Japanese restaurant Akasiro
8 Little Newport Street, London WC2H 7JJ

Reviewed on Monday 13 April 2009 evening

The dining experience at the Marquess of Anglesey was so bad that we needed to finish the evening on a better mood so we went to the regular Akasiro This time we went in the basement as all tables were full on the ground level. The restaurant was quite busy, refusing people as it became full even downstairs. The design downstairs changed a lot compared to what it was when the restaurant was called Zipangu. It is much better now.

As it was our second dinner we ate “light” by just ordering two tempura udon and a green tea. The tea was really good and the tempura udon great as usual, and very spicy as we abused of the chilli powder. For more details about the Akasiro, please go to the list of restaurants by alphabetical order since it has been reviewed many times.

Green tea

The hot tempura udon

Tempura udon

Cost and conclusion: for £18.50 the value for money is good, and more important, the food is great!

Marquess of Anglesey restaurant
39 Bow Street, Covent Garden, London WC2E 7AU

Reviewed on Monday 13 April 2009 evening

Covent Garden

Marquess of Anglesey

View from the restaurant

The Marquess of Anglesey is well located in Covent Garden next to the Royal Opera House and also next to Market Quarter store where you can get wonderful French food like foie gras… The restaurant is located just above the pub. It is nicely designed, and there is some welcome space between tables.

We ordered a roast loin of pork served with roast potatoes, vegetables, and apple sauce (£11.95) and a 8oz exmoor beef burger served in a soft bun with homemade red onion relish and chips with cheese/bacon (£10.25). There are other interesting meals like a free range Devonshire chicken breast roasted with slow cooked red pepper, onions and tomatoes (£11.50), a 28 days aged 8oz exmoor rump steak with portobello mushroom, grilled tomato and chips and pepper corn or béarnaise sauce (£14.95), a goat’s cheese and tomato tart with green salad and pesto dressing (£8.25), a Scottish salmon pan seared on warm potato and chive salad with basil and pine nut dressing (£10.95) or the more regular Fresh fish in Young’s beer batter with chips and mushy peas (£10.50) and Specialty british sausage and mash served with red onion gravy (£9.25).

The roast loin of pork was crap. The slices of pork were wafer thin and tasteless. The vegetables were pre-cooked and quite likely out of a can. The burger was bad… You would think for over £10 you would get a decent burger but no, it was overcooked (see the close up photo below) and for some reason extremely salty! Just as well we had ordered a bottle of an Argentinian red wine which was good (£19). The cheese on the burger was absolutely tasteless and the so-called soft bun was hard and dry. A cheeseburger at McDonalds is better. I was very disappointed by this place to the point we decided to eat again that evening at Akasiro for ending the day on a better mood before my trip to France.

Alta Vista Premium Malbec 2007

 

Roast loin of pork

8oz exmoor beef burger

Absolutely nasty!

Cost and conclusion: too bad the food isn’t great, unlike its location. The bill was a little over £46 (without the service) which is pretty expensive for what we had. The Ship Tavern in Holborn is a lot better pub to eat in. Actually there is no comparaison. The service was fine at least.