All reader reviews by Cobbett
Kam Fung
Thanks to London-eating for alerting me to this place - it's everything the positive reviewers here say it is, and it deserves recommendation, for it's a little off the busier streets and not therefore the sort of place you'd otherwise find. The decor is simple but very clean and the staff no-nonsense efficient. The food is simply the best Chinese I've had in London - nowhere in Chinatown can touch it. Routine appetisers and starters such as prawn crackers or spring rolls are larger and fresher than you'll find elsewhere. I had squid and my partner seafood noodles and both were exceptionally good. One word of warning - though even that's a positive - the main courses are enormous. If you have a starter you might well want to share a main, esp if you have a vegetable side dish; conversely, if you're having a main, you might want to skip a big starter. They really are substantial. (And it was a credit to the staff that they warned us we had ordered enough...) That said, everyone around us was having their food doggy-bagged, so that's clearly an option.
Friday, August 06, 2010
Overall rating 
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Adams Cafe
This gem of a restaurant already has a deservedly excellent reputation, and although out of central London is well worth the moderate effort to get there, especially as it's within easy reach of a number of tube stations. Cafe by day and Tunisian/Moroccan restaurant by night, it's family run, with notable warmth and attention to detail - even the mint tea is the best I've ever had. The menu is not over-extensive so all the dishes - meat and fish grills, couscous dishes, tagines and stews - feel like specialities, and the prices are very reasonable, with menus 'rapide', 'gourmet', and 'gastronomique' to simplify the bill. They're licensed but are happy to allow people by bring their own (wine only), for modest corkage. The best and most conspicuous compliment any diner can pay is repeat custom, and it's striking how many of those entering the restaurant are on first-name terms with the owners. Of its kind, it doesn't get better than this.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
China City (Russell Square)
Some of the dishes are relatively unusual but the prices are high, the atmosphere cold, and the staff - as other reviewers have noted - poor. They cross the fine line between attentive and overbearing, often more or less standing in ranks next to the table so that it's a relief to leave. The prices for bottled water are outrageous, and the refusal to serve tap water surely illegal. It's a place that relies on its prominent situation for trade, but there are better and warmer alternatives in very close proximity.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Overall rating 
Food 4 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 2
Barrio Bars to open a new site in Shoreditch next month (via Caterer) -