Bill's in Covent Garden

So after a long cold day at Twickenham we headed in to London's West End for a spot of dinner. The choice was down to me, it was a family day out with partners, 8 of us in total, so no pressure then. Haha.

Bill's only opened 1 month ago and has had some great review one of which from a good foodie friend of mine, so with a good menu and decent prices I thought it would be a good place to keep everyone happy.

We booked a table just incase, but as it goes it was dead especially compared to Jamies Italian next door, but I must give it it's due it has only been open for a month and it was the day after boxing day, oh and it is a fairly new brand.

All 8 of us walk in and find our table waiting for us, our reserved table for 8 that was oddly set for 10??? Any who after a little musical chairs we sat and ordered our drinks. At each place was a large orange, which was nice but a little odd, just their kind of quirky way I guess. We were sat amongst all Bill's deli products stacked hight to the ceiling everywhere you looked, all of which of course was for sale. They very cleverly have a shopping tick list on your table too which I thought was a fantastic way of capitalising on your customers pockets. You simply tick what you would like to order and give it to a member of the team and they will have it ready for you when you leave. My boyfriends lovely parents were of course sucked in to this nifty bit of marketing and bought a few treats to take home with them.


Now one thing that really did bother me, is that there was nothing to tell me about Bill, who is he? whats his story? As soon as you walk in you are hit with a wonderful visual treat of goodies in cool retro packaging and blackboards with messages on but nothing, not a word, well that I could find anyway about this Bill bloke. I must have made quite a fuss as before long I was being updated but the boys - they had asked our waiter and he had told all, now do bare with me as at this point this is third hand information but it went something like this... Bill owned a greengrocers and then opened some restaurants. Sorry I do hope that isn't too much of a let down but then perhaps your not interested any way?? I have checked the site and there isn't anything on there either so I am afraid that will have to do.

Right on to the food!!

I have the mezze to start and shared it with my boyfriend - it was nice, nice and fresh nothing amazing just nice, but it was served on a slice of wood with its bark still on which I thought was lovely and it came with diagonally cut bread which had been splashed with olive oil-very nice.

Main course I went for the special which was the T-bone steak - bloody lovely - cooked to perfection! I also ordered a side salad which I didn't need and wouldn't have ordered if the waiter had told me everything the steak came with. I did ask and he said chips, but saying that the rocket that came along with the steak and chips was not a patch on the side salad I ordered, it was very very good indeed, and topped with seeds too.

All in all a nice place the type of place for a bite to eat nothing fancy maybe a lunch with a friend of a quick something on a impromptu meal out.

Lunch this afternoon with my boyfriend and dad in prep for Christmas. We popped along to my fav pub/ restaurant local to my mum and dad's called The Square and Compasses, in the village of Fuller Street Essex, which to get to we tackled crazy snow and sludge, its that good. Mostly local produce even down to their Ale its a really nice spot. We were offered a festive menu and a regular menu, all of us opted for the regular one. I had gammon, egg (poached) and chips, my boyfriend had homemade burger and chips and my dad had ham egg and chips. The boys also had local ales which needless to say went down very well indeed. The burger by the way was massive a very generous portion indeed.

We sat at our usual table, next to the wood burning stove where there is a cute little note to customers say "please feel free to lob a log on the fire" this place is full of lovely little things like that.

The menu features a lot of locally shot game, including pigeon, pheasant and partridge. True to their surroundings this to a lovely little local pub restaurant that serves great local food and drink.

live music over a steak and wine

Giuseppes Ristorante is tucked away down The Kings Yard off of Borough high street, London Bridge. I was taken there by a friend who has been going for years. Its brilliant as you walk do the steep steps you can hear the live Italian music blaring out. We turned up on a Thursday night before xmas without a booking, it was packed, but we were offered a table, possibly the worst table i have ever sat at, it was a table for to half tucked under the stairs we had just walked down. But we took it and ordered quickly, I had.... surprise, surprise - steak. And my friend had veal. 

The guy that sings cheesy Italian songs really interacts with the room and before you know it people are singing along with him and well everyone is just having a great time, it can be a little hard to hear each other but its not the kind of place you would go to for a quiet meal. 

Its such an enjoyable dinning experience, all a bit ruff around the edges - my potatoes looked tined then roasted and the other veg, boiled within an inch of their lives but its such fun and well worth going to, especially after drinks with friends.

Italian by Germans

Vapiano, is a great restaurant/ eatery siting on Great Portland Street, London. I've been a few times i think its been open for a couple of years now. Its a straight forward well designed pizza, pasta place set out over 2 levels. You walk in and are greeted by smiling face who asks if you have been before and if you haven't explains how the concept works. Its brilliant really. The idea is you are given a card like an oyster card/ swipe card which holds all your spending on each guest is give one so its great for large groups you simply pay for what you have. So you find a place to sit, choose from a long bench a high small bench or soft seating up stairs and everywhere you look there is fresh basil, pots and pots of it.  

The menu is very simple and easy to read, once you have decided what you would like you have to go to the food area and place your order, once you have ordered you swipe your card and either wait there till its ready - this is fine for pasta or salads but most of the time with a pizza you are given a flashing vibrating thing that you take back to your table and wait till it goes off, which is your green light to go and pickup your freshly made pizza. 

They have lots of jugs of tap water too that you can help your self to and they have a small bar area near the entrance where you can pick up a glass or bottle of wine. 

I love it there its good fresh food reasonable priced and great a quick spot of lunch or a bite to eat.

Go and check it out its well worth a trip. 

Carluccio's again

Lunch this time, for a work/pleasure thing. It was the one in Fenwick's Bond Street. We had a glass of wine each and i ordered the seafood salad with out the chilli. It was fine nothing special. The service was good and the bill was acceptable.

I'll keep it short and sweet as they seem to feature quick often on here.

New Indian in WC2

I popped a long to the Dishoom the other day with a friend. Its stunning the most stylist Indian restaurant I have been to. The service was brilliant we were served by this barrow boy type, turns out he's an actor too. The menu was straight forward enough with lots of choice and well priced. The way i experienced it was its very western for example they serve their version of cheese on toast and fish fingers. We were advised of the special curries of the day and ordered. We were recommended to order a couple of dishes and share, so we did and it was lovely.

They have a wonderful mix of excellent surroundings and great food. If I am honest I was more taken by the venue than the food, but either way they have done their job as i have already recommended it to many of my food loving friends.


I did request some images but have never received them so have sadly only screen grabs for you but, you will see what I mean by excellent venue.

lunch with mum and dad in the country

A cold snowy saturday in the country, we decide to drive out to an old favourite pub called "The Dog and Gun". I have never been but my parents have many years ago. It was dead we were the only people in the place. We were told that they had been shut all week due to the snow. 

Enough about the snow.

We sat down next to a window in the restaurant area, tall leather chairs with nateral wood tables. Food was to be expected - pub grab albeit posh pub grub. What they did do which i thought was a nice touch - they had a black board offering todays cut of beef. Sirloin was the cut de jour and you could choose what size you wanted, each oz was charged accordingly. 

My dad and I opted for the beef and veg stew with cheesey dumpling!!! amazing just what we needed on a cold day. The dumpling - which of course I was not allowed was so so good I have a little taste and then handed it over reluctantly to my dad. Mum went for the steak 6oz, she said it was a little tough but you would never guess as she polished the plate off including the mound of deep fried onion spaghetti that was pilled on top. 

I would go back for sure.

birthday lunch at the kensington wine rooms

today was my big brothers 40th birthday lunch! Very popular as always,there were around 40 of us in the small restaurant. we all pre ordered. i have the asparagus with egg which when it arrived looked to be a goose egg! massive cooked to perfection with big juicy tender stems. for main i had steak, med rare as always, and even though they were catering for that many (and the majority had steak) my was cooked brilliantly, possibly a little rare but i loved it so no complaints from me. it was a wonderful day great food and great wine. talking of wine they have this brilliant set up which allows you to pop you card in and choose your wine by the glass. very very good.



well go a again for sure!!

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breakfast for one

More smoked salmon! Well if it makes me skinny haha. i stopped in at Balans in Soho today for an impromptu spot of breakfast this morning after walking back to the office from an industry networking event were all i had was 2 glasses of champagne, "too fabulous" as my friend so very aptly put it. Champaign at 8.30 on a Friday morning - i should think so!






Any way as I was saying breakfast was great, good hearty size serving of scrambled eggs and smoked salmon and a lovely glass pot of loose english breakfast tea. Just what i needed.






I've been here in the past I remember the first time i ever went and who i was with. its nothing special but there is also nothing wrong with it. (apart from my glass tea pot that nearly lost its handle and leaked tea on my table from the cracks).






all in all, a good breakie

Soup

And so the diet continues... nearly 2 weeks in and half a stone lighter.

Last night i went to carluccios, again, this time it was the Bluewater one. The only thing i could have was the broccoli soup one slight hitch, it was made with potatoes. I ordered and requested the bread to be removed!

The soup was lovely homemade and most importantly without cream or chilli!



My friend had the mozzarella and tomato salad which looked yummy, but it was basically a massive tomato and 4/5 slices of cheese all for a eyebrow raising £7.50.



As usual we received good service and nice surroundings. The manager was very helpful and all in all it was nice.

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Bedford and Strand - Wow!

business lunch at Bedford and Strand this afternoon- loved it great food great service and great surroundings a tiny bit pricey but not really. i had the mixed meat platter thing, very good indeed. loved it will be back again for sure.

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lunch at Pauls

quick lunch / meeting today at Pauls in Covent Garden. We all had the soup. meat ball soup and broccoli and 'cheese' soup the 'cheese' made me wonder rather ambiguous in my mind but apparently it was lovely. Mine on the other hand, the 'meatball' soup was spicy! it didnt say anything about spice on the menu you. Well for any of you who have read my past posts you will know that i cant take heat, spice, chilli anything remotely hot so i count eat it! not a happy bunny! However the bread looked to die for but thanks to my new diet that was a no go. Any who took a pic of my 'hot, spicy meatball' soup for you in case your interested.

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brunch at cafe rouge

Just met a friend for brunch in London Bridge, we ended up at cafe rouge. Its a lovely mild autumn day so we decided to sit out side. We both had the scrambled eggs and smoked salmon - the service was good the food was good and the prices were reasonable. All in all it was lovely, best of all was the company. There is nothing special about cafe rough i think its safe to say we all know that but for somewhere to grab some food with a friend it perfectly fine.

Fiat's Abarth event

last night i went to the Fiat Abarth event at the Fiat flagship store in Marylebone, London. It started off badly but very quickly improved, lots of bubble and lots of nibbles - which i couldnt eat due to my new stupid diet of just protein. we had a wonderful evening we met the very lovely Tom Chambers and lots of lovely Fiat people. Took lots of pics.

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Assaggini at Galileo's

 "Assaggini (a delicious array of beautifully prepared Italian small plates, in the tradition of Stuzzichini (little bites)"

Lovely Italian restaurant on Haymarket in central London which has introduced a new food concept called Assaggini its basically Italian tapas small dishes to share. Wow - its a full on thumbs up from me and to top it off this family ran restaurant had the whole family in including the granny. We were given a small traditional Tuscan dish to start which was bread soup; soup soaked in tomatoes - lovely flavour but i really didnt like the texture. after this we have sirloin steak which was very nice, small slices served on a hot plate cooke only on one side and dressed with olive oil, rosemary and green pepper corns very very good. 

This was a lovely way to enjoy many dishes in one sitting the food was excellent and the service very good. actually very good value for money for a nice treat during the week for lunch or a light dinner. 

new steak house

The Hawksmoor a British steak house and bar

I received a call this morning from a fellow foodie about a new restaurant in Covent Garden, he said 'we have to go it the next big thing in London' so off we went for lunch.

Amazing! the decor is fab old school desks and science lab top made in to table tops and bar tops dimly light and finished with high quality parka flooring.

The beer is all local London beer my friend had had a beer from a brewery in Charlton, Greenwich.

He had the burger i have the lamb chops. His came with beef dripping chips!! amazing! and mine came a little under done so I had to send them back which is saying something as i do love my rare meat, but not blue.

Any who - loved it, found it a little on the expense side but if you can afford it go!

The service was excellent and the general atmosphere was brilliant however my friend did note that i was 1 of only 2 women in the entire place - not that that bothered me.

Will be back for sure - its the kind of place you could loose a day in.


And they do Sunday roast!!! Just been crowned best roast in UK by Observer food monthly! must be good.

this says it all

Breakfast with a friend

Carluccios for breakfast - 
Bit pricey, tasty and good service. I had their answer to a full English but with poached eggs and instead of bacon its pancetta. It was lovely and warm and nice and quiet, I normally find these places rather busy and noisy. But I'd say all in all a nice breakfast. Breakfast for 2 was £27.   

Noodle Time

They say: 

                 Positive eating+ positive living, wagamama noodle bars serving up tasty noodles worldwide. 

I say: 

          God I love wagamamas noodles! Went there is afternoon, ordered the usual yaki soda with udon noodles and no ginger yum yum yum in my tum tum tum! My friend ordered a side from the specials which was mushroom and asparagus dumpling they were tasty good too. Can't go wrong with a good wagamamas unless of course its rammed or you find a maggot in you edemame beans (this happened to me a couple of years ago and yet I still go back) great value for money and excellent service today from a very happy to help and chat young man.   

wahaca mexican lunch

Now I don't like hot food but I treated my boyfriend and fussy food eater friend to lunch the other day. It was a lovely dining experience and the staff were great. We had the wahaca sharing thing which was very generous a little taste of, well everything at least it felt that way. Good food fresh and fast perfect for a quick spot of lunch. 
They refer to it as mexican market food and are popping up everywhere. 

On the Heath

Blackheath is a perfect spot, come rain or shine. The best place for food or just a drink is the Princess of Wales. It sits proudly on the corner of the heath full of locals and a lovely warm welcoming atmosphere. I love it there, great wine menu, reasonable priced home cooked grub, nice surroundings and a great heated outdoor space. Have been a few times and will be going back for sure for more.

Drinking on Jermyn Street

Love love love Franco's. Sat very comfortably on the amazingly traditional Jermyn Street, London. Franco's offers a great wine menu and when you buy a bottle you get a antipasti platter free; which is a lovely gesture, nibble on a selection of Italian meats and breads while sitting outside on a small table under your own heater while you are served on by very lovely staff.  Perfect for catch up drinks and watching the world go by. I love it there.

GBK

Popped in here tonight and grabbed a burger and chips with 1 of the endless vouchers; burger and a drink for £6 not bad value really. It was big and filling, I'm still very full now and we eat over 2 hours ago! Not my first choice of place for dinner but it did the job, it was very fast service and cooked to perfection - medium just as beef should always be. 

I made gnocchi!

What is gnocchi? Well i'll let wikipedia explain - but trust me its yummy! 

It was so so simple and totally delicious. I boiled 1kg of potatoes till cooked then peeled and mashed, added 1 egg and mixed in really quickly making sure the egg doesn't cook and finally 2 handfuls of plain flour and mixed together. Then simply grab a handful of the mixture and roll out into long sausages about 3cm thick and cut off 3cm pieces. All you have to do its add them to boiling water and wait for them to pop to the top and they are done. I made a really simple gorgonzola cream sauce to go with it - melt the cheese and add cream thats it. Oh and I added spinach too. It was so so s good. One for the dinner party book I think.

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Devonshire Terrace - quick bite

This was more of a 'grab a bit to eat' moment. Earlier this week a friend and I went for a few drinks after work at the Devonshire Terrace in Liverpool Street, London. I have been there a few time in the past it has an excellent out side space with heaters which is rather good as I think it actually dropped to about -2 degrees that evening. I ordered the steak burger and my friend chose a selection from the starters. Small portions and a little pricey. Filled a hole and did its job but didnt set the world a light. However I must say the service was very good.



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A touch of the Turkish

Efe's Meze Restaurant 

Saturday night my boyfriend and I went to a little Turkish restaurant in Greenwich, London. We have often driven past and seen it busy so we thought we would try it out. W arrived and ordered the meze for two to start, this consisted of bread and cold dips with the choice of 1 hot meze, we chose the halloumi wrapped in peppers and grilled aubergine in a tomato sauce. All the dips were amazing and clearly homemade. We then had meat cooked on the grill right next to us. My boyfriend had the Efe's special which was basically a mixed grill of charcoal cooked meats and I had a lamb shish kebab with rice and salad. The prices were very good around £10/£13 per dish large portion and very tasty.

All in all its safe to say we will go again and would happily recommend it to others. 

a meal for two with drinks and tip was £53. 

Two thumbs up from us! Wonderful, friendly, tasty ... very good.



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