All reader reviews by D

Vito's

My girlfriend and I are have just come back from Vito's. We both had Scallops with chilli and garlic which was lovely , and as a main meal she had Spaghetti with lobster and I had a pizza .

Well to be honest ,the starter was good but 9 quid for 3 small pieces of scallops and 11 quid for a pizza which was drenched in olive oil was way over priced.

Yes the service was good and friendly but it doesn't justify the bill - a 2 course meal with a bottle of wine for 70 quid YES IT IS OVER PRICED.

Friday, August 29, 2008
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 2

Jacks

Went here again on bank holiday weekend and it was MUCH better than last time! It wasn't greasy/oily at all, probably because I asked the waitress to make sure of this. As the mushrooms are tinned, I didn't have mushrooms in my vege breakfast and had extra grilled mushrooms instead!

For £24, we had two vege breakfasts (double), one 'meat' breakfast (double), two orange juices, tea, coffee and one yankee double breakfast which was huge! I challenge anyone to find somewhere just as good as this for this amount of money - really impressed! Go!

Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9

Jacks

This place is perfect for hangover food! My vege friend and I went after it was recommended to us as a 'breakfast' place. We arrived at 2pm and it was fairly busy.

We both ordered the vege breakfasts which came with two eggs, two toast, two sausages, mushrooms, two hash browns, baked beans grilled tomatoes and bottomless tea for £6 each! Really good value!

It was really greasy but it was what we were after but it wouldn't be a good choice for the health-conscious! However, the mushrooms were tinned...THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR TINNED MUSHROOMS!!! AWFUL, AWFUL, AWFUL!! The tea and coffee is included in the price and is bottomless - but the tea was terrible - it was too stewed and had prob been in the pot for hours!! The rest of it was good though - great vege sausages! Yes i would come here again but only for 'hangover' food - otherwise it would be far too greasy for me!

Thursday, August 07, 2008
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8

Fish in a Tie

Hmmmm....what to say? Well it was really a mixed bag to be honest. IT was my dad's birthday and i told them this on the phone but they didn't do anything special for it at all. There were four of us and we had a three-course meal with drinks for £110 which I thought was quite good value. The drinks were VERY cheap!

Drinks: two bottles or red wine, one pimms and lemonade, two archers and lemonades.

For starters, I had spicy calamari salad which was lovely, other people in my party had calamari (really, really good), crab de choux (again, really really good!) and I can’t remember what the last starter was…

Main meals: I had the swordfish – I asked for it to be rare when I ordered it but when it came it was overcooked so I sent it back and the lady said that, despite it being fresh, the chef wouldn’t cook it rare…ok fine, but I wish I was told this when I ordered it as I would have changed my order and it had some kind of accompanying potato thing which was APPALLING so it seemed that I had ordered the wrong meal! My dad had the pheasant in cassis sauce which he said was one of the best things he’s ever eaten!, my boyfriend had a t-bone steak which was MASSIVE and he finished the whole thing and my sister had linguine with lobster which was gorgeous!

Desserts: lemon sorbet (too bitter!!), two of my party had vanilla ice-cream (very good!), and my boyfriend had the cheese plate. But here’s the funny thing – my boyfriend likes bread with cheese so he asked for it to not come with crackers but come with plain bread….they refused to give him bread which I found very strange….

I would recommend the restaurant but I was expecting more after reading these reviews.

Monday, August 04, 2008
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9

Lahore Kebab House

I was really excited about going here after reading the reviews but unfortunately it just didn't live up to my expectations, purely because the food was way too spicey for me - in fact it was so spicy that out of my group (8 people) three of us didn't eat anything.

When we arrived there was a queue out of the door but we had reserved a table so no problems there! I ordered paneer tikka which i normally love but i only had a tiny piece as it was too spicy, followed by a mixed veg curry with roti. the roti was lovely, the curry too spicy! As it was bring your own alcohol, it was incredibly cheap - £83 for seven starters and seven main meals with rice and breads.

I would not come again but I can see the appeal of the place. Go if you love extra spicy food!

Wednesday, July 09, 2008
Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8

El Chicos Mexican Cantina & Cocktail Bar

Went here again for a girly-only dinner. There were three of us and we arrived at quarter to seven and left at about half nine. When we arrived we were the first people there but it had filled up a bit when we left. To start we shared a starter of margarita calamari with chilli mayonnaise - the mayonnaise was lovely, really spicy but the calamari was a bit of a disappointment - certainly not freshly made and the batter was a bit too thick and there wasn't a hint of the margarita flavour.

Only two of us had main meals - my friend had the beef tacos which she said was really good and i had the vege burritos. It was really nice, just the right amount of spicyness, and the portion was massive! It came with rice which I didn't like but was too full anyway to eat as well as sour cream and the guacamole - the guacamole was certainly not authentic and didn't really taste of much!

The service was ok, although one waitress certainly had a bit of an attitude problem, but we all have bad days sometimes! All in all, for one starter, two main meals, one non-alcholic cocktail, a diet coke, and five cocktails the bill came to £43 which wasn't bad at all! I would recommend it but not for a romantic couples night!

Friday, June 20, 2008
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 9

Little Bay (Wandsworth Bridge Road)

I had heard mixed reports from people before booking this place, but thought I would try it for myself and am so glad i did!

My boyfriend and I went for dinner on Friday night and the place was practically empty which didn't forbode well! However, the food and the service was brilliant! For £43, we had a bottle of red wine, two starters (crab choux and I had butterfly king prawns) and two main meals (he had a t-bone steak and i had the goats cheese frittatta). The food was really good - my only complaint is that the butterfly king prawns seemed to be of very poor quality and simply tasted of scampi but the main meals were really good and the service was faultless!

I was also expecting opera singers and 'pornographic' toilets but apparantly it is a different branch of the restaurant and not this one. We were looking forward to the singers so we were a bit disappointed about this. But all in all, a lovely relaxing meal for two which was extremely good value! Thanks Little Bay!

Tuesday, June 03, 2008
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 10

Oxo Tower Restaurant

I went here with a group of around 8 colleagues for lunch in the restaurant. the food was out of this world - small portions but considering we had three courses I left satisfied and not overly stuffed. As there were eight of us, we had to order from a set menu - i felt sorry for my vege colleague as there was no choice for him and he just asked for the vege options but when it arrived he said it was lovely! I had the crab spring rolls to start - absolutely delicious! and then the seabass with quince and mussel tartare - all yummy although the fish was very salty but a small quibble over something so nice! The wine was also very good and the service was fab - we had the table for a good few hours and they had no complaints about this.

The cocktails are amazing - certainly worth £9 each. Teh terrace is also good for smokers, on a sunny day that is!

Overall one of the best meals i've ever had but would i come here and pay for this myself? I don't think so - I don't think it's good value for money at all although the drinks are certainly worth it as they are so good!

Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 5

Da Mario

I went here on Saturday night with 5 of my family and friends. I have to say I think this is the best Italian food I have ever had in London! and also so affordable! There were six of us and we had three bottles of wine, a bottle of water, two cokes, six starters, six main meals and six desserts and it came to £200 including a tip!

I also thought the service was excellent - in fact I cannot fault this restaurant on anything. Thanks for a wonderful night!

Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10

Mirch Masala

I went here with my boyfriend two nights ago, recommended by a friend, and it was lovely! We were the first people in there so the waiters were a little over-keen but it filled up very quickly for a Tuesday night! The tables are very close together, so it's not somewhere you'd have a private/intimate dinner.

It's BYO and they don't charge a corkage fee, so already costs are down. We ordered paneer tikka - yummy and spicy but a little greasy, he had lamb samosas which he said was delicious and nice and spicy.

For main meals we had a garlic naan (it was covered in oil and I wouldn't order it again - I know naan is bad for you but this made it too obvious it was bad for me!), boiled rice (again seemed a little greasy though I don't know how as I thought boiled rice was simply boiled!!), he had the chilli chicken which he said was hot (how he likes it) and i had the khari king prawn and mushroom (it was £11 and contained about 5 not so good quality prawns so I wouldn't order it again) and we also shared a channa aloo massala which wasn't on the menu but they made it up for us anyway which is a sign of a good restaurant.

On the whole the food was tasty and authentic - a little greasy but Indian isn't exactly the healthiest food you can eat. All in all, including a tip, it cost £30 and we waddled out of there stuffed. I would certainly recommend it if you live in the area,

Thursday, March 20, 2008
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9

Levant

Levant certainly has its ups and downs. If you're looking for the best Middle Eastern food in London, you won't find it here but if you're looking for a great buzzy fun restaurant then this is it!

I went last night with a friend for drinks and dinner. The cocktails are out of this world, really delicious, though a little pricey. We then moved on to dinner. We ordered from the fixed price menu and I think this was more expensive than getting a 'feast'. The good: the hummus, the baba ghannough (probably spelt it wrong!), the tabboule, the lamb kofte. The bad: anything in pastry, it just didn't taste fresh...

Belly dancers were also there, encouraging people to dance, which was a nice touch. However, I felt a bit sorry for them with old businessmen perving at them.

To round up, if you want an expensive, tourist trap with great cocktails in a buzzy atmosphere then this is it but it's definitely one to try once.

Thursday, March 13, 2008
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 5

El Chicos Mexican Cantina & Cocktail Bar

My friends took me here for my birthday and it was really good! The food was spicy and tasted authentic to me, and the cocktails were delicious! Definitely worth a visit. I actually thought it was good value for money (or maybe I'm too used to London prices!) as it was £80 for five main meals, three soft drinks and five cocktails and a tip.....

and they also embarressed me greatly after the meal with a birthday song....

Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8

Fifteen

I had high hopes for this restaurant but it really let me down. I certainly agree with the another review on here - the whole experience was just 'ok'. I ended up paying almost £90 for an OK meal. The best bit of the meal was the home made bread which was delicious with the oil and vinegar. Then it all went downhill. None of the primi dishes jumped out at me, so I ordered the gnocci (ok), followed by tuna steak with panzanella (the steak was ok bit too cooked for me but panzanella was terrible). Can't remember what my boyfriend had.....

There isn't much choice on the wine list if you want to spend below £30 for a bottle....

Overall, I think Jamie needs to come back here and do some work with the food!

Friday, February 29, 2008
Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 0

Stef's

My boyfriend and I went to Stef's last week. The atmosphere has a fantastic buzz and it was a really enjoyable night . We started the night with a couple of strawberry bellinis which were really nice before moving onto food.

The bruscetta was out of this world so we thought we were onto a good thing! My boyfriend ordered the calzone which was huge (he loved it and attempted to eat all of it) and I had the porcini pancakes (it was ok, didn't eat half of it, couldn't taste the porcini....) The food wasn't the best Italian food I have eaten but it was really good value for money.

The service was slow but it was nice not being rushed, though we sat there for about half an hour before a waiter took our food order. I would definitely recommend this place for the buzz and for a fun night out.

Friday, February 15, 2008
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9

The Banana Leaf

I had high hopes for Banana Leaf after my friends told me how nice it was and that it was quite reasonable. Well my boyfriend and I left disappointed. To start I had vegetarian dumplings which came with a very sticky sweet sauce which was sickly and overpowered the dumplings. For my main I had a seafood red curry which was ok - I don't think it suited the salmon but that might just be my preference. My boyfriend had a chicken noodle soup which he didn't even eat half of. He said it was tasteless and watery. The meal cost £40 for two mains, two starters, a glass of house white wine and a beer. I thought this was very expensive (maybe they put the prices up for Valentine's Day??) considering the food and the canteen-style ambience. I won't be returning.

Friday, February 15, 2008
Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 4