Restaurant Spy - OK

Oriental Palace, 38 Mount Ephraim, Tunbridge Wells, TN4 8AU

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 16:55:39 +0000

Address:
38 Mount Ephraim, Tunbridge Wells, TN4 8AU

Review:

If you were to give me a choice I would not go to a Chinese Restaurant. I’m not entirely sure if it was my first experience, going to my “girlfriend” Barbara Muir’s birthday party as a ten year old at the Hong Kong in Dundee or not. I was a dead cert for the Chicken Maryland, but Barbara’s dad Jim insisted I try the sweet and sour pork. Sour? Where was the bloody sour? It was sweet, sweet, sweet, sticky, gooey, violent infra-red gloop surrounding a bit of pig. It was so horrible I didn’t eat anything remotely Chinese until I was in my twenties. Even then it was a backdoor through. I fell in love with Korean food – bitter Kim Chee and barbecued Bul Gogi - a heavenly combination with noodles and sticky rice. Korean through to Thai, Indonesian, subtle Vietnamese and finally to fiery Szechuan and ceremoniously dumped on the door of Cantonese.

Café Pacifico,5-6 Langley Street, London, WC2H 9JA

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 10:48:52 +0000

Address:
5-6 Langley Street, London, WC2H 9JA

Review:

I've been here twice and have not been impressed. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't completely unhappy about the whole thing, but I don't think this place is the best Mexican you can get in London, a claim that's made by a lot of reviewers.

The rice is soggy, and the dishes are bland and flavourless, definitely not what we have come to expect from Mexican food.

The staff aren't that friendly, and it is expensive, for what it is. You can definitely do better than this, I just haven't found it yet.

Riddle & Finns Champagne & Oyster Bar, 129 Church Road, Hove BN3 2AE

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 08:56:41 +0000

Address:
129 Church Road, Hove BN3 2AE

Review:

I’ve reviewed Riddle & Finns Brighton establishment before but they’ve recently opened a branch in Hove so I popped in. I’ll keep this review short since the general feel is similar to their Brighton place, but smaller.

We sat down and ordered a drink. ‘Does your Guinness come in bottles?,’ I asked the waitress. ‘Yes, I’m afraid so,’ she replied. Well, since I like bottle Guinness and not draught, this was good. It arrived already in a glass. ‘Did this come out of a bottle?,’ I asked the (different) waitress. ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘Then why has it got an inch and a half of head on it?’ I wanted to know. ‘We pour it so well,’ she said. I frowned. ‘Oh, and there’s a widget in the bottle.’ I smelt a rat and took a sip. It was out of a can or I’m a Dutchman. I returned it and ordered a Budvar, which – interestingly – arrived at the table in its bottle, just like all the other beer I saw that night. If it’s in a can, chaps, why not admit it, or better actually get a few bottles in. Some of us know the difference.

Wimpy, 105 Blatchington Road, Hove BN3 3YG

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 13:07:41 +0000

Address:
105 Blatchington Road, Hove BN3 3YG

Review:

Ok so I went to Wimpy – so what?!

Wimpy is little changed from the places I remember from my 70s youth. Lots of plastic, strange food and a feeling that the driftwood of life washes up here.

There was me, Mart, and T. We had had a couple of beers and fancied a face full of something before a few more beers. Wimpy was closer than the curry house and it seemed like a novel idea.

We found a seat without trouble – there being only two other people in the place: both staff.

The Spring Hill, 312a Spring Hill, Warstones Rd, Penn, Wolverhampton, West Midlands, WV4 4LB

Wed, 12 Dec 2007 01:12:18 +0000

Address:
312a Spring Hill, Warstones Rd, Penn, Wolverhampton, West Midlands, WV4 4LB

Review:

The food was simply delicious, the best meal out I've had in months. I had the grilled sea bass, with sauteed potatoes, which tasted fantastic, and the creamed leeks/creamed spring onions (I couldn't work out which) set it off perfectly. If you like seafood - visiting here is a must. There must have been 10 fresh fish dishes on the menu, ranging from sea bass, to barramundi, and crab. Non-fish included the usual steak fare, coq-au-vin, a number of vegetarian options. The place is very well decorated with a very rustic feel.

Le Vivier, 6 rue Dominic Maisto, 13200 Arles, Provence, France

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 15:44:37 +0000

Address:
6 rue Dominic Maisto, 13200 Arles, Provence, France

Review:

This was near our hotel and looked really promising. The interior was quite shabby, the seats on the chairs had “gone” (not literally) and it had not been redecorated for some time, but this need not be a bad sign in a French restaurant. The food is the thing and the menu looked excellent. We went for the €25 menu: my soupe de poissons had been diluted once too often and was very watery, but came with the traditional croutons, aoli, grated cheese and garlic. L started with foi gras with lavender bread and lavender ice cream, and while it sounds a bit unlikely, it was actually the star of the meal. When did you last have ice cream and foi gras on the same plate? My main course of fish gratinée was nice enough, but it was a tiny portion, and no bread or vegetables accompanied it. L had a variety of grilled fish, well presented, but some were overcooked. My dessert - chocolat crème – tasted OK, but the presentation was complicated and didn’t really come off as the pudd slid dangerously around the plate on its way to the table, dislodging some of the fruit garnish. Of L’s plate of four cheeses, two were very salty, and he had to ask for bread as no biscuits or bread came with it.

The Tunbridge Wells Bar & Grill, 84 High Street, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, TN1 1YB

Tue, 09 Oct 2007 10:44:28 +0000

Address:
84 High Street, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, TN1 1YB

Review:

We fell upon this place by pure fluke, found ourselves in the highstreet looking for a drink early evening last Tuesday. When we arrived it was quiet (6.30) and we were in two minds as to just have a drink....the Bar, or get some food....The Grill! It looks lovely, and whilst chatting to various members of staff, we now know that the Tunbridge Wells Bar And Grill is part of the Individual Something Company. Apparently they target well-to-do areas, Alderly Edge, Marlow, Leeds city centre, Zinc Bar and Grill Glasgow....etc etc. with Food and Drink. The Decor is Boutique but with an American feel, nice, I liked it, but we were a little confused as to where to sit for drinks and food. We eventually opted for the Garden, with heaters (electric) and ample seating, looked intimate, but nearly Canteen style.

Sophie's Of Exmouth

Tue, 28 Aug 2007 17:22:30 +0000

Address:
22 Rolle St, Exmouth, EX8 1NJ

Review:

New Readers Start here

If you don't visit Spy's message board, the phrase "Sophie's of Exmouth" won't mean much to you. Unless you live in Exmouth of course. Even then, it may not, the nice woman in a shop 2 streets away said she'd definitely heard of it, but it was in Exeter. She kindly got her phone book out to check and said, wonderingly "No, you're right, it's here - 22 Rolle Street" So you can see the impact Sophie's has had on the town. In an attempt to drum up business, someone called Maureen posted the following on the Spy message board in early June:

The Brilliant, 72 Western Road, Southall Middlesex

Mon, 20 Aug 2007 10:01:31 +0000

Address:
72 Western Road, Southall Middlesex

Review:

The Brilliant has been a Southall fixture for over 30 years, and I have been coming here regularly for fifteen of these. It aims to do traditional, family style Punjabi cooking in a restaurant setting. Recently the influence of the owner's daughter has added a number of "healthy options", where there is less use made of ghee.

The strengths are in the main course curries and in several of the starters. For example Methi chicken has tender chicken in a rich, spicy sauce with fenugreek. On the starters, aloo tikki is a dish you only seem to see n Southall: chickpeas, tamarind, yogurt and coriander, which work well as a combination. The chicken starter dishes are excellent e.g. methi chicken (cumin) or malai chicken tikka, or butter chicken if you don't mind the calories. The naans are OK but no more that than, but the romali roti is excellent. Vegetable dishes could do with a being cooked a fraction less to retain more texture, though aloo chollay (mainly chickpeas with a few pieces of potato) works well. They actually make the desserts here, including excellent kulfi and halwa. It is very much a family atmosphere, with groups of ten or more commonplace.

Belgo Centraal, 50 Earlham Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9 LJ

Mon, 25 Jun 2007 17:45:10 +0000

Address:
50 Earlham Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9 LJ

Review:

The last time I was in a Belgo – the Bierdrome in Holborn - four of us had booked a table for dinner. But after 10 minutes of deafening music, unable to speak to each other or attract the attention of any staff, we all left and found somewhere else. That was about 5 years ago and I’ve never been back. This obviously made a huge impression on Belgo, as they now have no background music at all. You see the kind of power I have ?

The Lewes Arms, Mount Place, Lewes, East Sussex, BN7 1YH

Thu, 21 Jun 2007 08:31:32 +0000

Address:
Mount Place, Lewes, East Sussex, BN7 1YH

Review:

There’s been a load of stuff in the newspapers, on Spy, and elsewhere about the Lewes Arms in Lewes and the successful 100-day picket by regulars. Greene King took off the Harveys bitter and replaced it with their own bitter. So the regulars stood out in the rain and explained the situation to potential customers, thereby turning The Lewes Arms into a ghost-pub. The company’s income plummeted (90% or thereabouts has been quoted), a senior guy at Greene King was finally ‘resigned’, and the Harveys went back on -- after months of bland assertions by GK that replacing the locally-brewed award-winning beer with Bury St Edmunds- or BSE-brewed Greene King bitter, was a superb idea.
Well I went in recently to see if all was back to normal. I liked the following:

Fishes, Market Place, Burnham Market, Norfolk, PE31 8HE

Mon, 11 Jun 2007 14:45:25 +0000

Address:
Market Place, Burnham Market, Norfolk, PE31 8HE

Review:

In a word ‘Disappointing’. In two words ‘Disappointing’ and ‘Expensive’. We had visited Fishes a few years ago and had a thoroughly good time, a first class meal, and had recommended it to many people as a result. We had been looking forward to returning, and finally had the chance. But two years down the line, the prices have gone up, the enjoyment levels down, and the accountants seem to have taken over.

The Albert, 11 Princess Road, Primrose Hill, London NW1 8JR

Tue, 05 Jun 2007 09:17:11 +0000

Address:
11 Princess Road, Primrose Hill, London NW1 8JR

Review:

Pleasant Victorian Pub with a nice sized garden at the back. In this part of the world, £9.75 is reasonable for a (very) modest Tuna Nicoise Salad, and £8.75 for a Chicken Caesar Salad, and although hardly the best value in town, these were both quite acceptable platefuls. When we asked for the bill, however, the woman behind the bar looked at the till and said "£26.25" As J and I were each paying for ourselves, and her drinks were more expensive than mine, we asked for the bill, and the irritated woman repeated "£26.25"

Arbutus, 63-64 Frith Street London W1D 3JW

Thu, 17 May 2007 17:36:01 +0000

Address:
63-64 Frith Street London W1D 3JW

Review:

Modern decor, lots of staff, we were shown to our table immediately and given menus. Unless you're near the window, the lighting at Arbutus is dim, and the writing on the menu is very small and curly. A bold san serif typeface would have been more in keeping, really. And guess what, I'd forgotten me specs!

I asked the young waitress whether they kept a spare pair of reading glasses for these situations, but she had no idea what I was talking about. So I had to have it read aloud to me - oh the shame !

Lindsay House, 21 Romilly Street, London, W1D 5AF

Fri, 27 Apr 2007 14:56:31 +0000

Address:
Lindsay House, 21 Romilly Street, London, W1D 5AF

Review:

I have wanted to go to Corrigan's Lindsay House since it opened, and wonder whether I shouldn't have gone sooner.
First, Lindsay House is a beautiful, Georgian building in central London. You ring the bell to get in, but the welcome is far from warm and a little indifferent. The rooms are on the small side which means the tables are close together, but the décor of muted browns and modernish art help them to be attractive, well lit and nicely presented.