• Added: 13th of June 2008
• Area: Ladbroke Grove
• Category: Restaurants

London W10 5TD
020 8968 459

fabiodebe said
Finest mexican food in town...
Santo is a very nice Mexican restaurant and lounge bar which serves delicious food and great cocktails. The minimal look and the great care of every detail makes it a very enjoyable place where to dine and have a drink. Lunch and weekends' brunch are also very nice. Everything I had was really good so I find it hard to recommend anything in particular. Avocado is awesome and incredibly fresh, coming straight from Mexico! Also fresh juices are great and are the perfect complement to a 360° Mexican food experience. Burritos are very nice (either prawns and carne asada) and last night I had a very tasty enchillada de pollo. Starters are not huge but main dishes are very generous. I suggest to have a starter and a main dish each if you're hungry... even better if you share starters with your mates. All the crew is very kind and treat you with kid gloves. The best thing is that all this pampering comes at the right price! Despite many other trendy places (often only pretentious...) Santo's prices are definitely in the right range. I'm not saying cheap but I've never been disappointed by the bill.

• Added: 10th of May 2008
• Area: Fitzrovia
• Category: Restaurants

London W1T 1NA
020 7580 8825

fabiodebe said
Don't wear your favourite shirt... :)
Koba is a very nice Korean place, not expensive and the food is very good. You can't go there without eating some of their awesome grilled meat or tasting their starters, but the place is incredibly smelly! So don't wear your fave outfit and forget about going anywhere else for a drink (not even think of a club, they will bounce you at the door for sure!) after dining!
My tip is to take different starters and main courses and share them.
The bill is reasonable even if you add the dry cleaning for your clothes... :)
All in all a nice place to go, I'd recommend it.

• Added: 10th of May 2008
• Area: Soho
• Category: Restaurants

London W1D 4SL
020 7813 8010

fabiodebe said
Nice wine and starters
Barrafina is a nice place. It was too busy to eat when I went so I just had some good red wine and a few starters... stuffed olives and ham (the famous jamòn serrano).
The bill said £31 for the 2 of us... I wouldn't call it cheap but you can't demand too much if you go in a pretty trendy place in the heart of Soho, can you?

• Added: 31st of January 2008
• Area: Mayfair
• Category: Restaurants

London W1K 5DJ
020 7629 2730

fabiodebe said
Great raw fish in a spartan place
As pointed out by many other people the sushi and sashimi at Ikeda is among the best in London. The place is pretty simple and spartan, but if you want a fancy and glamourous place just go to Nobu... if you want great sushi and reasonable prices go to Ikeda.
The waitresses are lovely and professional.
The only odd thing is that when I called to reserve a table the woman remind me that the minimum spend per person is £30... strange either because it was the first time I heard it and also because you can hardly stay below that threshold anyway.
The bill... £110 for one delicious shrimp tempura to share, a portion of black cod and an amazing bowl of rice with a chef selection of fish of the day and a nice bottle of Chardonnay. Not bad considering the overall quality and the pleasant night out. Great value for price if compared to Ubon in Canary Wharf.
Will definitely be back again.

• Added: 28th of October 2007
• Area: Fitzrovia
• Category: Restaurants

London W1T 1HJ
020 7637 1418

fabiodebe said
Burgers! Of all kinds...
Nice place located just off of Oxford Street.
Great selection of burgers... including exotic choices like dundee, ostrich, bison, etc.
I had a traditional burger with cheese, fried egg and bacon with fries and brownies with ice cream for dessert.
The bill... £53 for 3 persons. Not cheap but not bad at all considering the generous shares.
Instead of eating in the crappy tourist places around that area, Eagles is a good pick.

• Added: 28th of October 2007
• Area: Aldgate
• Category: Restaurants

London E1 6EA
020 7375 3136

fabiodebe said
Great tapas and wine
Nice place and good food. Best of all was the red wine we had with chicken, chorizo, prawns, octopus, paella, mushrooms and other nice spanish dishes.
The location is good too, just minutes away from Bricklane and next to Spitalfield market.
For 20 quid each we had good food and superb wine.
Definitely worth a try.

• Added: 18th of October 2007
• Area: Blackwall
• Category: Restaurants

London E14 8RR
020 7719 7800

fabiodebe said
Great expectation and a bit of delusion
I was excited to go to Ubon in Canary Wharf.
The famous river view is quite impressive, even if you are only at the 4th floor so you don't see anything of Canary Wharf that - personally - is quite amazing at night.
The place is not as chic as I thought and not as much as the bill would suggest.
The food was good, not delicious but good. Except for the spicy tuna roll that tasted like... nothing at all! Shrimp tempura is definitely good though.
The bill... £115 for 2 persons is not that fair. Considering that we had tempura for 2, 6 pieces of sushi, some sashimi, dessert and 2 glasses of wine I find that the place is definitely overpriced. And they don't even bother to serve you water in a glass bottle...

• Added: 10th of October 2007
• Area: Hackney
• Category: Restaurants

London E2 9DR
020 8983 7900

fabiodebe said
Very nice French food and glamourous atmosphere!
Bistroteque has only one glitch... it's located in the middle of nowhere and it's not so easy to find!
Now the good news! They serve French food and it taste really nice. They have a good selection on wines and the place is absolutely cool.
It's the right place to go with friends or even with your partner.
For some things they are bit too much "nouvelle cousine" but it's nothing major. You can see the kitchen where the chefs will create your meal and that gives me a good feeling... Everything is nice and clean and - again - food and wine are very good!
The bill... well, not very cheap but not particularly expensive. If you are around 30 quid per person (including wine) you're almost sure you will be full and satisfied.

• Added: 10th of October 2007
• Area: Milan
• Category: Restaurants

Milan 20100

fabiodebe said
Famous panzerotti
Luini is a kind of icon in Milan. Although its status I'm not a great fan of panzerotti in general, but if you like them Luini is the place to go!
They also do other kind of bakery, focaccia, pizza, etc.
I read that they opened in London as well, so if you're not planning a weekend in Milan you can enjoy real panzerotti also in the City!

• Added: 10th of October 2007
• Area: Milan
• Category: Bars and Pubs

Milan 20144

fabiodebe said
Fashion meets food
Trattoria Toscana is quite a trendy place to go, both at the bar and at the restaurant. But despite many "fashionable" places turn to be totally disapproving as far as food is concerned, I always had great food here. If you like meat go for the Tagliata, but anyway all the menu looks and tastes good!
The bill... the place is not cheap but neither expensive. With a starter, a main course, dessert and a bottle of wine you are around 25-30 Euro each.
Well, if you go there for the aperitivo and drink a couple Negroni before you start eating the bill will be higher... but hopefully you'll end up dizzy enough not to bother!! ;-)