The French Cafe, Balham

Ok, so wedding diet over and back into eating out with a vengeance!

After first visiting the French Cafe for Tom's birthday we've been back twice since and I would say it's pretty good. The prix fixe is excellent value at £9.95 for 2 courses and the Bavette de Bouef is especially good. It has a nice relaxed atmosphere, a pretty decent house wine (which they serve in carafs) and the pear and almond tart is really tasty.

Worth a visit if you are in the area...

Tom Ilic, Battersea

Oh dear lord, it has been almost a year since I have updated my blog. A few good reasons (excuses!): planning a wedding, moving jobs and (probably the main one here) going on a diet. Sadly writing a restaurant blog and attempting to reduce the amount you eat do not go hand in hand. Nevertheless I have squeezed in a fair few outings (and many a Pizza Express, but I don't think that really counts...).

Probably the most notable is Tom Ilic. I have been there twice in the past month. It had been recommend to us on a number of occasions and we eventually got round to going, and then again within a couple of weeks because the first visit was so good!

The first time was far better, both in terms of food and service. Maybe we were a little unlucky the second time (I was brought the wrong main course), but the food wasn't as good and the service was downright rude. After being told they wouldn't charge us for the incorrect main they then put it on the bill anyway and took about 30mins to remove it again (and appeared non to keen to do this at all...)

All in all I would say perhaps not as good as first thought. However, Tom Ilic's pork dishes are fantastic as is his sweetbread starter. I think the key is to stick to the poorer cuts of meat, as this seems to be his speciality.

Restaurant surroundings are somewhat old fashioned, service very hit and miss, but food pretyt good and sometime immense).

The Lounge, Balham (again)

It has been absolutely ages since I've got round to updating my blog. I think this is due to a number of things (changing jobs, lack of funds for eating out, generally being pretty lazy...).

Anyway, I just had to drop a quick line about a return visit to The Lounge, the tapas bar just around the corner from my house (admittedly this is slightly delayed).

When I phoned up to book I was literally astounded to be greeted by - 'THE Penny, Penny from 'love to eat out.com'), not least because I think I may have a readership total of 2 (including myself).

Anyway, the Owner was the loveliest person. He came over for a good chat (turns out I was right about the husband and wife team), and gave us some lovely freebies. The food was top notch as ever (and I'm not just saying that because of the freebies).

Will definitely be popping back again soon...

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...