London Calling

[SpiderCrab]

Originally Posted by unclepat

Not sure what you mean by dump. It's not the Dorchester but certainly not a dump and for the money it's hard to beat location wise.

In hindsight perhaps the word dump was too strong. It seemed to me at the time that most of the budget on the makeover had been blown on the cavernous lobby area. The first room they showed us to had a constant drone from an air conditioning unit so we had to be moved. The next one seemed to have benn squashed into a space that was too small for it. Finally we were given a room that was acceptable. For the two nights we stayed there I didn't experience anything remotely resembling hospitality - not a smile or an acknowledgement that we were actually guests in the hotel. Rhodes hadn't opened there at that stage but the food was poor.

I have to go to London several times a year and it took me a few attempts before I found the hotel I was looking for: The Capital on Basil St. Fanatstic staff, lovely rooms and the benefit of Eric Chavot's 2 star food on the premises. At the moment the price difference between the the two hotels is £5.

[scalder]

Last time I was there we stayed in the Premier Inn @ County Hall. The location was ideal for us - good value, very clean and extremely friendly staff.

[Ernie Whalley]

I like the Zetter in Clerkenwell a lot. The rooms are small but comfy and the staff fantastic. There's quite a decent restaurant on the premises too.
http://www.thezetter.com/

My other favourite (in a different price bracket) is The Halkin in Belgravia
It has the advantage of having the brilliant Nahm on the ground floor.
http://www.lhw.com/property.aspx?ver...ch&ext4=Google

[unclepat]

Originally Posted by hutspot

.
ff topic was looking at the site Pat and seen a picture of your brother and remember doing a placement in Morels 10 years ago,John Dunne was head chef and I had a busy six months, small world.

Small world indeed hutspot. I used to work there as a waiter so chances are our paths crossed at some stage.

[meatmonger]

the hoxton hotel is worth a go once if you book well in advance and get one of the cheap rates. young-ish urban-ish type of place.

i woked beside the zetter for a few years, good place to stay and its a great part of london.
great meats and sausages around smithfield, and all sorts of treats like st johns around the corner.

this is making me hungry.

[BhunaBoy]

Nice post unclepat. So good in fact, that I've just booked a table at Bocca di Lupo. Any other dishes you'd recommend? The poussin dish sounds great.

[burkean]

My girlfriend has booked Bocca di Lupa for us on Saturday night. Can't wait...

[BhunaBoy]

Let me know you go burkean. I have to wait a couple of weeks!

[unclepat]

Originally Posted by BhunaBoy

Any other dishes you'd recommend? The poussin dish sounds great.

BhunaBoy,
Everything we ate was top notch but the veal scallopini with artichokes was memorable as was the creamy prawn and basil risotto..flavours were a knockout.

[BhunaBoy]

Thanks for the recommendation unclepat.

[mreeyore]

Back from my own eating adventure in London, I'll second unclepat's remarks regarding the staggering good value to be had in eating out in London these days. I made it to The Square, Foliage and Wild Honey but missed out on Murano this time around.

I can't recommend Foliage highly enough, it's a 1* which has been tipped for it's 2nd * for a few years and this was my 3rd visit. The lunch deal which is 4 courses for £29 is great value and it's not one of those cut price lunch menus where you find yourself harking for the a la carte. Four options per course and good ingredients mean you don't even give the a la carte a glance. And as they're one of the few places open for Sunday lunch, It'll definitely be getting a 4th visit.

I'd been to Arbutus a couple of times so was keen to try out its sister Wild Honey. It's the exact same style of cooking with the chef behind both splitting his time between the two. The atmosphere though is a little different, more suitable for a quiet dinner and a little more relaxed on a Saturday night than Arbutus. I preferred Wild Honey. Cooking was equally great. Razor clams followed by roasted hare and perfectly executed bistro sytle desserts plus three courses for 2 plus wine and coffees for less than £100. Don't think I'll be finding anything like that in Dublin tonight.

I'd read great things about The Square, that it was one of London's best and I was very keen on a tagline I'd seen describe it as 2 starred comfort food. I swore I'd stay away from tasting menus this time around but put one in front of me and I lose all willpower however I found the 8 course menu to be very hit and miss, a couple of fantastic dishes - langoustines/parmesan gnocchi/potato and truffle puree was stunning as was a turbot/pigs trotter combination however several of the courses were overly sweet and that was long before we got to desserts and petit fours. We'd noticed several other tables leave their very impressive petit fours selections untouched but by the time we got to that stage we understood as we felt like sugar-addled kids at a birthday party.

I'm already planning my next trip back, will definitely check out Murano and L'Autre Pied next time around and possibly a return visit to Hibiscus. The lunch and pre-theatre deals seem to be getting more and more competive over there, I wonder when we'll start seeing similar over here.

[meatmonger]

Looks like our friend got out of south dublin! she must have been reading this thread....

http://www.tribune.ie/magazine/food/...bocca-di-lupo/

sounds nice.

[Ernie Whalley]

I'm saying nothing.
I met the lady for the first time up in Fermanagh and got a 'handbags at dawn' challenge for the things you naughty lot said about her in this forum.
She is one feisty wench!

[Diapason]

I have to tell you, it drives me bananas when I see reviews of restaurants in other countries printed in Irish newspapers. If I'm going to eat in London, the Trib won't exactly be my first port of call for recommendations. TomD does it as well, pisses me right off.

[meatmonger]

Originally Posted by Diapason

I have to tell you, it drives me bananas when I see reviews of restaurants in other countries printed in Irish newspapers. If I'm going to eat in London, the Trib won't exactly be my first port of call for recommendations. TomD does it as well, pisses me right off.

Conversely, i have been reviewed by more UK papers than Rep Ireland Ones!

(donegal is actually in the republic for any restaurant reviewers out there)

[DonalH]

Originally Posted by Ernie Whalley

I'm saying nothing.
...................She is one feisty wench!

Yeah, and that won't piss her off at all.

[Ernie Whalley]

Originally Posted by DonalH

Yeah, and that won't piss her off at all.

lol
Wouldn't bank on it!

[Old Tart]

I'm sure she subscribes to the Wilde's "the only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about"

[burkean]

Had a really nice tapas meal at Tierra Brindisa in Soho on Sat. night. It's a sister to the massive Spanish stall of the same name in Borough Market, so as you'd expect, the sourcing was excellent.

Highlights included the rock salmon fried in paprika, excellent olives, the clams, rice and morcilla dish, a chorizo pate on sourdough toast and best of all - a lightly fried goats cheese with orange blossom honey.

We ordered about 8 dishes in total and together with a large glass of a good albarino and a ginger ale (!!... that was for me, I've given up booze for the month of May) + service, the bill came to £61.18. Good value too!

Realised I've been naughty and not posted about my Bocca di Lupo trip a few weeks back. Truthfully, and I'll not be popular for this... I think it's very over-rated in places. We'd a salt-cod starter and another re mullet dish that were both bland. In other places there was a foie gras and pork sausage with faro that was outstandingly delicious and there was another cured meat dish with poached pears that was also amazing. However I will say that we may not have ordered the best on the menu - maybe simply ordering the roast poussin would have been less "interesting" but more tasty. Had that pigs blood and chocolate desert. Would question why it needed pigs blood - it smacked of gimmick to me. But it was nice in an almost overwhelming rich way.

A definite air of London faddish-ness about it though. Some of the adjacent conversation was obnoxiously loud and pretentious and the level of posing was something to behold.

I might be tempted back here when the craze has worn off a bit. I think it might be good then. In any case, even if less than wowed, with a really pleasant Puglian primitivo, coffees and service - the bill was a reasonable £84. Can't complain at that rate!

[italian foodie]

There's some really good reviews of a few of the places mentioned here on this new Irish blog!

http://www.toastedspecial.com/category/restaurants/