Posted by Krista on January 8, 2006
38-40 St. John Street
London EC1M 4AY
Tel: 020 7608 2181
Date of Last Visit: Thursday, January 5th, 2006!
The Victim: Renee
The Damage: Unknown
So if you read my previous post, you’ll see that one of my my New Year’s Resolutions is to eat at every restaurant on St. John Street. I wanted to eat at the Clerkenwell Dining Room, but they were closed for refurbishment, so we ended up at Vic Naylor’s instead.
Strike 1: We ask if we can sit by the fire. They have to "check." The place is EMPTY. Too many minutes later for an empty restaurant, they return to tell us we can. (Note that it was even emptier when we left around 10.)
Strike 2: Waiter wants to take our orders immediately. We’ve just sat down! Give me a couple of minutes, won’t you?
Strike 3: After saying he’ll come back, our waiter disappears FOREVER and we have to flag him down to actually place our order.
Score: Renee’s French onion soup was HUGE and delicious. So too my chorizo and chickpea salad.
Strike 4: My salmon (remember, I’m eating more seafood this year) was undercooked. I mean, I love smoked salmon, but this was raw salmon.
Strike 5: My salmon was also soaked in way too much terryaki sauce. A lighter hand would have been much better.
So, in general, I’m a bit "eh" about the whole experience. I don’t think I’ll be going back, except maybe to Vic’s Bar next door, which has a rockin’ DJ on Friday nights.
The Verdict: The fire was nice.
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Posted by Krista on December 27, 2005
2-4 Rufus Street
N1 6PE
Tel: 020 7729 5252
Date of Last Visit: Friday, December 17th
The Victims: Rutton, Richard, Jose, Jimena, Cesar, Aroma, Tony, Michael, Yusef
The Damage: 30 gbp Christmas menu, plus lots of wine + bottled water = 50 gbp a person
It was our 2nd "annual" Christmas dinner. (I am loathe to call any fairly new event an "annual" event lest I jinx it and should it never occur again.) Last year around this time, Al and Louise booked about 30 people into a restaurant over by Waterloo somewhere whose name escapes me and everyone else. (And although I remember the food being good, I for some reason did not immortalize it within this blog.) They were fantastic organizers and planned all this out a month or so in advance.
This year, the job fell to Rutton and me. We were a bit lax in organizing, but even leaving things to the last minute, we were super pleased with the turnout. (Although finding a place that would take 12+ people the week before Christmas was a pain in the proverbial arse.)
Cru was fantastically friendly and helpful on the phone throughout the entire booking and confirming process. When I arrived at the restaurant, they greeted me like an old friend. (Note to all: I’d never been to Cru in my entire life.) They put up with the fact that everyone but me, Cesar, and Jimena arrived between 8:15 and 8:30, even though our booking was at 8. In short, from a customer service perspective, they were wonderful.
From a food perspective, they were good. Just good. Not outstanding. I had my last foie gras for the next twelve months as my starter (yes, I’ve sworn off foie gras in 2006). Jose enjoyed my starter tremendously. (I am not holding this against him…it was a good way of weening myself off the stuff.) For my main, I went with the turkey and stuffing and cranberries, given that it was the holidays and all. There was enough turkey to feed a small country, but just a tiny dollop of stuffing…someone in the kitchen needs to learn about margins. And definitely not enough gravy. But good, just the same. For dessert, almost everyone at the table ordered the chocolate souffle like cupcake with the vanilla ice cream. It was sinfully delicious.
At the end of the meal, I announced that I kinda felt that Cru was okay, but nothing to write home about–foodwise. This was met with consternation…the table in general all loved their food (note that I was the only person who ordered the turkey). So I will leave it to you to decide.
One thing we noticed on the way out–we were seated all the way in the back–the front room was really lively and the decor was very cool–they’ve built the wine vault into the middle of the restaurant. At 11 pm on a Friday, they had a great crowd up front.
Afterwards, we headed into Hoxton Square for some cocktails but someone had to get up at 6 a.m. Saturday morning to catch a flight to the States, so wisely sent herself home.
The Verdict: I guess I’d go again, seeing as how everyone really seemed to like their food and all.
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Posted by Krista on December 10, 2005
55-61 Tabernacle Street
EC2A 4AA
Tel: 020 7253 5555
Date of Last Visit: Friday, December 9th
The Victims: Too many to mention
The Damage: Unknown
It was holiday party time, so Feathers had done a fabulous job at organizing us and booking us into Tabernacle. We had the whole back room, which was fantastic. Very festive.
From the moment I dropped off my coat, service was very friendly and sweet. There was an unfortunate incident at the end when they tried to take away Javier and Zak’s seats and I got mad at them, but otherwise, they were wonderful.
My starter was well, the foie gras. I think I will ban foie gras from my repertoire in 2006. Goat’s cheese. It’s all going to be about goat’s cheese. I ordered the sea bream and I think I was the only one. In hindsight, I don’t think I would order it again…it had bones in it! And you know how I feel about working for my food. It was, however, VERY TASTY. So if I can just figure out how to eat fish served with some of those tiny bones, I’ll be in good shape. Maybe eating more fish will be my resoltion in 2006…I will become a fish expert and really start to know the differences between haddock and cod and well, sea bream.
For dessert, I had a very beautiful cake with chocolate sauce. It was very lovely and moist and delicious. I was a good girl and only ate a little bit of it. Which was sad because it was so delicious and heck, what did I do on the way home? Picked up some chips from my local doner kebab stop!!!
The Verdict: I like Tabernacle. It’s a bit austere and cold, but the food was lovely and the service was lovely too.
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Posted by Krista on November 12, 2005
2 Crispin Place
E1 6DW
Tel: 0845 686 1122
Date of Last Visit: Wednesday, November 9, 2005
The Victims: Con Ann, Canadia Boy
The Damage: 25 quid pro Nase
Natalie’s husband was having a business/pleasure type of get-together for his new business and someone else’s new business. Let’s just say there was a lot of wine on offer. Con Ann and Canadia Boy came along, and many glasses of wine later, we realized we were hungry.
Luckily, we were in the presence of experts. Larry directed us to Spitalifields, where he told us to look for Canteen and his brother’s best mate, who was somehow involved with the business.
We wandered. We probably wandered a little longer than we had to because we were under the influence, but we made it. And we liked it immediately, upon welcome.
Part of me wants to make a Wagamama’s comparison–so I will. Dude, it’s the communal seating. I do like that. What I like more is that normally when I go to Spitalfields, there’s nowhere for me to eat because that dang St. John Bread and Wine place will never let me in. But now I’ve found my saviour.
Firstly, the service was AWESOME. Our server was super friendly throughout, and had lots of good recommendation. And when he forgot our sparkling H2O, he knew when to admit he had made a mistake and we were cool with that. Really, he was great.
We started with some potted duck, which wasn’t foie gras, really, but rather finely shreddy duck. It was served with something called piccalilli, which turned out to be marinated yellow and green peppers, I think. It was good.
For my main, I went for the ribeye, which was cooked perfectly. It came with shallots, which were a bit too shallot-y for me (who eats shallots whole?), but that’s me. Canadia and Con Ann both got pies–his beef, hers veggie. They were very, very happy with their meals.
Larry’s brother’s best mate came by at the end of the meal and we talked about how much Spitalfields had changed. Really, a few months ago, there was just the market and a construction site. Now there’s tons going on–including a beneFit shop, which offers some of my fave cosmetics. Really amazing how things change so quickly in this darn city!
Anyhow, we had a GREAT Wednesday eve, made all the more pleasant by the fact that our service was wonderful and our bill was only 75 quid.
Verdict: I like it. A lot.
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Posted by Krista on November 3, 2005
7 St John St
EC1M 4AA
Tel: 020 7253 8786
Date of Last Visit: Saturday, October 22nd
The Victim: Paulo
The Damage: 25ish?
Paulo and I were celebrating Michael and Michelle’s good news–they’re expecting the stork in March! Paulo was a groomsman at their wedding; I got to do a reading. The two of us met up at Vinoteca to catch up. I had read the reviews in Time Out and elsewhere and they were favorable. And lucky for me, I just moved flats and am in meandering distance.
Good impressions started immediately. I was meeting Paulo at Smiths at 7, so I stopped into Vinoteca at 6:45 and asked if I could book a table. They were super sweet and explained that they don’t take bookings but that if I came back in 15 mins or so, the wait shouldn’t be that long. All this with a lovely Australian accent!
I picked up Paulo and we swung back to Vinoteca. We were quickly shown a table. It’s a small little place…it serves as both a wine shop and a little restaurant. Ummm,I think I ordered the foie gras to start. How surprising. It was good. Very good. I was pleased. I like carmelized onions.
Paulo ordered the plate of meat. He’s weird. He said he wasn’t very hungry, but the plate of meat was huge and he ate everything. I went with the lamb stew, which was superbly filling and very well orchestrated. I could have shared it with three other people.
Throughout our meal, we enjoyed a lovely bottle of Argentinian Malbec, which the bar staff heartily approved of. I love when the bar staff approves of my choice.
What I liked most about Vinoteca was that although they don’t take bookings, it’s a pretty high turnover place. I’m not quite sure how they do it! While we were seated, most of the tables around us turned over at least once, if not twice. And I don’t think we were there for too long.
The Verdict: Don’t go here. Only I can go here.
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Posted by Krista on October 10, 2005
1 Bank End
SE1 9BU
Tel: 020 7940 8333
Date of Last Visit: Thursday, October 6, 2005
The Victims: Bastiaan, Renee, Jeff, Alex
The Damage: Unknown!
We were looking for someplace close to London Bridge, not too fancy, and not too casual. Cantina Vinopolis seemed to fit the bill, and I have walked by it a lot and wondered what it’s all about.
We ambled over. After a confusing arrival (we were a little early, and they really, really, really wanted us to wait in the bar, and they wanted to take my laptop bag, which I refuse to part with), we were finally shown to our table. I liked the atmosphere, sort of. The wine stacks are great. Very atmospheric. Loved the magnums scattered about. But there was something vaguely high school cafeteria-esque to everything. I can’t put my finger on it. But it was odd.
Service was lovely. I don’t know what I expected, but our waiter was very kind and friendly. However, he lost total points when we went for the Lebanese wine and we waited and waited and waited and waited and it never arrived and we were 75% done with our entrees. Finally he just grabbed us something else from the bar. (The Lebanese was supposedly in the cellar somewhere.)
Food-wise, I went with the goat cheese terrine. I do love goat’s cheese. It was truly delicious. I asked our waiter what he’d recommend as my main and he suggested the lamb which was served with mushy peas. I love mushy peas! Very tasty. The lamb was as well, but I found the sauce a bit overpowering.
Dessert: Cheese plate. Love cheese. By that point, however, my palette was completely dead. It was the sauce on the lamb. Too salty or something. And the red wine. You know when you see the cheese in front of you and it looks oh-so-delicious but you can’t eat it because you had too much lamb shank and goat’s cheese and pirriminna? (For the record, I had never had Pirriminna before and felt like a loser. But a quick Google of various spellings tells me I’m not the only one who hasn’t had it. I promise to never use my new found knowledge to make it seem like I know so so much about wine. I’ll only do that with Carmenere.) That’s how I felt. So just a few cheese nibbles for me.
The Verdict: Hmmm. Nice atmosphere. Might go for a drink. Not sure about eating here again. Only if I can just have the goat cheese terrine!
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Posted by Krista on August 13, 2005
2-3 West Smithfield
EC1A 9JX
Tel: 08704422541
Date of Last Visit: Wednesday, August 10, 2005
The Victim: Emily
The Damage: 40 GBP each, with 2 drinks each and dessert.
Emily was in town from Chicago, on a combined fun/work trip. Coincidentally, her London office is 2 minutes from mine. We met exactly in the middle and went out for a drink at SOS, and then headed over to Bar & Grill.
Now, I wanted to try B&G because there was this one time, where Feathers, Canadia Boy and I went to the Abbaye at Smithfield, and I had forgotten all about scoping out the b&g. In the taxi on the way home, I saw it there and said, "Duh!" (I like the Abbaye, but I’ve already been to their South Ken locale.)
Anyhow, Emily and I entered and we were sadly some of the few people at the B&G. We were guided inside to a nice comfy table, and our waitress quickly introduced herself and the specials and offered us cocktails. As they say here, "Spot on!" Seriously, she was very efficient and friendly and nice.
Emily convinced me to try some of her Campari and Soda, and may I just say that I am NOT a fan. Uggh. Bitterness. Luckily, the daily bread at the b&g was absolutely delicious. And the olives we ordered were probably some of the nicest I’ve ever had…it wasn’t just olives, but rather all sorts of olive-y type stuff in a a nice little bowl.
I should mention still that there was no one in the place. (Then again, remember I like to eat at 7 and the rest of the country doesn’t.) There was one other table, and then two, and then maybe a max of 5 by the time we left at 9:30.
For entrees, I had the ostrich and it was fantastic. I like ostrich. It’s like chicken and beef together. Good stuff. Emily went with the fillet and it was a very generous portion…with the nice criss-cross marks on it. Oh yes, I had the chips and she had the garlic mash and we exchanged portions and were equally pleased. For dessert, we split the banofie pie, which I just love. But I’m a sucker for bananas, so ignore me.
So my big question about this place is WHY IS THERE NO ONE HERE? Honestly, the service was really great and the food was fantastic–basic but fantastic. They need to cut back on the empty glasses on the empty tables, and the empty picture frames are a bit weird, but honestly, the cooking is nice.
The Verdict: Go here. They’re doing all the right things. (Although I’m not so sure how I feel about the sinks in the loos. Someone is spending money on the wrong things.)
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Posted by Krista on May 19, 2005
5 Threadneedle Street
London
EC2R 8AY
Date of Last Visit: Thursday, April 28
The Victims: Bevin, Tao, David
The Damage: Unknown, but assumed to be in the 40 – 60 GBP a person range.
I had invited David out for drinks after work. Tao and Bevin joined, and after finishing our bottle, we decided to go for food. We had a vague notion of walking towards Liverpool Street, but found ourselves intrigued by the Threadneedle Hotel with its Bond’s sign outside.
We entered into another one of those old bank buildings, now converted into a bar/restaurant. How many of these are there in London?? We took a seat in the amazingly EMPTY restaurant and I, for one, was immediately suspicious. They must make all their money on room service.
So, we ordered something from Alsace, and settled in. I had (what else) the foie gras, and it was the BEST foie gras I have EVER had. Warm and buttery and delicious. And it came with a shot glass of apple juice because they had done something apple-y to the foie gras. Tao had the pea soup and it looked yummy too.
As an entree, I had (guess what) DUCK! Szechuan duck. David and I split the duck for two. It was very good, but they must have put something minty in it because it had this minty-fresh taste that was a bit bizarre. But it was good.
For dessert, we ordered something creamy in a large glass, with pop rocks on top of it. It was bizarre. In a good way. I wasn’t prepared for the pop rocks, but there they were. A special surprise. Oh yes, we split this among the four of us.
The Verdict: WHY IS THERE NO ONE HERE??? The food was great, the service was nice. Interesting, fun little touches. (I forgot to mention the shot of smoked salmon we got as an amusee bouche.) But it’s pricey. That’s sad.
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