All reader reviews by stevelondon

Honest Burgers (Soho)

I had a takeout from Honest Burgers at the weekend. It was just a simple cheddar cheeseburger and chips. Beef is sourced via Ginger Pig.

Overall, great tasting burger with some nice caramelized onions. It was surprisingly small (if you're used to GBK sized servings) but with the chips I'd say it was just the right amount for a meal, no more no less.

Currently my favourite burger is from the Berwick St market stall Tongue n Cheeks, and this burger wasn't quite up to that standard but it was nice enough. I would probably choose it over some of the well-known burger chains as I like to support the smaller company.

Nice buzzing atmosphere in the restaurant but mine was a takeaway.

Sunday, October 21, 2012
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8

Grand Imperial

Very nice dim sum and made a nice change not having to drive into the West End. Quality was in my opinion better than Chinatown (but the price does reflect this) and the dishes had a very 'clean' taste to them. The surroundings are also very grand. Definitely will be going back.

Monday, March 26, 2012
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7

Light Cafe

I really like this place. It's bright, informal, not too expensive and very family-friendly too (lots of highchairs and a great kids menu). Despite its name, the food here is absolutely restaurant quality. The steak and chips with bearnaise was as good as any I've had in London. For kids spag bol is extremely good - I wanted to eat it myself! All in all its a perfect blend of nice surroundings, friendly, quick service, really good quality food for reasonable prices. Hope to be a regular.

Monday, October 17, 2011
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10

Dean Street Townhouse

Had a very nice lunch here recently - haddock souffle starter with hollandaise was gorgeous. Fish and chips were (no exaggeration) the best I have ever had. The batter was crisp yet incredibly thin - have never had anything like it. It seemed even lighter than Japanese tempura. The homemade tartare sauce didn't work though - it only tasted of mayonnaise.

Summer pudding for 2 was very nice (and huge)

Pleasant atmosphere, but the seats in the booths are surprisingly hard and uncomfortable. The only thing that could spoil a long lunch.

Thursday, September 01, 2011
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8

China Boulevard on the River

Just had probably the worst dim sum I've experienced in London this weekend at China Boulevard. I have been here several times before and whilst I've always known it is not up to the best Chinatown standards it's always been at least acceptable as an alternative to making the trip into central London. Obviously things have gone downhill recently.

First off, we asked for a high chair for our child. We we're given one with torn, broken straps that did not clip together in any way. Looking around I saw another high chair given to another table that was in the same state. This was not just annoying but I suspect is against Health and Safety regulations. Even if it is not, it is clearly a safety risk to any child using the chair, so thanks very much for that China Boulevard.

Then the food: First to arrive were the fried yam croquettes. It is common for these to be pre-cooked and served warm. But these were stone cold and not only that, they tasted sour - the taste of old, bad oil that has gone cold and been let for some time. I strongly suspect they were at least 24hrs old if not more.

Next to come was the fried turnip paste. This should be lightly fried and brown on the outside and bright white inside. This version was murky and grey inside - again suggesting it was at least a day old - probably more.

Prawn cheung fun also had a grey look to it that suggested it was either bought in from elsewhere or prepared a long time prior to serving. The char siu buns had a filling the colour (and a hint of flavour) of takeaway sweet-and-sour sauce (there should only be a trace of red from the char siu pork). Again, wrong. Steamed chicken and mushroom rice pot was drenched in far too much soy sauce.

Glutinous rice in lotus leaves was passable but this did not seem to be made on site as they came in a paper wrapper normally found in shop-bought, pre-made varieties.

Service started off fine but 2 of our dishes were forgotten and caused a 20 min wait. During this time we were approached several times to ask if we'd finished, only to have to keep repeating that we were still waiting for the rest of our food. Once they even started to clear our table. The restaurant was not even busy.

At the end, with our money on the table one of the ruder waitresses rushed over and counted the cash right down to the last penny in front of us, obviously to make sure we had paid the so-called 'optional' service charge. After seeing that the tip had indeed been paid, she actually said 'Good.'

It's a shame when restaurants make the mistake of trying to save a few pennies here and there by serving bad (or old) food, without realising that the bad reviews that result will end up costing them a lot more in the long run.

Don't think I'll be going back.

Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0

Jamie's Italian (Kingston)

I'm surprised at the low scores for this restaurant. If it was really that bad why do we have to queue for a table every time we go here!

We are almost regulars and always find the food and service to be very good. The food is very 'Jamie Oliver' style i.e. ingredients thrown together, sometimes quite unconventionally but always very fresh and full of flavour. The squid ink scallop pasta is my favourite dish which I could each every week. Great wine and cocktail list, good staff and baby and child friendly too. What's not to like?

Thursday, May 19, 2011
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9

L'Eto Caffe (Soho)

Just tried this place for the first time. I only tried the sweet section so I can't say anything about the savoury salads etc (they certainly looked good). However, the cakes were really excellent. There's a lot of creativity here and some unusual combinations but it's all done with thought, not just for the sake of being 'zany' (green tea cheesecake, for example). I had a deliciously smooth creme caramel mousse topped with glazed fruit, and a light, fluffy strawberry ricotta cheesecake, and there are about a dozen other things i can't wait to try on my next visit - the choice on view in the relatively small shop window is amazing.

The staff are fantastic; friendly and helpful (the exact opposite of some places I could mention).

I wouldn't be surprised if the owners have ambitions to better 'Princi' just a few doors down the road. Based on the cakes I had today, they've succeeded. I hope to become a regular customer.

Thursday, March 17, 2011
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8

La Nonna

This is a good, consistent, 'suburban' Italian restaurant that I've been too a couple of times. Pizzas in particular are very good, pasta dishes not bad, fairy typical for this kind of restaurant. The ravioli and veal milanese are very good. Overall food is fresh tasting and doesn't have that 'been sitting around for a while' feel.

The service is always very good - staff are efficient and courteous. Would advise booking on a Saturday night as it gets extremely busy.

Monday, January 24, 2011
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7

Royal China (Fulham)

I visited here for dim sum over the xmas break and unlike other reviewers I did not find the service to be particularly bad. In fact I would say it was fairly polite and efficient.

Food was a little disappointing for the price (£40 for two when I would normally expect to pay £25-30 for a dim sum lunch) but there was an overall sense of decent quality. Allegedly the restaurant does not use MSG at all.

I would definitely recommend booking in advance as the restaurant is tiny.

Thursday, December 30, 2010
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 5

Princi

The food here is always beautifully presented (and the store attractively designed) but on the whole it is overpriced and surprisingly bland. In the sweet section there are many more misses than hits. Paul the patisserie chain is in my opinion superior and less expensive (France beats Italy when it comes to sweet, baked things, in my opinion). The savoury section is simple, fresh and also over-priced.

The smugness and slowness of the staff is really something to behold - especially when 3 of them separately choose to ignore a customer who they know has been waiting. A tip for this situation is not to show your frustration or annoyance as this would simply add to their satisfaction whereas a smile and a 'Thank you' seems to annoy them greatly.

Perhaps it is all a ploy to make their food taste better since you are so grateful to finally receive it? All I know is if you want a fantastic, unpretentious gourmet deli from people who understand food, go to Fernandez and Wells. These guys are just playing.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 2