Perfil de hayjane

Lovely chocolate shop selling all kinds of luxury and novelty chocs, macarons, sweets and ice creams. We treated ourselves to a couple of velvety hot chocolates to stave off the nip outside. Would highly recommend the caramel flavour. Chocolate pizzas look lush. Not the cheapest shop, but great place to pick up a special present for someone with a sweet tooth.

Honoured to write the first review if the divine Lady Ottoline. I had been struggling for months to find the perfect venue for a special, cosy 30th birthday meal with my parents and closest friends. When I visited the Lady for the first time I hoped I’d found it, and having just about recovered from last night’s birthday meal in question, I am delighted to report was that it was just as fabulous as I’d hoped.

The Lady Ottoline only opened a few months ago having undergone an extensive refurbishment. It’s located down a quiet street on the edge of Bloomsbury, with a warm bar area downstairs, and two beautiful candlelit dining rooms upstairs. As a party of 10 we had to choose from the set menu, with a selection of four or five choices per course. My pork belly with black pudding croquettes was delicious, and with the majority of the party opting for juicy steaks (with the most incredible and mirror-esque steak knives I had ever seen) we were a very happy bunch.

Service is excellent and smiley, and a surprise birthday cake baked on site by the chef and delivered to our table topped off the evening perfectly.

The Lady Ottoline certainly isn’t the cheapest place to eat or drink, but if you want to go somewhere a bit special, to be charmed and spoiled by the excellent staff, and to relax in what has to be one of the most welcoming gastro pubs in London, then I couldn’t recommend it more highly.

This pub was predictably rammed with Christmas parties one December evening, so myself and a friend took our drinks outside where we could sit down and have a conversation. Our festive catch-up was then almost ruined when one of the bartenders told us that the manager wanted us to leave! The reason? Because they had found an empty bottle of bubbly on our outside table, which evidently had not been purchased at the bar. It was quite obvious from the fact that I was drinking white wine and my friend mulled wine that it had nothing to do with us! After finally convincing her that we weren’t pulling a fast one, we were ‘allowed’ to stay. Won’t be going back.

Excellent spot for a quick, filling and reasonable bite to eat. It’s open all day, as well as late, and you can wash down your wurst with a cold beer. Friendly service and BOGOF with Taste Card. YUM.

I’d heard great things about Polpetto but had never even gotten so far as to find out where it was located.
So I was pretty excited to stumble across it earlier this week, above a pub, and even more chuffed when they happened to have a spare table there and then as someone had cancelled.
It’s a tiny place and the tables are very much crammed in, but I found the atmosphere laid-back and cosy, with music and lighting at the perfect levels.
The few small plates we shared were delicious, and we silently battled for the biggest portion of the incredible the black pudding and walnut salad. I lost (the delicious braised lentils having momentarily distracted my attention).
Wine is served in tiny little glasses, with your own mini jug, and service is very friendly. A lovely Soho spot.

Some places just make you feel good, and this is one of them.

Greeted like old friends, the fact that they had no record of our booking was not an issue and we were seated at a lovely table with low lighting and talked through the menu.

Unsurprisingly, pretty much all of the dishes involves pig in some shape or form (apparently, even some of the desserts), and it would be rude not to go the whole hog (sorry) and try them.

My, they do pork well.

They also do service well, and we were happy to see kids’ piggy sketches adording one of the walls as we left.

PIGcredible. We’ll be back (bacon).

No idea why I hadn’t heard of this place before it came up on Groupon.

This cavernous, underground restaurant in the heart of the West End must be one of Covent Garden’s best kept secrets, unless I’m just out of touch!

Set menus are the way forward here, and there are plenty to choose from, to suit every budget. The portions are hefty, the food is good and you can tell they’ve got their kitchen operating like clockwork.

A London institution!

Been here a couple of times for dinner. The first was a five star experience, and the second a three.

On both occasions there was a fantastic vibe and friendly, chatty waiters. However, the speedy service and spot-on grub were sadly lacking on our second visit.

I think both of these were simply down to the fact that they were busier on the second occasion, and there simply weren’t enough staff, both front of house and in the kitcheni.

Whilst I had been blown away by the food on my first visit, my second involved a rather strange, tiny main meal which was served to me in the bottom of a saucepan (it wasn’t recognisable from what I had ordered on the menu) and inedible, stringy green beans. It’s a shame as the chefs are obviously talented. They were just too busy and details got overlooked.

Anyway, we had a fantastic time on both occasions and would certainly go back.

Fun, unpretentious, cheesy cocktail bar…right in the middle of a Brixton housing estate!

From the outside it looks like it could be a working men’s club, but as you get closer you can see the tropical-style frontage, which just gets crazier and even more tropical when you step inside.

Really friendly staff, absolutely stonking cocktails, brilliant food (actually the best chicken I’ve ever tasted) and live music on the Sunday I was there.

A big, shiny, loud GEM.

This tapas place is totally endearing and I wish we had somewhere like it in Hither Green.

Whether you’re looking for a quick drink (including tasty cocktails), a casual bite to eat or a cosy, drawn-out feast, this place will fit the bill.

The staff are so enthusiastic and friendly that you can easily forgive them for the rare times service is a bit slow. Plus it helps that the food is always tasty and not at all hard on the bank account (even cheaper if you pre-book with Taste Card).

There always seems to be a nice crowd in here, and if it’s sunny you can even sit outside and watch the beautiful P4 bus roar past ;)