with the lads
- the beer

H G Walter

ramanauskas — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 17:32:58 +0000

Rating: 4.5

Location: 51 Palliser Road, W14 9EB, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7385 6466

Tags: butcher barbeque sausages organic meat

The best butcher in London?H G Walter keeps winning - Best Butcher in the UK in 2005, I think, Best Butcher in the South East in 2006.
It's just down the road from Barons Court tube, in a small parade of shops, but you'll see it because of the queue out the door.
Their Toulouse sausages are the best for cassoulet, in summer they have a superb range of ready-to-barbecue stuff (if we ever get bbq weather again) and in autumn a good range of game.
Also a range of cheeses and veggies.
But it does come at a price - a large joint of beef for roasting culd be as much as Â£30 and their organic geese at Christmas are (gulp) about Â£60. But very very tasty!

Kensington Arms

ramanauskas — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 17:22:24 +0000

Rating: 4.0

Location: 41 Abingdon Road, W8 6AH, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7938 3841

Tags: pub, rabbit, beer

Great sports pub with good food!Currently serving a mean rabbit pie, the KA on Abingdon Road also has lots of easy-to-see plasma screens, squishy sofas and a good range of wines by the glass. Hubby says the Cornish beer is pretty good as well.
Alex the manager is a top bloke, rest of the staff are pretty good if a little slow on the re-fill sometimes. Or maybe that's just us drinking too quickly.

Whits

ramanauskas — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 17:18:51 +0000

Rating: 4.5

Location: 21 Abingdon Road, W8 6AH, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7938 1122

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

Tags: romantic, british, seafood, international, good value

Marvellous food and ultra friendly serviceOn Abingdon Road, just down from Kensington High Street, Whits is tucked away from the crowds. Open only at dinner (except Sunday lunch), it's *the* local restaurant for people who appreciate excellent classic food served by ultra-friendly staff.
We love the steak, anything with langoustine, the seafood risotto .. in fact, pretty much everything on the menu, whcih changes regularly.
Alas, they no longer have their souffle-only menu, but there is usually a souffle on the desrt menu.
Only gripe is that the wine list is a bit short, but that's not too much of a problem when the house champagne is so nice.
Expect to pay about Â£40 a head for 2 courses and wine.