Naamyaa Café, 407 St John Street, Angel Building, London EC1V 4AB

Naamyaa Café, 407 St John Street, Angel Building, London EC1V 4AB

31/08/2013

www.naamyaa.com/

She said: It was a lovely sunny day and we thought we’d cycle to Angel and meander around the antique shops. He wanted to eat at the shiny, contemporary looking Thai place we passed last week and though I was on the fence I did like the space so in we went. Naamyaa is of the Busaba ilk – trendy, modern interior, open kitchen and accessible menu of appealing dishes. I really liked the sound of the 48 hour braised mackerel so put in my order only to be told they didn’t have it. Not a great start. Still, there were other choices I had my eye on so went for the Prawn Green curry. To start we shared some spring rolls which were good. But when my Prawn curry arrived I managed to identify four small prawns and not much else. Very cheeky. Luckily we had ordered a side of Morning Glory which was salty but fine and I shared some of his Aubergine pot which was juicy but again far too salty. It’s a shame really as Naamyaa has that feel of a great local find, until you get to the food. The only reason we were upbeat on leaving was because our joyous dining discount card meant we paid £20 instead of £40, taking the sting out of a disappointing Thai experience.

He said: Naamyaa is definitely the kind of place being developed with franchising in mind: really strong brand ID (imagine Giraffe meats Busaba) and designed down to the most minute detail. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. The menu is wide-ranging, pan-Asian rather than strictly Thai, with lots of choice for all times of day, including breakfast, and mid-priced. The food we ordered was just okay: it looked good on the plate, came in decent portions for the vegetarian things, but was so salty that it was hard to pick-up that magic simultaneous sweet/sour/spicy trick that Thais do so well. I was really excited to go here, having a soft-spot for sugar-high interior design, but the food was kind of a let-down. Drinks were good though, so maybe this is the place to go with the gang, sharing a whole bunch of small plates to keep yer heads screwed-on longer. That could be a good night actually: Naamyaa has a good energy to it; and, with all that drinking and peeing, the extra salt will probably come in handy.

Aqua Shard, Level 31, The Shard 31 St Thomas Street, London SE1 9RY

Aqua Shard, Level 31, The Shard  31 St Thomas Street, London SE1 9RY

29/08/2013

www.aquashard.co.uk

She said: We picked Europe’s tallest tower as an appropriate venue to mark the lofty milestone of mum turning 77. Wow. This was an amazing experience. After reading poor reviews about snooty service and high prices in Oblix the floor above, I decided to book Aqua on the 31st floor of the Shard. From the second we arrived we were greeted with enthusiasm. The first impression is breathtaking: a vast, open space with floor to ceiling windows and double height ceiling draws you into Aqua with a bar area on one side and dining on the other. We decided to have cocktails in the bar first and were seated by a window with spectacular views of London. The cocktail menu offered great choice at the higher (but not crazy) prices you would expect for the location at around £12. We then moved to the smart, contemporary dining area where further stunning views greeted us. The set menu at £28 for three courses was fantastic value and the food faultless. I started with the cured-wild seabass which was light with subtle flavours and followed this with a delicious barley risotto which I held back from finishing to allow room for dessert. I’m glad I did as dessert was an irresistible chocolate millefeuille. The service was friendly, personable and attentive and included a birthday plate with candle for mum which added to this special experience. I cannot imagine picking anywhere better to celebrate edging closer to 80 and the whole dining party were full of praise and smiles. I loved Aqua and am looking forward to going back – again and again. This place will suit any occasion, work or play.

He said: This was a very, very pleasant surprise. And I don’t mean because of the view, or the incredibly large, uniquely un-London room, both of which have got the X Factor in spades. No, I mean the food. This will sound horribly ungrateful, but most fine dining is so paint-by-numbers, so samey-samey, that you don’t even notice it – like some Norman Foster airport or office block: you kind of remember it, but you’re not too sure where or what. Aqua Shard could easily have dished out the same ol’ international slop; their proposition is so unique that the room would have been just as full as when we went. But no: Aqua Man clearly cares: each of my plates had it all: great ingredients, presentation, textures, flavours, and, not least, man-sized portions. I had the carrot salad (three varieties: yellow, purple, and familiar orange) with its mellow pesto dressing and ricotta; then the barley risotto; then the chocolate mille-feuille, all of which I would gladly have again. I am soooo glad that these guys didn’t go down the lazy route. You might think that’s because the rent is so eye-poppingly high that they have to deliver to pay the man; but in fact, cynical reader, at £28 my à la carte was great value, and a bargain compared to most places with much less to offer but much more attitude. Really the only negative about Aqua Shard is the strange, gastroenteritis-sounding name. You should go: it’s definitely the top table in London at the moment.

The Swan at The Globe, 21 New Globe Walk, Bankside, London SE1 9DT

The Swan at The Globe, 21 New Globe Walk, Bankside, London SE1 9DT

26/08/2013

www.loveswan.co.uk/shakespearesglobe

She said: I had been wanting to try the restaurant at Shakespeare’s Globe theatre but felt it should only be with a visit to the actual theatre. Since I’m not a Shakespeare fan this seemed unlikely until today when the Globe put on a play unrelated to the Bard. Yes. The restaurant space, on the top floor (with a bar below) is impressive. A long, classic yet contemporary room that is warm and inviting. It offers splendid views of St Paul’s and the activity along the Thames. This is the place to come to impress visiting friends and relatives. I’m always dubious about restaurants in touristy places and you can’t get more touristy than the Globe so when I ordered from the set menu (at £26.50 for 3 courses) I prayed it wouldn’t disappoint. My starter goats cheese salad was adequate, good enough. Unfortunately my seabass main was edible but forgettable – well within that ‘tourists we’ll never see again’ cooking category. I opted for a Pineapple upside down cake to finish which was again adequate. This is a shame because if they can raise the standard of cooking (and presentation), the Swan really would be quite something. I still think it is a wonderful space, offering good service with amazing views and if you’re happy for the food to be part of the wider package it’s worth doing and indeed on this basis I expect to be back. But on days when I want to eat out to experience inventive, delicious food, I’ll go somewhere else.

He said: Who knew that one of London’s most unbearably touristy stretches, The South Bank, also had one of its most attractive dining rooms? Not me. I normally walk as fast as possible between A and B, muttering horrible things about day-tippers and the busloads of Italian school groups clogging up the pavement. But it turns out that The Globe is not just a cool theatre experience, and that above the boozer there is also a restaurant. Walking up the steps into that long room, windows all around overlooking the mighty Thames but close enough that you feel you’re in it,  barges and pleasure boats pootling around, St Paul’s graceful dome dominating the background – now that makes an impression! It turns out that the food is not quite up to it. Maybe I ordered wrong, or maybe it was an off day, but it was basically pub food dressed posh, and I don’t mean the mysteriously awesome pub food you can get in so many random and hidden country spots. The place looked Roux or Galvin, but the food is in fact more Wetherspoon’s. As long as you remember that, and don’t order too adventurously then you will have a great night. This is a really special spot, and I would happily make it a regular Sunday outing, if it wasn’t so damned hard walking through all those people!

Little Georgia, 14 Barnsbury Road, London N1 OHB

Little Georgia, 14 Barnsbury Road, London N1 OHB

25/08/2013

www.littlegeorgia.co.uk

She said: He loves Georgian food so we hit Little Georgia after a show at Saddlers Wells in Angel. What a pleasant surprise. Given the basic website and the ‘conversation by delayed satellite’ way in which I made the reservation with a sweet dear on the phone, I was expecting a small, simple family kitchen. However, Little Georgia is housed in a beautiful converted corner pub with Georgian newsprint wallpaper, posters and other paraphernalia adorning the inside. The menu contained all the classics and the portions were big which meant we reverted to our over-ordering-type. We shared a delicious beetroot salad (which he was so impressed by he subsequently has made it at home); a giant bowl of borscht; badrijnis salad which contained succulent aubergine and my favourite – kotnis lobio, a warming bean stew. We also had the traditional Georgian cheese bread ‘khachapuri’ which was actually my least favourite as the bread was thick and heavy and the cheese slightly sour (maybe that’s how it’s meant to be) but overall this was a spectacular meal at good value. The total bill came to just over £30 and we left feeling heavy and happy.

He said: Little Georgia deserves to be packed to the rafters every night. But I don’t know how it would cope if it was: what’s great about this place is that it tastes just like home-cooked food & I’m sure that if you went into the kitchen there would be no-one else but a slightly plump Mum with a paisley shawl on her head and a mouth half-filled with gold teeth, working though a cloud of order slips. We went on a Sunday night, with room for dozens more, and waited god knows how long for our food. But it was worth every second. Nearly every dish we tried was the best version of that dish we’d had in any of London’s surprisingly many Georgian restaurants. The borshcht was killer, the aubergine caponata-type thing was killer, the beetroot salad was so good that the second I went home I scribbled the ingredients on the shopping list so that I could make it myself in case of emergency. Just the lobio was a bit of a let-down. If you haven’t had it before Georgian food is similar to middle eastern food with echoes of Iranian; but it is also the very best, most evolved version of that tradition. It’s all familiar, but indescribably and so satisfyingly different. Lots of hidden walnut, pomegranate etc. So, so good. When you mention Georgian food the dish that everybody bangs-on about is kacha puri (flat bread with cheese baked-in), which is great comfort food if you’ve just escaped from months of captivity in some Chechen hell-hole, but it’s kinda ‘meh’ compared to everything else. Here it was really very good: the bread fluffy, and the cheese not fatty. But next time I will have lobiani (the same thing except with a heady kidney-bean mash instead of cheese). Please let it be soon!

Picture, 110 Great Portland Street, London W1W 6PQ

Picture, 110 Great Portland Street, London W1W 6PQ

24/08/2013

www.picturerestaurant.co.uk

She said: He returned from a business trip early so I picked Picture for a lunchtime catch up. It was a lovely contrast to step in out of the grey, rainy London day into a bright, long, modern space with wooden floors and a glass roof at the rear of the room, which is where we were seated. The set lunchtime menu at £15 was fantastic value and each dish perfectly delicious. My tomato salad starter was full of flavour bursting from the different coloured tomatoes which mixed perfectly with cucumber and goats cheese. The haddock risotto was not what I expected (a piece of nicely cooked haddock placed a top some delicious risotto instead of the fish being mixed in which was my misgiving) and a chocolate mousse of the highest quality with summer berries to finish. At the end of the meal I felt comfortably satisfied as opposed to stuffed which suited me but I guess the dishes could each have been a bit bigger but I really shouldn’t complain as Picture offers a lovely smart yet relaxed space, good service and inventive food at great prices. More reason why it was sad we were the only diners – London, stop jumping on the same-ole-same-ole restaurant bandwagon and get wise to restaurants like Picture which should easily be a Fitzrovia favourite.

He said: I’m so glad that she somehow got Picture on her radar – no easy feat, I tell you: we’d walked past this place a few times, and never really noticed it. The shop-front is narrow and done-up very soberly – on previous walk-bys I thought that it was some hip Antipodean coffee bar and dismissed it. How quickly things can change. I liked everything about Picture: the lo-fi décor, the very seasonal ingredients, the incredibly cheap set menu; and I especially liked that it’s close to our place, not in Soho, and feels like your own little secret gem. This is definitely the kind of restaurant that I want in my ‘hood. Take people here if you want to seem like the clever clog that floats above all the trends. My only gripe is that the portions were small, but who can complain at £15 for 3 courses, and they didn’t mind us stretching it out for a couple of hours. If anyone is reading this, please go: we were practically the only people there on the day. God bless Picture. Amen.

Tandis, 73 Haverstock Hill, Belsize Park, London NW3 4SL

Tandis, 73 Haverstock Hill, Belsize Park, London NW3 4SL

17/08/2013

http://tandis-belsizepark.co.uk

She said: We were in the mood for some good Persian food and remembered Tandis which we had visited a while ago. This neighbourhood restaurant is easy to miss unassumingly set back on a main road but miss it at your peril. Tandis is the real thing. Fantastic Persian food at good value. The space itself has the standard local feel: contemporary but family. The menu is huge and offers the full range of Persian dishes with lots for vegetarians. Portions are generous and though we wanted to order most things we forced ourselves to be realistic. I had the ‘Aloo Esfenaaj’ which is a superb, moreish stew containing amongst other things, spinach and dried plums in a tangy sauce. I shared his ‘Ghormeh Sabzi’ which was a stew of beans and potato with dried limes which again was delicious. We also shared a starter of ‘Loobiya’ which are warm mixed beans in a tomato sauce (not dissimilar to baked beans). Including soft drinks the bill came to £27. We love this place – and it inspired him to buy a Persian cookery book.

He said: Of the various Persian restaurants we’ve tried I think this is the one that we like the best (in London). I’m not sure if it’s because it’s actually the best, or because it serves this stunning spinach-and-plums stew which we haven’t found anywhere else – vegetarians of London go and check this dish out! It’s really great. The food at Tandis is nice, but let’s be honest - it is in NW3 and a drag getting there. Whereas we live pretty close to Edgware Road where there must be at least half a dozen Persian restaurants on two or three bocks. I’ve totally fallen in love with Iranian cooking, so I hope that we go and try them all out soon – watch this space. Until then I’m sure we will keep making the pilgrimage to Tandis. By the way, the décor here is far removed from the usual ‘Cyrus’s Palace’ vibe; so if you’re allergic to statues of lions and gold everywhere, then this is the place for you.

The Lockhart, 24 Seymour Place, London W1H 7NL

10/08/2013

http://lockhartlondon.com/ 

She said: He read about The Lockhart in a magazine and as people that like to think we’re in the know about the local eating goings-on we made a beeline for this contemporary ‘tex mex’. On first impressions, The Lockhart appears more like a fancy Spanish tapas place with rustic wooden tables and chairs and little tapas-sounding dishes on the menu. So we were curious to try this new approach to tex-mex. We ordered a mix of dishes including black bean enchiladas and crispy okra bites and a side of mac ‘n’ cheese. The experience was mixed. Some dishes, like the okra had no flavour and were underwhelming. While the enchiladas and pasta were tasty but portions a bit on the small side. Restaurants usually leave an impression, be it good or bad whereas The Lockhart, like it’s food, was pleasant enough but easily forgettable. A good enough local place if you’re in the neighbourhood and happy with good enough.

He said: The menu looked really promising so, wanting to try it all, I decided to skip mains and just have a bunch of small plates. The mac and cheese was very nice (although not as nice as at Automat) but the crab hush puppies and okra bites were both kind of bland, unless you slathered them in the dipping sauces, which seems wrong. Before going I really wanted to like this place, but I left feeling a little lukewarm about it. There’s lots left on the menu to try, which I hope to do soon; but really I think of this place more as nice, different place to hang out, rather than destination dining.

Baltic, 74 Blackfriars Rd London SE1 8AH

Baltic, 74 Blackfriars Rd  London SE1 8AH

04/08/2013

www.balticrestaurant.co.uk

She said: Armed with a new restaurant discount card and in the area after attempting and failing to get into the Guinness Book of World Records thank to an abysmally organised event by ‘Ride London’, we hit Baltic for digestive respite. Promoted as ‘Eastern European’ Baltic is a delightful surprise. You enter an unassuming dark entrance next to a neighbourhood pub and pass a long bar which then opens into a vast, stunning, contemporary dining space bursting with natural light coming through the skylights above a 40 foot wood-beamed ceiling. This former 18th Century coach builder’s works offers a wonderful mix of dishes that blend traditional and contemporary foods from places such as Georgia, Poland and Russia along with a long list of flavoured vodka shots which are hard to resist. I started with a fig, smoked artichoke and rocket salad which was heavenly, achieving the perfect mix of salty and sweet; I followed this with the salmon blini but mistakenly ordered the main sized portion which came with four warm, saucer sized blinis and ample salmon; the starter portion of two blinis would have allowed room for dessert, which I sadly had to pass on despite the superb range of options. Service was efficient and pleasant and the atmosphere at Baltic is chic, smart and  yet relaxed. The bill was reasonable for such fine food and setting at £30 for two (including £20 off with our discount)! Baltic is one to come back to.

He said: as if we didn’t eat in restaurants enough as it is, we now have a card that gives us 50% off in a bunch of places. It’s like giving crack to Lance Armstrong, or a loaded gun to a baby. Totally irresponsible. But it turns out that Baltic is giving love away, and so we had to go. This is a place that we discovered a decade ago, but like most places that we like, we tell ourselves we’ll go back but then we don’t. Except that in Baltic’s case there was a good reason – it burned down some time ago, and had to be rebuilt. The place looks great: the bright, modern dining room and its cathedral-height ceiling cunningly concealed behind a dark and narrow front of house. Miles away from the rustic Polish village thing, and definite wow factor. And park any stereotypes that you may have about Eastern European food (donkey sausages, pork & potato milkshakes, etc): Baltic makes all the classics but with a very light touch. Of course I had to have the pirogi which here were fluffy pillows of potato and cheese under a thin, lightly fried skin of dough. I shovelled them in. Then I followed with blinis served with finely chopped mushrooms, cucumber in yogurt, and aubergine caviar (like baba ganoush) – so much better than the more usual salmon version. Most Slavic people have got a totally irrational and deeply passionate thing for mushrooms, so it was really great to see this on the menu. Add to this superb food a vast array of flavoured wodkas and you’ve got a winner. It’s no wonder that Baltic has been kicking butt for more than a decade. I’d love for this place to be around the corner from me.