All reader reviews by Claire

Kentish Canteen

So glad this has opened up in Kentish Town - it's my new favourite local! I love it - it's got great atmosphere and service and the food is top quality. It's alongside the Junction Tavern on Fortess Road as my first port of call for treating myself while staying close to home, and the food here is better value. Have only been in the evening so far but I'm going to come and try their brunch one weekend. Looks like the perfect place to catch up with friends over a coffee too!

Monday, October 04, 2010
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10

The Terrace Restaurant

A disappointing experience.

- The atmosphere: The room is beautiful, there's no denying that. But there was not much of an atmosphere when I went yesterday evening (wednesday). It was largely empty, and because of the enormous space it felt like sitting in a hollow glass chamber. Oddly the waiters managed to constantly look busy (i.e. bustling around and ignoring eye contact) which made me wonder how they would cope if the restaurant were actually busy.

- The service: Poor. They are friendly enough, smiling and nodding, but the three waiters who served us were all polish with poor english and poorly trained, which is not at all what I expect from a high class restaurant. They were not able to answer questions I had about the menu, and I had to ask for a steak knife to be brought to my table. A cocktail took 20 minutes to arrive (the place was empty! how could this be?!) When I asked at the ordering stage whether the chips would be thin or chunky, I was told chunky - when they arrived, they were thin. The waiters did not ask me at each course whether the food was to my satisfaction. When one of them asked me, at the very end as I was paying, I started by saying "Well, it was not to the standard I expected..." hoping/expecting her to ask me for more explanation. Instead, she looked terrified and so instead of telling her why I just said "Well, never mind." and she just said "Thank you very much" and practically turned and ran off. Remarkable!

- The food: Mediocre to poor. The duck starter consisted of two very odd and unpleasant tasting thin slices of duck breast and some passable terrine. The quails on "barley risotto" was better in that the quails were nice (but not special) but the barley had been severely undercooked and was very hard. The ribeye steak was okay - a bit tough, but with a good taste. The scallops were mediocre but they came on a very nice buttered mash (mashed potato was the highlight of the meal!) We did not bother with dessert.

Maybe the place is better for lunch or afternoon tea. I certainly wouldn't go there for quality food or a relaxing dinner.

Thursday, July 09, 2009
Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 3

Mint Leaf

Loved the food here. It's a world away from a mere 'curry'. I went with a friend and the two of us shared three large size "starters" and one "main" although ignore those labels because we asked for them to all come together and they were all the same size. The two I liked best were the soft shell crab, in a lovely light crispy batter, and the black tiger prawns which were huge and juicy and full of flavour. The quails and baby lamb shank were also excellent, although the lamb wasn't quite as meltingly tender as I had expected. We also had on the side a portion of black lentils (slow cooked with butter and tomato with cream - very rich), a peshwari naan and their "baked" rice. The baked rice was described on the menu as being baked with cream and saffron, but could have done with being creamier and more aromatic to live up to its billing. The bill for two came to almost £80 - including service and two bottles of water but no alcohol - so it's not by any means cheap, but I used my Taste London card which gave me 50% off the food and it came to about £45 which felt like great value for such high quality food. Service was discreet and efficient. Atmosphere is buzzing (there's a bar along one end but behind a see through screen) and there was a mix of couples, friends and a few people in suits. Probably better to go with friends than on a date.

Friday, July 03, 2009
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9

Pasta Brown (Bedford St)

I am convinced the only reason Pasta Brown stays in business is because it is in a location where there are so many Friday and Saturday night diners that they get customers through the door despite the shocking standard of food. We tried three other restaurants (all with queues of 45mins plus which we didn't want to wait for) before going to Pasta Brown because it had no queue. We filled the last empty table. We should have turned back as soon as we saw what the other tables were getting, but of course by the time you are shown to your table you feel embarassed to change your mind. Big mistake. The spaghetti bolognese was horrible - it was watery, had a funny smell, and the sauce was a sludge with the meat boiled beyond recognition. The clams linguine was soggy and overpowered with garlic. I had to make myself swallow it, but it was not a pleasant experience! I cannot believe they have the cheek to serve such atrocious food. I normally love dining out, and I have never had an experience as awful as this. Don't go! The people around me were pushing their food around their plates as well, and looking distinctly unimpressed. If this restaurant were located anywhere but covent garden it would not survive. It does not deserve to survive!

Friday, October 24, 2008
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 2