Grosvenor Hotel, Chester

My lovely sister bought me afternoon tea at the Grosvenor as a belated birthday present. I may be a tad biased as she works there, but it was certainly the best afternoon tea that I've ever had.
Admittedly I have only had afternoon tea once before, but seeing as that was at the Lanesborough (which was voted as the best place to have afternoon tea) I think it's a fair comparison. Whilst the Lanesborough was stuffy and the sandwiches verged on stale; the Grosvenor was cosy, friendly and the food was delicious.

I think it costs around £30 for the indulgent tea which includes strawberries and cream, a glass of champagne, selection of sandwiches and cakes and scones (oh, and tea, of course). It was a million times better than The Lanesborough - the sandwiches were like biting into air (and the rare roast beef was amazing) and the cakes were unbelievably good.

If you're ever in the area, doing a spot of shopping or some sightseeing then I would highly recommend popping in for a real treat.

Upstairs, Brixton

Upstairs is one of my favourite restaurants. Ever. I'm esepcially pleased that it is short bus ride from where I live.

I've been there three times, and it is always the place that I recommend if people want a nice meal in my neck of the woods.

The food is great. Everything I have eaten has been cooked to perfection. Nothing over-complicated, just really good food. Last time I went I started with thinly sliced veal and salad, and then seabream with a caper and shrimp butter. Absolutely delicious! I had the cheese for dessert which was also great (although it would be hard to get cheese wrong...)

What really makes Upstairs so special is:
1. It's location. You just do not expect to find a restaurant that is this good down some side street in Brixton. Just above Opus (a little cafe) you have to ring a buzzer to get in.
2. The service. Quite simply the best service I have had in London. Absolutely spot on.
3. The food. So, so good.

Perfect place for a romantic meal, or a cosy dinner with friends. There's also a great little bar on the first floor.

Mirch Masala, Tooting

I've been meaning to write about this place for ages, but have only just got round to it. On Tooting High Road, amongst numerous other curry houses, it is a real gem. There seems to be a lot of Internet banter about the best curry house in Tooting - it seems a pretty close contest between here and Lahore Karahi. Admittedly we haven't sampled the latter (how can it possibly be better than Mirch?!), but it is defintely the best Indian restaurant I have ever been to.

The surroundings may not be the most glamorous (think formica tables and strip lighting), but the food more than makes up for it. The lamb and prawn tikka are just out of this world, as is the muttar paneer. It's so cheap (a hearty meal for 2 comes in at about £20) and its BYO as well.

Well worth a visit if you're in the area (and perhaps even if you're not...)

Hinds Head, Bray

We went to the Hinds Head on Bank Holiday Monday. Apparently Heston Blumenthal was aiming for the perfect pub when he opened it - I think he pretty much manages it. OK, so we probably would have preferred to visit the Fat Duck, but I think that will have to wait until there's a special occassion (or perhaps a lottery win).

The Hinds Head was great. Really nice village pub feel, and a great restaurant both upstairs and towards the back of the pub. As bar snacks go the scotch quails that we had whilst we were waiting for our table were a cut-above the usual dry roasted peanuts.

For our mains I had the muscles (which the chef had recommended), and they were lovely. Really big and the portion was huge (I came nowhere near to finishing them, even with help!). Tom had the lemon sole with shrimp butter that was also really good. Unfortunately the triple-cooked chips were off the menu (problems with the potato season), so we stuck the the (positively healthy) single-cooked variety.

For dessert I had the treacle tart which I would highly recommend. The milk ice-cream that it came with was SO good. Tom had the quaking pudding which apparently is a revival form the 17th Century and was basically a baked cream dessert with cinnamon. Again, really tasty!

At £85 (inc. 2 glasses of wine) it was pretty good value. The surroundings were lovely (as was the village itself) and service was friendly. There were a few nice touches such as a couple of delicious home-made chocolates with coffees and a note explaining what quaking pudding was. Next stop Fat Duck...

Petrus, The Berkeley Hotel

This was the ultimate treat - Marcus Wareing's 2 Michelin Star restaurant. A little extravagant for a Monday lunchtime. But it was Tom's birthday, exams were over and, after all, we had a £100 voucher :-)

So the food went something like this:

Amuse bouche: absolutely delicious foie gras with a parmesan crisp (I think); hummus (the best I've ever tasted!); cucumber gazpacho; cheese straws

Starters: I had the crab terrine which was deliciously crabby and the apple salad it was served with was lovely. Tom had the foie gras which he said was quite possibly the best thing he's ever eaten. It was served with a shredded duck crispy bun and hollandaise sauce. It doesn't get much richer; or, apparently, much better.

Mains: I had the lamb which was cooked for perfection and the 'lavender' sauce was absolutely gorgeous. Tom had the pork belly (well he did until we swapped half way). It was, without doubt, the nicest thing I have ever eaten. The pork belly was succulent, yet still crispy, and so, so, so tasty.

We then had a cheese course which was fantastic. Some of the strongest cheese I've ever eaten. Mmmmm.

Bizarrely the palate cleanser was also amazing (is it weird for that to be one the highlights of the meal?). It was orange jelly, bramley apple and vanilla custard. Oh. My. God. It was AMAZING!

For dessert I had the custard tart which was cooked to perfection - any more wobbly and it would have been a mess on the plate. The strawberry ripple ice-cream it was served with was sensational. Tom's raspberry's and ice-cream with a lemonade sauce were also fantastic.

The we had bon bons (mmmmm) and coffee. And then we went for a lie down.

The service was the best I've ever received (attentive but not overpowering, polite but not snooty). At £180 for lunch it was expensive, but I think worth every penny for a real treat.

So all in all, pretty much 11/10. The best meal I've ever eaten and I can't wait to go back (but my bank isn't so keen).

Whitstable Oyster festival

We went to Whistable at the weekend for their annual Oyster festival. Lots of great stuff to do there and really nice to get out of London to the seaside.

There were loads of lovely seafood stalls around the festival - really fresh and tasty. There was also a great ice-cream stall there called 'Simply ice-cream'. Definitely some of the nicest ice-cream I have ever tasty - really, really creamy and smooth. My boyfriend is keen to get on the website and order as much as he can possibly fit in the freezer.

We went to Crab and Winkle restaurant on the Saturday night, which is right on the seafront in a great location. Sadly the food didn't really quite live up to our expectations. My seafood bisque was OK, but really just OK. My boyfriend's herring was pretty good. My main of skate was pretty tasty, but my boyfriend's fish cakes were pretty much just lumps of potato - really disappointing! I decided to pass on dessert. For some bizarre reason someone in the kitchen decided it was a good idea to drizzle balsamic vinegar all over his stilton. And 2 oatcakes? Not the most generous serving?

Service was also pretty appalling - we sat outside for 20 minutes until anyone came and offered us so much as a drink.

Wheelers the next day, however, was an altogether different experience. Tiny, tiny little restaurant which has been on the high street for years and years. We just about managed to book for 2 of us to eat on the counter. The restaurant in the back room only seats about 10. The seafood counter had the freshest seafood and was such good value. I had lobster with salad and new potatoes that was just delicious. Tom's potted shrimp to start and seabass main were fantastic. Such good value as well - £40 for 2 courses and BYO (no corkage). You would expect to pay at least double for the same in London. I will definitely be back given half a chance!

Randall and Aubin (Brewer Street, Soho)

What a great little find in the heart of Soho! Perfect for a lunchtime visit if you happen to be in the area.

Everyone around us was eating oysters (which looked delicious), but for a quick bite to eat on a Friday lunchtime they seemed a touch extravagant. I had the fish and chips (well, it was Friday) and it was absolutely delicious - perfectly cooked and the pea puree served with it was also perfect. My friend had the rotisserie chicken which she tells me was good as well. Great wine list too.

Brasserie James (Balham High Road)

We'd been dying to visit Brasserie James since the sad departure of Tabaq (which did the best Chicken Tikka Massala I have ever eaten!). The Head Chef (Craig James) has set up his own venture after leaving Quaglino's. The blogs I read said that he was aiming to create a 'true neighbourhood restaurant' - ooh yes, sounds lovely! On my walk home from the tube I can't think of a better (and more dangerous) spot to be popping in every time I fancy a meal out!

We'd been really keen to go and I booked a table for the opening night. Both my boyfriend and I weren't disappointed. The atmosphere was lovely (good music, not too loud), nice decor and the staff were lovely (if a little slow at getting to grips with their PDA's for ordering). The patio area outside is also a nice touch for the summer. The food was good as well. I had snails to start (a first for me), and my boyfriend went for the chicken liver salad that was absolutely delicious. The liver was cooked to absolute perfection.

My steak main course was also good, as was my boyfriend's chicken risotto. The highlight of the evening was the desserts. The creme brulee was pretty much one of the best I've ever eaten and my raspberry and white chocolate millefeuille was also very tasty (although perhaps a little sharp?).

The menu was huge, but definitely enough to keep you coming back. The brunch and lunch menu also looks great - definitely looking forward to trying that out as well!

Four o Nine (Clapham North)

This was my second visit to Four o Nine (I went when it first opened, about a year ago). Things have definitely gone downhill since then...

The first time I went I was really impressed. There aren't too many really good restaurants in that area (although Upstairs in Brixton is pretty close by...and absolutely miles better). The food is still good (according the website the chef hails from Chez Bruce), which must surely be one of, if not the, best restaurant in South London.

I had the seabass which was well-cooked and the mash it was served on absolutely delicious - creamy, smooth, pretty much exactly how mash should be. My friends meals were also good. It was really pretty much everything around the food which really let the place down (which is always somehow more disappointing?). What a shame to be spot-on with the cooking and have poor service let it down so badly.

The hostess that greeted us was snooty (giving us all a thorough look up and down both when we arrived). When our mains were cleared we sat and waited for 15 minutes and eventually had to ask to see the dessert menu, as clearly it was never going to be offered. My friend and I both ordered the cheese board. Again, it was good. What was disappointing was when we asked our waiter what was on the cheeseboard he had no idea (and seemed genuinely shocked to have been asked). My friend doesn't like blue cheese, and it was clearly a real chore for him to find out if there was blue cheese, and to remove it.

It was the general running of the restaurant that seemed to let it down. The toilets were broken (to the point of overflowing) and when I informed the snooty hostess I was told 'No problem'. Well, actually, yes, it is a bit of a problem. I think the word she was searching for was 'Sorry'. And perhaps a 'thank you for letting us know'?!

Anyway, needless to say I won't be back. Which is a shame, because the food really is good.

The Lounge (Balham)

I thought that I'd discovered most of the local eateries in Balham, but noticed this one on the London Restaurant Review. It had some really great reviews, and deservedly so. Just the other side of the trainline, so slightly off the main high street, this is a real gem.

It seems as though it's owned a husband and wife - I imagine he must be in the kitchen? I did feel slightly sorry for the wife though as she was left to take the orders, serve the food and drinks for the whole restaurant (which was pretty full). OK, so we did have to wait quite a while for our food, and the service generally wasn't the speediest, but it didn't really seem to matter. The lady was lovely, and really apologetic (and slightly bemused by how busy the restaurant was). The atmosphere is great, maybe it was just the sunshine outside, but I did feel like I was in a little Spanish tapas bar.

The food. So I seem to be the person that always drastically over-orders whenever I go out for tapas (yet somehow the food always goes?!). My friend and I shared: patatas bravas (lovely spicy sauce), king prawns in garlic and chilli (delicious), calamari, chicken wings, and chorizo. The food was all good.

I will definitely be back, with my boyfriend in tow, as he never likes to miss out on finding a new venue...

Tom's Kitchen (just off Kings Road)

You really just cannot beat a good brunch - and this was, quite possibly, the best one I've ever had. We both went for the Full English (well, how can you resist?) and it was really good. Everything in it was delicious - 2 eggs, bacon - nice and crispy, sausage, black pudding - mmmmmm, fried bread, mushrooms, tomato and beans.

At £10.50 it wasn't the cheapest breakfast I've ever had, but well worth the money and the trip there.

The atmosphere was great (even with the place packed with toddlers) and I can't wait to return one evening...

Gastro (Clapham)

Wasn't sure what to expect from this place after reading some really mixed reviews. However, we paid our second visit there a few weeks ago and we were once again really impressed!

Both times we've gone for the Chateaubriand which really is quite possible the best steak I've ever eaten. You could cut through it like butter...absolutely delicious! OK, so the chips were relatively average, and the veg nothing special; but really, when the steak is this good you just can't complain.

I've seen some pretty poor reviews about the 'very French' service. Having said this, our waitor was really lovely.

We did feel that perhaps we'd got a bit lucky, as some people's food didn't look so great...but if you go for the Chateaubriand I really don't think that you'll be disappointed.

Siam Central (Charlotte Street)

Went for lunch yesterday to this great little Thai on Charlotte Street. With outside tables it's perfect for when the sun is shining (although it gets pretty busy).

The lunchtime menu of 2 courses for £7.50 is great value. I've already been there 4 or 5 times (obviously becoming a favourite). Nothing spectacular, just a good solid lunch choice if you're in the area.

The fishcakes to start are especially good, as is the Chilli and Basil stir fry and the Pad Thai. I'm yet to try the deep fried ice cream (a tad extravagant for lunch?!), although I've read a few reviews that sing it's praises...

Relais de Venise (Marylebone)

Second visit to this place - it is an absolute gem! After hearing about it from a friend at work who claims it is his 'death row dinner' my expectations were set pretty high.

Definitely not a disappointment!! OK - so, not the place to go if you don't like steak (really?). The menu is set: a salad to start, followed by chips, steak and their 'secret sauce'...


The salad is good (nothing earth shattering - just lettuce, walnuts and a fairly strong dijon dressing) but really just a build up to the fantastic main! It is served in two portions and the steak really is absolutely delicious...so tender. The chips are great, and the 'secret sauce' really tasty. Obviously we spent the majority of the meal trying to work out what was in it - we're hazarding a guess at garlic, butter, parsley and anchovies (although not sure my culinary expertise are up to a possible recreation of it!).

Desserts are good as well - my ice-cream filled profiteroles were really good (and absolutely dripping in a gorgeously rich chocolate sauce). My friend's desserts were also good - praline ice-cream was particularly tasty.

Definitely worth a visit - but do try and get there early as after 7.15ish (on a Friday) there was a fairly hefty queue.

Vasco & Piero's Pavilion (Soho)

After really looking forward to visiting Vasco & Piero's for some time (I'd read so many reviews from the trusty London Eating site) I was thoroughly underwhelmed by the whole experience.

Working just round the corner and walking past the restaurant on my way to work everyday I thought it looked pretty perfect. Two new menu's everyday, using the freshest seasonal ingredients. The restaurant seems to pride itself on the fact it uses on 3 ingredients per dish. I thought this would also make for tasty, simple Italian cooking. It didn't.

My boyfriend's ravioli starter was undercooked (not so much al dente as just plain chewy) and under-filled. My ragu was severely disappointing - lack of flavour and not really lacking the richness I was expecting.

Our main's were well cooked but not exactly a taste sensation. My lamb cutlets were well cooked, but really nothing special. My boyfriend's cod in a herb crust was lacking in a herb crust. Desserts were fine, but again, nothing to write home about.

Service was good if a tad over-eager. No sooner had you replaced your cutlery, then the plates had been whisked away. The atmosphere was nice and cosy. The tables were close together, but this wasn't a huge issue.

All in all, slightly disappointing. Or had I just had my hopes raised a little high? At £30 for 3 courses I would really expect more (I know this is central London, but there really are lots better places around Soho).