Category Archives: All Restaurants

A list of restaurants that we have visited or considered.

Camino

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Wednesday 2nd February, 2011

28 Westferry Circus,
E14 8RR

Actual price per head: £38

Nearest tube: Westferry (DLR).

Remarks

Many thanks to Paul who managed to get us an excellent deal of 50% off the bill. That’s 50% off food, 50% off drink, and 50% off service charge!!! Otherwise we’d have paid £76 per head. Actually it would have been cheaper but for the fact that three people who made reservations did not show up and we were still charged the cost of their set menus. Without that extra expense we’d have paid only £33 per head.
The set menu was very good with plenty of variety and good portions. The Arroz trufado was delicious and the Presa ibérica was so dark and rich that many assumed it was lamb.

The Set Menu, tapas style so everything was served:

Jamón de bellota

Hand carved acorn fed Iberico ham with pan con tomate

Ostras con aire de limón

Mersea island oysters with lemon air

Arroz trufado

Creamy calasparra rice with seasonal truffle and manchego cheese

Pulpo a la parrilla

Octopus tentacle with olive oil mash and paprika

Croquetas de boletus

Cep mushroom croquetas

Chuletillas de cordero

Medium-rare Dorset lamb cutlet with Jerusalem artichoke Purée

Presa ibérica

Iberico black pig shoulder blade cooked medium-rare served with ajo blanco Purée

Pimientos de Padrón

“Unos pican y otros non” sautéed little green peppers with sea salt

Tabla de Queso

Cheese selection with quince jelly served with tortas de aceite

Churros con chocolate

Crisp-fried strips of dough served with thick hot chocolate

Altozano (Red Wine) £14
Castillo de la Gloria (White Wine) £14
Estrella (Lager) £4.10
Vichy Catalan (Mineral Water) £4.10
Tortilla de Patatas £3.25
Set Menu £45
Te £1.50
Americano £1.65
Capuchino £1.90
Decaf £0.20
Service Charge 12.5%

Attendees

Andy Y., Gary T., Gilles C., Harrie H., Ian S., John R., Mark J., Martin H., Martin T., Matt S., Paul R., Robert S., Roger T., Royston G., Steven V., Trevor W.

Shikara

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Wednesday 5th January, 2011

65 Great Titchfield Street,
W1W 7PS

Actual price per head: £30

Nearest tube: Oxford Circus (Bakerloo Line, Central Line, and Victoria Line).

Remarks

Shikara has to be one of the best Indian restaurants in central London. The food is good. The staff are friendly. The value for money is outstanding.

Reservations

Ali H., Andreas B., Bill R., Chris S., Colin I., George F., Harrie B., Ian S., John H., Mark J., Martin T., Paul R., Peter K., Royston G., Steven V.

Di Monforte

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Wednesday 1st December, 2010

70 Liverpool Road,
N1 0QD

Actual price per head: £42

Nearest tube: Angel (Northern Line).

Remarks

The bill came to £42 per head which I think is expensive for what it was. The food was quite good. The service was dreadfully slow. We, nineteen in the group, had pre-selected from their Christmas menu, priced at £25 per head, so there was really no excuse for the long delay between courses.

Also they blotted their copy book by unscrupulous behaviour even before we arrived at the restaurant. The booking was made through TopTable, a restaurant reservation service. Restaurants registered through TopTable should pay TopTable a small fee for bookings made via the TopTable web site. Hours before we were due to arrive at the restaurant I received an email from Di Monforte demanding that I cancel the booking through TopTable or pay an exaggerated price at the restaurant. As a result of this I do not recommend this restaurant and would go so far as to suggest it should be avoided.

I suppose I must take the blame for the overpriced wine as their wine menu says that the house wine should only have been £13.95 per bottle. I should have checked that we were not receiving the more expensive stuff. We drunk thirteen bottles of wine.

The crowd was in good form and most seemed to have a good time.

Montepulciano £15
Grecanico £16.50
Three course Xmas menu £25.00
Coffee £2.00

Attendees

Alan Y., Ali H., Amar B., Andreas B., Andy Y., Benjamin C., Bill R., Colin I., E.J. T., Ian S., James C., Jeremy P., John H., Mark B., Martin H., Martin T., Matt S., Paul R., Steven V.

Strand Carvery

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Wednesday 3rd November, 2010

372 Strand,
WC2R 0JJ

Actual price per head: £32

Nearest tube: Charing Cross (Bakerloo Line or Northern Line) or Covent Garden (Piccadilly Line).

Remarks

Nice crowd, dull venue. The three course carvery menu at £17.95 is very good value for dinner in this part of London. So too is £12.95 for a bottle of their house wine.

Attendees

Alan Y., Benjamin C., EJ. T., George G., Ian S., James C., John H., Martin H., Martin T., Michael N., Neil O., Peter J., Royston G.

Nar

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Wednesday 6th October, 2010

80 Albert Embankment,
SE1 7TN

Actual price per head: £25

Nearest tube: Vauxhall (Victoria Line).

Remarks

Good crowd. Waiter did a good job. Vegetarian main course was a great disappointment. Overall it was OK, but not great.

Item Price (£)
Falafel 4.95
Sardaiya 4.95
Mucver 4.95
Sucuk 4.95
Midye 4.95
Gumus tava 4.95
Avokado salatasi 5.95
Manrar salatasi 4.45
Kizarmis hellim 4.95
Kalamar 5.45
Arnavut cigeri 5.45
Nar set menu 23.95
Meat musakka 12.95
Veggie musakka 11.95
King prawns 14.95
Tavuk shish 12.95
Ispanak pankek (tasteless) 12.95
Kuzu shish 13.95
Calf’s liver 13.95
Seafood casserole 13.95
Limoniu tavuk (large portion) 12.95
French fries 1.95
Borsao Tinto Garnach 12.50
Ca di Ponti 12.50
Cranberry juice 1.80
Large sparkling water 2.40
Apple crumble 4.95
Mixed sweet platter 4.95
Baklava 4.95
Ice cream (good portion) 4.95
Fruit salad 4.95
Nar chocolate surprise 4.95
Kayisi tatlisi 4.95
Tiramisu (dull) 4.95
Kazandibi 4.95
Dessert wine with dessert 2.50
Double espresso 2.25
Espresso 1.85
Cappuccino 1.85
Decaf coffee 1.85
Filter coffee 1.85

Attendees

Ali H., Andreas B., Andy Y., Anthony F., Chris S., Colin I., Edward M., Ian S., Jeremy P., Mark B., Martin B., Martin H., Matt S., Neil O., Patrick C., Peter M., Richard C., Scott T.

Le Bouchon Breton

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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.
Charging an extra £1.50 for a sauce on a £32 steak is a rip off!

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.

Bumbles

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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.

Stef’s

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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.

Le Bavoir

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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.