What Restaurant have you been in today ? Rate it out of 10

[WHU Independent]

I met a mate today and we decided to have lunch. We went to Gaia http://www.gaiapulses.com/ which does all organic food - bacon, eggs and vegge/vegan stuff - but they closed because they are off on Holiday to Greece and back on the 5th Sept.

We then moved on to The Pavillion Victoria Park, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/food-and-dri ... lion-cafe/ but the food was very limited for both meat eaters and vegges - and it was expensive for what it was: typically £10 for a breakfast. We had a very expensive coffee - which was decent tbh - and left.

We ended up at The Gallery Cafe, Old Ford Road, right next to York Hall Baths. https://www.facebook.com/thegallerycafelondon/

This was a tale of two meals tbh. My mate had this massive veggie burger with chips, and despite being a devoted carnivore, he loved it. Taste, texture, flavour all excellent as was the portions. For £7.50 he said it was a bargain and he would have to eat two Big Macs to get as much bang for his buck

I went for a Mexican Salad, which was massively underwhelming. A few bits of Lettuce, a couple of bits of avocado, a few tasteless tomatos and half a tin of kidney beans plus a bitter lime dressing was very disappointing - especially for the £8.50 price tag.

The coffee was also vastly overprices at over £2.50 for a tiny cup.

Atmosphere was pretty pants too. I'll give this a miss for a while and come back in a few months to see if it has got any better.

[Denzil]

Bodean's BBQ Restaurant in Soho.
It was recommended by my nephew and it didn't disappoint. If you like smoked meat then you will love it.
We went for The Boss Hog Platter, which is a mountain of different meats.
They also do a decent selection of bottled craft ales.

There is an upstairs, which is more of a fast food joint. But we booked a booth downstairs, which is much more comfortable but also something that you probably need to book ahead for as it was rammed even on a wet Tuesday night.

There used to be a thread dedicated to Bodeans on here. I think Chavs was the author, was a few years back now mind.

I used to love Bodeans, went once a month. I've been once in the past year (always the Tower Hill one), which was a few weeks ago. I think it has gone massively down hill and there has been a boom in smoke houses / BBQ restaurants in recent years in London which all smash Bodeans out of the water. In fact, when we went a few Friday nights ago we were straight in, into a half empty restaurant at 7:30pm prime time. I remember the days the place was rammed and they took your number and called when your table was ready about an hour later. Would not be surprised if this places closes down soon.

[Coops]

There used to be a thread dedicated to Bodeans on here. I think Chavs was the author, was a few years back now mind.

I used to love Bodeans, went once a month. I've been once in the past year (always the Tower Hill one), which was a few weeks ago. I think it has gone massively down hill and there has been a boom in smoke houses / BBQ restaurants in recent years in London which all smash Bodeans out of the water. In fact, when we went a few Friday nights ago we were straight in, into a half empty restaurant at 7:30pm prime time. I remember the days the place was rammed and they took your number and called when your table was ready about an hour later. Would not be surprised if this places closes down soon.

I am sorry you had a bad experience but I can only speak about my own very good one.

It was recommended by somebody whose opinion I trust. I also have an old mate who is really into his smoking and he still goes there fairly regularly and is a big fan.
We went on a Tuesday evening. We had booked a table but arrived about 10 minutes late and they were only just clearing from the last sitting. The place was rammed with no spare tables downstairs at all.
Being a Bodeans virgin I thought the food, the beer and the service were spot on. It was also fairly reasonably priced considering it is in the heart of Soho.

[Big George]

Couldn't get in to Temper last night so went to Zelman Meats. Good food although not in The Temper for class for variety and subtlety. Bone in rib-eye and beef ribs worth a special mention but all was pretty good. 8/10

[bunk]

The Brit Pub, Port Talbot - Nobody should really have to spend a day in Port Talbot but this is exactly where i found myself yesterday, not for the first time either. The high street didn't really give off the impression of a place steeped in high quality culinary tradition, so Trip Advisor was consulted. The Brit Pub was highest ranked of the lot, #1 of 66 restaurants, though technically a little out of the town. The location was actually quite nice as there's at least a valley in between it and the steelworks, the sound of a stream flowing, trees with leaves on, that sort of thing.

The staff were friendly enough, the pint of local beer, the lower end of average. The starter of baked goats cheese and fig looked like someone had thrown it up, I'm not sure what happened for it looked like that. It was edible but not exactly good. The main was a mint lamb burger, which was poor. Poor in taste and a poor decision to order it to be honest. It seemed to be wheeping, i don't think that much 'juice' was meant to be come out. The chips were pretty standard, admittedly probably the best bit of the meal. Certainly not the best meal i've ever had, i'd probably give Port Talbot a swerve if i want a half decent meal. 3/10.

[BalaamBoy]

Lost Horizons, Shanghai
Really good Yunanese food, fresh and tasty, and plenty of variation in flavours and spices 8/10

Mother Goose, Shanghai
One michelin starred restaurant serving Cantonese food for approx 20 quid a head. Very nice service, tasty food, although typical in china the meet is served basically by cutting the animal in bits, rather than taking the lean meat off the bone, so a lot of fat and gristle to deal with hence 7/10

[southbrishammer]

Mrs SBH and I have three pre-teen children and no easy access to a babysitter, so we don’t ever get to go to restaurants. However my job remit changed earlier this year and I have to make monthly trips to Cambridge. This involves an overnight stay at a Travelodge in the opulently named Cambridge Leisure Park, which is equipped with a row of six chain restaurants. I have now visited each of them once, so here is my light-hearted review. My expenses policy allows £20 for dinner and no alcohol, so on each occasion I had a main course and soft drink (Sprite unless stated):
1) Rockers Steakhouse. I started with the most interesting-looking – I’ve never heard of it and don’t even know if it’s part of a chain. I like steak but Mrs SBH isn’t so keen, so it’s a rare treat. The place looks like it is trying to be Hard Rock Café, with random memorabilia on the walls. 10oz rump steak, medium, and chunky chips; perfectly serviceable. 8/10.
2) Chiquito’s. Mexican; the menu tries to suggest a lot of it is streetfood, presumably trying to be cool, but it’s really just chilli in different guises. Chimichanga (I think, it was a few months ago) again with chunky chips; it was basically a spicy Cornish pasty, but pretty good for all that. The problem was they also tried to be cool with the presentation by serving it in a tiny wire basket, which made it extremely difficult to cut up and get onto a fork. 6/10, one mark lost for the crap basket.
3) And so to the king of chicken restaurants, Nando’s. My waiter was understandably surprised, on asking me whether I had ever dined in Nando’s before, to hear my confession that I was one of the 0.1% of the population who never had. I’m glad he did ask, or I wouldn’t have realised that it was like a café where you have to go up to the counter to order your food, rather than the waiter taking your order. I was keen to see what all the fuss was about – what could they do with simple chicken to make it so popular? The answer – coat it in a bland peri-peri (or was it piri-piri?) sauce. I had a half a medium spicy chicken, and the Sprite was unlimited. I can think of nothing to say about the meal except, it was chicken. 4/10.
4) Five Guys. If Bristol is anything to go by, gourmet burger bars are the only type of hot food emporium that are flourishing at the moment. This one, I believe, is one of the biggest. Double bacon and cheeseburger with hand-cut chips and unlimited Whites cloudy lemonade, which was a bonus. You could tell the chips were hand-cut as they still had skin on, but for some reason they were drowned in salt to the point of being almost inedible. The burger was a bit of an enigma, the individual components were nothing special – the bacon and cheese were crunchy and flavourless and the bun was dry and floury, but somehow the combination as a whole worked pretty well. It was certainly much better than a McDonalds or Burger King, but at the end of the day was just a burger. 7/10
5) Bella Italia. Italian food, as you’d guess. Lamb shank and rosemary mash. When I told Mrs SBH she asked whether lamb shank was actually an Italian dish and I confess I didn’t know, so we agreed the rosemary mash made it so. No nonsense, tasty food. 8/10.
6) And finally, Frankie & Benny’s. American/Italian. The Ultimate Mac ‘n’ Cheese Calzone, with pulled pork and barbecue sauce. I was curious about the combination of pasta inside bread, which sounded like major stodge; I also chose a cream soda, because I remember the R White’s version from my childhood; this was nothing like that, tasting of cherry and overly sweet. As for the calzone, a major disappointment, the only part that had any flavour was the barbecue sauce which was artificial and sickly in the extreme. I had to buy a Terrys chocolate orange bar afterwards to take away the taste, it was that bad. It wasn’t even stodgy. I was going to complain that they’d forgotten to put any cheese in, but didn’t want to get a reputation as someone who gets thrown out of Frankie & Benny’s. 1/10.

[BalaamBoy]

SBH, I'd recommend that you don't eat for 4 days, and on the 5th go to Midsummer House on Midsummer Common. You really won't be disappointed!!!

[southbrishammer]

SBH, I'd recommend that you don't eat for 4 days, and on the 5th go to Midsummer House on Midsummer Common. You really won't be disappointed!!!

Thanks BB. I Googled it, and it is only showing an 8 course evening meal for £120. Looks lovely, but I might struggle to get it through the expenses system. Also I see the cheeseboard has a £17 supplement. £17 extra for cheese? Is it made from the milk of first year PPE students at Kings College?

Actually, thinking about it, I could afford just the cheeseboard on expenses. I wonder if the restaurant would go for it?

[Rio]

Great Court British Museum

Lovely setting for a meal. For all my sins, I'd never been to the museum itself. So got there early, had a saunter around, wondering at the marvels of Ancient Egypt et al.

The restaurant itself is at the top of the great court, centre of the museum. Run by the Benugo group. The food itself didn't live up to the delights of the venue. While by no means poor, I don't think without of the Groupon voucher used, it would have reached the value of its full price.

I went for 2 of the Russian themed specials. Based on the seasonal exhibition on display. Buckwheat pancakes with horseradish cream and caviar. To say the portion was small, would be an understatement and the caviar was barely detectable. Pleasant but disappointing.

Following this was wild boar dumplings, with cabbage and friend onions. The dumplings (looking suspiciously like tortellini) were very nice. The boar was flavoursome and tender. A very nice dish, if a little underwhelming.

With the pick of the desert menu unavailable, the only viable option was a chocolate and pear torte with hazelnuts. Again it was decent without being outstanding. Could have done with an addition of cream.

Food 6/10
Venue 8/10

[vietnammer]

التوأم (The Twins). Pretty basic Arab cafe in King Abdullah St, Muhayil Asir. Had goat stew and bread. Really very tasty and for 2 nicker as well! Wouldn't recommend the journey though.

[Centre Half]

Le Bab, Kingly Court

7/10

'Gourmet' kebab place, lovely little spot on the top of kingly court, very small and only seats a maximum of around 30 people so make sure you book ahead.


Cod Cheeks and just bread and hummus to start, me and the missus ordered a pork shawarma and the lamb kebab for main and shared both. Very tasty, the lamb was perfectly spiced and the flatbreads were homemade, fresh and delicious. Chips come with a cheese fondue as well which I enjoyed

Bit on the pricey side for just a wednesday night quick bite when you include drinks as well but I would go back

[WHU Independent]

Piandina Genuina - What a lucky find. My sister came and visited me in London and we just goggled a vegan place to go and this came up - and what a find it was! https://www.piadinagenuina.co.uk/ They make freshly made Piadnia's in front of you - a Piadina is bit like a a Cornish pasty - and cook them while you wait. The result is really fresh, hot tasty pies, full of goodness. (mostly!) They also make fresh pasta in front of you - Tagliatelle a speciality - and can make a tag cabonara in front of your very eyes. And Cheap too! £5 a main meal! We had a mix veg Piadina with vegan mozzarella cheeze, a seitan kebab, a side of saute potatoes,a black fruits cheezecake and 3 cups of tea - less than £18. I will be going back as they have a decent menu, it's clean and the people are lovely. It also has a small Italian cafe' feel. My sister is a meat eater and she loved this place, she said she'd be back in an instant. 9/10

The Lahore Commercial Road, Whitechapel, E1. Took a group of 4 drunk Scotsmen here as they were down for the NFL game and we went out on the slash the day before. I had the Popadoms and had Aloo gobi (not cooked in Ghee) and they had lamb shank both on and off the bone, plus a chicken curry. All the meat eaters were well impressed. The lamb fell off the bone and was mouth waveringly good. The chicken was tender and well marinated. The swift service and class food saw them gave it a solid 9/10.

As for me, the Pappadoms were some of the best I've had: hot, crispy and dry: not oily. However my main course was a disaster. One potato in a sea of overcooked, bland spinach. Piss poor tbh.

In addition, the initial; service was very poor. I had not been drinking and when we asked about the meals - some of the dishes ere unknown to us - the waiters lack of English meant that we had to get another member of staff over to get our order over clearly.

Clean, nice people, decent bogs, TV showing the footie means it comes in a 5/10 for me.

[MooreHurst]

Hinds Head - Bray for a Sunday roast
They class it has a pub but it isn't, its a restaurant.

It has a Michelin star and is one of Heston's places in Bray, so you expect it to be top notch. Can't fault it at all, went for 3 courses.
Starter - Pea & Ham Soup, with scotch egg, absolute perfect.
Main - Roast Dinner, Angus beer, potatoes, red cabbage, Yorkshire, veg. Everything was nailed on perfect.
Dessert - Cross between a bread and butter pudding and crumble, it nailed two traditional Sunday roast desserts in one. Top notch.
Had a nice bottle of Rioja (£44), I had a stout and a after dinner cocktail (Rum Old fashioned), Mrs had two cocktails. Total bill £198 including service charge.

Thought it was a superb really, they have a nice upstairs seating area, the hunting room, to enjoy a drink, service is good while not being formal and all over the top. The one thing I think would have been good is to have a proper bar, with Ales on. Everything is bottled. But as I say its a pub turned into a restaurant now. But you can enjoy a nice pint down the road in the Crown.
So 9/10

[BalaamBoy]

^^^The Crown is also owned and run by Heston and his team. Their development kitchens are in the little side street opposite the Hinds Head.

The Hinds Head is one of my favourite places to eat. You're right, it is a restaurant with a pub attached, but if you sit in the pub side it feels ok. beer is good, food is top notch. So they still do the steak and kidney pud, and the scotch eggs??

[MooreHurst]

^^^The Crown is also owned and run by Heston and his team. Their development kitchens are in the little side street opposite the Hinds Head.

The Hinds Head is one of my favourite places to eat. You're right, it is a restaurant with a pub attached, but if you sit in the pub side it feels ok. beer is good, food is top notch. So they still do the steak and kidney pud, and the scotch eggs??

Yeah, thats where i parked my car actually, as we stayed in a little cottage and could leave it by the kitchens over night.

The bottled beer was good, nothing on draft there now.

No steak and kidney pud on the menu, scotch egg came with the soup. They did another 4 course menu (Duck being the main), then a six course taster as well.
Heard they use to do a Shepards pie but that wasn't on there. I'd say there food is nearing restaurant food now. The Crowns menu looked good, will go back there and eat at there and enjoy a few beers in the pub next time.

[WHU Independent]

I went back to Piadina Genuina https://www.piadinagenuina.co.uk/ tonight and had a lovely meal. I ordered mixed veg tagliatelle and watched the guy cook it from scratch. He actually kneaded the dough and the made fresh tagliatelle right in front of me, and I the watched him cook the whole meal. It took 20 mins but was well worth it. It was lovely - the guy will also spice it as you want - I asked mine to be hotter than usual and it had a lovely bite to it. Gorgeous stuff.

This gaff is tiny but it has a real local, family feel - very homely. And it is packed put with Italians - a good sign for an Italian place! I had the tagliatelle, a cup of tea and a black-fruit compote topped cheesecake for just over £10. Knock-out value for freshly prepared hand made food. This is going to be my go to place for food now, just on the border of Tower Hamlets and Hackney - easy parking after 6:30 pm. 100% vegan too.

[Centre Half]

Best asian restaurant (Korean/ Thai/ Chinese) for a quickish bite to eat near Liverpool Street ?

[hadleighhammer]

I used to love Bodeans, went once a month. I've been once in the past year (always the Tower Hill one), which was a few weeks ago. I think it has gone massively down hill.

Not just me that used the TH one and thinks this then. Not been for ages (well over a year) as simply not that good anymore in my experience. Maybe the Soho one is run better.

[EvilC]

Best asian restaurant (Korean/ Thai/ Chinese) for a quickish bite to eat near Liverpool Street ?

Ping Pong in Spitalfields is decent, although I haven't been in there for ages.