Latest favourites and wishlist by rkn

Tas Firin - review by elizaflan

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 16:34:13 +0000

Tas Firin - review by elizaflan

Rating: 4.2

Location: 160 Bethnal Green Road, E2 6BG, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7729 6446

my favourite local which blows the late night kebab out of the water.
eat in or takeaway, but make sure you order the rice, which are the plumpest little grains in the world

Tas Firin - review by t_moussa

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 22:45:51 +0000

Tas Firin - review by t_moussa

Rating: 4.2

Location: 160 Bethnal Green Road, E2 6BG, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7729 6446

Tags: lively, halal, family & home feel, good value, turkish

This restaurant is situated along bethnal green road, and is lovely little place to go for some authentic grilled turkish food. The decor may not be to everyone's taste as it is very tradtional and the walls are plastered with family photographs (including a large framed photo of a baby above the door!) and lots of other cultural items, but I found it charming and it added to the character of the place. The restaurant itself is not very large, there are only about 6 tables, but the food is worth waiting for one. The food is typical of any turkish grill, and is very good. The service is great, as the waiters are warm and friendly. Great place.

Brick Lane Beigel Bake - review by Artemidor

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 16:31:32 +0000

Brick Lane Beigel Bake - review by Artemidor

Rating: 4.6

Location: 159 Brick Lane, E1 6SB, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7729 0826

Tags: bargain

I love beigels. And this bakery is everything waiting for. The queues can be huge, especially at night. It is full of taxi drivers and late clubbers. But the foodâ¬¦ ah, the salted beef beigel is my best snack in London. The beef is absolutely tasty (not something that you can find elsewhere).

I would like to add that they also sell cakes. I tried a chocolate fudge cake and it almost melted in my hand. It was absolutely lovely. I think I saw some Jewish cakes (or similar), but I had no more cash at hand! So, my advice: go for a salted beef beigel and a cake.

Lahore Kebab House - review by ocean0201

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 17:00:09 +0000

Lahore Kebab House - review by ocean0201

Rating: 3.9

Location: 2-4 Umberston Street, E1 1PY, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7488 2551

Tags: indian, family & home feel, cheap eat, crowded

Lahore Kebab House is one of the best curry houses in london. Located in Aldgate, it is almost always full and there is sometimes a wait to get a table. The interior is nothing special and the place is very noisy (lots of diners, bollywood music on the TV screens). The Lamb Chops and Sheekh Kebabs are favourite for starters. A special dish is Lamb Nihari, but its not on offer always. Try it if its available.

The food is reasonably priced and the service is ok given that the staff are always busy. The Ambience is not that great but the food makes up for it and you have to bring your own alcohol, which is a plus for those on budget.

Cafe 1001 - review by gregwo

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 13:15:21 +0000

Cafe 1001 - review by gregwo

Rating: 4.0

Location: 101 Brick Lane, E1 6SE, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7247 9679

Tags: lively, quick bite

Cafe 1001 has some good tunes to warm up the night with or to hit later on in the evening. It's quite grungy, but that adds to the atmosphere for the most part. It's quite laid back and the dancing is usually good. One piece of advice-- always keep your bag with you. Since there's no cover charge people go in just to steal bags and leave. It happened to a friend of mine while she was just a few feet away from her bag, so be careful!!

It's also a nice cafe during the day with nice baked goods and food in the always amazing atmosphere of Brick Lane. Check it out!

Brick Lane Beigel Bake - review by abcjess

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 14:26:06 +0000

Brick Lane Beigel Bake - review by abcjess

Rating: 4.6

Location: 159 Brick Lane, E1 6SB, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7729 0826

Tags: delicatessen, bargain

especially late at night, after a night out when theres about a million other places around trying to sell you absolute unconsumable rubbish. It's a nice feeling swallowing down their soft bagels knowing that you aren't gonna chuck that up in the morning - your stomach just wouldn't allow it!

I've heard alot about the salt beef here, but have yet to try it myself but I can comment on their quick service - i found it a bit dinner ladie lunch queue ish, which just brings feelings of nostalgia, good nostalgia. With such generous fillings (and prices that reflect how much change you'd probably have in your pocket at 3am) it deserves atlest 6 michelin stars.

Mirch Masala - review by chrisp

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 11:45:47 +0000

Mirch Masala - review by chrisp

Rating: 4.4

Location: 111-113 Commercial Road, E1 1RD, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7377 6700

Tags: indian, family & home feel, cheap eat

Well, you could have knocked me down with a poppadum. For weeks, if not months, a friend of mine had been trying to persuade me to try Mirch Masala on Commercial Street, and of course I thought the very idea was insane. "Why on earth," I would say, "if I was going to eat anywhere in Whitechapel, would I go anywhere other than Tayyabs?". And given the sheer consistency and quality of the food there, I think you would agree I had a point. But more recently the buzz of recommendations for Mirch Masala had reached a even more deafening level as I learned a couple of colleagues at work at been and declared it (brace yourselves) "possibly" even better than Tayyabs. So that was that - on Friday evening I wandered down.

The menu was reassuringly Tayyabs-like in style, though perhaps slightly more extensive with a much larger vegetarian selection and some interesting Karahi options. We ordered a plate of sizzling lamb and chicken wing tikka, and on arrival you could immediately tell this was a kitchen with a supreme command of the grill. They were - and it almost pains me to say it - every bit as good as the grill from Tayyabs, succulent and salty and dripping with fantastic tandoori spicing.

The chilli naan was decent enough (nothing has yet beaten the garlic naan from Lahore over the road in my book, it's just a shame everything else there doesn't live up to it) but the Masala Bhindi was amazingly rich and meaty for a dish containing no meat, and the Karahi Chilli Chicken, despite containing slightly dry pieces of chicken, had such a wonderful tomatoey, herby sauce that I almost licked the bowl clean. Great stuff.

So, and here comes something I never thought I'd say, Mirch Masala may have done enough to replace Tayyabs as my curry house of choice in the East End. It's not just because of the food, either - although Mirch will certainly give them a run for their money. The problem is, thanks to people like me going on about how good Tayyabs is, it's more or less impossible to get in these days unless you turn up at 5:30pm or are willing to wait for two hours. And once you're in, securing a spot with enough room to use your elbows and not have people knocking you on the back of the head on the way to the toilets is yet another challenge. Mirch Masala serves tasty, cheap food in infinitely more relaxed (if rather canteen-y) surroundings and is a big enough restaurant that you don't have to sprint there after work to get a table. It has everything going for it. Let's just see how long it takes for the rest of the city to catch on... can you keep a secret?

Brick Lane Beigel Bake - review by shopaholcleo

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 00:54:15 +0000

Brick Lane Beigel Bake - review by shopaholcleo

Rating: 4.6

Location: 159 Brick Lane, E1 6SB, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7729 0826

Tags: bargain

I love this place! Open day or night, it doesn't seem to be affected by the credit crunch and the bagels remain cheap. There can be a queue, but there are always so many people working here, so you'll always get served quickly. I always grab a dozen to freeze and they still taste good once defrosted. The cakes and pastries are also good, and reasonable, so a lunch could cost you less than Â£2, which is rare for London. Smoked Salmon and cream cheese is a must. It's always lively and has a real East End feel, and I shall be having many more visits.

Witcomb Cycles - review by gard3n3r

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 18:34:32 +0000

Witcomb Cycles - review by gard3n3r

Rating: 4.5

Location: 25 Tanners Hill, SE8 4PJ, London, United Kingdom

In this day and age of mass production and cheap imports from china, how do small manufacturing enterprises keep going, well i will tell you its something you dont get from the big players its called customer service, and this place pours it out in bucket fulls, and old family firm still going generations later, everybody should support these kind of businesses, I popped in here for the first time years ago while waiting for my washing in the launderette next door, i had a bike,i didnt want to buy anything, but i did want advise, the guy that was in there at the time stopped what he was doing came straight over, introduced himself and spent the next 20 mins chatting to me about my bike and bikes in general, never have i met anybody with more pasion for his job. Buy your bikes from here forget the big boys, i bought one 6 month later, never looked back.

Red Veg - review by boxinghefner

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 11:52:33 +0000

Red Veg - review by boxinghefner

Rating: 3.4

Location: 95 Dean St, W1D 3TB, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7437 3109

Website: http://www.redveg.com

what's great about Red Veg is a) the food is good and filling b) it is only slightly more expensive than standard fast food fair and c) it's located in a prime location, in Soho. On the downside, there is not enough room in the resturant to swing a cat, let alone seat more than six customers, meaning that Red Veg is a must during 'off-peak' times (which most times are at Red Veg).

Brick Lane Beigel Bake - review by trinity

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 01:34:22 +0000

Brick Lane Beigel Bake - review by trinity

Rating: 4.6

Location: 159 Brick Lane, E1 6SB, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7729 0826

Tags: delicatessen

One of my favourite places to eat, 24 hour yummy, delicious Beigels. My fave is deffinatly the salt beef and mustard, altho My mum like chopped herring and cream cheese (blleurrghh) well each to their own. Great cakes too reccomend the carrot cake.

Brick Lane Beigel Bake - review by moner

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 23:13:02 +0000

Brick Lane Beigel Bake - review by moner

Rating: 4.6

Location: 159 Brick Lane, E1 6SB, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7729 0826

What can I say apart from great beigel. I highly recommended this place. It has clean and tidy premises. They seem to have good hygiend praxctices whilst preparing food. The shop has lots of fillings available and the beigels are freshly baked with a traditional taste. If you like beigels then this is the place for you. Other jewish specialities are also available also. The shop does get very busy as it is extremely popular, so you may have to queue-but as they say all good things are worth the wait..... The staff are very friednly and nice and offr a good service. Beigels are freshly made up to your order specifications in front of you.

Mirch Masala - review by drhk

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 13:44:26 +0000

Mirch Masala - review by drhk

Rating: 4.4

Location: 111-113 Commercial Road, E1 1RD, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7377 6700

Very nice place for a weekend meal with family

Lahore Kebab House - review by bellaphon

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 22:32:34 +0000

Lahore Kebab House - review by bellaphon

Rating: 3.9

Location: 2-4 Umberston Street, E1 1PY, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7488 2551

Tags: indian, family & home feel, cheap eat, good value

I often dine by myself and this place with its canteen like atmosphere is perfect for solo dining. However the portions served at this place are often too big for a single diner to complete the course. Bring some friends instead, in fact bring loads, for the cooking is A1.

Always go for the specials that are featured on Wednesdays or the weekend like Nihari or Chicken on the bone curry. These specials are generally not readily available till 1pm, so take note. These guys do not cut corners with the seasonings or cooking of their dishes; which thus reflect and attract a welcoming presence of large groups of Asian diners. The Grilled Lamb Chops are de rigueur, you'll need to order this dish at least to justify the reason to revisit LKH again. Just imagine Tony Bourdain chomping on these, 'These are good, these are very good'. 'nuff said.

One minor quibble involves the waiters placing a bottle of a horrible tasting English mineral water on the table which you're obliged to pay for. I politely asked for tap water instead and his answer was ''but no, that is bad for you''.

Right I need to visit Tayyabs now for some serious correlations. In the meantime, LKH you're the best.

Lahore Kebab House - review by chrisp

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 13:44:02 +0000

Lahore Kebab House - review by chrisp

Rating: 3.9

Location: 2-4 Umberston Street, E1 1PY, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7488 2551

Tags: indian, good value

I popped into this place last Wednesday evening because it's near to my new place of work and I'd heard positive feedback from various sources. It's tucked away on a particularly ugly stretch of Commercial Road but had a healthy number of diners when we arrived at 6pm so word has obviously gotten around.

I got the impression that this is slightly closer to a standard curry house than Tayyabs - for a start the poppadums were fully deep-fried and came with the traditional mango chutney and yoghurt sauce. However I did notice they were deep-fried very recently and still had a film of oil on the edges, which was nice, and the yoghurt sauce was slightly spiced, which added a bit of an edge to it.

Our starter really was exceptional - tikka lamb chops which were moist on the inside and covered in great tikka spiced just right. I would have been happy with plate after plate of these and was very sad to see them go - I half thought about ordering some more but decided against it.

The mains were more standard. Chicken Karahi was tasty enough but the meat was a bit dry; similarly the lamb curry was chewy and in both dishes there seemed to be a very mean amount of meat - just 5 or 6 pieces in a big bowl of sauce. Then again it was still a cut above your average curry house (and no more expensive) so no major complaints.

However, the crowning glory of the whole meal, the star of the show, was the garlic naan - unexpectedly lovely and with an amazing flavour. I don't know how they did it, but the toasted garlic tasted of almonds and were delightfully crunchy on the bite and melted in the mouth. We immediately ordered another once the first had gone.

I'd heard many negative reports of the service but we didn't notice anything too untoward ourselves, although we did have to ask for a mango lassie a few times before it arrived. If I'm paying less than Â£15 a head for a meal and the service is anything better than completely incompetent I don't think you have too much to moan about.

One final point of interest - despite calling itself a Kebab House, I'm not sure I noticed any kebab on the menu? Or maybe the greatness of the lamb tikka overshadowed all the other starters. Anyway, there you go - for a good cheap eat the Lahore ticks most of the right boxes, although I would still say Tayyabs is a more impressive experience overall.

6/10

P.S. I've just noticed how the pic of the main is slightly fuzzy whilst the courses I liked (the garlic naan and the chops) are again perfectly in focus. I honestly don't do this deliberately guys, I just appear to have a sentient cameraphone.