Three brief London restaurant reports.

Koba (W1T 1NA)

A wonderful restaurant, easily one of the best I’ve been to in my life! Koba is a Korean place just off Tottenham Court Road, and the fact that it is a popular go-to stop for natives shows it plays true to the palate of Korean food. As there were four of us when we went, we ordered quite a wide range of dishes, which the waiters cook right in front of you (there is a special sort of grill at the centre of the table). It tasted food that I never thought I would, including a baby octopus (not quite to my liking), although there was a multitude of food that was to my liking, including the delicious Korean omelette, and their meat tray and Korean spirits alcohol, which was perfectly cooked as well as seasoned. I would definitely come back.

Grade: A

Garfunkel’s (SE10 0DX)

A fairly standard eatery in the o2 arena in Greenwich, Garfunkel’s is more a convenient food stop than any fine dining. For starters, I had chicken wings, which I thought tasted undercooked (and which they’d clearly tried to hide this by lathering on multitudes of barbeque sauce). The burger I had was quite nice, without ever reaching gourmet levels, although the chips accompanying it were stale bordering on inedible. Passable rather than sensational, one gets the distinct impression that this restaurant is one that rides on its prime location, during which most of its visitors will have had a pint or two before they come for the concert and thus will be too drunk to notice that the food that they are being served is below par.

Grade: C+

Knights of St Johns (SW11 1TD)

Located just a short walk away from Clapham Junction Station, Knights of St Johns, or Knights, as it is better known, is a truly wonderful dining experience. The beers are very reasonable priced and the cocktails are sensational, including a truly one-of-a-kind lychee martini. The guy serving us was a delight, very personable and easy to talk to, as well as imparting honest opinions on the food. I had the steak, which was perfectly cooked, not over and not underdone. The chips which accompanied the steak were homemade and grilled in a special kind of garlic sauce, rendering them sort of an in between chips and potato wedges, but delicious nonetheless. My friend ordered lamb cutlets, which she also said was cooked to perfection. My only quibble with this restaurant was that the menu could probably stand to be a little more diverse - in total I counted less than ten dishes it offered. We were fortunate as we went to the restaurant on a fairly quiet day, but I imagine Knights can get quite busy due to its high quality food and drink and prime location, so, get on it!
Grade: A-