• Added: 10th of September 2008
• Area: Twickenham
• Category: Restaurants

Twickenham TW2 7LB
020 8894 1010

Foodie_319 said
Excellent Service, Average Food
If there is one thing you are assured of when you visit Spice Of India it is a warm welcome, professional service and a friendly atmosphere. You always feel that you are being treated as someone special and lets face it we all like to feel special don't we?

It has had a few names (Taste Of Raj being the last one) over the years and has had some facelifts along the way, but unfortunately the internal decoration is quite stereotypical and cheesy, rather than modern and contemporary - you wouldn't want the decorator to do the coving or plasterwork in your living room. It's not the sort of venue if you want privacy either, everything is very open and little too close together.

As for the food itself, it always appears very fresh and hot. There are a wide variety of dishes to choose from, however I do find that the chef is very fond of his coconut (I have found it in a suprising number of dishes, some you wouldn't expect to find it in - not noticably at least) and not fond enough of his spices - too many dishes lack that little something that would take them to the next level. The strongest dish on the menu I would suggest is probably the sizzling tikka's served from a cast iron dish.

It is a very popular restaurant in the Whitton area, so it is often wise to book a table. The staff are very accomodating to your needs, all you have to do is ask.

As an added bonus it does do takeways with a 10% discount, it also does a cheap buffet on Sundays - if you fancy a curry on a Sunday. Prices are pretty reasonable anyway, however I'd rather they charged a few extra quid and improved a few of the recipies to make it that bit more special.

• Added: 10th of September 2008
• Area: Twickenham
• Category: Restaurants

Twickenham TW2 7LB
020 8898 4000

Foodie_319 said
Good food, good value
The only Italian restaurant in Whitton and thank god it's a good one! It is located slap bang in the middle of the High Street, with a bus stop located virtually outside the door and the overland a couple of minutes walk.

The menu is standard Italian fair, comfort food prepared using fresh ingredients of good quality which is obvious in the taste of the food. There is a good range of pasta and pizza and for those who don't want either there are some good salads and traditional meat/poultry dishes. They also do a mean risotto. For me, the pizzas and pasta are both so good it is difficult to choose which way to go. Portion sizes are large - you would struggle to eat three courses in here and many of the mains would happily feed two people.

Service is very good, friendly, speedy and efficent. The atmosphere is friendly and lively, although it can sometimes get a little loud.

Pricing is cheap; four of us have eaten two courses each including drinks and coffees for just over £65. Bargain.

• Added: 10th of September 2008
• Area: Whitby
• Category: Cafes and Coffee Shops

Whitby YO21 3PU

Foodie_319 said
Amazing tasting food!
This is quite simply the best restaurant in Whitby.
More specifically, you will not find better fish dishes anywhere in the country.
The Magpie Cafe, in business since 1939, benefits from something no other restaurant in the UK can - it's location. It has excellent views of the harbour, St.Hilda's (Whitby Abbey) and St. Mary's church. It sources much of it's fish and seasfood from Whitby Fish Market, which is directly opposite it's doors - you simply cannot get fresher more beautiful tasting fish - sea to plate in a matter of hours. The finest fish in the UK - imo.

My favourite dish is a Magpie Fish Pie - I order it nine times our of ten as it is exquisite; my partner always goes for simple cod and chips for the same reason. The fresh Whitby Crab is also excellent.
Portion sizes are large. The starters and desserts are also first rate.

Service is top notch - friendly and attentive without being overbearing and it is quite old fashioned, almost like a traditional tea room a la Betty's (if you don't know Betty's look them up - they are amazing). That may not be to everyones tastes, but I find it brilliant. The only downside is that as the place is so popular there is often a 20-30 minute or so wait for a table.

Prices are more than reasonable. A two course meal (starter and main) will set you back roughly £15 plus drinks.

• Added: 10th of September 2008
• Area: Richmond Upon Thames
• Category: Bars and Pubs

Richmond Upon Thames TW9 1TJ
020 8940 7733

Foodie_319 said
A Richmond Hotspot!
I like slug and lettuce pubs in general and this is one of my favourites.

Located by the tow path on the River Thames, it is a couple of minutes walk to various bus stops, 10 minutes max to the overland and tube. There is a large seating area outside and even more room for standing on those balmy summer nights...not that we've had any recently! Saying that, folk tend to stand outside here whether it is cold or not, mainly due to the fact that space inside is limited - it is much smaller than your typical slug and pretty much serves as a bar. Most evenings the place is packed out.
Bar staff are very freindly and helpful, but you can wait a while to be served as it gets very busy - three or four deep is not uncommon here. The atmosphere is very lively and friendly, generally it is a young professional crowd.
I would describe the food it serves as Modern British, they have an a la carte menu which is well worth looking at, although I'm not sure I would fancy my chances on an evening - it is THAT busy. If I eat there it is usually lunch or early evening and it is VERY good.
Prices are not cheap, but then again you wouldn't expect it to be in one of the prime locations in London. It's one of those places you go to where you end up staying all night, even though you had several other places on the menu! Well worth the money in my opinion.

• Added: 10th of September 2008
• Area: Richmond Upon Thames
• Category: Restaurants

Richmond Upon Thames TW9 1EJ
020 8948 3436

Foodie_319 said
Dissapointing
Bearing in mind my fondness for Tootsies in Chiswick, this branch is very dissapointing.

I was really pleased when I found out they had opened near another of my favourites, The Slug & Lettuce virtually next door.
It has a fantastic riverside location, five minutes from the town centre, two or three minutes from a bus stop for those fancying a drink. The building the restaurant is in is beautiful...and that's about it.

The service was poor and the food was average to poor. We had booked a table for six of us for 1400 on a Wednesday (hardly a busy time and there were no more than five covers in the whole place) but no table was ready when we arrived. A few square tables were hastily pushed together...they weren't even wiped down. We were handed food encrusted menu's by one member of staff and we ordered some drinks from another - nothing complicated as it was lunchtime, just soft ones. We ordered our food, of which the starters turned up with yet another member of staff before our drinks did. We asked for the drinks again. Some appeared some didn't. We asked again. Finally, everyone had refreshments. It was roughly another 35 minutes after we finished our starters until the mains arrived, well all but one of them did anyway. After waiting nearly 10 minutes until the last meal arrived we tucked in. I tried one of the french fries and they were cold - almost fresh from the fridge cold. I sent them back, another 10 minutes gone before they came back. Everyone else found their food very average, certainley not worth the asking price on this occasion, based on portion size and quality.
What annoyed me most is why the service was so badly organised and executed - we had at least four different members of staff including the floor manager attend our table. We rasied our issues with whichever member of staff was serving us at that time, but there were so many staff trying to serve us they simply confused the issue and got in each others way. The fact we kept getting asked if everything was alright when clearly it wasn't was an annoyance.
The fact it was somebody's birthday kept our mouths shut - we did not really want to make the person feel like it had been pretty rubbish (which they later commented on anyway). In hindsight we should have argued the toss with the bill anyway.

So to summarise; Service stunk, food average to bad, atmospehere dead, location brilliant. Ah well, one out of four isn't bad...

• Added: 10th of September 2008
• Area: Turnham Green
• Category: Restaurants

London W4 1PR
020 8747 1869

Foodie_319 said
Good for parties
This is one of the first restaurants I ever went to in London, so I do think of it fondly and my views on it are possibly softened by nostalgia.
Tootsies is your typical American type eatery - (VERY good) burgers, grills, salads etc. And that is the main problem.

Tootsies is not distinct enough and is not head and shoulders above others in an area highly populated by some very good restaurants in either the qualty, standard or variety of food or service. It has no USP. Personally I have always found the quality of the food is very very good, but it simply isn't worth a journey to go there too often.

I would put this down to the at times patchy service - if you go at the wrong time on the wrong day the service can be next to non-existent and you run the risk of having your expereince tarnished.

I have always found the atmosphere lively and friendly, although afternoons have been known to be a little flat. It has a nice open front and has a good location on Chiswick High Road.

Prices are average (maybe even marginally too high) for what you get - a typical starter, main and dessert will set you back around £20-£25 and drinks aren't the cheapest either.