Reviews and Comments of 'Boo In London' (81)

On a Saturday night we had hoped to have dinner at the re-opened Hawley Arms, fair enough, last ditch attempts to book a table were a little on the wishful side so we arrived, nonetheless, and found a table. We grabbed a menu and were told that the kitchen was closed, half an hour before the advertised time. Even this was fine, we were peckish but could cope with focussing on drinking for the evening and address the food issue later (then, the table was literally whisked out from under our feet).

This was never going to be a cosy, feet up leisurely affair, that’s why we went there! It was fairly easy to snag a table at which to continue drinking because we arrived before the queue formed and a jolly good time was had by all. Copious amounts of gin later and we were out on our ear. It occurred to the group (Thomas and I and the visiting Kid and Crann) that we had been hungry several hours ago and the cashews, hula hoops and wotsits had barely touched the sides!

Now, I am slightly loath to review the Tufnell Park Kebab and, as I’ve mentioned before, it was once an all too regular haunt on route home. We had to wean ourselves off. They even gave us a Christmas present, a mug and a card, bless them.

Reluctant as I am to tell all, it seemed like the best idea ever in the early hours of Sunday morning! After an evening drinking the only thing for it is a carb fest and I had exactly that with hummus, chips and salad in a pitta bread, I usually opt for the grilled halloumi but felt his time that chips with ketchup were an absolute must.


The chips here are proper chip shop chips, I’m not claiming freshness, I have no doubt at all that they are frozen but they are gloriously thick and soggy, not everyone’s cup of tea but exactly what I require in a chip.

The fact that they also serve regular fish and chip shop food is the reason, cod, saveloy, pies, chicken pieces, as well as traditional kebabs are all to be found here.


Thomas went for the usual, chicken shish with chips. We’ve, thankfully, not yet reached the stage where we can order ‘the usual’ but the guys do always ask me if I would like hummus, as they know I like it! Ha.


Chicken shish too for Crann and chips and salad in pitta for the Kid, who, as usual, ate very little and, at the time was accused of making it look absolutely vile, in a way that only the Kid knows how! With retrospect, how great can chips in pitta bread covered in mayo with a sprinkling of red cabbage and cucumber ever look?


The sauce options for the kebab are limited to chilli or garlic, both of which are acceptable. The whole thing is infinitely satisfying at the time but guilt inducing in the sense not only that it provides pretty much zilch in terms of nutrients but also that I feel I’ve let myself down by eating this kind of food.

Am I a snob? I can admit that I loved it at the time even if I was a little bloated, so at least i'm not in denial. The memories of watching an episode of Rogue Traders once upon a time which focused on these kinds of outlets was not even enough to deter me it seems. Perhaps the alcohol is the answer. Ho hum, it was done.

Having read some rave and some lambasting reviews of Rossopomodoro it was with trepidation that I suggested we dine here when my Mum came to visit. It's close to work and pretty cheap so I decided to trust the positive reviews, some even claim this to be one of the best pizza restaurants in London.

A brief bit about the place, Rossopomodoro is an Italian chain serving food and wine inspired by Naples, they claim to source a superior quality of ingredients than many of their counterparts. All sounds good but due to the 'cook to order' nature of the food prep here, it seems slow service is often an issue. This did not seem a major negative as we were planning on a leisurely evening, aiming to arrive around 6:30. There are 3 branches in London, we visited the Monmouth Street one.

Upon requesting an outdoor table the waitress glared at me in a manner akin to how I imagine she would look at her sworn enemy. I'm putting this down to a language misunderstanding, we actually found the service to be perfectly acceptable after this blip and the food was served with a smile for the rest of the evening, we waited for a maximum of 10 minutes for any one course.

The best dishes were indeed, as reported, the pizzas. The charred thick bases were brilliantly smattered with air pockets and whatever oven they're using here certainly makes for a perfect dough. Thomas and I both ordered bianco pizzas without tomato sauce. I selected the acerrana topped with mozzarella, sun dried tomatoes (advertised as sliced but in fact whole, lazy!), rocket and caciocavallo cheese, a hard cheese which retained it's shape and didn't melt, like shavings of Parmesan.

Thomas opted for the Ventura with mozzarella, parma ham, rocket, Parmesan and basil. We both agreed that this is the best pizza we've had in London (but we're still to sample the delights at Franco Manca.....) and my Mum thought it was the best she'd eaten anywhere. I feel that the toppings could be improved upon, the cheese was great but the sun dried tomatoes were a bit over dried, hard and a tad boring. Still, this is much more like it and miles ahead of other chain pizza places, you know who you are.

My Mum had the Rossopomodoro salad with tomato, egg, olives, smoked aubergine and buffalo caciocavello cheese, she was happy with it.

What stood out for me was Thomas' buffalo mozzarella and tomato salad. The quality of the cheese was beyond anything I've been able to locate in London, and I've tried pretty hard and sampled a lot of what's on offer. This is the closest I've come to matching the quality a mozzarella brought back to the UK by a Neapolitan colleague following a trip home. For me good tomatoes, cheese, basil, a high quality olive oil and a tart and fruity balsamic vinegar is an unbeatable flavour combination. Simple but special, I know others decry this sort of fare due to its modest and uncomplicated nature but, for me, such fresh and delectable ingredients can be just as good as more complex and refined flavours.

We sampled a couple of desserts too which were more of a disappointment, the chocolate and almond cake was dense and powdery, very rich but with an artificial flavour, it was served with custard ice cream and some squirty cream. Nothing remarkable here, slightly better was the almond ice cream with hot nutella sauce, there's little room for error when melted nutella is involved!

I like this place, for a West End chain restaurant their sourcing of ingredients sets them apart from other similar establishments. I would go back for a ball of mozzarella and a nice glass of Italian wine one evening, as it's just around the corner from the office this might just become a regular haunt.

For our next dinner out whilst the kitchen undergoes renovation, last Tuesday I tried my luck at very late notice and managed to bag a table at Polpo for the very same evening. There had been a cancellation and I was booked in for 2 at 7:30, perfect.

Upon arrival however, I discovered the chap on the phone (who had been very polite) had booked me in for 7:30 on Friday. We were asked to wait at the bar, rammed with diners waiting to be seated (including Mark Hix and Stephen Terry), I was almost ready to admit defeat when owner Rusell Norman led us to a table. He left Caprice Holdings not long back and this is his bash at a solo venture. Phew.

I was pretty excited about trying this place so expectations were high. I liked the vibe immediately, relaxed, dark, romantic, buzzy and cool, the waiting staff have just the right amount of nonchalance, I loved it and couldn't wait to sample the dishes.

To begin with we sampled 3 starters, the idea is to order a series of small plates so the starters are all very reasonably priced, less than £3 and are very small, more like appetizers or nibbles really. We had fig and proscuitto, salt cod on polenta and an anchovy and chickpea crostini. We halved each and it was a good start indeed, it took us all of 2 minutes to devour the lot, worth noting that the polenta was perhaps a little on the dry side but the cod was excellent and the anchovy and chickpea was an interesting mix.

We had a selection of mains which were all served promptly as we finished with the starters beginning with the pork belly with radicchio and hazelnuts.

This was deliciously fatty, the meat succulent and incredibly flavoursome but I found it to be far too salty. The pairing of radicchio and hazelnut is rather masterful, the bitterness of the leaves and the crunch of the nuts working brilliantly to complement but not overpower the pork.

Apologies for the darkness of the pictures, in order to recreate that oh so Venetian atmos us bloggers must forgo a decent snap. Next up was the grilled sliced flank steak and mushrooms. Again I thought the meat was rather salty, not as much as the pork but still, seasoning seemed a bit heavy handed. The steak was nicely cooked with the mushrooms providing a nice contrast in texture on a bed of peppery rocket.

We also had a fine tomato and tapenade pizzetta, again high in salt but tapenade by it's nature is pretty salty. There were a scant few slices of tomato, I was underwhelmed by this to be honest, I thought the base would be crispier but it was in fact rather doughy. Not hugely memorable. The fish dish, mackerel tartare with horseradish and cucumber was great but perhaps a little under seasoned. I do not recall getting much horseradish in the dish but I thought in all it's a well conceived and fresh tasting plate of food. It looked pretty too, served alongside a flatbread.

We also had some beets, which were very good, and some parmesan and potato croquettas. These were nicely cheesy and crisp on the exterior with a fluffy piping hot centre. I'm yet to try a croqueta that beats those at Barrafina and these sadly did not, though they are valiant contenders.

We were tempted by desserts trying both the honey and walnut semifreddo, served cutely in a cone, and ciambella, a sponge cake covered in cream and a chocolate sauce. The 'sponge' (described as such by the waiter) was pretty dense and drier than your average sponge. The sauce was the great thing about this dish, delightfully rich and naughty.

I've read some other mixed reviews of Polpo but our experience was good overall. The closeness of the neighbouring tables did mean for uncomfortable maneuvering at times, particularly when toilet breaks were needed but, like the lighting, arguably it adds to the experience.

I will eat here again, but I'll leave it a couple of months in the hope that some of the teething problems are ironed out. With the booking mix up and the incredibly over salted meat, the evening was a tad disappointing however, some dishes were great, and it was excellent value for money, at under £30 each for all the food and a carafe of red.

I really am not in the position to talk about pizza restaurants in London owing to the fact that I have not visited either the inimitable Franco Manca, long reigning champ of the best pizza in London competition, or the new pretender Pizza East. This is something I hope to rectify following payday, damn you January.

Take out or home delivery pizza on the other hand, is something I feel more confident about, I once had to order an emergency Dominos following a couple of no carb days at the height of the Atkins phenomenon, nothing else would do.

Thankfully I follow no such silly fad diets these days and shall be eternally grateful to Firezza for opening a branch in Crouch End which delivers to N19, my hood! Cue 2 pizza orders in as many days, Ive sampled several of their offerings, a couple of sides and found all to be excellent. Sadly Tufnell Park seems to be lacking good takeaways, with the exception of the great Tiffin Tin 2 doors down the road (hurrah!).

The best so far has to be the chorizo and sweet pepper pizza, they serve them by the half metre and the boxes are quite enormous. It's clear that the standard of ingredients is high and the choice is extensive. The one gripe I would have is that the first order was on the wrong side of warm when it arrived but I forgave them as it was one of the coldest snow days of the year.

In short, I will without doubt be ordering these on a perhaps slightly too regular basis and with locations all over London they trounce the competition hands down provide the best home delivery pizzas I have ever sampled.

I love the little strip of Vietnamese restaurants along Kingsland Road in Shoreditch and came to the realisation that I hadn't visited any of them for yonks when an email regarding the relaunch of Viet Grill popped up in my inbox.

Along I went with Thomas on a dull Thursday evening, there's nothing quite like a Vietnamese feast to inject some zing into your day. It being a healthier and fresher version of Chinese cuisine. Perfect for trying to beat the January bulge.

I asked for the recommended chef special dishes, eliminating the difficulty of choosing from the extensive new menu. The wine list too has had a revamp with the help of wine aficionado and 'champion of the ordinary wine-drinker' (I guess that would be me?) Malcolm Gluck. We went for the Hunawihr Gewurztraminer Reserve d’Alsace 2007 which I cannot get enough of since first sampling some before Christmas.

First up came the mango salad, which is far more interesting than it sounds and comes from the recommended chef's special section of the menu.

The flavours were vibrant and fresh, a nice chili kick, julienned vegetables and fried crispy bits of squid made for a lovely amalgamation of flavours and textures. Very enjoyable and a great start to the meal.

The second starter was the beef vinh. A charcoal grilled skewer of rolled beef served with a fermented soy dressing and a side salad. The meat was perfectly cooked and wonderfully charred with a fabulous flavour. I would not have ordered either of these dishes had I chosen for myself but both were great.

Main courses again whilst perhaps not what I might have selected myself wowed us and I am now a catfish convert. Slow cooked catfish with a caramelised fish sauce served prettily in a clay pot which was set ablaze once it was placed down on the table, you can just about make out the blue flame to the bottom left of the bowl.

The fish itself was very meaty in texture, I've never had catfish before and am now a firm fan. The sauce was sticky and rich, perfect poured liberally over the sticky rice side dishes.

The second main course was the quail curry with aubergine and okra. The curry sauce was rather fruity and sweet, something well suited to my palate but I think perhaps a bit too sweet for some. I loved it though and again the sauce was excellent with the rice.

We also sampled the wokked bo xoi greens with garlic and rice wine which were quite excellent. Crunchy and packed full of flavour with so much garlic.

We were pretty full but decided to sample a dessert between us, the banana fritters which were better than the usual, this place is not about pudding though. We both also had Vietnamese coffee which again is very sweet due to the condensed milk. Thomas reminisced about his days in Australia where he often ate Vietnamese and I dreamed about when I will visit far afield places and experience the real deal for myself.

The menu is varied and remarkable value for money, they serve excellent Ph ò and Bò cu n bánh tráng, beef which is cooked at the table before you. Service throughout was very attentive and food was delivered swiftly. The same guys also run Cafe Tre and I will definitely return when that oh so familiar craving for Vietnamese hits, Viet Grill is head and shoulders above it's competitors on the same strip and I highly recommend it.

I dined at the new Hix restaurant in Soho earlier this week. We've had our kitchen ripped out and will be forced to eat out or order in over the next couple of weeks, loving it!

So, Hix was an enjoyable experience. I've not eaten at Mark Hix's other restaurants but was expecting good quality traditional English food. This was what I got.

After a mild bout of hysteria upon arriving and seeing Bill Granger sat at a neighbouring table, I regained my composure, selected a bottle of white and perused the menu. We were given some bread, a small white round loaf which was warm. I liked the bread a lot, the butter was a tad too cold, it's always an idea to allow it to come too room temperature in my opinion, it's better spreadable.

We began proceedings with the Blythburgh pork crackling with apple sauce which I thought was very good, incredibly crunchy, we munched away very loudly. It was not too oily at all but perhaps lacked a little flavour, there wasn't much of a meaty taste. The apple sauce was perfectly tart yet sweet and was more of a puree really, there was no chunks of apple.

For starter I chose the Cod tongue, I asked the waitress what she would recommend, this was her choice second only to the Heaven and Earth, a black pudding dish. She chose well for me. The cod was meaty and delicate, served with some fantastically flavoursome girolles, it was an ideal start to the meal.



Thomas' starter of crab with a breadcrumb topping was beautifully presented in the shell on a bed of seaweed, I preferred this to the cod but Thomas (not usually so easily perturbed) said the strong smell put him off somewhat. I thought it was pretty near perfect, served warm with a high brown to white meat ratio which is unusual.



My main course was a triumph, it was the thing that immediately jumped out at me when I checked out the menu online, I had the salt marsh mutton, kidney and oyster pie. It was perfectly sized, served in an individual pie dish topped with an oyster in the shell. There was a higher density of mutton, which suited me, and it was meltingly tender, the kidney was fairly mild in flavour and was not the slightest but rubbery as it can be if not cooked properly. The pastry was flaky, wonderfully buttery and prettily golden. I had some sprout tops on the side which were vibrantly green and delightfully strong and irony in flavour. I would highly recommend this dish, it was the star of the evening for me.



Thomas' main was the hanger steak with baked bone marrow. He liked this less the more he ate, it was very rich but the mouthful that I sampled was divine. Perfectly cooked medium rare and it looked nice with the marrow presented in a halved bone. Thomas chose sides of fries and some creamed spinach both of which were excellently executed.


We shared a dessert of bramley apple pie with custard which was okay, it didn't wow me like my pie had but it was a mightily generous portion, it would have been way too much for me. I liked that the custard came in a jug on the side for pouring as you wish, it annoys me when it comes poured liberally for you.



Some of our neighbouring diners fared less well, the gentleman to my right left almost all of his sausage, and told the waiter that he didn't in the least enjoy it. His companion raved about her cheese course.

The couple to my left chose the spectacularly elaborate looking trio of birds which put her off so much that they promptly left upon it's arrival (she was pregnant, and it was served very pink).

In all, I enjoyed the experience but I was left feeling rather underwhelmed by the whole thing. I feel at almost £60 a head there is better value available elsewhere but the room is lovely with low lighting, lots of mirrors and the bar downstairs is really rather fancy, a big open plan room encouraging lounging with plenty of low level seating and cushions. I would come back here and I think Hix will make a success of this new location.

I had brunch with the girls on Sunday before heading into work for the afternoon, joy. Chosen venue was The Diner, my choice, for this I apologise.

Sampled dishes were, for me, eggs Benedict with hash browns on the side, and Nibs and Noy both went for blueberry pancakes with bacon and maple syrup. It must be said that I fared the best of the three of us but the whole thing was an unmitigated disaster.

The tea and coffee were virtually undrinkable, service was lacklustre, the place seems to be run by kids who don't care or are heavily hungover, or both. There were many waitresses yet it was hard to get their attention, I believe they are pushing their luck adding a 12.5% service charge to the bill.



My food was luke warm, the hollandaise tasted far too sour and one of the poached eggs was undercooked, and the other completely hard.

I can't complain though, the girls had to send back their stacks of pancakes which were mildly warm at most with stone cold bacon and not a hint of maple syrup. They were clearly pre made pancakes, probably fresh from a packet, curiously blobbed with icing sugar, an ill judged attempt to make them look nice? Didn't work. Noy's bacon was purple, we told ourselves it had been dyed by the scant sprinkling of blueberries.



The worst thing about the experience was rounding the corner to visit @eatlikeagirl at her Wish You Were Here market stall where Niamh was setting up shop for the day selling the most amazing looking salt beef and mustard bagels. We should have had those.

Needless to say, I shall not be returning to The Diner for brunch. I think it's safest to stick to burgers, burritos and milkshakes which Nibs informs me are better.

Another work lunch, not a working lunch but a lunch with colleagues. There were rather a lot of us and we needed somewhere nearby, WC2 area, able to accommodate a large group and not be longer than 1 hour.

This time we descended upon Fire and Stone on Maiden Lane, I refrained from gazing longingly at Rules, if only, and averted my eyes.

The service was poor, we were given the choice of 5 pizzas, here they name them after a city or country, I went for the Athena with roasted pepper sauce, spinach, feta cheese, pinenuts and pesto. I tentatively asked whether I might order from the so called a la carte menu (I quite fancied the superfood salad) but, slightly missing the point, the waitress brashly informed that the pizzas come with a side salad.



For the lunch special you get your chosen pizza with a beer or a glass of wine for £10.25. Reasonable I suppose, the food was served very swiftly.

The pizza itself was poor, an over oily base was doused in pesto and I my neighbour commented that I might well turn into popeye that afternoon with the glut of spinach throw on top. There was not much cheese, thick, barely warm (and really pretty hard) slices of tomato and the roasted pepper sauce was doing a fine job masquerading as a plain passata.

I downed my wine, left almost the entire crust, I am so not that person, and left the building with plenty of time to spare before the 2pm meeting. All other pizzas I viewed looked similarly underwhelming.

I'm itching to try the newly opened Pizza East which, by all accounts, is now the pizza to beat in London. For pizza in Central London I still think Rossopomodoro is the best i've tried.

I rarely have lunch out during the week this being mostly due to work commitments, I usually end up grabbing something quickly to eat at my desk, sob! This is normally always a salad. Some days this just won't do.

Last week Thomas suggested we lunch at Tuk Tuk in Soho (previously Tuk Tuk Noodle Bar, Charing Cross Road), somewhere he used to regularly frequent, mostly when hungover. He recommended the Laksa.



This had chunks of chicken, a few prawns, some tofu and heaps of glass noodles. The laksa sauce was spicy and creamy and very satifying, portions are generous and prices are low. It's by no means the best laksa I've had, the quality of ingredients is certainly not their main concern but for something quick and bargainous this does the trick.

This place looks fairly unappealing but the service was swift and helpful, with a glass of tap water this came to £4.50 each and I was back at my desk within 45 minutes.

One Friday lunchtime a few weeks back I met @chrispople for a bite to eat. This was a case of third time lucky having been twice cancelled due to illness and the like.

I was pretty keen to see what Jad Youssef's Yalla Yalla had to offer having read some rave reviews following the June opening. Having unsuccessfully tried to book for dinner back then we thought lunch would be a safer bet and arrived early to snag a window seat overlooking the picturesque little Soho alleyway. Picturesque it is not in fact and we needn't have got there early because whilst it did fill a bit - there are only 8 or so tables - there was none of the reported din I'd read of in others accounts.



We were served some lovely little appetizers, jalapenos and pickled ginger, these were very good, the olives were ok, we gobbled them hungrily whilst ordering tap water and our chosen dishes.



First to arrive was the hommos and halloumi along with some lovely warm fluffy pittas. I liked the texture of the hommos, plenty of olive oil on the top and a generous smattering of chickpeas, this was really very good. The grilled halloumi, served with more of the black olives and fresh mint was satisfyingly salty and contrasted nicely by the sliced tomatoes upon which it sat.



Unlike the falafel which Chris noted was crying out for seasoning, I liked the sesame crunch of the exterior but the filling was a little bland. The tahini and garlic yoghurt sauce was a nice accompaniment moistening the dish, this also came with a side of red onion salad. All offerings are generously garnished.



The main of lahém meshoué (lamb skewers) was good, the meat was delicious, perhaps a tad over cooked for my liking and the curious thing about the main dishes is that the meat is served on a bed of vermicelli rice, on a flatbread. There's a lot of carb going on, though the rice had some fried onion mixed through it, when what you really want is the meat. It also comes with a rather excellent sumac onion salad which was very good indeed. A perfect lunch for 1 dish I suppose but it didn't really seem to fit with the rest of our dishes. There was also a pot of garlic sauce that was more like a garlic jelly and was very potent, a bit too much so for an afternoon of meetings back at work!

This all came to just shy of £20, not cheap but I did feel pretty full up. The lack of queuing patrons suggesting to me that the initial excitement has worn off for most but I'll definitely return, probably for dinner rather than lunch.