Le Bouchon Breton

Wednesday 1th September, 2010

8 Horner Square, Old Spitalfield Market,
E1 6EW

Actual price per head: £39

Nearest tube: Shoreditch (East London Line) or Liverpool Street (Central Line, Circle Line, Hammersmith & City Line, Metropolitan Line).

Remarks

This was a BYO evening, so the actual price covers food and service (12.5 %) only; we provided our own wine. The food did not really justify such high pricing. The menu had many strange wrong spellings of French words. There was a complaint from one of the diners about the quality of the meat in a Steak Frites and the management removed the cost of the Steak Frites from our bill. Even so, note the overall high price. The evening worked anyway; the Gusto crowd had a good time. I’m not sure the Hungarian waiter did.

Jesrsey Rock Oysters * 6 £12.00
Bulots (whelks) £5.95
Escargots (snails) * 12 £12.00
Croustillant de Chevre £7.95
Salade Caprice £7.25
Soupe a l’oignon (tasteless) £5.95
Soupe de Pecheur £8.50
Terrine de campagne £6.25
Frisee aux Lardons £8.50
Salade de Tomate/Haricots £5.95
Dorade Royale £17.00
La Bouillabaisse £15.50
Saint Jacques (3 small scallops) £14.00
Carre d’agneau £19.95
Rognons de veau (delicious) £16.95
Coq au vin £15.00
Demi Poulet (huge) £12.50
Filet de Boeuf (excellent) £32.00
Peppercorn sauce (what a rip off on top of charging 32 quid for the steak!) £1.50
Steak Frites £26.00
Gratin Dauphinois £4.25
Choc hazelnut Liegois £6.50
Frozen Mess (huge, fun presentation) £6.50
Selection d’ice cream £5.95
Tarte au framboise £6.50
Tarte Tatin (Eight quid – outrageous!!!) £7.95
Mousse aux chocolat £6.50
Profiteroles aux Chocolat (Why is the ‘c’ sometimes capitalised?) £6.50
Clafouti aux Pruneaux £7.50
Dame Blanche £5.95
Americano Caffe £2.25
Filtre Coffee (why the inconsistent spellings?) £2.25
Cappucino £3.00
Mint Tea £2.75
Macciatto £2.50
Badoit £4.00

Attendees

Ali H., Anthony F., Bill R., Brian M., Colin I., Gilles C., Ian S., Jeremy P., John H., John H. (2), Mark J., Mark T., Martin H., Martin T., Michael N., Paul R., Peter J., Royston G., Scott T., Steven V.

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Posted in All Restaurants, French | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Bumbles

Wednesday 4th August, 2010

16 Buckingham Palace Road,
SW1W 0QP

Actual price per head: £36

Nearest tube: Victoria (Circle Line, District Line, and Victoria Line).

Remarks

Very enjoyable evening.

Attendees

Ali H., Bill R., Colin I., Gilles C., Jack W., Jeremy P., John H., Mark J., Mark T., Martin T., Michael N., Narjit G., Paul R., Peter F., Peter J., Phil B., Richard O., Robert J., Scott T., Steven V.

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Posted in All Restaurants, European | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Stef’s

Wednesday 7th July, 2010

3 Berners Street,
W1T 3LD

Actual price per head: £41

Nearest tube: Tottenham Court Road (Central Line and Northern Line).

Remarks

Excellent Antipasto Misto. Nice group, some with an excellent sense of humour. That means I like them.

Attendees

Andreas B., Andy Y., Ian S., Jeremy P., John H., Matt S., Narjit G., Paul R, Peter J., Phil B., Roy C., Steven V.

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Posted in All Restaurants, Italian | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Le Bavoir

Wednesday 2nd June, 2010

6 Greek Street,
W1D 4DE

Actual price per head: £36

Nearest tube: Tottenham Court Road (Central Line and Northern Line).

Remarks

The staff were excellent and the food was much better than the menu. This is actually a very nice venue which is badly marketed.
The muzac is very, very cheesy which is not to everybody’s taste.

Attendees

Andrew Y., Bal T., Darren S., Ian S., John H., Mark B., Mark J. Mark T., Martin T., Matt S., Steven V., Terry M.

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Posted in All Restaurants, Lebanese / Morrocan | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Mango Tree

Wednesday 5th May, 2010

46 Grosvenor Place,
SW1X 7EQ

Actual price per head: £39

Nearest tube: Victoria (Circle Line, District Line, and Victoria Line).

Remarks

I won’t be going back to this factory.

Reservations

Andreas B., Andy Y., Bal T.,Gareth H., Ian S., Kelvin M., Kevin M., Mark J., Mark T., Matt S., Paolo A., Peter J., Richard V., Steven V.

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Posted in All Restaurants, Thai | Tagged , | Leave a comment

St Pancras Grand

Wednesday 7th April, 2010

Upper Concourse, St Pancras International Station, Euston Road,
NW1 2QP

Actual price per head: £44

Nearest tube: King’s Cross (Circle Line, Hammersmith & City Line, Metropolitan Line, Northern Line, Piccadilly Line, and Victoria Line).

Remarks

Lovely venue.

Apple & Blackberry Crumble £6.50
Americano Coffee £2.50
Cambridge Cream £6.50
Cappuccino £2.80
Cheese £10
Chocolate Tart £6.50
Cumberland Sausage £12
Double Espresso £2.80
Endive Salad £6.50
Fish & Chips £15.50
Fish Pie £14.50
Ginger Pudding £6.50
House Red £17.75
House White £17.75
Set Menu (2 course TopTable) £15
Set Menu (3 course) £25
Sparkling Water £3
Sticky Toffee Pudding £6.50
Vegetable Soup £6

Attendees

Andreas B., Andy Y., Brian M., Gilles C., Harrie B., Ian S., Jeremy P., Lee L., Mark B., Matt S., Noel D., Paul R., Peter J., Riki H., Steven V.

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Posted in All Restaurants, British | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Maximini

Wednesday 3rd March, 2010

31 Sussex Place,
W2 2TH

Actual price per head: £39

Nearest tube: Lancaster Gate (Central Line).

Remarks

Expensive house wine!!!

Attendees

Ali H., Andrew Y., Bill R., Chris S., Colin I., James C., John H., Matt S., Roy C., Steven V.

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Posted in All Restaurants, Chinese | Tagged , | 1 Comment

The Forge

Wednesday 3rd February, 2010

14 Garrick Street (entrance on Floral Street),
WC2E 9BJ

Actual price per head: £30 for those who had set menu, and £50 for those who went a la carte.

Nearest tube: Leicester Square (Northern Line and Piccadilly Line).

Remarks

The set menu was £22 for three courses including half bottle of wine wine plus service charge; about 3 choices per course.

The room was a cosy affair with two tables sitting eight each.

People on each table gelled well and there were a lot of positive comments about the place.

That said, looking across at the set menu food, it did not look fabulous and the a la cartes had very good food even to the point of superior real chips over french fries, but people enjoyed themselves and no one voiced dissent. With these nights the company is as important as the food.

Attendees

Ali H., Andrew Y., Brian M., Colin I., Gerald B., Gilles C., Jeremy P., Mark B., Mark J., Mark T., Mark W., Matthew S., Noel D., Paul F., Riki H., Roy C., Steven V.

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Posted in All Restaurants, European | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Cafe Mode

Wednesday 6th January, 2010

57 Endell Street,
WC2H 9AJ

Actual price per head: £30

Nearest tube: Covent Garden (Piccadilly Line).

Remarks

Not great. The most sullen waiter ever. One diner said of Gusto: “As someone very new to gay life I much apppreciated the informal friendliness and will look forward to next months dinner.”

House Red Wine £13.50
House White Wine £13.50
Mineral Water £3.00
Soup £4.50
Tricolore Salad £5.90
Gamberoni £5.90
Calamari Fritti £5.90
Smoked Salmon £5.90
Bread £1.30
Amatriciana £9.00 – What a rip off!
Risotto £9.00
Frutti Di Mar £9.00
Funghi Pizza £6.90
Goat Breshetta £5.90
Mode Special Burger £9.50
Rucola Burger £9.50
Sirloin Steak £12.90
Grilled Chicken £12.90
Strawberry Cheese Cake £4.50
Tiramisu £4.50
Apple Pie £4.50
Expresso £2.00
Peppermin Tea £1.90

Attendees

Adam, Andreas, Gilles C., Ian G., Ian S., John H., Michael N., Peter J., Riki H., Scott S., Steven V.

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Posted in All Restaurants, Mediterranean | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Garbo's

Wednesday 2nd December, 2009

42 Crawford Street,
W1H 1JW

Actual price per head: £40

Nearest tube: Marylebone (Bakerloo Line).

Remarks

Quite good fun with the attractive Swedes at the next table providing musical interludes. The herring was excellent.

Reservations

Ali H., Colin I., Fred D., George F., Gilles C., Ian S., John H., Jonathan B., Mark T., Mike A., Paul R., Pete H., Peter J., Phil W., Tom L.

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Posted in All Restaurants, Swedish | Tagged , | Leave a comment