Shake Shack, London

Burgers are "fashionable" at the moment with many American chain burger outlets setting up shop in London.

Shake Shack originally from New York arrived in Covent Garden in July. I've resisted the hype so far but as I was working in the area, thought I would give Shake Shack a try.

As expected anywhere in Covent Garden during lunch time is busy, Shake Shack, you queue up, pay, and they give you a buzzer to let you know when your food is ready, then you collect your food from the window.

I ordered the "Smoke Shack", Cheesy Fries and Peanut Butter shake.

As I was waiting I could see all the smiley customers beaming as they received their orders. But what I saw actually saw was tiny burgers going past me, and all I was thinking was hopefully my burger will be bigger.

The "Smoke Shack" is a cheeseburger with bacon, chopped cherry peppers and shack sauce. I like the contrast of slightly spicy pepper with smoky bacon but the burger patty, I ordered a single. The burger was a bit smaller than I expected. It reminded me of a McDonald's burger. Their cheesy fries should be eaten straight away; eaten in rather than being taken away as the cheese sauce congeals which isn't pretty. So far wasn't impressed. Peanut butter milkshake, which I was really excited about, since their name was Shake Shack, this has to be amazing... especially since it's over £4 for a milkshake!!!

The milkshake was uninspiring, it was just a milkshake nothing worth writing about.

All in all, I wasn't inspired by my trip to Shake Shack, and since this meal cost me over £14 (on what  I have no idea, as I was a little hungry afterwards). As I was eating I was thinking I should have gone to Five guys instead or McDonald's. Maybe the burgers in America are bigger because these aren't normal American sized portions.


  

Sawadika, Holborn

There's lots of places to eat at lunch time in Holborn, this time I tried Sawadika Thai restaurant.

They have a lot of lunchtime specials, the one I went for was spring rolls, main and a drink for £9, which is pricey for lunch but fine for a treat once in a while.

The spring rolls were nice and crunchy. For main I ordered the pad si-ew; stir fried flat rice noodles with a mix of chicken and tofu. The tofu was nice, it was soaked up the flavours in the dish, the chicken however was a little dry. This place is ok for a lunch time meal if you want some Thai food.

Looking at their website, they have called the restaurant "Fine Thai Restaurant", I'm not sure whether this means fine dining or whether it is fine/ok/satisfactory? The decor of the restaurant is modern and "fine dining" like Hakkasan, dark decor, dark wooden tables etc. Or maybe "fine dining" in as smaller plates and small portions. My lunch was ok size (those aren't giant spring rolls by the way), it might have been a little small for some people. The lunch came with a drink, I opted for a lemonade; this was small, it was slightly bigger than those small cans you get on the plane with ice. Soft drinks are £2.95 normally from the menu, if this is the normal size they give you then I would not be happy at all; it would be such a rip off. When you first sit down in the restaurant for lunch you are greeted with a bombardment of menus and special offer leaflets. If the restaurant is aiming for fine dining then they should get away with all these separate papers and stick with a main menu and a drinks menu.

All in all not bad for a lunch time treat.    

Jamie's Italian, Reading

Eating out on Friday is a tradition for most, easing you into the weekend. 

It was Friday night and I really fancied pasta, what better than to head to Jamie's Italian. By the time I reached Jamie's I was ravenous and couldn't wait to eat.

It was a lively Friday night, the place was decorated with fresh pasta and hanging legs of ham, making the place look rustic.

I was too hungry that I was too busy eating the starters before I realised I didn't take a picture, but anyways, had the fried three cheese gnocchi and crispy tomato and mozzarella arancini.

Both were delicious, both were served with arrabbiata sauce, except the one served with the gnocchi was slightly sweeter, which I preferred as it was like sweet chilli sauce. 

There was a really long wait for mains. So long that you get beyond the point of hungry and no longer feel hungry anymore. We asked the waitress where our mains were to be told by the waitress that because it was a Friday night it was busy and that they were on their way. I should have order an additional starter or the bread selection to keep me going. 

When main finally appeared; crab spaghettini. When you watch Jamie on TV, he's constantly telling you to put the pasta in the sauce and that the sauce should coat the pasta, but mine was a little bit separate. It was missing, maybe a cup of the starchy pasta water he's telling us to put. I wasn't overly keen on this, the crab was there, it did have the sweet fresh taste of crab but it just didn't wow me. Looking at the menu, if you're looking for pasta, but say have an allergy to shellfish and don't eat pork for any religious reason, there's only 3 pasta dishes for you; one with rabbit the other two the vegetarian option.

What I did like were the drinks; blueberry & basil smash and the ginger mojito. Both fresh, light and zingy. 

I have no idea what was in the food but that night I was so thirsty!! The type of thirsty that I get when I've eaten a meal that has MSG in it. I'm sure Jamie's don't put MSG in their food but it must be something for me to constantly wake up throughout the night.  

Overall not wowed by the main but possibly in future a great place for drinks and snacks. 

  

Hawksmoor, Air Street

I've heard so many great things about Hawksmoor Seven Dials that it has always been on my must visit list. When I was given the opportunity to visit the Air Street Hawksmoor it was like a dream come true.

The decor inside is very art deco, glitzy; I loved the stained glass windows, chunky wooden veneer tables and the jade green booth seats. Ava Gardner would have felt right at home here.

To start I had the crab on toast with mayonnaise. The crab was sweet and fresh. You have to be a lover of crab to appreciate this dish, otherwise you might be underwhelmed by the lack of oomph with the taste of just crab. Beware of shell in the crab though. Compared to the crab on offer at J Sheekeys, I much prefer Hawksmoors, because beneath what looks like just a leaf garnish were capers and julienne of gherkin which brought the dish to life giving it a zing against the sweet mellow crab.

For main: I really wanted to try the chateaubriand but just couldn't decide how much I could actually eat so thought I best keep it safe and go with a pre-weighed steak thinking I could gobble up a rib eye, I chose peppercorn sauce on the side. Of course I had to have chips, but had a choice of beef dripping fries and triple cooked chips.

When the steak arrived it looked a little sorry for itself, all lonely on the plate, no garnish, not even a little bunch of lambs lettuce like the usual steak place offering, nothing.

When I cut into the steak it was tender and juicy, I could see why so many people come here for steak. The peppercorn sauce on the side was amazing, creamy with a little kick of pepper, I could of drunk the gravy boat serving of peppercorn sauce and been so happy, but since I was in public and faced the potential of sauce dripping down my face I decided against it.

The fries were super crispy, I think I would of preferred the fries pimped up a bit, flavoured with some rosemary or garlic, to make it even more interesting. The triple cooked chips were amazing. They were crispy on the outside and light and fluffy on the inside, perfect to mop up my peppercorn sauce, even better at the bottom of the chips tub were the little chipped pieces of chips which were super crisp as a little treat at the end of the meal.

They serve ketchup with steak. I didn't quite catch what type of ketchup it was but it was delicious. There was a deep intense taste that I couldn't work out what it was, it tasted like it had in the background like mushroom or anchovies, that deep taste that wild mushrooms and anchovies give without been "fishy" etc. Just be careful with the ketchup bottles as ours was messy once opened.

Whilst eating, a gentleman on a nearby table ordered the Potted beef and bacon with yorkshires. The reason I didn't order this was that I didn't want to appear to be a beast by ordering a meaty starter and a meaty main so went for the crab. When the potted beef and bacon with yorkshires arrived I knew I should have ordered it. The yorkshires looked like giant pillows of fluffiness, it looked so delicious, I was drooling just looking at it, and have fancied yorkshires ever since. I'd definitely order it next time.

The service was friendly and comfortable and not pretentious giving a relaxed atmosphere.

Lasting memory; if only I could have the steak with yorkshires and peppercorn sauce. I'm going to have to go for the Sunday roast here!!!

Elliott's Cafe, Borough Market

Happy National Burger Day

What better way to celebrate National Burger Day then to head to Elliott's Cafe in Borough Market for a cheese burger. I've read many reviews raving about the cheeseburger at Elliott's so I had to give it a try. 

The cheeseburger came with fried maris piper potatoes which were like roast potatoes really, really crisp but still light and fluffy on the inside. I tried picking the burger up with my hands and eating it but after just one bite all of the burgers juices escaped and made me look like a messy beast!! Their napkins were pristine white linen so I succumbed to the fork and knife instead. The burger was served pink and was great; big, fat and juicy. On top of the burger was onion and melted cheese. The onions tasted like the onions you get with your Sunday roast gravy; sweet onion, deep and beef-like tasting which were delicious. Spread on each bun was I can only presume olive oil with a bit of dill mixed in, to bring the whole burger together. 

The menu just states this as Cheeseburger with fried maris piper, so you have no idea what you are expecting, could it be just a simple, plain burger? Nope. The burger comes looking simple but tastes delicious, all of the flavours complimenting each other, so understated. 

The only thing I wasn't too keen on was the ketchup, which tasted as though it was made from honey, slightly too florally for me. Regular, plain Heinz ketchup would have made this a perfect dish for me. 

It was a little bit big for lunch so I didn't have enough room for dessert, never mind there's always next time. 

Morelli's Gelato, Harrods

 Morelli's used to be on the ground floor of Harrods in the foodhall before they redecorated and moved it upstairs. They've given it a more adult look calling it an Ice Cream Palour and Milk Bar. However on the day of visit, maybe they ran out of milk as Milkshakes were not available. No worries though as I came purely for an ice cream sundae. There are very few places in London that is an ice cream palour, serving fancy and decorative ice cream sundaes, so when I come here I feel like a kid again. The queue to the ice cream palour gives you a chance to eye up the gelatos on offer and also eye up anyone eating an ice cream sundae giving you ideas on what to order. I went for the Nocciolini, an ice cream sundae of vanilla, hazelnut and Nutella ice cream, served with a Reese's peanut buttercup, chocolate sauce, hazelnuts and whipped cream. I had asked for no hazelnuts, I don't have a nut allergy, I love Reese's peanut buttercups but I just don't like the texture of nuts, however my sundae came with nuts (even though when the bill came it also stated no nuts). Still that didn't put me off from the sundae. It was delicious, gelato smooth and creamy. I love ice cream so this was amazing to me, and pretty as a picture. I didn't get it on my sundae but they serve sauces for other sundaes in small chocolate pots so its a double treat delicious ice cream sauce like caramel in an edible chocolate cup. For me it's just a shame they only operate out of Harrods in London, I would love to see them have another outlet in London in an old fashioned ice cream parlour decor.

C & R Restaurant, Bayswater

C & R Restaurant, is a Malaysian restaurant located in Bayswater. They also have a little cafe version in China Town. Me, D & M have been to C & R before, this is our local Malaysian food spot. Their food is spicy so be warned.

We ordered Singapore Laksa, Hainanese Chicken Rice and Nasi Lemak. For those who are unfamiliar with Malaysian food, nasi lemak is a good classic to go for. Nasi lemak is a rice dish cooked in coconut milk and pandan leaves. At C & R they serve their nasi lemak with sambal chilli, anchovies, archar, chicken curry, half a boiled egg and peanuts. The sambal chilli is onion and chilli based, almost like a chutney, slightly sweet, spicy and thick. Archar is a pickle, which is sweet and sour, C & R's archar has pineapple giving it sweetness and sesame seeds giving it a nuttiness. The dish as a whole is good, with a wide variety of tastes and textures.

Singapore laksa is a spicy noodle soup dish served in a massive bowl. This was delicious. Very spicy with intense flavour. It comes with fish cake, fish ball, prawns and fried tofu. The fried tofu soaks up the spicy soup so when you bite into it, it bursts full of spicy soupy goodness.

Hainanese chicken rice is boiled chicken, which has been boiled in chicken stock ensuring the chicken is not over cooked and tender and soaks in as much chicken flavour as possible. The rice served in Hainese chicken rice is also cooked in chicken stock. It has a slight sheen from the natural chicken oil and an intense chicken taste. The sambal served with the chicken rice is for me the star of the show bringing everything together. The sambal (not the same as the one served with nasi lemak) is spicy from the chilli but also fresh and zesty from the addition of lime juice. This brings together the mellow chicken and rice to life.    

The food at C&R will be spicy for some but there are other things on the menu on offer. However don't go here for the roti canai (Malaysian flatbread) as this comes out of a packet and there are other places in London serving freshly made roti canai. The decor of the restaurant is a little dated and could definitely do with livening up!!

Mitsukoshi Piccadilly

Mitsukoshi, the Japanese department store has been in Piccadilly for 34 years. In September, the store will be closed. It is unknown whether they will relocate to a different location or whether it will be it for the department store in the UK.

The restaurant is located in the basement of the department store, granted, it could do with updating the decor. The food has never failed to disappoint me.

For lunch I tried the Mitsukoshi Bento; sashimi, simmered chicken and vegetables, tempura and fruit, served with miso soup, rice and pickles. The food here is clean tasting with the sashimi in particular tasting fresh. The tempura wasn't the crispiest or lightest tempura I've ever eaten but it was ok. I do love the Japanese style of serving food in Bento boxes. Not only is it pretty as a picture, but also gives a variety of tastes, textures and a complete meal.

It's sad to see Mitsukoshi close after the numerous years in Piccadilly. The Mitsukoshi closed in Hong Kong many many years ago, they mentioned they were hoping to find another location to open, however this never happened and it has not been opened again in Hong Kong. I have been to the Mitsukoshi in Ginza, it had the luxurious feel like Liberty department store, however the store in Piccadilly doesn't quite live up to the same standard as its Japanese counterpart. It is a shame to see it go. I just hope they don't replace the department store with another shop selling tourist tat, like others around Piccadilly.

Taqueria, Westbourne Grove

I visited Taqueria following its recent review in The Telegraph. I had been here many many years ago, however have forgotten what it was like, since I don't remember it I guess it wasn't much to write about?

My visit to Taqueria was with D & M. It may appear, given the photos that we over ordered, but since each dish was small, it was all about the sharing and picking at each one. It was also Taco Happy Hour (Monday - Thursday 5pm-7pm) so you've got to go Taco crazy. Since we ordered quite a lot of dishes here are my highlights and lowlights from it all (I'll try to be brief).

Highlights: Chorizo quesadilla melted cheese and chorizo is a perfect combo. Tinga taco good spicy kick with depth of flavour. Fried plantain, that was on top of the rice, just because I love fried plantain. Camarones al mojo de ajo; garlicky prawn taco, this was the best taco of the night, the prawns were cooked perfectly, altogether it was slightly spicy, rich, garlicky, naturally sweet of prawn, if you only try one taco here, make sure it's this one!! Lastly Churros con cajeta; churros with toffee sauce. The churros were crisp on the outside and soft in the middle. The toffee sauce is amazing! I even tried to eat the remaining sauce out of the pot **embarrassed blush**. That toffee sauce on top of ice cream would be divine!!  

Lowlights: Specials of prawn ceviche; there was too much lime juice (as you can see in the pic) almost soupy. This was too tangy amd limey and overpowers the taste of prawns, the totopos, like tortilla chips were great, you could really taste the corn. Pollo tostada tasted a little like chicken mayo sandwich filling on top of a crispy tortilla. Arroz a la Mexicana y platano frito; Mexican rice topped with fried plantain; the rice was a little too al dente for my liking.  

The best thing of the night was the prawn taco. If you only eat one thing here it has to be this!!!

M&S Tarte au citron slices

Just a cheeky little treat from M&S; tarte au citron slices. It's tangy and slightly sweet lemon, with short crust pastry. No soggy bottoms here! There pastry remained crisp. All in all another great dessert as usual from M&S

Carluccio's Notting Hill

 I felt particularly beastly and went a little overboard with the food ordering. I've been to Carluccio's many times before and have probably tried nearly everything on the menu, this time I stuck with some of my favourites.

The Antipasto Supremo; a great mix of little things to pick at. My favourite part is the balsamic onions and the chargrilled aubergine. The balsamic onions are the sweet but with a slight tang from the pickling balsamic vinegar and the chargrilled aubergine has deep smokiness from the chargrilling, but is naturally sweet from the aubergine and is slightly fruity from the olive oil. The pancetta wrapped prawns are a little too salty for me. The hams are good but were slightly raggedy from the cutting.

In my beastly state I also ordered their fixed price menu which they offer all the time, which I think is good value. Bruschetta and penne alla luganica. The tomatoes on the bruschetta are amazing, they're wonderfully sweet and juicy. I could happily eat a plate of the bruschetta topping!! Penne alla luganica is penne served with a spicy sausage creamy sauce. The sausage has been broken up so is like mince, gives a background kick against the rich creamy tomato-ey sauce. This is definitely my favourite pasta dish at Carluccio's.

I'm glad Carluccio's permanently offer the fixed price menu, as the penne dish might be just enough for lunch, but for dinner not enough and you would need to get a dessert or starter.

Tenshi, Islington

 Tenshi is a Japanese restaurant located in Islington. It offers authentic Japanese food.

They offer Takoyaki, at the time there, they were being made fresh outside which tempted me, D and M in. I've been to other Japanese restaurants before that offer Takoyaki, but were frozen and just fried to reheat, they only reason I know, because they were cold inside. I've seen these in Japan Centre to buy also. Had to get these here as I saw they were freshly made. It was crisp on the outside, soft on the inside, really tasty.  

They also offer Okonomiyaki, normally vegetarian, but you can add extra chicken, pork, salmon, cheese, or prawns. We went for chicken and cheese. The first place I tried okonomiyaki was in Abeno Too, near Leicester Square which specialises in okonomiyaki. I later tried okonomiyaki in Tokyo, not the birthplace of okonomiyaki but was amazing. The okonomiyaki at Tenshi had thicker cut cabbage than what I've had in the past, I prefer the cabbage to be cut finer as it brings the okonomiyaki together more and you get less of the batter taste. The edges were more crispy than Abeno Too, I think the okonomiyaki at Tenshi has been made in a pan to get the edges crisp. But the okonomiyaki was delicious!!

Tenshi also offer a Bento lunch time menu, so I had to try the sushi bento. The bento look so pretty and colourful, the fish was fresh and had a slight sweetness from fresh fish. The addition of edamane beans and the vegetable gyoza made the bento box complete, it was all delicious.

Gu Hot chocolate souffle pots

Gu Hot chocolate souffle pots are delicious!! You can get them from supermarkets then just pop them into the oven. Once out of the oven, the top has a slight crust, revealing underneath rich, gooey chocolatey amaziness. I could easily eat two in one sitting.

These are pretty expensive normally but every so often are on offer in the supermarkets.

Tesco's mini vanilla cupcakes

I thought these looked so cute in Tesco's so had to give them a try. Tesco's getting on the cupcake bandwagon.

The cake itself is light, and overall does have a vanilla taste, you can pop the whole thing in your mouth in one go. For me it was a little sweet, but so cute for a tea party or entertaining.

Oreo ice cream cone

I LOVE OREOS!!! For some strange reason I think the mini oreos taste better than the normal size. I know they're exactly the same but to me the mini ones taste better, maybe it's the fact that it's so small and that you can eat more than one without feeling guilty.

When I saw Oreo ice cream and ice cream cones in the supermarket I was happy. The Oreo ice cream doesn't taste as nice as Haagen Dazs' cookie and cream ice cream as it doesn't compare to the creaminess of Haagen Dazs. But Haagen Dazs doesn't sell cookie and cream ice cream cones. It does have a bar version but is never sold in the supermarkets, so Oreo's ice cream cone is great. The cone is also made from the same base as the Oreo biscuit. Yummy

Casa Brindisa, South Kensington

Brindisa has many restaurants across London; London Bridge, Soho, Shoreditch and South Kensington, each slightly different, but all offering Tapas, as well as a retail outlet so you can try to recreate dishes at home.

I visited Casa Brindisa in South Kensington with D & M  for lunch.

From the picoteo; picking plates we had the marinated olives and vegetarian bomba. I'm not a fan of olives so I can't say how they tasted, however I told they were ok, nothing special to write home about. The vegetarian bomba had a deep smoky taste, the croquette was crisp on the outside. The sauce was very sharp and tangy. It tasted as though there was salad cream on the bottom.It was pleasant.

Of course an item from the charcuterie had to be chosen. As you walk through the door you're greeted with hanging legs of ham. We couldn't decide so opted for the Charcuteria selection, this gave a great selection; spiciness of the chorizo, pepperiness of the salchichon, the lomo and Teruel ham both were salty with a slight sweetness. These were all cut to a decent size, not wafer thin, which was great. My favourite was the Teruel ham as it had a intense depth of flavour and the chorizo due to its spice. This plate was served with bread and a fantastic fruity olive oil.

The table had to be cleared before we could proceed with; lamb cutlets, chorizo tortilla and a fish selection. 

The lamb cutlets were chargrilled, you could taste the grill marks, but it came with a sweet, fruity delicious sauce made from the reduction of Joven de Silos wine. The chorizo tortilla came with aioli, this was lukewarm and salty, it was ok. The fish selection was my least favourite dish here, I really disliked this dish. 

The fish selection's fish all tasted as though they were all preserved in some form. The texture and taste of the mackerel tasted as though the mackerel was slightly off, instead of being a firm texture it was soft. The mackerel looked and tasted as though this is what mackerel sashimi would have been like in the 16th century before fridges and fermenting was the technique used for sushi. The small sardines were babies, it seemed like such a waste to eat them as they were so small, it would have been better if they had been left to grow into actual small sardines, these came as though they had been preserved in oil. The mojama; air cured tuna loin was salty and had an incredible intense fishy taste, and the baby squid, my least favourite item on the dish, tasted as though they were off, incredibly fishy with a slightly crumbly texture instead of squid having a slight elastic texture as you chew. I would say I am a fish person. I enjoy eating most types of fish; cooked or raw, but perhaps I'm not a fishy person enough to eat this dish. 

After the fish selection I couldn't stomach anything else, which was a shame as I was still slightly hungry. I think we should of stopped at the charcuterie selection. Service was relaxed, some may call it slow, but it suits the restaurant.  

I think tapas works great if it was at a bar as a snack whilst drinking as it was designed for, or as a light lunch option I think it works, but as we were sitting there I thought if this was dinner I would be ravenous and would of had to order twice as much.

Claridge's Afternoon Tea

Get those little pinkies in the air ready for Afternoon Tea at Claridge's!!

Set in the Foyer and Reading Room, the centerpiece of the room was vases and vases of flowers, adding to the art deco look.

Me and M, went for the Afternoon Tea. We have been to the Ritz before for Afternoon Tea, what's different here is that the Afternoon Tea is served in courses; savoury (sandwiches) then sweet (cakes).

We had the White silver tip tea, which was light and refreshing. This tea can only be picked at certain times of the year so supply is limited so made this a fitting tea for this occasion. A special tea for a special Afternoon Tea.

The sandwiches: mini savoury scones topped with cream cheese, smoked salmon, caviar and pea shoot; ham and tomato relish, cream cheese and cucumber, chicken, duck egg mayonnaise and salmon. I'm not a huge fan or smoked salmon, the taste and smell reminds me of uncooked bacon, however my favourite item on the savoury dish was the mini scones. The scones were light and buttery, matching the creaminess of the cream cheese underneath the smoky salmon. It was delicious. I was disappointed in the chicken sandwich as the chicken was a bit dry, it definitely needed the tomato relish to moisten and liven up the sandwich.  

For the sweet course: plain and apple and sultana scones served with of course clotted cream and Marco Polo strawberry jelly. (Ok I got a little excited before I remembered to take a picture). I have no idea what Marco Polo jelly is but this was perfumey and very sweet. I think I would have preferred regular strawberry jam. M said she much preferred the scones they sell in Harrods or Waitrose as these scones tasted as though they were made with bicarbonate of soda. These scones were nice.  

The patisseries: fruit cake, a cherry topped crumble, chocolate with a layer of creme anglais and a profiterole filled with banana and topped with a thin disc of banana flavoured chocolate. Of all of the cakes I think my favourite was the banana puff. It had a crumble topping with a light creamy filling which reminded me of Beard Papa. This creation was like Beard Papa meets banoffee pie.

There was live music playing making it a relaxing and pleasant experience. The service was attentive, maybe a little too attentive, with nearly every waiter coming over to see whether everything was ok. There was a little wait between the "savoury" and "sweet" courses, as they changed your cutlery.

Upon leaving they give you each this cutest little box of chocolates to "remember them by". They also let you take home any of the cakes if you haven't eaten them all. They also had a trolley of different sweet jars which felt like a mini visit to the sweet shop as I filled up this paper bag.

I can see why many people go to Claridge's for Afternoon Tea, they do offer an unique experience. A mini getaway from the hustle and bustle outside from the nearby Oxford Street. I did enjoy the experience, but I can see why there are those out there whom see Afternoon Tea as a bit pointless, as you would have to eat a lot of sandwiches and cakes to make up for the £45 per person cost (plus 12.5% service charge), considering a sandwich, cake and a cup of tea at Pret for less than £10.

Hippodrome Casino restaurant

Hippodrome Casino, opened its doors just over a year ago. The big site not only offers the gambling casino aspects, but also has a restaurant, 6 bars and live entertainment. They've kept the most of the architecture inside, which is beautiful and reminds you of how grand this building was when it was first built.

The restaurant is located on a balcony so you can see the gaming floor below, mainly offering steaks. I went for the milk fed veal chop, with house fries. The veal chop was perfectly cooked (medium and pink). It was tender and juicy. The fries on the other day were disappointing, not crispy at all, they were a bit soggy.

The cocktail menu which was given was really small!! There's a much longer cocktail list online, for some reason I wasn't given this?!?

This 24 hour place is great for those that want 24 hour gambling or a 24 hour bar / lounge. Late night places in London serving alcohol is rare unless you they're clubs, which makes this place great if you're not into the clubbing scene.

Belgo Centraal

Belgo is a Belgian restaurant specializing in moules frites (mussels & chips). The waiters dress up like monks and its a great place for groups wanting different types of beer and sticks of schnapps.

During the week between 5pm and 6.30pm, they offer "Beat the Clock", for certain main courses you pay the time of ordering, however be aware that the moules are smaller than from the main menu.

To start: croquettes. I've had these before and always order these every time I go back. They are gruyere cheese croquettes served with Belgo beer relish. The creamy oozing cheese against the slightly sweet slightly sharp tangy relish is delicious. I always have to have these!!

The main: Beat the clock moules frite traditionelle. A 1/2 kilo of mussels that have been cooked in garlic, celery, onion and white wine. The mussels were plump and the clear broth was intense with flavour, but was still fresh tasting from the celery and onions. My only issue was that some of the mussels still had their beards on so you have to pick them off before eating. The fries were delicious, light and crisp!! I loved getting to the bottom of the bowl and eating all of those little random crispy bits of fries. That's the best part.

All in all Belgo's is a good place to go for mussels and I am rarely disappointed with the food. I have had a grievance in the past regarding service (a while ago), and had commented on their website but received no reply (but that hasn't deterred me from returning). This is a good place for groups looking for food, drinks and an atmosphere.

Patisserie Valerie

 I love Patisserie Valerie. Their shop windows always excite me. I could stare all day at cakes *drool*, it's like food porn. It's always so colourful with a wide variety of different cakes.



For a birthday, I bought the chocolate cake; they call it the double chocolate dream gateau... which I can see why, it is dreamy, the ultimate cake for chocolate lovers. It moved off the cake plate on transportation but didn't ruin the cake at all.

The cake sponge was light, with layers of chocolate cream, with chocolate curls on the outside and profiteroles filled with more chocolate cream. The chocolate cream was creamy and light. I would eat a plateful of these chocolate profiteroles.

I really fancy eating some cake right now after looking at these photos.

BiBimBap, Soho

Korean food is becoming more and more popular now. Which is well deserved. BiBimBap, named after their specialty Bibimbaps is in Soho. Me, D & M, ordered the beef bol-go-gi bibimbap, chilli chicken bibimbap, kimchi pancake, spicy rice cake and glass noodles (not pictured).

Bibimbap to me is a meal in one, it has rice, protein and veggies all in a hot stone pot. Here you can choose to have extra a raw egg or fried egg. We opted for a raw egg on the beef bibimbap. Both bibimbap were delicious. It's great that this place allows you to put as much chilli sauce as you want, depending on how spicy you like it. The thought of raw egg might put some people off, but because the stone pot is so hot, it cooks the egg as you mix everything together. Both beef and chicken were delicious in their own right, but eaten together with the rice and vegetables were great. Next time I think I'm going to order the fillet beef (raw strips of beef) and the mixed mushroom, both sounded great. I prefer raw beef in bibimbap as the stone pot cooked it just perfect without the beef being over cooked. 

The rice cake was spicy, chewy and yummy. The kimchi pancake was crisp on the outside with spicy kimchi on the outside. Only thing that let the meal down was the glass noodles. The glass noodles were a bit oily and not as flavoursome as the rest of the meal. As there was quite a bit of oil on the noodles, it was extremely hot!!  

Black & Blue, Borough Market

 Borough Market is great on a warm summers day at lunch. The sun was shining, the market is so colourful from the wide variety of fruit and vegetables. Within Borough Market is Black and Blue.

Black and Blue offers meat, meat and more meat. Mainly steaks and burgers. If you're a vegetarian don't even bother coming here.

The T-bone steak caught my eye. Finding T-bone steak in London can be quite rare. Steaks come with house salad, fries and a sauce, I chose peppercorn with a medium steak.



The T-bone steak is 400g on the menu. I don't have much comprehension as to weighs in reality, but it sounded fairly decent. When the steak arrived it looked meaty but a little thin. The steak was delicious and given its appearance was meaty, juicy, tender and flavoursome.  The peppercorn sauce on the side was delicious also, deep in pepper taste, with a kick from the peppers. The peppercorn sauce was a bit too small, I could have done with more!! The fries were crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside. The side salad had a creamy dressing with grated cheese and walnuts on top, which was ok. All in all it was delicious.

My only issues are; the food is served on a wooden plank, which does give a rustic look, however it really isn't for me. You can see that the plank has been well used before hand with previous cut marks on it. The thought of food served on wooden planks, especially food which needs to be cut on the board seems a little unhygienic to me. I don't really want to taste the old meat juices from the last steak served on the board. I'm sure the boards are washed thoroughly but still you can never tell what lurks within the cracks. Another issue was with the service. The staff were ok, however, wine glasses were not removed from the table even though we did not order any wine. So the table was cluttered with empty glasses. Maybe I'm being picky, but I like it when staff ask me how my meal is going and how it was, thank me for the visiting and say bye, but I didn't receive that here, even though we walked straight pass our waitress on the way out. The service hasn't put me off returning as the food was delicious, it's just restaurants now add an "optional" 12.5% service charge, however it's not really optional as they add it onto the bill so when you pay by credit card they add that amount onto the card machine before you can say anything, and you want to be polite so you continue to pay it. I just wish restaurants would allow you to select on the card machine whether you would like to pay the "optional" "service" charge at your discretion.    

M&S Eton Mess

 

This caught my eye as I perusing the aisles of M&S; dessert aisle of course! As part of their Great British Summer menu, they have made Eton Mess Dessert pots. It was the cute meringues that caught my eye. Too sweet to eat as it is, you definitely need to mix it up like an Eton mess. The creamy vanilla with the slightly tart raspberry, mixed with the crunchy slightly gooey meringues are great together. My only issue is that I don't personally like raspberry as they are seedy. The raspberry compote flavour wise is delicious but I would have preferred it if the compote had been sieved to remove the seeds, other than that delicious. Hopefully they bring out a strawberry version.

Tapas Revolution, Westfield White City

Right in the middle of Westfield White City is Tapas Revolution. They recommend 2-3 dishes per person. Me and M wanted a light lunch so we ordered their lunch special of paella, then added extra chorizo and octopus. The lunch special is a paella and a drink for £7.95, which sounds relatively reasonable. The paella was chicken and came with aioli. The paella was really salty, it needed the aioli and squeezes of lemon to counteract the salt, but it didn't really help. It made me feel thirsty for the rest of the day!!

The octopus came with potato and paprika sprinkled on top, and marinated in olive oil. You could taste the quality of the olive oil as it was really fruity. The octopus was soft and tasted nice.

The chorizo was the best part, meaty and spicy paprika.

Tapas Revolution does offer fast food tapas, which they appear to be providing by the looks of some sort of microwave(?!?) or some sort of contraption which heated the food quickly. The food preparation area can be seen from the seats at Westfield so you can see the staff scoop out paella from a tub and place it onto a plate for it to be reheated(?!?). I'm not sure if it was a microwave, however I do know that the paella is pre made and then reheated in a metal box. When I saw this, I found it quite disappointing as there are supermarkets and shops offering tapas for you to take home to reheat. As we were eating I sat there remembering the current Marks and Spencer advert of £6 for 3 deli items, wondering whether they had any tapas items on offer which may taste better than this

Princess Garden of Mayfair

Dim Sum for Sunday brunch is a tradition. Princess Garden of Mayfair is always busy Sunday brunch, which in Chinese saying is a good sign as it's popular and probably worth the wait. Dim Sum comes in little dishes so you end up ordering a couple which gives you a good variety. We had many different ones so here's my highlights from the whole meal, and pictures of the main items.

Pea shoot cooked in a broth. Pea shoot isn't widely available in Chinese restaurants, mainly because pea shoots can be hard to source and are quite expensive. The pea shoots were fresh and tasted clear which Chinese like as it helps with the chi.

It's hard to find tasty Shanghai dumplings in London. I've had many in China town and many usually have thick pastry on the outside and lacks the stock on the inside. Princess Garden has the addition of crab meat inside, the pastry was the right thickness and had stock running out once you bite it.

Shredded mooli pastries are also very rare for dim sum in this country, but its definitely worth trying. It's crisp on the outside with flaky pastry and soft on the inside filled with shredded mooli. I prefer this than the classic dim sum favourite of mooli cake. The pumpkin dim sum is an unique item to Princess Garden, I haven't seen this anywhere else in London. They look so cute like little pumpkins. They're sweet, crisp on the outside and soft on the inside.

My favourite item has got to be their roast bbq pork bun (as pictured). Roast bbq pork buns can be bought in the bakeries in China town, however they're at least 3 times the size. The buns here are soft filled with meaty bbq pork which is slightly sweet and savory. I love this dish so much I order two portions.

If you're planning to try Princess Garden, especially on a Sunday for brunch/lunch make sure you book in advance as there's likely to be a long wait otherwise, the wait is worth it though, as it is one of my favourite Chinese places in London

J Sheekey Restaurant

From the outside J Sheekey looks like a secret, private, members only club. Once you step inside it feels like a different world. I had been to J Sheekey's before in the past and had always enjoyed the fresh seafood and the service.

Today I went for the dressed crab to start, shrimp and scallop burger for main and the chocolate mousse to finish.

The dressed crab arrived later than the rest of the starters on the table, everyone else had almost finished before I received mine. The crab was fresh and tasted sweet. It came with brown toast, but was missing that kick to bring it altogether, a little pepper helped. It was dressed crab however this crab looked a bit naked and a little lonely on the plate.












The main was shrimp and scallop burger. The burger was juicy and sweet from the shrimp and scallop. As shrimps and scallops are naturally sweet, I don't think this combination works 100%. The spiced mayonnaise gave a spicy savory note, however I'm not 100% sure on this. Perhaps if the burger had chilli inside or was either shrimp and scallop with fish to give it more a savory taste it may work better? The chips were yummy, crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside.










The chocolate mousse was delicious; light, creamy and intensely chocolatey, with slightly sweet, tangy cherries and thin light tuile. Also a very pretty picture.


I've been impressed with J Sheekey, however this time I was disappointed. The food wasn't amazing and usually the service is great, but they didn't even clean the table like they usually do, so we sat there with bread crumbs scattered across the table.Hopefully they were just busy that day and it was just a one off