• Added: 7th of May 2008
• Area: St John's Wood
• Category: Restaurants

London NW8 0EH
020 7328 5014

Mez said
Great contemporary Italian
Fantastic Italian food with a contemporary spin.

The portions are smaller than usual but the menu is designed so that you can taste several dishes without burning your wallet. I indulged in a beef carpaccio starter, a lobster pasta main, a fillet & mash main and a dessert for less than £25-30, and the food was wonderful.

The waiters are all Italian, very friendly and with great attention to detail. The service was fantastic.

The restaurant itself has large windows and a terrace for the summer days.

Highly recommended!

• Added: 25th of April 2008
• Area: Camden Town
• Category: Food and Drink

London NW1 7PN
020 7428 7575

Mez said
Fresh and Wildly Extortionate
Tasty and healthy food but ridiculously priced. I know so many people who come back shocked from their first (and last) shopping experience and literaly feel robbed.

For that I've had to ditch it as a good place to get lunch and slap it down to 2 stars.

LOWER YOUR PRICES!!!!

• Added: 30th of March 2008
• Area: Notting Hill
• Category: Restaurants

London W11 1EA
020 7243 9818

Mez said
Good but overpriced gastropub
The food is good but not spectacular, so at 35 quid a head (inc. just one glass of wine), I personally don't think it's worth it.

Nice pub atmosphere though and good service.

• Added: 25th of February 2008
• Area: Soho
• Category: Restaurants

London W1F 0TE
020 7734 8986

Mez said
Super healthy fastfood!
This place is pretty unique. Other than resembling a mini-rain forest (hot and tropical!), it's also the only totally nutrition-focused restaurant in the UK (I think) that serves healthy and organic food and drinks with no compromise on flavour (pretty delicious in fact).

How? no chemicals/artifical ingredients, no dairy/animal products, no carcinogens, no wheat, no gluten. Basically no-anything that could be remotely bad for you!

Everything is steamed (not baked nor fried) and the pastry is even 'cooked' through a surprising method: air-dried (both for pizzas and cakes!)

The food is varied, ranging from Mediterranean lentils to Thai curry. It took me a few visits to realise that the food was completely vegetarian (with vegan options). Says a lot coming from an avid carnivore!

Value for money is excellent. Everything is measured on the number of scoops you have from the hotpots, meaning a fast, delicious, nutritious and filling meal for a fiver or less.

Oh and they do all sorts of fresh natural juices..

I just ADORE this place!!

• Added: 25th of February 2008
• Area: Camden Town
• Category: Restaurants

London NW1 1BA
020 7387 2789

Mez said
BEST tapas in London
Yes, THE best of the best and an all time favourite. If I started to write about it properly my rave would spread over 40 pages.

Enough said!

• Added: 25th of February 2008
• Area: Soho
• Category: Restaurants

London W1F 0SQ
020 7287 4447

Mez said
Best fish in town with no reservations
I'm trying to swap the usual essays for a more succint style - the title therefore says most of it. If you'd like to find out more however.. read on..

Key points:

- GREAT FISH/SEAFOOD - indulge and go for the Lobster

- NO RESERVATIONS needed - on the downside, this means queuing. So either go at lunchtime (like I did.. clever me ;) or take a friend whose company you really do enjoy ;)

- FANTASTIC ATMOSPHERE: Designed/feels like a parisian bistro and the staff is a mixture of French and Italian.. great fun. Warning: the music tends to be a little too loud for my liking in the evening though (again, lunchtime seems to be a v. good option).

- CENTRAL: in the heart of Soho. A lively, dynamic and fun-packed area in itself.

Enjoy!

• Added: 25th of February 2008
• Area: Lisson Grove
• Category: Restaurants

London NW8 0AE
020 7328 6626

Mez said
Great gastro pub
My friends are going to kill me for writing this review as they wanted to keep it secret (they did warn me), but I am compelled to share it in true TrustedPlaces spirit and style.

I’ll keep it short: warm and cosy atmosphere, friendly staff (albeit a little slow sometimes), and delicious food make it a favourite of mine. Especially great for Sunday relaxation, fish & chips n’ roast (not all to be consumed in one go!). The desserts are also to die for...

Have always eaten in the ‘pub/bar’ section (instead of the restaurant section) as I find it more informal, but great to be given the option for more special occasions..

• Added: 23rd of February 2008
• Area: Ladbroke Grove
• Category: Restaurants

London W10 5NL
020 8968 8055

Mez said
Great moroccan food
Love this place and have been going there for the past 5 years or so.. one of my favourite moroccan restaurants.. decor is nothing special but the food is v. nice, great value for money, and the management and waiters are genuinely friendly and welcoming.

Great meat and fantastic fresh juices/smoothies (try the berber cooler)

• Added: 10th of February 2008
• Area: Blackfriars
• Category: Restaurants

London EC4M 7HS
020 3201 0077

Mez said
Fantastic pasta
Loved this place for the warmth of the service, the homely atmosphere and the fantastic pasta and wine on offer (I had gone for a simple pasta dish with crab and olive oil and my pasta was cooked to perfection).

Simplicity at its best. Loved it.

• Added: 20th of December 2007
• Area: Westbourne Grove
• Category: Restaurants

London W2 4AB
020 7792 0770

Mez said
Nothing to write home about
I wish I could agree with curlynewf as her review was pretty inspiring and made me want to discover the place, unfortunately my experience was vastly different :(

We organised a dinner amongst a large group of North africans and this review is representative of the unanimous view shared that evening: the quality of the food really wasn't all that special. The soup we had for starters tasted burnt (the response we'd been given was that we were late (which we were) and that it had been reheated for us, hence the result - I'll leave it to the reader to make their own mind up on whether that's a reasonable explanation. I had my views!). The couscous which came at a hefty average price of £12 was of standard quality at best, whilst its presentation left much to be desired (to give you an idea, a good couscous at a typical north african restaurant should cost no more than £7). We only sampled those two meals to keep the logistics simple so I am not able to comment on any other dishes. I would have expected the bill not to include the soup starters or at least give us a discount given every single person on the table complained of the same thing, but that wasn't suggested by the owners (big no no on that one.. this is a very good example of how one can lose customers for life).

The 2 restaurant staff who provided the service that evening were friendly (they were probably also the managers), which slightly alleviated the poor culinary experience, but that's about all I can say about the place unfortunately. It's pretty small so feels intimate although something was really missing in the atmosphere. It felt dreary and in need of an injection of joie de vivre.

I really don't like writing negative reviews but I wanted to balance out curlynewf's review as our experience was unfortunately very different :(