Tipped

And yes, we over ate...

April 25, 2008

Sleek pan Asian restaurant from the same staple as Notting Hill's E&O, Clerkenwell's Cicada and Hoxton's Great Eastern Dining Rooms. The decor is minimalist moody: dark wood furniture with stark white table cloths. The menu covers the vast expanse of China and Japan. Ok, it may not be the most authentic experience covering so many regions, but the quality of the dishes was good and we scoffed the lot. Having snuck off work for a long lazy lunch, we got excited and over-ordered somewhat - seared tuna bites, black cod shu mai, crab and tiger dumplings, soft shell crab spider rolls, chilli squid and some san choi bau (pork mince with DIY lettuce cups). A couple of glasses of zesty NZ sauvignon and we were off.
Service was relaxed and friendly, and frankly I could have stayed all afternoon sipping wine and gossiping. Luckily my colleague knocked some sense into me and we paid up and rolled back out into the daylight blinking like a pair of bats coming out of a cave. A great place choice for bit of mid day grazing in elegant surrounds.

Cocktails and Celluloid

April 25, 2008

Quirky late night cocktail bar and cinema.
From the outside the Roxy looks fairly non descript, located a little off the main drag near Borough Market. Enter through the long narrow bar area, and towards the back is a large room filled with diner style booths, and a mix of tables, chairs and sofas. The cocktails are so-so but reasonably priced, and the food is pretty average – but then the food isn’t the draw here, it’s more a fallback to soak up any alcohol.
The great thing about the Roxy is it’s opening hours – 1am during the week and 2:30am on weekends – a plus in this area once the pubs shut and you don’t want to find yourself in a dodgy club under one of the railway arches around London Bridge. But even better are the “nights” – a couple of times there have been poker championships (brilliant voyeuristic fun) and of course the cinema nights. The great thing is that it’s not set out like a cinema, so you can still sit and enjoy your drinks and have a (quiet-ish) chat with your friends, whilst the film rolls on in the background. A while back they were showing the original Karate Kid – a great trip down memory lane.. Most others on this evening were of similar age (30-something), and when Daniel-san won his fight, we were all jumping up and down, shaking our fists in the air to celebrate – so much so , that the venue rewound the fight scene and played it again for us! Brilliant!

Perfect Pub Hideout

April 25, 2008

Quirky little gastro pub off the beaten track in SE1. Inside is a bright and breezy bar/dining area with an eclectic mix of furniture. Downstairs you can also find a cinema room for hire - great for screening your next feature film daaahlings... The food is very good indeed - I've been several times for lunch, and the Sunday roasts are great. I still get palpitations thinking about their Sticky toffee pudding. In fact, it took me about 2 weeks to lose the weight I put on during a single lunchtime when I was unable to show any restraint faced with the menu.... Throw in a short selection of cocktails and a good wine list and the Garrison has a special place in my heart indeed. Note: They do a very good spicy Bloody Mary - perfect for booting the hangover right out of your body in minutes.
Booking is advisable at weekends when this place gets packed with the Bermondsey loft dwelling hipsters.

Green Dream

April 07, 2008

Great professional garden design company.
They were timely for their initial visit, follow up was quick and they made the effort to come back to discuss designs, prices and sample materials unlike some of the other companies we invited in to quote for us.
Work started quickly, and in three weeks they turned our pit of rubble into something resembling a Vogue magazine garden.
Ok, it wasn't cheap (but as we quickly discovered, you can easily spend unlimited amounts of money on a garden in London), but out of a selection of companies we approached, they were not the most expensive quote either. They listened to our requirements and came up with a design we could only have dreamed of. They were also honest with us about what could be achieved for our budget - something which some of the other garden companies made little effort with. The builders themselves were polite and tidy and the job was finished on time.

Sandwich and a small side of pain

April 04, 2008

Great place for a little lunchtime dose of torture. This tiny beauty bar in the ground floor area of House of Fraser uses the art of threading for hair removal and also offers lash and brow tinting. Although possibly only slightly more painful than waxing, threading enables more precision and minimizes any irritation. No appointments necessary, just rock up. I was in and out within 5 minutes and felt lovely and groomed after a quick brow tidy up.

Pet Scam-market

March 31, 2008

Having recently become a dog owner, I have been venturing into the unknown worlds of online pet shopping. Most actual shops in central London are either in scary locations or simply cater mostly for the toy dog market (dog outfits, jewellery, little throne beds and other horrors). Being a little housebound at the moment with an unruly pup tearing about I was excited about prospect of shopping from the comfort of my kitchen table - no lugging of large bags of food or having to schlep out to an shopping estate on the fringes of London.
Ah, but how wrong I was - this "supermarket" is an absolute joke - having placed several orders now, it seems they have a bit of a scam in place. Each time I order something, my parcel arrives but one or two items are always "out of stock", however my credit card will have been charged the full amount. They send me an refund voucher to be used on my next purchase, thus ensuring that I order again. So I ordered again, and surprise surprise - several items out of stock, but again I was charged the full amount. My third (and last) order was placed on a Wednesday and I paid £7 for next day delivery. The order arrived the following week on Monday - 3 business days late. Again, an item was missing and out of stock, and one item was faulty. I immediately phoned customer services, who advise that they would again issue a credit for my next order and then asked me to send the faulty item back at my own expense where they would then issue another refund for my next purchase. Also, when questioned about the late delivery they said this was because an item was out of stock, but when they sent off the package on Saturday it was placed as a "next day delivery" - even though I had originally ordered it the previous Wednesday. Total value of money owed was now £20 - plus the inconvenience that I'm having to send items back at my own cost, not knowing if they will ever refund me.Several online forums indicate that I'm not the only one experiencing this. Am still battling it out with them, but in the meantime, if there are any pet owning tippers, beware...

Goodbye Humble Sandwich!

March 20, 2008

I don't know what it is, but every time I go to the M&S food hall I'm salivating like some kind of Rottweiler. Rows and rows of perfect produce, and innovative lunchtime options – superfood salads, soups, hot smoked salmon, giant cartons of fruit – the choice is endless. No more soggy sandwiches and I can get all my food groups in one meal – woohoo! Ok, so they fail in the packaging department with slight overuse of plastic wrapping and boxes, but this is something they can work on.
M&S food is aimed squarely at cash rich, time poor people and they’re not afraid to flaunt this. Fancy crackling pork belly and perfect roasted potatoes for Tuesday dinner? No problem – just stick these boxes in the oven for 30 minutes at 220 degrees C and you’re there! Chocolate soufflé? No worries – in it goes for 30 minutes at 220...In fact you can whip up a seven course dinner party for ten in 30 minutes at 220C. Yes, I know it’s cheating, but sometimes life’s too short to slave away over an oven after a long hard day slaving away over a hot computer. As much as I do love cooking, I do have to admit to sneaking in to M&S once in a blue moon for some delectable goodies when I’m just too tired to cook, but I don’t want to settle for pizza, although their mushroom stonebaked pizza is actually rather good....

Gastro-Chic

March 20, 2008

The Ebury is a great gastro pub if you want to get away from the hustle and chain food world of Victoria station. Situated in the no-man's land just up past the bus station ensures that the Ebury is never heaving at lunch time.
Years ago, I worked around the corner and this place was decked out in dark swirling sticky carpets and toothless old men. How times have changed! When my company departed to more central pastures, this place underwent a transformation into a light and airy gastro pub full of office workers and ladies lunching. Now I am back working in the area, it’s great to have the Ebury v2. I have not come here for dinner, but lunch is very good indeed. A short and sweet ever changing menu accompanied by a great selection of wines. The lunchtime deals of 2 or 3 courses are very good value. The downstairs brasserie is informal with large picture windows overlooking this quiet corner and there is a more formal dining room up the sweeping stairs.

Pocket Sized Pub

March 20, 2008

Actually, the Phoenix isn’t that small – it just gets so full that it feels like the walls are closing in.
Working very close by, the Phoenix is a handy little local serving above average fare when you can’t be bothered to schlep all the way over to The Ebury or the Thomas Cubbitt pubs.
The menu changes often – some days are better than others. Some lunches I’ve had included a good mushroom burger (great for a hangover), a mediocre Stilton and Broccoli soup (way to much cheese, I had nightmare for weeks), and a nice and hearty lentil, artichoke and roasted tomato salad here. The wine list is nothing special, but it is reasonably priced. Service is quick and friendly, but be sure to come early (no later than 12:30) for lunch as the whole of the corporate world of SW1 seems to descend on this place thereafter.

Revenge of the Crisp

February 29, 2008

Fairly mediocre Chinese on Lordship Lane.
I stopped by with a friend on a Wednesday night, and we ordered a selection of starters and mains. Nearly everything listed on the starter menu contained the word "crispy" and our mini crispy veg rolls and crispy king prawn won tons certainly worked your teeth and came with gloopy sauces you could stand your spoon up in.
The menu goes on forever and ever offering 30 variations each of chicken, fish, lamb, duck, pork, beef, vegetables, seafood, and another section for sweet and sour dishes and curries, noodles, chow mein and rice dishes. Finally if that's not enough choice for you, you can also order from the "English Dishes" section which includes delights such as "Roast chicken and Chips", "Omelette and Chips" or just "Chips".
We ordered some broccoli with crispy garlic and some more crispy fish and a couple of bowls of rice. Which was soft! hurrah!
Mains were nothing special and by 9:45 the waiter was rushing us a bit.
2 starters, 2 mains, 2 bowls of rice and a mediocre bottle of white came to £42.70.