The London Restaurant Review

Old Vic Theatre - Pit Bar & Restaurant Review

My wife took me to see Gaslight at The Old Vic Theatre, near Waterloo station, last night.

Not being a huge fan of the theatre, I was keen to refresh myself with a couple of glasses of vino in the restaurant before the show, since we had a table booked for 6pm.  I need not have worried.  The show was excellent and Rosamund Pike, the leading lady, was fantastic.  I couldn't resist posting a photo of her:

Courtesy of Old Vic Theatre (!)

Anyway, the restaurant downstairs is basic but good.  Well worth a visit.  Portion sizes are generous, prices are very fair and service is excellent.  Plus it saves the hassle of dashing from one place to another, turning up late for the show etc etc.  Much more civilised this way - have some nice food and then sit back and be entertained.

Of course I still had a couple of glasses of vino -they have a good wine list and the Mouton Cadet rouge was a decent glug for about £4 a large glass, although the 2004 vintage was not great.

You can read the full restaurant review here.

Raviolo Balham Special Offers

Raviolo, the newish (6 months old) 'concept restaurant' in Balham has a couple of special offers on at the moment that are worth highlighting.

Offer 1: Any large portion of ravioli and a glass of prosecco Ombra for only £9.95.
This offer only lasts until the end of July so be quick!

Offer 2: Two main meals for the price of one between 5pm and 7pm and 10pm to 11pm.
This offer is available until the end August.

I have still not made it to Raviolo but definitely plan on going in the next few weeks.  There is one review on the website from a reader which can be found here.

Recommended restaurants in Europe and North America

Opinionated About, the dining surveyor, has just published its list of the 50 most recommended restaurants in North America and Europe, based on the opinions of 175 diners, all members of the Opinionated About dining forums.  There were 5,400 ratings in total, with data collected between January and April 2007.

Locanda Locatelli made it to number 45.  That was the only London restaurant that made the list!

The top three were:

Number 3 - Michel Bras, Laguiole in France
Number 2 - L'Arpege, Paris in France
Number 1 - Troisgros, Roanne in France

I will join the panel for the next round of research so maybe I'll be able to help show that more London restaurants deserve to be in the list!

Weekend Break Recommendation for Foodies

The wife and I went to BailiffsCourt Hotel for the weekend and I can highly recommend it as a good escape from London for the weekend.

Situated in Climping, near Arundel and Littlehampton, it is less than 2 hours drive from London and a world away.  The hotel rooms are lovely, although the more modern ones lack character and the spa is faultless - we were lucky enough to get some decent sun on both the Saturday and Sunday and reclined with the papers next to the outside pool - perfect!

The meal in the main restaurant on the Saturday night was also spot on, although the atmosphere was a touch quiet for my liking - you know how it can be in these hotels when all the couples are whispering.  Fortunately, the main room was almost full by 9pm so there was a nice buzz but a bit of background music would not have gone amiss.

There is a set menu - £44.50 for 3 courses, which at first appears steep but the quality of the food more than makes up for it and it includes service - everything is added to your hotel bill and you do not sign for anything (so don't get too tipsy - you need to remember what you had the following morning when you check out!)

Food is typically British and the service typically Polish.  I had to send back the first bottle of wine which was corked but the second bottle, a 1999 Navarra, went very well with my lamb main course.

You can read all about figuring out whether a bottle of wine is corked on the Pocket Vintages website.

Overall, 4.5/5 for the food, 4 out of 5 for the service and 3 out of 5 for the value, but top marks for the location and the wonders it does for the soul, just getting out of London for a night or two.

The Balham Lounge

One restaurant that has made it into the top 20 most popular restaurants on The London Restaurant Review is The Lounge, in Balham, SW12.

There are only 5 reviews of it on the website but they all rave about it and I will be along there soon to check it out.

I also noticed that it had a favourable review in The London Paper last week.
Here is the excerpt:

Bierodrome Lobsterfest

I finally got round to visiting Bierodrome on Kingsway, near Holborn tube station for their Lobster special - £15 for a whole lobster and chips.

It's not bad value for money.  You get what it says you will get, but the lobster is not that large and I came away still feeling hungry.  On the plus side, it was perfectly cooked and very good quality.

You can read the full review here.

The Ivy London - Restaurant Review

I bagged a last minute table at The Ivy, just off Leicester Square in central London and was overall very impressed with the experince.  The service is top drawer and the food is very good quality and reasonably priced.

Of course, it's hilarous when you and everyone else walks into the restaurant - heads look up in unison as everyone looks out for a celeb.  Most people leave The Ivy disappointed with the celeb count but happy that they have eaten in one of the most 'exclusive' restaurants in London and not been ripped off.

You can read the full review here.

Mamounia Lounge Cover Charge

I was planning on trying out Mamounia Lounge tonight but when I went to book it, I realised that there is a £50 minimum charge per person and a £10 cover charge!

I couldn't see from their website that there was any sort of entertainment laid on, so to be honest I am a bit outraged.

If anyone knows any different, or thinks these charges still make it a restaurant to visit then let me know!

Tip for Getting a Table at The Ivy Restaurant

I'm going to The Ivy tonight.  I haven't been for about a year so it will be interesting to see if anything much has changed.

I didn't book 6 months ago either.  I called up at 3pm this afternoon and asked for a table for two this evening.

They offered me a table from 7pm-9pm without any fuss.

Either calling up last minute is a good way to get a table here or The Ivy is not as popular as it used to be!

YOUR AGE BY EATING OUT

This was forwarded to me - it is well worth wasting 2 mins on!

YOUR AGE BY EATING OUT

Don't tell me your age; you probably would tell a falsehood anyway-but your waiter may know!

YOUR AGE BY DINER & RESTAURANT MATH

This is pretty neat.

DON'T CHEAT BY SCROLLING DOWN FIRST!

It takes less than a minute.  Work this out as you read .
Be sure you don't read the bottom until you've worked it out!
This is not one of those waste of time things, it's fun.

1. First of all, pick the number of times a week that you would like to go out to eat.
(more than once but less than 10)

2. Multiply this number by 2 (just to be bold)

3. Add 5

4. Multiply it by 50

5. If you have already had your birthday this year add 1757...
If you haven't, add 1756.

6. Now subtract the four digit year that you were born.

You should have a three digit number.

The first digit of this was your original number. (I.e., How many times you want to go out to restaurants in a week.)

The next two numbers are

YOUR AGE ! ------ (Oh YES, it is!!!)