• Added: 20th of August 2007
• Area: Crickhowell
• Category: Restaurants

Crickhowell NP8 1BW
01873 810408

Angel_Bury said
welsh rare bit
What a wonderful place! The Bear provided us the perfect retreat on our recent visit to the Greenman festival. This ye olde coaching inn has cosy rooms and the oportunity for fine dining in their restaurant or decent pub grub in their bar.
We took full advantge of both during our stay. The food in the restaurant was excellent altough service a little haphazard. The waiting staff were young and exeperienced but did a reasonable job. Foodwise, we were impressed with the scallop and cauliflower puree starters and immaculately cooked welsh steak, despite the fact it came with an odd bit of blue cheese ravioli. The following night's pub grub was fair but slightly over priced in comparison to the restaurant (which was only a few quid more for three courses). The bar food is extremely popular with the locals.
Rooms at the hotel vary from small cottagy little hidey holes to grander suites complete with four post beds and jacuzzi. Again, they've got the price points wrong here - the larger posher rooms are excellent value for money but for only a few pounds less (and no jacuzzi)you get a third of the space and trappings. Certianly worth pushing the boat out for a bigger room.

• Added: 12th of August 2007
• Area: Bankside
• Category: Restaurants

London SE1 9AF
020 7357 9922

Angel_Bury said

Frozen Chips! What a cheek, I was aghast when my 20 fillet was served up accompanied by a scattering on greasy fat frozen chips. For that much money the least they could do is cut up their own potatoes. The steak was pretty avarage too, staff were in different, and our cheese board dissapointing.
Other irritants included a steak knife to eat with that was almonst the size of a carving knife, it was cumbersome and blunt, or was that £20 steak just too tough? The wine was ok but overpriced, our large bottle of water appeared and was a miserable 50cl worth. There was no toilet paper in the loo! Need I say more? Avoid this place like the plague. If you want a decent steak go to Smiths of Smithfield.

• Added: 8th of August 2007
• Area: Blackfriars
• Category: Cafes and Coffee Shops

London SE1 0SW
020 7928 3850

Angel_Bury said

TheMoth is right about them there queues! Franks is a proper good old fasioned no thrills greasy spoon/sarnie bar. Run by a family of friendly Italians who can whip up a ham salad bap faster than you can say spaghetti.
Breakfast here is the forte though, any combinations of fri-up you can imagine gets gobbled up by local builders hunched over cool formica 60's tables and benches. The toast here really is something else, freshly cut bloomer bread makes for a crispy crust and fluffy white insides, AND they have just the right touch with marmite too, not too little, not too much, masterful! All washed down with proper tea the colour of bricks, it's a joy.

• Added: 1st of August 2007
• Area: Barnsbury
• Category: Bars and Pubs

London N1 8PZ
020 7288 9821

Angel_Bury said

well yeah it's a nice enough spot to stop for a canal-side pint, if you don't mind being driven off the tow-path by the incessant greedy path grabbing cyclists and three-wheeled yum-mums constantly beevering by.

I used to come to this boozer, when it was just a boozer, frank, honest and waterside, no gastro pretences, just a good honest pub. It's defenitley gotten a bit up it's arse since they've started serving things on foccacia (sp?)

anyhoo....quite nice but do head on up that tow-path, get off at the next bridge, head up Wenlock St to the Wenlock arms for some proper old fashioned old stylee old street drinking. You'll have to make do with porkscratchings or a sausage sarnie, but THAT boozer it a gem...seek it out!

• Added: 19th of July 2007
• Area: Bankside
• Category: Restaurants

London SE1 9AD
020 7407 8744

Angel_Bury said

almost open air sushi ala Borough Market. This offering from the Feng Sushi chain isn't bad, but it's not great either.
I had a pretty tasty plate of buckwheat noodles with teriyaki salmon whilst my dining partner scoffed down a pleasant looking selection of sashimi and various sushi. Capped off with some tasty green tea ice cream and washed down with amusing sake served in what I can only describe as a groovy yoghurt pots.
Staff were pretty grumpy and didn't seem to bothered about what they were doing. Nice enough though....

• Added: 2nd of July 2007
• Area: Barnsbury
• Category: Restaurants

London N1 0PB
020 7226 7916

Angel_Bury said

One giant creche! You'll have to battle your way past hoards of Islington yummy mummys and their crayon weilding offspring if you're thinking of visiting the Med Kitchen for a Saturday afternoon mid-shop luncheon.
But, it's not bad at all. Reasonable value and pretty decent food. My naked lamb burger was a flavoursome variation on the usual lump of mince and evil fry combo. Topped off with a cheeky little affogato, I left a pretty happy bunny.

• Added: 27th of June 2007
• Area: St James's
• Category: Food and Drink

London SW1A 1EG
020 7396 9600

Angel_Bury said

yes it is the best place to buy a bottle in town. Be sure to check out the spirit room, ask very nicely and you might get to sample a thing or two if you're a lucky puppy...

• Added: 23rd of June 2007
• Area: Soho
• Category: Restaurants

London W1D 3AL
020 7734 0954

Angel_Bury said

Hoorah for anywhere you can have a three course meal for 10ish.

Don't expect anything too special, but good old Lorelei can't be beaten for a cheapo pizza and a dolop of tirmisu for a few quid.

What you've got here is a groovy little beaten up cafe flogging pizza's and a few 70's style starters and puds. It's fantastic.
It's a BYO too, so nip round the corner to the Vintage House for a bottle of plonk to wash your garlic bread down with.

I usually opt for the avacodo prawns, followed by a 'lorelai' anchovy/sardines pizza, real comfort food.

Lorelai has been a tucked away on Bateman St for many years, I doubt the menu has ever changed, and long may it stay that way.

• Added: 23rd of June 2007
• Area: St. James's
• Category: Restaurants

London W1J 9EB
020 7499 6996

Angel_Bury said

I LOVED it here. The Wolseley fits all sorts of occasions from breakfast through to high tea and the good old fasioned grandly done up dinner.

I didn't mind the black shirt/tie thing, it's just a uniform, and they weren't pretentious, they were just high end waiting pro's with sense of pride in their restaurant. We had a good laugh with our waiter who was happy to tell us anything was wanted to know, even getting us bits of stuff to taste before we made up our minds.

The food is good, and the building incredible, who cares if it was once a car showroom! What a showroom it would have been, it's exquisit.

I think this is what proper London dining is all about, sorry that Thriller had such a terrible time, but The Wolseley and it's ninja waiters tick all my boxes!

• Added: 23rd of June 2007
• Area: Soho
• Category: Restaurants

London W1F 0LP
020 7437 5708

Angel_Bury said

An utter delight, cosy, romantic and damn tasty.

You get what I see as proper classic French style food here brilliantly cooked with not irritating frills and tidbits. I had some good old fashioned foie gras with brioche and a brilliant pork and clam casserole, so delicious and finished off with awesome ginger icecream for pudding with which the waiter was incredibly helpful when it came to picking out a glass of matching sherry. Actually, this is the only place I've ever been to where they ask you if you'd like you're PX on your icecream on in a glass, hoorah!

The wine list here is massive and the proprietor doesn't believe in the usual 2-400% mark up system employed by most. If you're keen to drink really decent wine with your meal but break out in a cold sweat at the prospect of arranging an overdraft to fund your Puligny's then here's your place. You'll be guaranteed to find quality tipple for most budgets.

One last note - do ask for a table downstairs when you book, it's far more romantic and cosier than the upstairs section. This really is a legendary place, have it!