Kings Head Pub 84 Upper Tooting Road, Tooting SW17 7PB London
Reviewed on Tuesday 12 May 2009
Kings Head pub
It is surprising to find the Kings Head pub and its imposing old building in a street dominated by Indian/Pakistani restaurants. It is listed on CAMRA inventory of London’s pubs heritage where they say “Designed by the prolific pub architect, W. M. Brutton, and built in 1896. An architecturally eclectic confection outside but retaining important remnants of the original building – tilework, screens, etched glass, counter and bar-back and also a large and imposing billiard room.” We have to agree it is a very nice pub, extremely spacious compared to many other pubs. The downside was the atmosphere, or the lack of it. Maybe because of its dimensions it appeared somewhat empty.
Like in any pub, the meals go from sausages to curry. For example they had fish and chips (hand-battered fish with chips, minted mushy peas, tartare sauce and a seared half lemon – £6.75), the pie of the day served with mash, seasonal vegetables and gravy (£5.95), the sausage of the day served with mash and a sticky onion gravy (£6.25), a lemon and garlic chicken skewers (two marinated chicken skewers served with rice, roasted vegetables and a low fat garlic and mint yoghurt dressing – £7.35), a spicy roasted half chicken served with salad, chips and salsa (£7.60), moules frites served with fries and mayonnaise (£8.55) or a steak frites (grilled bavette steak with fries and béarnaise sauce, served with a watercress garnish – £7.15) . We ordered the fish and chips and the steak frites with two pints of Budvar. The steak was well cooked and tender and the béarnaise sauce was good. The fries could have been warmer and crispier.
The counter
Nice decoration
A pint of Budvar beer
Steak frites
Fish and chips
The two meals
Cost and conclusion: £20.82 for two pub meals and two pints, it is fair. It is not a gastro pub, but the food was decent and the beer good. What else to ask from a pub as even the design was impressive? Well, probably some buzz as it is lacking some soul. Still, a good place to stop if you feel hungry in the area and are looking for a pub meal. In the same street a minute walk away toward Tooting Broadway tube station there is Al Mirage if you are into curry.
Nambu-tei Japanese restaurant 12 Thames Street Windsor, Berks SL4 1PL
Reviewed on Monday 11 May 2009
Nambu-tei Japanese restaurant
Nambu-tei Japanese restaurant is wonderfully located next to Windsor Castle. It is on Thames Street when you come from the train station. Near the top of the hill, the castle is on the left side and the restaurant on the right side. It belongs to the restaurant of the same name in London’s Baker Street. We did not have much time for lunch so we both decided on the tempura set which was served with rice, some Japanese pickles and some slices of orange. The tempura was well cooked, not greasy as it can be sometimes. The pickles were good addition to the tempura. The Asahi beers were cold and fine
Funny sushi clock
Sushi à la carte
Details of the sushi à la carte menu
Tempura set
Cost and conclusion: for two tempura sets, including rice, pickels and slices of orange as dessert, plus two Asahi beers it was just over £28 and it says “gratuities at your discretion” at the bottom of the bill. Excellent! I am totally against these 12.5% service charge left at your “discretion” but added to the bill. Why do we have to opt out if the service was bad? I find it pretty rude from some restaurants to assume they automatically deserve a 12.5% service charge. I always pay the service charge even when it is discretionary but I dislike the way it is often done by including it in the total bill. Also why 12.5%? I prefer the non tipping system like in France where the service charge is already included in every meal’s price as it is less misleading than here where you see lower prices in the menu (and in small print at the bottom you see about the service charge). So thanks to Nambu-tei for being polite and respecting their clients! We like that and we will be back!
Chez Lindsay 11 Hill Rise, Richmond Surrey TW10 6UQ 020 8948 7473
Reviewed on Sunday 10 May 2009
Chez Lindsay
Chez Lindsay is a French restaurant with specialities from Brittany like galettes, pancakes and seafood. It is very well located on Hill Rise in Richmond between the river side and Richmond Park. The design inside is nice, with a kind of yellow pastel colour on the bricks and a well used wooden floor. All the staff are French but not all of them are from Brittany. We chatted a little about the 2009 Coupe de France final between two clubs from Brittany (En Avant Guingamp won) We took Le Sunday Lunch (2 courses £18.50 or 3 courses £21.50). For the first course we had the choice between the Soupe du Jour (soup of the day) or Coquille de Fruits de Mer (coquille of fish and seafood, mushrooms and cream sauce) or Parfait de Foie de Volaille (chicken liver parfait with toast and salad). For the main course we had the choice between a Filet de Bar aux Ecrevisse (filet of seabass with crayfish sauce, rice and green vegetables) or Rôti de Poulet (roast chicken with tarragon gravy and “Sunday vegetables”) or Galette à la Ratatouille ((buckwheat pancake filled with cheese, topped with ratatouille). As dessert the choice was Assiette de Fromages (selection of cheeses) or Crêpe au Citron ou Chocolat (sweet pancake with lemon juice and sugar or chocolate sauce) or Dessert du Jour (dessert of the day) which was Lemon tart with vanilla ice cream. We both had the chicken liver parfait, then chose the galette à la ratatouille and the fillet of seabass, ended the lunch with the lemon tart and a crêpe au citron followed by two coffees. As wine we had a very nice bottle of red wine 2007 Brouilly Domaine Crêt des Garanches (£27). It was smooth, round and rich with a nice after taste.
The paté to start was a very nice and smooth mousse. One of the best I’ve had in London, though I couldn’t help but feel while eating it that it would benefit from just a touch of garlic or armagnac (or some other alcohol). It is a small complaint though – overall, the mousse was very good and I’d just about return for that alone. It came with some exceptionally light, thin slices of toasted baguette that were the perfect accompaniment.
The galette was very nicely done. I need to be in the right mood for that sort of cuisine (which I was, otherwise would have chosen from the extensive menu of alternative options). It was made with wholemeal flour, giving it a touch of substance that would not otherwise have been present. The cheese interior matched nicely with the ratatouille, though the latter could have been more spicy to suit my taste. The fillet of seabass was excellent, perfectly cooked (crispy outside) with a great crayfish sauce. My only complaint would be about the portion: I wanted more!
The desserts were both excellent. Not loaded with so much sugar as to overpower the real taste (and drive you toward diabetes) as is so often the case in London restaurants, but just lightly and nicely sweet. The crèpe was nicely cooked and arrived piping hot, lightly dusted with sugar and with lemon to apply to your taste. The lemon tart was also excellent – made with real lemon and cream – no sign of the bright yellow gooey and sickly sweet abomination I’ve encountered elsewhere. It was certainly on the tart side, but for the true lemon-lover, that’s exactly how it should be.
If there is something to complain about here, it is the coffee. Rather than the espresso expected, we received two cups of brown water – the sort that would be called ‘Americano’ in France, and appeared on our bill as ‘filter coffee’. A sad end to an otherwise excellent meal. My advice to potential patrons is to ask specifically for espresso, or to take an after dinner coffee elsewhere. We’ll be back of course, as the food and service were great – but will probably avoid the coffee in the future.
Parfait de Foie de Volaille
Filet de Bar aux Ecrevisses
Details of the filet of seabass
Galette à la Ratatouille
Great bottle of Brouilly!
Crêpe au citron
Tarte au citron
Coffee
Cost and conclusion: the total cost was £84.09 (including a “discretionary” service charge of 12.5%) for two three course menus, a bottle of Brouilly and two coffees. The staff were friendly and efficient, the food great so we will be naturally back!
Ukai Sushi 39 Lavender Hill, Battersea SW11 5 London 0207 350 2565
Reviewed on Saturday 9 May lunch time
We discovered Ukai Sushi really by luck. Today we first wanted to try the Franco Manca pizzeria in Brixton Market since it gets so many good reviews. Despite getting there at 12:30 there was an umbelievable queue at the pizzeria! Even the best pizza in the world is not worth wasting our time in a queue so we decided to go to look for a restaurant around Clapham Common. While trying to find a restaurant we saw a butcher cooking sausages on a BBQ in the street. They looked good so we tried them. Big mistake! They were greasy and the bread dry. Also, the guy serving us was using gloves but he handled the money and other things whilst keeping his gloves on. Lovely sense of hygiene…
Greasy award winning sausages
They looked good...
... but they were awfully salty and greasy, the grease going through the paper
Well, after finding a bin for getting rid of that 1000 calorie sausage we were looking for a nice light lunch and on our way to Clapham Junction we found Ukai Sushi. Ukai Sushi has a nice sober and modern decoration all in black. Seats are large cubes. The only downside was that you can’t put your feet under, and have no support for your back – so no relaxing back in your seat. We ordered a spicy tuna platter and a spicy salmon platter and for drink it was a kiwi + mint iced tea and a golden lotus with jadeli tea.
The spicy tuna and salmon were indeed spicy, and everything was good quality and fresh. Both were a mix of sashimi (4 slices), nagiri sushi (2 pieces) and hosomaki sushi (5 pieces) – respectively with tuna in one case, and salmon in the other. We would have preferred the sashimi to be a bit colder, but no complaints beyond that. Another general observaton is that the entire platter being tuna (or slamon) can get a little boring even if its spicy, and we shared – so another time we would probably choose a selection of different sushi.
The golden lotus tea was excellent. The only complaint to make about it is the type of glass it is served in – which gets very hot and can burn your fingers. A balloon glass or one with a handle would be much better for the customer. The kiwi/mint iced tea was very good, and freshly made. Not the easiest thing to drink with a straw though, as the bits of kiwi tended to block it.
Ukai Sushi restaurant
Wasabi peas
Kiwi and mint iced tea
Hot water and a lotus flower
Bigger...
Full size
Spicy salmon mix
Spicy tuna mix
Details of the spicy salmon mix
Details of the spicy tuna mix
Overview of the two meals
Cost and conclusion: for £29 (service not included) we enjoyed our quick lunch. It was nice to discover a Japanese restaurant in that area.
Restaurant Bellevue Rendez-vous 218 Trinity Road, Wandsworth Common SW17 7HP London
Reviewed on Friday 8 May 2009 evening
Restaurant Belle vue Rendez-vous
In daylight
It is the 8th time or 9th time we have been to Mini-Mundus – now Bellevue Rendez-vous – since we discovered this lovely restaurant about two years ago. I think it is good they changed their name because now it sounds more French, and gives a better indication of what is inside. I walked in front of it for years without noticing it and I believe it was because of the somewhat anonymous “Mini-Mundus” name. One day in the late afternoon, after walking at Wandsworth Common, we passed by and were looking at the menu posted outside when some fellow passers-by told us it was a restaurant to try and that the food was excellent. The restaurant was closed at the time because the previous day they had a party night but the door was open so we went in. Pablo (the chef) was cleaning the place, yet he was extremely nice to us and we were happy to discover a real French restaurant in this area. I had not previously been confident that it was really French. When I asked if he had foie gras in his menu, he even offered us some to take home so we could taste it! That was our first encounter with Mini-Mundus. It could not have been better!
The design of the restaurant has changed, for the third time I think, since I’ve known it and it keeps improving the place even if I liked the way it was before. We have been happy with Mini-Mundus every time we went there so they are very reliable.
Today we had as first courses a blue cheese salad with apple and walnuts (£5.50) and a rabbit and pork terrine (£6.50). As main courses we ordered a confit of duck (£14) and a rack of lamb (£17). The wine was a 2005 Bergerac Château Ponchapt (£15). As dessert we had a chocolate fondant (£6.50) and a gâteau de Pablo (£5).
The terrine was very good – nice and rustic/chunky. Happily, it was not overloaded with salt – as is often the case with commercial patés and terrines – though salt and pepper was provided for those who like to garnish their food. It was served with excellent fresh-baked sliced baguette and cornichons on the side, which provided a nice contrast to the terrine. The blue cheese salad was great, with the apples and walnuts contrasting nicely from the cheese.
Stéphanie and her excellent staff were as friendly and attentive as always, and our meals arrived piping hot as they should. The confit, sadly, was overcooked and a bit tough. It isn’t an easy dish to mess, so that was a bit of a disappointment. I have had the confit at this restaurant several times previously, and it was good every other time – so I won’t hold it against them. The green beans and sautées potatoes were good as always (though perhaps a little less plentiful than in the past – I hope its not a trend!). The lamb was excellent! It was perfectly cooked, a little burnt and crispy outside but tender in the middle (see photos below) and the mash and endive fitted in well.
Pork and rabbit terrine
Blue cheese salad with apples and walnuts
Confit of duck
Rack of lamb
Detailled picture of the excellent racks of lamb
2005 Bergerac red wine
Fondant au chocolat
Gâteau de Pablo
The two desserts
Cost and conclusion: the bill was £69.50 and there is no “discretionary” service charge included in the bill as many restaurants rudely do so a big bravo to them to keep it that way! By the way, they say at the bottom of the menu a 12.5% service charge is added to rude people so be friendly and you will be safe 😉 I think Bellevue Rendez-vous/Mini-Mundus offers a very good value for money considering what you are getting. The food is excellent, the location next to the park is great, the service is friendly and efficient. What else to ask? Well, I would like fry panned foie gras for example but I am being difficult! We will be back for sure!
