• Added: 10th of June 2008
• Area: Belsize Park
• Category: Food and Drink

London NW3 2BF
020 7482 9000

Sami said
I love ice cream
While there is a restaurant inside, the best way to get ice cream from this little shop is to visit the hole in the wall, flirt with the cute French guys serving you, taste-test everything, and finally settle on a couple of flavours - which they will cram either in a cone or a little paper cup for you. Then take a walk up to Primrose Hill, sit in the sunshine and eat your ice cream, and then lie back and enjoy one of the few beautiful days a year the English summer has to offer.

The ice cream is absolutely fabulous and it's about 1.70 a scoop, 2.40 for 2, and so on and so forth. They also sell ice cream in bulk to take home, but eating it outside while meandering about on a lazy Sunday afternoon is probably the best way to go.

Now go, and pick me up some ice cream on your way back home.

• Added: 17th of May 2008
• Area: Bethnal Green
• Category: Shops

London E2 6EJ
020 7613 3636

Sami said
Fun vintage shopping
As Miffy said, Beyond Retro can be a bit hard to find but it's worth a look if you're searching for vintage fashion.

They've got a fantastic array of vintage shoes, all arranged by colour - however, it can be difficult to find a pair of shoes that are both in good condition and in your size; the most of the shoes available are size 4 which can be really frustrating if you have bigger feet!

On week-ends they have a dj playing which is a fun addition, and it can get pretty busy, with girls diving in and out of the clothing racks in search of good finds.

Unfortunately I can't remember where it is, but if you ask while you're in the shop, they have another store in the Shoreditch area which acts as their boutique where they sell their better-quality finds but the prices can be a bit much for what you're buying.

• Added: 17th of May 2008
• Area: Shoreditch
• Category: Cafes and Coffee Shops

London E1 6SE
020 7247 9679

Sami said
Great little summer evening spot
Slight grotty but wicked just the same, Cafe 1001 is a really good place to stop over when you're wandering around the Brick Lane area.

Most evenings you'll find it is absolutely packed as it is also a music venue with a variety of different gigs going on; it can get so busy outside the club that you'll have a hard time navigating through the crowds smoking, chatting and standing around and sitting on the numerous picnic tables just outside the front door.

The burger stand and other food available is pretty good for street food, although on the week-ends you are spoiled for choice as you can go right around the corner to the Sunday Upmarket and sample a variety of world cuisine and do a bit of indie shopping as well.

And any place that serves Red Stripe in "tall boy" cans receives extra brownie points in my book!

It's worth a shot to check their myspace to find out what's on in the evening as they don't update their gig listings on their site too often.

• Added: 23rd of March 2008
• Area: Covent Garden
• Category: Restaurants

London WC2N 4HG
020 7240 1883

Sami said
Great cheap eat
4 of us were here today for lunch and we all really enjoyed it. I don't have much to add beyond what was said - the food was lovely, really fresh, presented very nicely, and very easy on the wallet.

• Added: 9th of March 2008
• Area: Old Street
• Category: Bars and Pubs

London N1 6NV
020 7613 1988

Sami said
Unfortunately, your typical Hoxton vibe
Anyone interested in snotty service, disinterested staff, an exceptionally long wait even on a Sunday late morning when the restaurant is empty, and unremarkable food?

Then go here. It's your typical snot-nosed, cooler-than-thou Shoreditch spot, with waiters and bartenders that think they're better than you - although their first clue should be that it's them that's stuck waiting tables for a living.

Its few redeeming factors: a good selection of Sunday papers, a beer garden, and the interior is, admittedly, pretty cool.

• Added: 9th of March 2008
• Area: Herne Hill
• Category: Bars and Pubs

London SE24 0JT
020 7501 9051

Sami said
Cute pub
Not bad at all - young crowd, good bar snacks menu (but I don't know how the food is), a good selection of beer (they have Fruli on tap!) and wine by the glass, all at decent prices.

• Added: 9th of March 2008
• Area: Herne Hill
• Category: Restaurants

London SE24 0LR
020 7274 9163

Sami said
Neither terrible nor amazing
We came here last night for a quick bite to eat. As it was after 9 pm, they were serving from the bar menu, which had a decent selection.

We both had the moules frites - good, fat and fresh mussels with a nice white wine sauce, but the frites were undercooked and undersalted.

The bar menu (I can't speak for the restaurant menu) is pretty cheap and I noticed that they do happy hour wines by the glass, which is reason enough for me to go as I am on a student budget. It's cozy in the bar area and there is a larger dining room area as well.

By no means my favourite, but at least it's a place where they are happy to advertise their "scores on the door" (new and voluntary initiative whereby restaurants post their hygiene scores on the door), have happy hour specials and the staff were nice enough.

• Added: 8th of March 2008
• Area: Crouch End
• Category: Bars and Pubs

London N4 4AU
020 7272 5395

Sami said
Not bad at all
The Larrik is an absolutely massive pub. Huge. At least by my standards - I couldn't believe how big it was - and is right across the street from the even larger Old Dairy.

Friendly service, lots of board games, decent food - some of it pretty damn good and free wifi are the best parts. They do something that I hadn't seen before but have been told that is relatively common - a whole roast chicken on Sundays, to split amongst you and your friends.

They have live music some nights of the week and on other nights - generally big game nights, show sports on the big drop down screen - you sports fans, you know what I'm talking about, but I have no idea what it's called!

An interesting crowd and very reflective of the local population; it's always pretty busy (I walk by every day) and it ranges from arty students to builders in for a drink after work.

• Added: 7th of March 2008
• Area: Stroud Green
• Category: Bars and Pubs

London N4 4AP

Sami said
Nice for a drink if you're in the area
Food - 3.5
Service - 4
Ambience - 3.5

I thought I might start out that way, in order to help me group my thoughts about our meal here recently.

As you leave Finsbury Park station and walk along Stroud Green Road towards the yuppier and more gentrified Crouch End, it is an obvious fact that the restaurants will change from your typical kebab shop, up the range to a cute, local gastropub.

The Noble is one of these. Just up the road from the Old Dairy which is a larger, more expensive and more popular gastropub, it is quietly perched on the corner of Crouch Hill and provides an alternative to the other two of the trio (the aforementioned Old Dairy, and the Larrik). We decided to come here as opposed to the Old Dairy (where I am going tonight and will duly post a review) because it was cheaper and as both change their menus on a regular basis, the Noble's menu appealed to us more at that point in time.

The food was decent - good - not exceptional, but very filling, fresh, and someone has taken the time and care to think about what is fresh at the moment and suits the climate. This was clear as through our time spent having our dinner, mains were crossed off the large chalk board in the centre of the small dining area and subsequently replaced with another option.

We had no starters but steak and a mushroom risotto. The steak was good, cooked the way we had asked, and came with fat chips and some vegetables and a very nice Stilton sauce. While my boyfriend and friend were really, really pleased with theirs, I was just... happy. It was good, but I wasn't over the moon. Another friend had the risotto and she loved it. I wish we had tried their homemade bread - a huge, exceptionally long crusty loaf - and any place that makes their own bread definitely earns brownie points for the effort.

The service is friendly and there are a few comfortable couches scattered around the room. It's a cozy spot and I would go there again, but for the fact that we live in London and are absolutely spoiled for choice.

• Added: 1st of March 2008
• Area: Aldgate
• Category: Restaurants

London E1 1RD
020 7377 6700

Sami said
Bloody good...
... almost spectacular, for the price.

5 of us ate - make that feasted - last night for 52 pounds. It's a place a few of my friends frequent on the weekly basis as they have found that this canteen-style restaurant and local favourite for the South Asian community, packs quite the culinary punch.

Indian cuisine is by no means my favourite but I was game to go for a curry since my last Indian meal was pretty awful and I felt that I needed a redeeming experience. To start, we had 2 orders of onion bhajis, lightly coated in gram flour and deep-fried so that they came out entangled almost like a bird's nest. They were absolutely delicious and to be honest I'm having a hard time writing this because I am shocked at how good the food was... on to some excellent samosas, and then for our mains we had a lovely chicken tikka masala, grilled and then marinated in a beautiful sauce with fresh and lightly sauteed green peppers, an incredibly tender lamb gosht, a very gingery chicken dish, pilau rice, saag paneer and bombay potatoes, both excellent. It was all exceptionally good, but I think my favourite had to be the peshwari naan - I quite liked their take on it and it tasted as if I was eating some sort of gently spiced dessert bread as opposed to the overly coconutty concoction I ate, the last time I had Indian food.

The mango lassi was great - really refreshing and very mango-ey tasting, which is more than I can say for many that I've had in the past. Maybe I might be belting its praises out a bit too much, but it has quite the little accolade of dining guide stickers on the front door and the sheer amount of people stampeding in and out of the front doors is enough of a testament that I'm not the only one taken with the place.

Romantic it isn't - but at least they don't dress the restaurant up in the hopes that they will fob you off with ambience and jack up the price. Although the tables needed a bit of a wipe, the service was friendly and fast, and the waiters seemed happy to explain parts of the menu we didn't understand. This is South Indian food for Indians, and damn good it is.