Latest reviews by secondexpress's friends

Hana Hana Japanese Restaurant - review by coldclimate

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 20:12:32 +0000

Hana Hana Japanese Restaurant - review by coldclimate

Rating: 4.0

Location: 45 Bath Lane, NE1 5SP, Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom

Phone: 0191 222 0282

Very much like - Fujiyama Teppan-Yaki just down the road, Hana Hana is good fun in a big group. Flames come off the hot plate, the seafood is tasty, the bill isn;'t the cheapest but it's a good fun night out.

Fujiyama - review by coldclimate

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 20:05:19 +0000

Fujiyama - review by coldclimate

Rating: 3.0

Location: Bath la, NE1 4DL, Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom

Tags: expensive, tempanyaki, party, group

If you're going out in a big group, Fujiyama (and Hana Hana just a couple of doors up) are brilliant food. Cooked in on a giant hot surface in front of you, Tempanyaki is great fun.

Last time I was here we had king prawns (done on the hot plate, topped with garlic butter), scallops (done on the hot plate, topped with garlic butter and lemon), beef steak (done on the hot plate, topped with garlic) and chinese chop chicken (done on the hot plate, finsihed with soy).

It's all a touch greasy, a bit too rich, but when the flames are shooting 2 feet up in the air (honest) it's a brilliant night out.

Oh - and I caught my egg in my hat, see if you do too.

Frankie & Tony's Sandwich Bar - review by coldclimate

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 19:37:24 +0000

Frankie & Tony's Sandwich Bar - review by coldclimate

Rating: 4.0

Location: 19 Ridley Place, NE1 8JN, Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom

Phone: 0191 230 4564

Tags: lively, sandwich, crowded, quick bite

Bacon butties that come with a free coffee.
Sandwiches with so much filling that they are hard to lift.
Staff so chirpy first thing in the morning it makes me want to kill them.
A queue to the door at 12:30
A great logo featuring a heart.

Need I say more?

Well, they bought me in a massive jar of mango pickle at trade price because I couldn't find it myself. I love this place.

Gills Fish & Chips - review by coldclimate

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 19:27:15 +0000

Gills Fish & Chips - review by coldclimate

Rating: 4.0

Location: 173-175 Chillingham Road, NE6 5XN, Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom

Tags: chips, fish&chips

Chips - a best British staple. Gills isn't known for its range of food, or its setting, or price. When the chips are good, they are brilliant - crisp, stay separate, smell brilliant. When they're not good, they're just ok.

Pop your nose through the door, have a look and see if they are dark and wonderful looking, and dig in. If they're not, just walk on by. I've not tried anything else*, but its worth a visit for the chips alone.

* not quite true, I've had the chicken tikka kebab, but I'm not admitting it in public.

Sesame - review by coldclimate

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 20:48:49 +0000

Sesame - review by coldclimate

Rating: 5.0

Location: , , Sheffield, United Kingdom

Phone: 07929016573

Website: www.sesamesheffield.co.uk

Tags: delicatessen catering vegitarian vegan

Please note, Sesame are a catering service, not a restaurant! They are online at www.sesamesheffield.co.uk

I was at a wedding this summer and Sesame provided the buffet. It was really really fantastic. The care that had been taken to source and prepare everything was just amazing, and the food itself so tasty.

They specialise in vegetarian and vegan food, but not once in the whole night did I hear a single "could have done with a steak on the side" type comment. As a dedicated meat-eater, I didn't even notice.

The courgettes rounds with goats cheese were delectable, the rissoto (shaped into rounds for easy finger eating) wonderfully creamy, the cheese board afterward had one of the best sage derbys I've ever eaten.

Get in contact, discuss what you want, and I'm sure they will be able to help.

Little Saigon - review by coldclimate

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 20:32:13 +0000

Little Saigon - review by coldclimate

Rating: 4.0

Location: 6 Bigg Market, NE1 1UW, Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom

Phone: 01912330766

Website: www.littlesaigon.me.uk

Tags: vietnamese, good value

I went on the recommendation of a friend to Little Saigon which has just opened and was really impressed. It was very quiet, but the food was excellent and the bill very reasonable. 2 beers, two starters and two main courses came to a grand 33 quid in total.

To start we split seaweed fried beer (very tasty - see photo) and garden rollls (a bit like an unfried spring roll). Both were excellent.

I managed to forgo the Pho, though I've heard good reports about it, and had a pork and noodle dish with fine chopped salad, and excellent it was too.

Only slight dip in the night was when we went to pay and they had the wrong bill, but it was all sorted out very easily, aparently the new till requires some learning.

Being on the edge of Bigg Market, you probably want to go mid-week, rather than a Friday or Saturday. Oh - and it has a very pretty sink in the gents too.

Mistletoe Bakery - review by coldclimate

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 21:05:51 +0000

Mistletoe Bakery - review by coldclimate

Rating: 4.3

Location: 17 Mistletoe Road, NE2 2DX, Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom

Phone: 0191 281 2008

I love the Mistletoe Bakery! They've served me fresh bread at 2am, the best cornish pasty I've ever eaten (and at 4am). The guys who run the place are either brilliantly friendly or amazingly grumpy.

The bread is brilliant, the pies are brilliant, but it is all definetly seen by night. Through the day, its just a normal bakery. Also be warned, it is very likely to be full of pissed students.

Viet - review by coldclimate

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 22:56:13 +0000

Viet - review by coldclimate

Rating: 3.4

Location: 34 Greek St, W1D 5DJ, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7494 9888

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

Read some good reviews, and it stood up to them. The plain beef pho was excellent (and huge), the "special pho" ironically wasn't as good. Great summer rolls (like a spring roll but not deep fried) though. Alway fun to share tables too.

It's bring your own booze if you want a drink with your meal, and Â£2 corkage on bottles of wine, which is pretty good.

Wong Kei - review by coldclimate

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 17:10:18 +0000

Wong Kei - review by coldclimate

Rating: 3.1

Location: 41-43 Wardour Street, W1D 6PX, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7437 8408

Tags: lively, cheap eat, chinese, crowded

Wagamama's it's not - and thank goodness.

Wonkies is about as close as you get to Hong Kong noodle houses in the UK as far as I can tell. It's busy, you share tables, the waiters are curt (I refuse to call them rude, they're just very business like), and the food is very fast. Everything comes in plastic bowls, the tables have soy and chilli oil, and there's a good chance that you'll be sitting with somebody you don't know (always more fun).

I really enjoyed their barbequed pork noodle soup, and the won ton soup was good too. The crispy chilli beef was excellent, the lemon chick less so. The whole bill came to Â£23 quid for two of us, and was way more than we could eat between us. The "starters" definitely outshone the mains, but then again the roast pork and rice on the table next to me looked and smelled excellent.

Worth noting that the dÃ©cor is dated, the stairway less that clean and your chances of being disgruntled high is you aren't willing to bend you head down and crack on.

Take a bunch of non-fussy eaters, and you'll have a great meal for not a huge amount of cash. Take one fussy person, or be annoyed but one dish being just ok not great, and you'll all hate it.

Bridge Hotel - review by coldclimate

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 21:48:12 +0000

Bridge Hotel - review by coldclimate

Rating: 3.7

Location: Castle Garth, NE1 1RQ, Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom

Phone: 0191 233 1010

Website: http://www.vermont-hotel.com

Tags: friendly, mature, beer garden, real ale

There's a long walk down to the loos, and there are a couple of rooms, the beer is good, but the best thing about it... the view.

Wander down to the terrace, turn on the outside heater, and you look out across the Tyne for one of the best kept secret views in the Toon.

myhotel Bloomsbury - review by coldclimate

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 23:58:04 +0000

myhotel Bloomsbury - review by coldclimate

Rating: 1.0

Location: 11-13 Bayley Street, WC1B 3HD, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7667 6000

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

Tags: bar, rubbish, expensive

I've no idea what the hotel is like, I hope it's lovely, but I went into their bar for a few drinks at an event and was horrified. Â£4.50 for a bottle of larger form the fridge, plus a 12% service charge. Thats 12% covers the cost of having a for a quiff touting failed male model who ignores you, finally takes your order, sniffs at not getting to show off his bar flair because you only ordered a beer and then opens the bottle and places it on a napkin on the bar top.

The actual room itself (sorry - two rooms - there is an annex at the back for events) are about the size of my hotel room, brightly lit with low hanging lightbulbs, and amazingly noisy because the walls are paneled. There was food available, but given that a gin and tonic was nearly a tenner all in, I couldn't have afforded the petit-pois on ryetoast, or whatever nu-cuisine rubbish they were selling.

Gaby's Deli - review by coldclimate

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 23:47:11 +0000

Gaby's Deli - review by coldclimate

Rating: 4.0

Location: 30 Charing Cross Road, WC2H 0BJ, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7836 4233

Tags: turkish, falafel, delicatessen, mediterranean

I stopped in for falafel this evening, and it was excellent. For the centre of London it is cheap as chips. OK, so a can of coke is about 1.50, but a pitta stuff to bursting with falafel, tahini, crunchy salad and a bowl of good chilli sause was about a fiver.

The falafel themsleves were wonderfully crunky on the outside, and nicely chunky on the inside, not the lump of deep fried hummus or Mc Chickpea Nuggets that you sometimes get. The take out baklava to finish was also excellent.

Best Mangal - review by coldclimate

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:28:00 +0000

Best Mangal - review by coldclimate

Rating: 4.1

Location: 104 North End Road, W14 9EX, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 7610 1050

Tags: turkish, family & home feel, good value

Chunks of meal cooked over an open charcoal fire, soft yet flakey breads, and some really good chilli sause, the Best Mangal was worth the 20 minutes on the District Line to visit it. I had a bog standard shish, and it was tops.

Nice to be able to sit in too, rather than the standard collect and run kebab places. This feels more like a restaraunt that a fueling stop for drunken boys. 2 kebabs and a beer, less that 20 quid.

Rafi's Spice Box - review by coldclimate

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 14:00:44 +0000

Rafi's Spice Box - review by coldclimate

Rating: 4.5

Location: 17 Goodramgate, YO1 7LW, York, United Kingdom

Phone: 01904 638119

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

Tags: delicatessen indian asian

I just popped in to collect one of their famous spice packs (hand mixed, pop them in a pan, add meat and water, and curry appears!), what a fabulous place. I came out with a bag of bits and pieces, all of which I've been looking for for ages.

Dene's Deli - review by coldclimate

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 13:26:03 +0000

Dene's Deli - review by coldclimate

Rating: 4.2

Location: 244 Jesmond Road, NE2 1LD, Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom

Phone: 0191 2818200

Website: http://www.denesdeli.com

Tags: delicatessen sandwich delivery deli

There are many sandwich shops using factory produced fillings, arranged in plastic trays, looking just like every other sandwich shop in the country. Dene's isn't one of them. Though I've never actually been into the shop itself (because I take part in a mass order into the office every single day) I can only imagine it of a hive of activity.

The range of fillings is massive. Every one is a hand picked mix, and as well as all the regular stuff (BLT's, chicken etc etc) there are some complete stars in there. I love Houmous, Jarlsberg & Organic Sundried Tomato Paste, Chicken & Sri Lankan Lime Pickle & Jalapenos and the surprisingly tasty Vegetarian PatÃ© & Coleslaw.

Their massive combo sandwiches are great too. Who couldn't love the names Reggie the Veggie (Vegetarian PatÃ©, Aubergine, Coleslaw) and Buzzardâ¬"s Breath (Polish Sausage, Egg Mayonnaise, Garlic Mayonnaise, Chilli).

The bread range is good (mini stotties* in wholemeal, white, granary, sunflower wholemeal, ryeknot, tortilla wrap, pitta bread, poppyseed knot, sliced bread , italian ciabatta, or white or brown mixed seed plait) never mind the bagels or gluten free bread. It's always fresh and fluffy, and the healthier ones with bits and seeds in are super tasty.

If you work in the city, why not get an order sheet together an phone it thorugh. For 3 quid, you can't do much better.

*A stottie is a big bread bun from the North East you funny Southern folk.