Restaurant review: STEAK & CO. (Leicester Square)

One of the things that this new world order of social distancing and lockdowns has prevented me from doing, that I miss the most, is the weekends on the town I used to have. These Saturdays in London would usually follow an itinerary of going to a steakhouse, drinking cocktails and watching a film at the cinema, although the order varied depending on reservation and cinema showing times.

Takeaway review: KENNEDY’S OF GOSWELL ROAD (Clerkenwell)

On Monday, me and my friend Rebecca (previous places sampled with the babe here) had a lunch-time catch-up over fish and chips at Kennedy’s of Goswell Road.

Rebecca and I both had a regular cod and chips, which at £6.50, offered a much more reasonable return for our money than the practically non-existent portions you get at United Chip, down the road.

In terms of quality of the lunch, with The Narrow being the finest fish and chips I’ve sampled in London and Quality Fish and Chips being the worst, I’m glad to report that Kennedy’s leans closer to the former than the latter.

Bar review: THE ROYAL HORSEGUARDS (Westminster)

I’m working through a huge backlog of restaurants and bars from which I have photos, including places I went to as far back as in 2014!

My trip to The Royal Horseguards was using a Groupon deal, £29 for a pitcher of cocktails and a sharing platter. Here they are pictured below: -

Restaurant review: MA’ PLUCKER (Soho)

I went to Ma’ Plucker this week to catch up with two girlfriends. To that end, it was a decent venue to choose for a Monday night: not busy, and we picked a spot at the back, where there was enough space around us for us to put our bags (rather than let them get dirty on the floor, which is what would happen at somewhere like Barrafina).

The way that food is ordered under the ‘3 way chicken’ system is that you choose your chicken (rotisserie chipotle, crispy coated buttermilk, pulled slow and low or cheese flan), you choose a base (salad, bun or maple waffle) and finally a side (MP chicken skin gravy, chipotle chilli sauce, Kansas BBQ, herb dressing or maple chilli glaze), and then it’s all cooked and bought out for you.

Because I don’t like mixing sweet and savoury things, and I never order salad when I dine out as I think it’s a waste of money (you can literally buy a bag of cabbages and apply some dressing to it from Tesco for like £2), I had the house bun, with chicken breast. This was how it looked:

The chicken was arid AF

Restaurant review: GAUCHO (Picadilly Circus)

Seeking to right the wrong I outlined here of having not been to enough steakhouses in the capital, I popped just down the road from the last place I visited, to Gaucho, a famous Argentinian steakhouse. 

Restaurant review: ZELMAN MEATS (Soho)

If you like steak, but don't want to commit to 400g of just one type, and in doing so, restricting your choice to a rump which may or may not be cooked to your ideal condition, Zelman meats could well be the solution to your quagmire.

At Zelman Meats, there are four core beef steaks you can order (Smoked Short Rib, Chateaubriand, Sliced Picanha, “Dirty” Sirloin Steak). The former two are priced by weight, and the latter is priced in conventional restaurant manner, at £32 for 400g. The minimum order per table per given type of meat is 200g, but if you go with a friend, you can order a joint amount of 200g of several types of steaks, and share everything, so there's variety in your meal!

Also pictured above are Black Truffle and Parmesan Chips, which were a bit pricey at £8, but the conflation of truffle, chips and cheese is hard to argue with.

Restaurant review: EL GAUCHO (South Kensington)

Restaurant review: THE GRILL ON THE MARKET (Smithfields)

Just a stone throw's away from where I'm currently doing my thesis, The Grill on the Market is a classy, upmarket venue. Unlike many of its fellow distinguished places in London, it isn't steeped in its own sense of self-importance.

I had a sirloin steak with béarnaise sauce (doesn't sound like me, does it?), and it was succulent, juicy excellence. Although I must admit, I was won over by the meal before I'd even had a bite, such was the cool presentation and the adorable mini-pan which the sauce was served in:

The restaurant also boasted an impressive cocktail selection - I had the One Long Jerry, which was like nothing I'd ever drunk before.  It's the restaurant's most distinguished drink, and with the blend of Sailor Jerry spiced rum, Lillet Blanc liqueur, Luxardo Cherry, lemon juice, maple syrup and thyme, I'm not surprised.

The decor of The Grill on the Market, a charming blend of rustic sofas (downstairs) and more modern padded stools-type decor upstairs, at the bar, meant you could choose an area to sit that suited your preferences/dining arrangements.

I visited The Grill on the Market during a lunchtime when the restaurant was fairly quiet, so the waiter I had brought my food out promptly, and had time to help with drink choices. His style of pastoral care, to give me his opinions but allow complete autonomy of choice, was a far cry from the pushier waiters, who are so thirsty for a tip, they try to force you into having a good time and ordering more. The hard sell never works for me; this more natural, genuine approach which disarmed me of my concerns that I was out of place at such a sophisticated venue, was far more to my liking.

It's not particularly cheap dining here, with the sirloin at £21.75 and £2.50 for the sauce, so I will reserve any future trips here for special occasions only.  But the good news is, with the eclectic cocktail menu and steaks bursting with intense flavour, a return trip is definitely on the cards.

Grade: A-

----

I like reviewing restaurants and bars in London; my reviews are compiled here. If you would like me to give some exposure to your restaurant, do email me at lemon_and_lime7@hotmail.com.

Restaurant review: THE GRILL at AMBA HOTEL (Marble Arch)

The Groupon deal with which my friend and I were dining with was £35 for two steaks (with a side each) and a bottle of wine to share, which, as keen carnivores, we were eager to take advantage of.

Like the LivingSocial deal at Truc Vert, the Amba Hotel was located on one of the sidestreets of Oxford Circus and encouragingly, like the Truc Vert meal, proved to be another online restaurant buy that actually proved to be good value for money.

Restaurant review: BYRON (Covent Garden)

I’ve had mixed fortunes when it comes to burger joints in London. Places like Tommi’s Burger Joint and Prime Burger were so awful I wouldn’t recommend them to my worst enemy, and other venues which don’t specialise in burgers, seem to treat them as an afterthought (Maxwell’s Bar and Grill, be ashamed. Be very ashamed). Still, due to the sheer majesty of the burgers I’ve had such as Bird, I still haven’t up hope in the capital’s ability to produce delicious burgers just yet.

Byron definitely delivered on the burger front. I had the Smoky burger, with the meat cooked medium rare, and that, along with all the ingredients (mature cheddar, streaky bacon, crispy onions, shredded iceberg, pickles and smoked chilli) rendered this a verifiable feast for the taste buds. You know it was tasty because normally I would object to paying £10 for a burger and no sides, but in this case, I feel the money was well spent. The way all the ingredients complemented each other and bought out the succulence of the steak… heaven.

Restaurant review: MAXWELL'S BAR & GRILL (Covent Garden)

Just adjacent to Covent Garden underground station is Maxwell's Bar and Grill an American-style diner of TGI Friday's ilk.

Bar review: SCARLET'S (Covent Garden)

Scarlet’s is a bar that I’d visited quite a few times when it was called ‘The Verve’, but last weekend was the first time I’d been to the bar under its new name.

The drinks were pretty much the same as they were when I’d visited two years ago, although I did notice some pretty unreasonable inflation: the Pornstar Martini sharer was now £25. In 2015, it had been £20. Come on! 

Graciously, Happy Hour is still between 5pm to 8pm in Scarlet’s, where it’s Buy One Get One Free on cocktails and cocktail sharers/pitchers. Lamentably, it’s one of those inconvenient Fifty Five Camden-style Happy Hour deals where the two drinks you’re buying have to be the same, which is less than ideal because invariably, someone has to compromise and forgo their first choice.

Restaurant review: BIRD (Camden Town)

Last Wednesday, my friends from my old company and I had our monthly catchup and Bird, an American fried chicken restaurant in Camden, the venue of choice. To my surprise given the busy time of year, the place was fairly empty and we were seated immediately.

It being a Wednesday, the deal on offer was a dozen chicken wings and the house beer for a tenner, which I was all over. I also had some cheesy Korean fries, delicious and reasonably priced at £4.50. The chips were so good they wouldn't have been out of place at the equally high quality On the Bab restaurant, a Korean venue.

I think your choice of dips makes a huge impact on how much you enjoy your wings. I had the sticky soy sauce and the Nashville hot, and both complemented the chicken brilliantly - I was tearing into it with my fingers, table manners be damned.

However, my friend Nick had a different sauce (it may have been buffalo), which was poured all over his wings before served, and thus, removed the crunchy quality of the wings that is one of the main sources of its appeal. Thus, if ordering anything with sauce, I would recommend you ask them not to pour it over your wings and arrive separately in a pot, like the ones pictured below.

Apart from that minor foible, I had the time of my life at this restaurant. The waiters were attentive whenever we needed extra serviettes, but more than that, astutely judged that we were four friends who had a lot to say to each other, so thus were not IN YOUR FACE in the thirsty pursuit of a tip like some central London waiters are, so let us be, which was  much appreciated.

The final bill was very affordable, and management kindly let us sit in our booths and chat long after we'd finished consumption of dinner, which really is a welcome change from haughty places which allocate you a 1 hour 15 minute time window (or something along those lines) and are all but chasing you out with a broom once you've used up your allocated time.

My brother loves fried chicken too, so I will definitely be visiting Bird again, if not this venue, then one of its other London ones. I recommend you do so too!

Grade: A

--

The rest of my restaurant reviews are listed here. If you would like me to review your place, email me at lemon_and_lime7@hotmail.com

-- 

This is us. I'mma do a quick Outfit of the Day, because why not?!

Cardigan: Primark

T-shirt: H&M

Skirt: TK Maxx

Tights: Calzedonia

Earrings: Monsoon Accessorize

Review: FAST FOOD CORNER and DIXIE CHICKEN (Mile End)

Fast Food Corner

Situated very handily next to Mile End tube station, FFC kindly offers a 10% discount for students, meaning I got the meal pictured above for £3.40 rather than £3.80 (another nice touch is that they rounded down rather than being awkward and charging £3.42, haha).

I had the spicy chicken burger (a little boldly, given my sinuses don't take to hot food too well), and it was absolutely delicious! The best thing about it was the unique flavour; it tasted wildly different from any other chicken burger I've ever had, but in a good way.

The chicken, which must have been cooked in some kind of secret sauce, was trembling with flavour, and put its far more expensive, but not at all comparable in quality counterparts, such as Prime and Tommi's Burger Joint, to complete shame. I will definitely be popping back here next time I'm in Mile End. A.

... which means I will be avoiding Dixie Chicken like the plague.

The chicken burger here tasted as undercooked as the ones in Prime Burger and Tommi's Burger Joint, yet this burger didn't feature the vegetables employed to try to give the impression of being a salubrious option, as those pricier places boasted. Chips were stale and tasteless, too.

The only redeeming feature of eating here is that it's cheap (this meal was £2.70), but for £1.99 with a voucher from Metro, you can get a McChicken burger and fries (and buy your drink somewhere else, e.g. a Tesco, beforehand), which is much more price-conscious. And at McDonald's, they at least make sure the chicken in the burger is cooked before serving it to you. D.

----

All my other fast food reviews are listed here.

Product Review(s): TASTE THE DIFFERENCE BREADED CHUNKY COD & LIME CORDIAL (Sainsbury’s)

Brief thoughts on two impulse food buys from Sainsbury’s yesterday! With photos just to prove I'm not making it up ;)

Taste the Difference Breaded Chunky Cod

The contrast between the crispy bread crumbs on the outside and the moist, meaty cod inside worked a treat. The white fish on the inside was more moist and succulent than I’m used to, but definitely tasted better quality for it. The fish flakes are incredible tasted better than most stuff restaurants serve. 

One fish, served with chips, (slightly more than the amount photographed above; I'd left the rest in the pan as the plate is small), nourishes me plenty. Due to it being Taste the Difference, the fish has higher protein content than the usual, so in addition to tasting delicious, it’s also good for you. A

(Cooking recommendation: the fish takes 20 minutes to cook in a fan-heated oven. I would recommend turning it half-way through, else the bottom gets a bit soggy, as the first one I cooked, did).

-- 

Lime Cordial

Pretty standard cordial, really. I bought this because whenever I was trying to go a month dry at University, lime cordial would be my alcohol substitute of choice, and I had a random bout of nostalgia for the drink in question. 

If you pour this and dilute it four parts water for the cordial, the end product tastes the same as what you get in pubs. Nice-tasting, doesn’t do anything wrong, but at the same time, didn’t jump out at me. B+/A-

--

More product reviews here!

Review: PRIME BURGER (Kings Cross)

My best friend Anna and I were absolutely famished after drinking some wine today, so unfortunately we weren't in a strong bargaining position in terms of discerning for decent places to eat. As we'd met at St Pancras train station and didn't want to travel too far, we settled for Prime Burger, thinking you couldn't go too wrong with a burger. I was wrong; this place runs Tommi's Burger Joint close for one of the worst of its kind in London.

I had the Classic chicken burger, which, just like the one I'd had at TBJ, was horrendously undercooked; the meat was a suspicious shade of pinkish white. Oh dear. The menu promised 'onions', but I don't count one infinitesimal sliver of onion, clearly stuck in as an afterthought 'onions', and the lettuce was haphazardly applied and an inspiring addition.

Small mercies came in the form of the chips, which I wolfed down, because at the front of the counter (where you collect your order), there was malt vinegar, which I doused on my chips like a pyromaniac ought to douse kerosene on  Wolf of Fleet Street certain Guardian football writers' Audis. I absolutely adore malt vinegar with my chips, and don't understand why there wasn't a container of them on every table, rather than just one at the front.

Then again, I don't know how they could have charged £11.05 for that ensemble above, when the burger was paltry, unedifying and poorly presented.

For five pounds less, you can have an actual chicken burger from KFC (you know, one with flavour). Do it. Your stomach - and bank balance - will thank you.

Grade: D-

A compendium of my restaurant reviews can be found here. If you would like me to review your restaurant, drop me an email at lemon_and_lime7@hotmail.com and I'll see what I can do.

--

As mentioned in the introduction, I had an ace meet up with my girl Annabung today. Here we are (quick OOTD!): -

Earrings: Accessorize

T-shirt: Hollister

Cardigan: H&M

Glasses: Twiggy for Aurora

Advert vs the Real Thing: KFC Stacker burger.

I gotta say, the advert looked a lot different from the reality: the chicken strips were pouring out of the burger and cheese was dripping temptingly onto the meat, as opposed to the pitiful small slice of cheese pictured above. Finally, the bap in the advert was pert and full of volume. The top bap of my burger looked like it'd given up and died.

False advertising mark out of 10: 6. It did look very different, but still tasted delicious (I had two last week!), so at least it delivered on that front.

Cooking Stuff that Looks Bad But Tastes Delicious #2: The Veggie Supreme.

Since this dish doesn't feature any meat or fish, I will call it 'The Veggie Supreme'.

As pictured, the ingredients were:
- cheddar cheese
- chips
- red onions
- peppers
- oil (drizzled a little too liberally over the chips and peppers)

I cut pieces of cheddar cheese and onions and bunged them into the yellow peppers, then topped it up with oil. I probably put too much oil in, because as you can see on the oven dish, there's a fair bit of spillage. I also poured salt in the peppers pre-putting it in the oven, but that's up to you.

And, as with The Nemo, I had tomato ketchup to enjoy the chips with! Nomnomnom.

--

Here's a photo of my dad's incredible authentic Chinese cooking!

Restaurant review: MILDRED'S (Soho)

Mildred's doesn't take reservations, which almost instantly signals alarm bells to me. The only place that has been an exception to the 'Places which don't take bookings offer terrible service to their diners' has been the excellent On the Bab; everywhere else which doesn't take bookings has shown, quite starkly, that if they don't care about making customers stand in the freezing cold waiting to get fed, they definitely won't think twice about ignoring you if you require the waiter's attention. Mildred's, lamentably, didn't go any way towards disproving that prima facie.

Mildred's is a vegetarian restaurant in Soho, and it will feed you, but, unless you make over £100,000 a year, wear an Armani suit and stockpile the alcohol order, the waiters will look at you like a piece of trash and act like you ought to be grateful that they're gracing you with their company. It also squashes all their punters in like sardines so they can maximise revenue, meaning that the sound of other people's conversations regularly intrude on the one you're conducting.

The burger was reasonably priced at £7, but the chips, which at £3 for twice as much photographed above, felt like a bit of a con. The waiter practically sneered at me and my friend when we said we were going to share a portion of fries, which was not cool. Excuse us for having the audacity to order food of our own volition(!)

I would be lying if I were to say I didn't enjoy my burger; it was plenty tasty and the texture was on point. I liked the enterprising display of flatbread rather than a bun. What a shame then, that the snooty service I'd received from the waiter, who clearly took one look at us and decided we weren't his income level of choosing, had left some a sour taste in my mouth. When we left the restaurant, they didn't even say 'goodbye', but instead, just threw us a 'and don't come back again' look.

I also don't appreciate the presumptuous way they stick on a 12.5% service charge. The service we received at Mildred's (being eye-rolled at, having our requests for water and serviettes all but ignored) was non-existent, bordering on counterproductive to our dining experience. The only beneficial contribution our waiters made were to carry our orders from the kitchen to our table without dropping it. A bit of a stretch at 12.5%, if you ask me.

If you're looking for decent vegetarian nosh but would rather it didn't come with a side order of hauteur, I'd recommend you go to the nearby Tidbits instead. There's a much more down-to-earth, hospitable atmosphere there.

Grade: D+

--

All of my restaurant and bar reviews are listed here. Email me at lemon_and_lime7@hotmail.com if you would like me to review your venue!

Brief reviews of two fast food places, QUALITY FISH CHIPS N KEBABS and MORLEY'S (Orpington)

Quality Fish Chips N Kebabs

I'm not sure why I willingly opted for kebabs when I was sober, but I decided to get my Sunday junk food from somewhere other than McDonald's for once (which is situated across the road from this place).

The combo pictured above was £5.90. I enjoyed the chips - chunky chips that you usually get with your fish and chips are my favourite kind, but the kebab didn't seem to have any flavour, and the salad and sauces that were added to it weren't very well distributed. There was too much in the way of cabbage and barely any onions (a much preferred ingredient).

Overall, not a big fan; don't think I'll be going back.

C

Morley's

My brother swears by this place, and as I'm always keen to give patronage to local fast food joints in Orpington rather than the big multinational companies (McDs, KFC), I was keen to give this place a try.

Quite the opposite of Quality Fish Chips N Kebabs, Morley's chips disappointed (stale, made me pine for McDonald's fries), but the chicken completely hit the spot. I wolfed mine down. 

I've since been to Morley's several times (you can get lunch and a drink for £3) and in terms of cheap, cheerful, delicious junk food lunches, it does exactly what it says on the tin!

A-