• Added: 1st of October 2008
• Area: Leicester Square
• Category: Restaurants

London WC2H 0NE
020 7734 8796

ilovelucy said
Clue is in the name of the restaurant
My chinese student was leaving London for good so we decided to go for a farewell meal in town. As he was born in China and exposed to Sichuan cuisine practically everyday I was interested to find out his opinion about Sichuan cuisine in London. I had already been to the very fashionable Bar Shu so i was keen to try somewhere else. Therefore I did a bit of research and picked Red 'N' Hot which had pretty good reviews. It would be easy to miss the restuarant which is flanked on either side by shops selling cheap tat for a few quid so we were not surprised that it was pretty empty. The decor was nicely done, in a modern chinese way, black lacquered furniture and red pattered walls. We got stuck into the menu. Qiang informed me that we had order cold dishes to accompany the hot - so the Yin and Yang would be balanced. There was so much to try but as it was only the two of us we went for the cold sliced belly pork in mashed garlic sauce, pockmarked lady's tofu with minced meat, and the sliced beef lavishly topped with chillies and sichuan pepper - one of their signature dishes, rice and vegetables. We got stuck in - the tofu was amazing - much better than the versions i had tried in the chinese restaurants on Gerrard Street. You could actually taste the creaminess of the tofu. The beef arrived in a vat of oil surrounded by the chillies and the pepper - the portion was enormous enough to feed a family! It was very delicious, beef was beautifully tender - Qiang said the food was the most authentic he'd tried in London. It was very hot food - I have high tolerance levels for chilli but this was indeed a test. Fortunately they were pretty forthcoming with the tap water. On a table near us - i spied a couple eating the chinese hot pot - a pan of stock whereby you cook your own vegetables and meat to your liking. I realised that every table had this facility and vowed to come back to try it out. Not many chinese restaurants do this anymore. I was pleased that Qiang liked the food. The cost was reasonable - we paid £18 each without alcohol. I will go back again once my tastebuds return to normal.

• Added: 1st of October 2008
• Area: Southwark
• Category: Restaurants

London SE1 8LF
020 7928 7211

ilovelucy said
Good fish nice atmosphere
Last Sunday afternoon I decided to take my friends Farrah and Tom to my favourite Fish and Chippy - Masters Superfish in Waterloo. When we turned up, to our absolute horror, we found that it was closed. Deflated and hungry, we turned the corner into The Cut to find somewhere to eat. We had our heart set on fish and chips so we were quite pleased that we found Livebait - although i was convinced that this was a posh eatery where you get small, dainty portions and not much grub for your cash - my opinion changed when the food arrived. At 5.30pm they had a few customers already - the atmosphere was just perfect for a Sunday. Ravenous we decided to go for the set menu - 2 courses for £14 which is available everyday until 7pm. Tom and I both went for the whitebait which was a massive portion - probably half a dinner plate full of the poor little things. Very tasty, fishy and crisp. To overcome our disappointment at Masters being closed, we all had the haddock and chips and our eyes lit up when they came - portions again were huge. It was good but not great - chips were okay and the fish being haddock didn't have the chunky flakes that I love at Masters. Anyway it was a good hearty meal although I probably overdosed on fried fish. Would be good to try something different next time.

• Added: 1st of October 2008
• Area: Wandsworth
• Category: Restaurants

London SW11 1SL
020 7207 8548

ilovelucy said
Nice local
Came here on Monday night to exploit my tastelondon card with the 2 for 1 offer. Out of the Blue is an independent restaurant and from looking at reviews it is quite popular with the locals. The restaurant had a homely feel with low lighting and mismatched wooden furniture. Not sure i'd be able to sit in my wicker chair for more than a couple of hours though and some of the tables were really close together - so i was impressed that the waitresses could get round them. The menu was divided into two parts - one section had heavier meals, your standard starters, mains, and puddings. On the other side were smaller tapas like plates, 5 of which we decided to go for. We ordered the battered halloumi cheese, the rocket and grapefruit salad, the lamb kebabs, the nachos and the chicken burritos. All were delicious and i had nothing to fault them for. I particulary liked the rocket and grapefruit sald with parmesan - great combination of flavours. However, after having the 5 dishes we were still hungry and we ordered a plate of fries. I liked the way the dishes had their own touches - for example the fries had parsley and garlic on them. You could tell that care had gone into making them. Not sure if I would come back though as I did think that £5.50 per dish was a little pricey and we weren't full after 5 dishes.

• Added: 1st of October 2008
• Area: Sloane Square
• Category: Restaurants

London SW7 1ES
020 7584 0052

ilovelucy said
Tasty food but hit and miss service
Atmosphere was buzzing when we arrived last Friday evening at this cavenous place. My colleagues and I were taking advantage of the toptable offer - 50% off the menu. For the price of £20 each we enjoyed a selection of curries, pilau, naan and a mixed tandoori grill plus beers and mineral water. Annoyingly they don't serve tap water. However, curries were fresh, zingy and were good sized portions. I ordered a Jalfreezi curry with extra chilli and it was perfect. One of my colleagues ordered the Keema - minced lamb with lentils but said he preferred the cheaper more authentic version in Tooting. Service was a bit hit-and-miss unfortunately. As we were at the back of the restaurants it took a bit of time for the waiters to see we wanted service. It may have been the fact that the restaurant was so dimly lit or perhaps poor eye sight. Maybe the latter as they took away my plate before I finished eating! Coupled with the fact that they don't serve tap water, this left a bad taste in my mouth. A pity as it was quite fine food.

• Added: 24th of July 2008
• Area: Balham
• Category: Restaurants

London SW12 9HR
020 8673 5393

ilovelucy said
A local curry house to go back to
Went to Sadya with my dad last night as it is 50% off with the Tastelondon card and only round the corner so we thought we'd give it a go rather than venturing out to the usual suspects in Tooting. Sadya is a small homely restaurant specialising in Southern Indian cuisine so it was a nice change from the bog stanadard jalfrezis and tandooris. The menu was varied and there were lots of dishes which we could have ordered. Dad had the lentil soup and we also ordered a rice pancake with a prawn filling. Both were delicious and had interesting flavours. For the main we had the masala chicken, the grilled king fish plus a side order of okra. Portions were good. Food was fresh and surprisingly not greasy. Everything was made with care and tasted like home cooking. The lady serving was lovely and explained the dishes. It wasn't busy but when we where nearly leaving a large group came in and it took ages getting the bill. Anyway we were very stuffed and for £26 with the discount, for 2 large cobras, 2 rice, 2 starters, 2 mains +vegetable and chappathi we were more than happy. Looks like this one will be our local, can't wait to try other dishes.

• Added: 17th of July 2008
• Area: Battersea
• Category: Restaurants

London SW11 3PH
020 7223 7516

ilovelucy said
Miles better than Tooting
My family are avid curry fans but after a few bad experiences at Tooting curry houses I decided to take them to The Stag in Battersea - for which I could use the Taste London Card to get 50% off. Bargain.

The restaurant is off the beaten track nestled amongst some ex-council estates. Formerly a pub, the restaurant has adopted its old name. Inside, it is tastefully decorated, chairs are very comfortable and they give you cloth napkins - definitely one-up from the places in Tooting. The menu was extensive and had the usual suspects as well as some very interesting dishes. The waiting staff were able to help us select our mains - and tell us about each dish.

We ordered the Tandoori mixed grill to share and also samosas - all very good and freshly prepared. Mains were excellent - fresh and not the greasy fayre you find in most curry houses. We had the garlic chilli lamb, rogon josh chicken, a fish curry and the bindi bhaji. DIshes tend to be on the mild side so if you like yours hot then ask for extra chillis. One minor thing was that the portions were quite small - especially in proportion to the rice that you get. There was only a few pieces of fish in the fish curry so that as a group of four people we could only try one bit each. However, we left the restaurant feeling quite full and were pleased with the choice of restaurant especially since we paid £40 in total including 2 large bottles of cobra beer (with TT card). So in effect cheaper than the Tooting curry houses and much better eating experience on the whole. Can't wait to go back!

• Added: 17th of July 2008
• Area: Shoreditch
• Category: Restaurants

London EC2A 3PD
020 7729 5566

ilovelucy said
Thoroughly enjoyable night out
Came here last Friday night for dinner with my good friend Giselle. Really didn’t know what to expect as I’d been to the bar many a time on a Friday night after a hard slog in the City but never tried the food. I guess the saying back then was “Eating’s cheating!” so no wonder I cannot recall many memories of Cantaloupe.

Anyway I digress…..on a very wet Friday evening, Giselle and I turned up for a civilised meal at Cantaloupe. It was somewhere that we would never had chosen but since Cantaloupe very kindly, via Trusted Places had given us the opportunity to sample their food and drink free of charge, we thought why not? The interior was just as I had remembered it – kind of the shabby chic that Shoreditch is famous for. It wasn’t packed at the bar but with the DJ warming up you could tell it was going to be a busy night. We headed straight to the restaurant at the rear of the bar. This section was portioned off with comfortable booths on one side and tables on the other. With the skylight giving the restaurant a sense of light and space, it was quite a pleasant area. At 7pm, we were the second table to be seated but it didn’t take long to become busy, with plenty of groups of young professionals and couples arriving. One nice thing about Cantaloupe was the lively atmosphere – it was like the atmosphere of the bar was somewhat transferred to the restaurant in a positive way– you could hear the tunes but it wasn’t so loud that you couldn’t hear what each other was saying. So we got the “Friday feeling” without actually being in the bar.

Giselle and I got stuck into the cocktails whilst making our minds up about what to order from the Brazillian menu. My mojito was superb – perhaps one of the best I’ve tasted – and I’ve tasted many in my time – the consistency of the mint to the rum was spot on. We then ordered. It was difficult to decide as there were many delicious dishes and the exotic dishes sounded most appealing. Giselle had the croquetas de jamon, (salt cured Serrano ham and parsley cakes) which were perfectly creamy inside with the parsley and ham making good combination. I ordered La Bomba – mixed seafood in a spicy sauce, apparently this is what Brazillian’s eat before they go out clubbing to give them energy. This starter came in a sundae glass– and I could smell the Tabasco a mile off. However I loved it – it’s not really for the faint-hearted, but the spicy sauce went brilliantly with the sweetness of the prawns and the squid was cooked perfectly so tender.

For the mains we both chose beef, but Giselle was a little more adventurous than I was. She had the “Carbonada Criolla” Argentinean beef casserole braised in Malbec with pumpkin, apricots and oregano with sweet potato mash, whereas I chose the fillet steak – for which I had a craving all day. Their steaks apparently come from a cross of Hereford and Aberdeen Angus cattle that have roamed on the lush, rich grass of the Uruguayan pampas. As the journey from the wild open pastures to the table allows the meat to age for five to six weeks, the steaks are even more tender. And tender it was – my knife sliced through the plump medium-rare fillet as if it was butter. It was perfectly cooked and had the intense flavour which is associated with prime beef. Along with the steak came french fries and chimmi-churri salsa which surprisingly went very well with the meat, deliberately subtle as to not disguise the flavour of the steak. Divine! Not too sure what Giselle’s casserole was like but despite it being a rather large portion of food she cleaned her plate with ease – a rare feat for Giselle so I came to the conclusion that it must have been good. The manager Paul recommended the Argentinian Malbec wine which excellently complimented our beef dishes.

Service was attentive and helpful but we didn’t feel as though we were rushed. Good thing as we had lots to catch up on. Very full but not wanting to miss out on desserts we chose the cheesecake and the cheeseboard to share. The cheesecake was dreamy –it had a rich depth of flavour without being too sour or sweet. Hmmm… Nice selection of cheese on the cheeseboard (sorry can’t remember what they were but were a great match with the second bottle of malbec!)

After we polished off the remainder of the Malbec, I asked Giselle the time, she rummaged in her phone for her bag….quarter past midnight, she shrieked and we ran off to catch the last tube! We were shocked that we had been there for 5 hours – sitting in the same place, eating, drinking, gossiping….Time flies when you’re having fun eh!

• Added: 1st of July 2008
• Area: South Kensington
• Category: Restaurants

London SW7 3JS
020 75910123

ilovelucy said
Delicious meal for small price
I come here quite often as it is close to work. You can sit by the bar and eat your sandwiches/sharwarma at lunch without all the fuss of eating at the tables. Everything is very fresh and fragrant. I would usually have a mixed sharwarma - which consists of marinated lamb and chicken grilled meat from the spit roast, with tomatoes, mayonnaise and gerkins wrapped with lebanese bread. Absoultely delicious with all the different flavours and textures combined- and also very filling so its enough for lunch and only £4! I brought my Chinese friend here the other week so he could try lebanese food and he loved it. I've also eaten the vine leaves, tabouleh and hummous and a few other plates for dinner. Reasonable prices and it is very healthy foods. Another nice thing is that like tapas or Dim Sum, you can select a few dishes to share amongst friends.

• Added: 30th of May 2008
• Area: South Kensington
• Category: Restaurants

London SW7 2HP
020 7589 3663

ilovelucy said
Fresh but non-spicy curries
Only a 5 minute stroll from work, the Kwality's eat-as-much-as-you-can buffet which is served lunchtime Monday to Friday is the place to come if you need a good feed. Usually Indian food at lunchtime is too heavy for me but Kwality's curries seem to be less stodgy - the problem is that i eat too much of it. The buffet consists of Onion bhajii's, salad, pilau rice, chicken korma, lamb curry, lentil curry and a vergetable curry. Not an extensive range but its not bad for the price. The restaurant is clean, modern but small so you might find you have to hover around for a bit before filling your plate. Food is fresh and they use Kwality (mind the pun) ingredients. However the curries could do with being spicier - I think they are addressing the mass market and perhaps the tourist that frequent the museum. More chilli please!

• Added: 29th of May 2008
• Area: Richmond Upon Thames
• Category: Restaurants

Richmond Upon Thames TW9 2NQ
020 8940 5253

ilovelucy said
fresh, authentic thai food
Came here with 4 friends and a baby on Sunday and yes, the restuarant wasn't busy. However, I was taking advantage of my tastelondon card to get 50% off the food bill so it really didn't bother us at all.I had the soft shell crab salad for starters was brilliantly done - lots of different textures and flavours, however quite difficult to eat. I then had the pad thai which was equally as good and very authentic. Food was enjoyed by all and there were mumours of delight from time to time. Bill came up to £65 with the offer - so we left feeling happy and full.