Product reviews: SOFT ROSÉ LIP BALM (Nivea), STRAWBERRY HAPPY LIPS (Blistex) and CLASSIC MOISTURISING LIP BALM (Carmex)

As with the skincare products reviewed here, I bought these three lipbalms as part of a ‘3 for the price of 2’ deal at Boot’s. The Blistex and Carmex products were £2.69 apiece, so the cheapest, the Nivea lipbalm (£2.49), came free.

The best part about staying in a Premier Inn?

That would be the breakfast buffet!

Monday's breakfast

Wednesday's breakfast

I didn't bother taking a photo on Tuesday, seeing as I tend to get the same items every day (as you may have surmised from the two photos, which basically play like a food version of Spot the Difference).

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Something I sampled this week that I wasn't so keen, on the other hand, was strawberry beer:

I needed a beverage to consume whilst I watched Chelsea vs Middlesbrough, and this drink was so vile that I really took my time with it. So at least there was that; that it lasted me the entire match and saved me having to pay for another pint! #SilvaLinings

Bar review: CUBANA (Smithfield)

I went to this cocktail bar last Thursday with my friend Rebecca before our Office Christmas Party. As we were in the Happy Hour time window (4pm-7pm), we had 2-4-1 cocktails, although such was the venue was so understaffed that it took about three times as long as it should have for us to order and receive our drinks.

Towards the back of the restaurant, there was a table that was booked for some time in the future, and the three waitresses working (far too few, given how packed the bar was around holiday season) spent most of the time fussing around that table (of which yet none of the customers had arrived) and stubbornly pretending not to see the many customers who did need their attention.

I got the distinct impression that the expected company must have been quite reputable (read: rich), and so they were bending over backwards to ingratiate themselves with them in the hope of a handsome tip, but arranging the tables should definitely have been a fait accompli, especially when there were so many expectant customers.

The quality of the cocktails were fine, nothing to write home about, but perfectly passable for their Happy Hour rates. The Long Island Ice tea did not scrimp on the portions of alcohol, so that was appreciated, given we were about to go to a party that involved dancing!

However, one final thing that really got my goat about this poorly-run establishment was that they helped themselves to a 12.5% service charge on the bill. What service charge was that? We had to hail the waitresses several times, and when I ordered the first drink, the woman serving me was so distracted she forgot what I ordered. When we wanted to leave to pay, nobody came to our table, leaving us to find the waitresses so we could pay them for their 'fabulous' service.

I understand the waitresses wanting to kiss the ass of old rich folk, #YouDoYou. But to alienate almost everyone else in the restaurant in the process, rendered their thirsty pursuit of this a rather pyrrhic victory.

Grade: D

Restaurant review: AMPHITHEATRE RESTAURANT AND TERRACE AT THE ROYAL OPERA HOUSE (Covent Garden)

Last April, I went to see Madame Butterfly at the Royal Opera House. It was an exquisite performance that moved me to tears. Before the show and during the intervals, I drank and dined at the Amphitheatre Restaurant and Terrace, which I will now give a review of.

I'm generally wary of dining at restaurants that are part of the institution where the opera/ballet/concert is, because I worry that they'll be an afterthought to the building; a way for the owners to make a quick buck, rather than put any real thought into feeding their punters. Having visited this place, I think my reservations were correct.

Unsurprisingly, given the rather eye-watering price tags, the food was presented well enough, if not quite the same level in terms of taste. The steak pictured above wasn't the most delicious I've had the pleasure of tasting in London (that would have to be the transcendent Hawksmoor), but it wasn't the worst either. But, for the price paid, you'd hope for a little better than 'not the worst steak in London'. It was the chewiness that I really could not get on board with; as much as I like rare steaks, this tasted rubbery. Ew.

One aspect of Amphitheatre Restaurant and Terrace that was excellent was the service we received. The waiters were obliging and charming throughout, and I was very impressed with the organisation of the staff working at the restaurant, for, the second we returned to the restaurant at the interval, our dessert was waiting for us.

I had three flavours of ice cream; a tad overpriced at around £10 for what it was. It tasted fine, but the £1.99 ice cream tubs you get in Tesco taste exactly the same, minus the chocolate shavings ornamented on them. So I wasn't too impressed with the mains or the dessert.

As with The Savoy, extravagances like this where we unleash our inner Iggy Azalea and inwardly holler I'M SO FANCY are only one-in-a-year-type things. In terms of food quality, The Savoy far surpasses Amphitheatre and Terrace. In fact, it's fortunate for the Royal Opera House that their production of Madame Butterfly was so on point, or I'd be even more scathing in my critique of the restaurant; clearly a get-rich-scheme for the owners. They're laughing all the way to the bank. We're still struggling to cut up that rubbery steak with our incisors.

Grade: D

Restaurant review: THE DINER: (Soho)

Continuing with new-found hobby of frequenting Soho for American brunch joints, I turned my attention to The Diner. Situated in the extremely happening Ganton Street/Carnaby Street area, it’s just a few minutes walk from Oxford Street, and thus, had it been a hit, would have been a go-to place for me to replenish my energy before doing weekend clothes shopping, which as you all know, is an activity that is oh so stamina-quenching.

Unfortunately for The Diner, whatever treats their menu boasted were all negated by the horrific service we experienced there. We had one blonde guy, who looked like a Poundland Liam Hemsworth. My friend asked if we could sit near the back, when the restaurant was empty, and he just barked at her, ‘no, you sit here’. 

Furthermore, whenever I called him to bring us water, or that we were ready to order, he couldn’t hide his look of utter annoyance, as if he couldn’t believe the audacity of these twats to DARE to pull him away from his friend who he was chatting to, to order their food. To add insult to injury, The Diner helps itself to a handsome 12.5% mandatory tip for service on the food bill. Hilarious, given how we all but had to serve ourselves, with a waiter that was clearly pressed at his life decisions to drop out of fashion school, and chose to take it out on us.

Pictures of the food and drink I had is below.

The dish itself was good, a mishmash of many of my favourite things, and the drink was deliciously sweet, if a little overpriced at £4.20. But to be honest, this place could have the best food in London and I wouldn’t go back again because of that insufferable waiter.

Grade: D

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Update: 19th October 2014.

I went to The Diner in Shoreditch on Saturday. Whilst the menu and the prices were identical, the altogether more cheerful, less uppity service from the waiters and waitresses attending to us means I'm now happy to bump this place up to a B+. What a difference some good service makes, eh?

The eggs benedict with salmon were tasty enough, but I wasn't a fan of the haphazard addition of orange slices on the plate. It didn't add anything to the meal, and just seemed incongruous. Thus, the best eggs benedict I've had in London remains Café Richoux in Mayfair. 

However, the MVP at The Diner that I didn't sample in my first visit here was the hard milkshakes (milkshakes with a cheeky dash of alcohol in), specifically, the True Blue. Mainly blueberries, this was one of the few drinks I've had where it tasted better with the addition of booze. You have to try it out. For £8 you get a handsome amount (enough to fill a the glass in the first review, twice), and honestly, it's the most fun I've had getting tipsy.  I also had a Strawberry Cheesecake hard cocktail, and that, by normal standards, would have been scrummy. But True Blue was in a league of its own.

In future, I may just come here for the milkshakes. Sod the food when the milkshakes are that heavenly!

Bar review: RUPERT STREET (Soho)

Continuing with my exploration of Soho, I went to Rupert Street, a bar famed for being a gaybar. Above all, the bar prides itself for letting all drinkers have fun, whatever their persuasion, so all drinkers are welcome here!

Go between 4-8 and you will hit Happy Hour, where you can get two cocktails for a tenner. These cocktails owned those I had in Worship Streep Whistling Shop, in terms of taste and alcohol content, and aren't too shabbily presented either.

Everyone in Rupert Street looked like they were having the time of their lives, and the familiar, unpretentious music went a long way to getting me in a jovial mood: Taylor Swift and Girls Aloud decorated the jukebox, and I found myself singing along to the tunes giddily after my first pint.

In all, I would recommend Rupert Street to absolutely everyone! It's funny that the bar shares its name with the adorable Harry Potter actor, because the charm of the place also matches his.

Grade: A

For more of my bar reviews, click here. If you would like me to review your bar, drop me an email at lemon_and_lime7@hotmail.com

Restaurant review: BENIHANA (Piccadilly Circus)

Just off Piccadilly Circus Tube station is Benihana, a trendy Japanese restaurant. Currently undergoing renovations in certain parts of the venue, the drinks/waiting area was mainly cordoned off and in the interim, the waiting area consisted of two little round tables (of which I shared with another lady who was waiting). 

But the actual restaurant itself was a unusual delight. The way it was arranged was that everyone was sat with strangers around a metal grill, and the meal was cooked directly in front of you, but it wasn’t just basic turning the food over; there was a real visual firework to go with the preparation of the food – the chef sprayed some pepper over the vegetables and with a flourish, casually tossed the pepper shaker upwards and caught it in his big chef’s hat. Elsewhere, other chefs threw their vinegar or salt shakers into the air, span on the spot and caught it. For veterans of Japanese restaurants, food was thrown into their mouths for them eat. Fun was very much on the menu here.

I had the set menu, which was £23 and had 8 courses – all quite small, so that you got a taste of everything. Some of the courses were misses (a pot of rice with what seemed like half a bottle of soya sauce tipped on was far too salty to fully consume), but the meat (a choice of two from chicken, salmon, seabass, steak) was cooked to your preference, the sushi was fantastic, and the dessert, a tiny square of chocolate, was exactly what was needed to sweeten up the overall quite a savoury meal. 

Drinks were overpriced, even by London’s standards - £8.50 for a strawberry daiquiri that tasted suspiciously devoid of any alcohol whatsoever, but artfully designed in a way that the presentations of the cocktail was so lovely that you almost didn’t realise you were being conned. However, kudos has to go to the chefs for making mojitos, a drink I’m not usually too fond of – quite delicious with the aid of some lychees.

Overall, as far as overpriced restaurants in the city centre go, Benihana definitely sits up there, with more than enough charm to carry off its inflated menu prices. The entertaining “show” put on by the waiters make it a good venue to pick when out with friends, or children, who will surely love it.

Grade: B+/A-