Gourmet Burger Kitchen 44 Northcote Road, Battersea SW11 1NZ London http://www.gbkinfo.com
Great burgers!
Last time we visited Gourmet Burger Kitchen we were so pleased that we decided to go there again. With the recent heatwave we somewhat lost our appetites and a simple meal of burger with beer sounded good.
We ordered a Kiwiburger (beetroot, egg, pineapple, cheese, salad, mayonnaise & relish – £7.95) like we did last time, and a Satay (satay sauce, salad, mayonnaise & relish – £7.75) for a change and also because I quite liked the chicken satay at the Pepper Tree. Unlike the Kiwiburger made of 100% Aberdeen-Angus scotch beef, the Satay is made of a fresh English chicken breast panko bread-crumbed and fried. We also ordered only one portion of fries (£2.75) as we discovered previously how huge they are. As drinks we had a Mac’s Gold (£3.30) and a chocolate milkshake (£3.65).
Great beer and milkshake!
Let’s start with the drink since we were quite thirsty. The beer was great, served well chilled as it should be. The chocolate milkshake was huge! It came in the large metal container it was made in, large enough that I was able to refill my glass twice. Really not bad on a hot day! I did not find the taste of the chocolate great but it was perfectly drinkable and not oversweet as it happens often.
Kiwiburger
See the beetroot?
The kiwiburger was very good. Please read the previous review about it at http://www.trusted-gourmet.com/2009/06/gourmet-burger-kitchen-44-northcote-road-battersea-sw11-1nz-london/ since nothing changed. We like restaurants that are regular in their quality.
Satay burger
The Satay burger was excellent! The chicken breast came very hot and perfectly fried. The satay sauce was good and generous in peanuts. It would not surprise me if some chunky peanut butter was used in the sauce.
Great fries
The fries were again quite good. They were very hot and crispy although not thin. This time we asked for garlic mayo to accompany the fries. At first you wonder a little about it because it has a greenish look, which, you have to admit, does not look too good for a mayonnaise. Better not to have too much imagination after seeing the geese at Wandsworth Common… Well, it was just the look as it tasted very nice and the garlic was real and even quite strong. A good mix with the fries anyway!
Cost and conclusion: for about £25 in all the burgers were quite good. It is possible to pay less if you go to their website and bring the printed voucher. They have specials like free beer etc. The service was friendly and efficient. Highly recommended if you are into burgers!
Harrison’s 15-19 Bedford Hill, Balham London SW12 9EX
Harrison's
Nice interior
I like the design of the lamps
Harrison’s is a restaurant and bar located in Balham. From outside it is mostly just the bar area that is visible. The dining area is deeper inside, far from the street noise. The design is cosy and interesting with big “bee colour” lamps. The air conditioning worked well without being too cold. We were given a table at the corner. That table is it is quite large for two people but we cannot face each other.
As starters we ordered the 1/2 pint of prawns, lemon mayonnaise (£7.50) and the Norfolk asparagus, poached eggs and hollandaise (£7.50). For the same price, you can get a buffalo mozzarella, pickled beetroot, broad beans and balsamic dressing, a raw salmon, ginger and soy, or a salt cod croquettes & aioli per example. The main courses were the seared organic salmon burger, wasabi mayo, red onion, caper and parsley salad (£10.50) that I wanted to try because I have never had wasabi mayo, and the pan fried sea bass, brown shrimps and samphire, new potatoes (£14.50). Other main course options are grilled calves liver, mash, roast cherry tomatoes, mint and pancetta (£13.50), rigatoni, artichokes, sun blushed tomatoes, ricotta and basil (£10.50), roast free range chicken breast, pomme Anna, spinach and lemon, green olive jus (£13) per example. You also have meals like fish and chips with pea puree or a cheeseburger with house chutney and fries (£10.50). We chose a bottle of red wine Côtes du Rhône Templiers (£23) which was alright.
Decent red wine
The two starters
When ordering 1/2 pint of prawns dish, I have to say that I was imagining a cocktail glass full of peeled prawns (or maybe shrimps) in a lemon mayonnaise sauce. What I actually got was a large short tumbler (half a pint?) with whole prawns inside it, a wedge of lemon on the side, and a little dish of mayonnaise. And a finger bowl for cleaning the mess after.
1/2 pint of prawns
Not exactly the elegant starter I’d hoped for. However, the prawns were very nicely cooked, tasty and not that difficult to deal with by hand. The mayonnaise was a perfect accompaniment. It just was not the tidiest meal in the world, and a deeper finger bowl or even better, a towelette/wet wipe would have been nice. I mention this particularly as (as was my experience a little later) catching a whiff of prawn is not pleasant when you’re eating dessert…
Norfolk asparagus
Perfectly cooked egg
The Norfolk asparagus were good. They were topped with a poached egg which was perfectly cooked. Very hot, and still runny when breaking it. The hollandaise sauce was good although I prefer it when it is lighter with some hint of lemon.
The two main courses
Pan fried sea bass
Pan fried sea bass & brown shrimps
The pan fried sea bass with new potatoes, crevettes and green beans was a meal best described as so close, and yet so far. Everything on my plate – the sea bass, the new potatoes, the crevettes and the beans – were cooked to perfection. The potatoes were just tender, the beans still firm, and the fish wonderfully moist with a crispy blistered skin that was just perfect. What was wrong? Someone needs to hide the salt from the chef, that’s what. A touch of salt on the skin of the fish would have been perfect. But in this case, it was salted to the point of complete disguise of the flavour of the fish (what a waste!). Not only that, but the beans accompanying the meal (with which the crevettes were mixed) were also salted to death, overpowering any flavour the crevettes might have had. Since the meal had no sauce – just a touch of (salted) butter with the potatoes – presumably to allow the natural flavours of the food to come through, it seems particularly a shame to have over-seasoned it to the point of ruination. I’m not on a low-salt diet, but even so, I think I’ve had my salt ration for at least a week now. If I ever return, I would make a point of asking that my food not be seasoned with any salt (safer to do it myself, I think).
Seared salmon burger
Let's dissect...
The seared organic salmon burger was ok. I was hoping for something with more flavour because of the wasabi mayo but it was bland and very filling. At least the salmon was very hot which was nice. The wasabi was detectable but unfortunately only just. I think it would have been better if the salmon had been marinated in some teriyaki sauce to give it more taste. The red onion, caper and parsley salad was forgettable, especially the capers that were too soft.
The two desserts
Eton mess
The Eton mess was quite decent. For my taste, it was perhaps a bit overloaded with meringue and underdone with fruit/coulis – but then, I prefer things that are not especially sweet, and meringue tends to be very sweet.
Crème brûlée
The crème brûlée was quite good, not too sweet and well mixed with some raspberries. The layer of hard caramel was seriously hard to break but it was well done. The shortbread was alright.Cost and conclusion: it was £83.25 including the “optional” service 12.5%. If it is optional, please do not add it automatically to the bill as it is rude and a kind of forced sale. Tips should be left at the discretion of the client. Talking about the service charge, it was ok but quite pushy at the beginning. No less than 3 waiters, and within 3 minutes, asked us if we wanted a cocktail to start while we were looking at the menu. We came for diner, not for being harrassed. One no thank you should be enough. Now about the cost, £83 is overpriced for what we had. The design is nice but the food does not follow. Harden’s describe this place as “Stunningly average food at not-so-average prices”. We fully agree with them: the food was just alright. For more, but at a much better value for money, you can eat at Lamberts located 5 minutes walk away. And at 20 minutes walk away towards Wandsworth Common you have the excellent French restaurant Bellevue Rendez-vous.
Thai restaurant Banana Leaf Canteen 75 Battersea Rise London SW11 1HN
Banana Leaf Canteen
The Banana Leaf Canteen is quite a popular Thai restaurant in the Clapham Junction area. You can often see people queueing. Inside, the tables are like in a canteen but there are also some tables for two and they are quite large. I am sure on a very busy day it is possible to squeeze fit 4 people at them. You can see the kitchen from the dining area. We were sitting by the windows that were open, so I had my back right to the footpath & road.
As starters we had the Thai toast with coriander (minced pork and prawn toast with coriander and oriental seasoning, served with sweet chilli sauce – £3.95) and dark glazed “Chinkiang” ribs (£4.50), described as crunchy pork ribs tossed in sweet, tangy and spicy sauce made from the famous fragrant Chinkiang black rice vinegar.
As main courses, we took Ying Yang Laksa noodles with Thai fishcake (£8.25) – a mixture of wheat and rice noodles topped with our “house special” mildly spiced coconut broth laced with grilled aubergine, tofu and bean sprouts and garnished with lime wedge, coriander and crispy shallots; and Nasi Goreng with cashews & char grilled meat at £9.45. Banana Leaf’s Nasi Goreng is jasmine fried rice with Malaysian blended spices, eggs, cashew nuts, pak choy and coriander. Garnished with lime wedge, mixed salad and crispy shallots, and served with our mild chilli salsa. The nasi goreng is served with a choice between blackened sweet chilli pork or chicken bakar jawa. The blackened sweet chilli pork are slices of leg of pork marinated in aromatic dark soy, palm sugar, chilli, garlic and ground spices. The chicken bakar jawa is chicken thighs marinated in an array of Javanese aromatic spices slowly grilled. I opted for the sweet chilli pork.
The Thai toasts were not very good. They were too greasy and without much taste because of it. The Chinkiang ribs were quite good. They certainly weren’t crunchy as described (unless they imagined we’d eat the bones – which I imagine would be very crunchy indeed…). However, they were tasty with a sauce that tasted a bit peanuty (not spicy-vinegary). They could have used a bit more meat on them, but as a snack to start, were not too bad. It was nice to them to provide wet wipes as it was we needed to eat the ribs using fingers.
The laksa was fantastic – for those who like creamy, spicy food, this is nirvana. It was like drinking a very good Thai red curry. The only complaint I would have about this dish is that the Thai fishcakes were a bit strange – rather like fish-flavoured egg (I only ate half of them) and I have to say that another time (and there will certainly be another time) I would choose the chicken version as I suspect chicken would be much better. The tofu bits were not good, without any flavour. That was a minor part of the dish though, so my overall opinion is still positive (but if you’re going here, I suggest trying chicken or prawns rather than fishcake). The Nasi Goreng was quite good. The blackened sweet chilli pork were tasty, tender and nicely crispy on the outside. A really great meat. The rice was good too, but beware of the red chilli pepper. I chewed on one of them without realising it was a deadly weapon. Lots of beer was required after it and we had in all 4 bottles of Tiger beer (£13). They were cold fortunately, despite the current hot weather.
Thai toast with coriander
Dark glazed "Chinkiang" ribs
Overview of the two starters
Ying Yang Laksa noodles with Thai fishcake
Nasi Goreng with cashews & char grilled meat
Overview of the two main courses
Another view of the Ying Yang Laksa noodles with Thai fishcake
Beware of the chilli pepper!
Cost and conclusion: it was £43.07 with the 10% “optional” service charge included. I prefer when the tip is left fully at the discretion of the customer. The service was efficient, but a little slow when it came to the bill. Whilst we waited, we chatted to a nice guy who was into computers and had a MacBook Air Overall, a good place but do not bother with the starters as they were not that great and the main courses were much better and quite subtantial. Recommended if you are in the area! If you are into pizza, right accross the road you have Pizza Metro which is a good Italian restaurant. Into burgers? There is a Gourmet Burger Kitchen located 2 minutes walk away.
Italian Restaurant Zizzi 73-75 The Strand London WC2R 0DE
Inside Zizzi
The tables
We have been to Zizzi a few times but it has been a while since we were last there. Back for a review now! Zizzi is an Italian chain, with a restaurant located on The Strand. We do not see much of it from the street but it is quite big. Everything is located in the basement and from upstairs we have a good overview of the whole dining area and the kitchen, huge woodstone oven included. It is nicely decorated for a basic chain restaurant.
We ordered a pizza Fiorentina (Spinach, buffalo milk ricotta, egg, tomato, mozzarella, finished with garlic oil, grated nutmeg and grana panado cheese – £7.95) and a pizza Trentino (Smoked mountain ham, buffalo milk mozzarella, santos tomatoes, rocket and grana padano cheese – £9.50). Both with their new rustica pizza option (£1.95 more per pizza) described as “Bigger, thinner and crispier bases, which means more room for your favourite topping!”. We ordered a large bottle of Peroni beer (£5.95) too.
Zizzi does not have the best pizzas in London by any stretch of the imagination, but it does very well for a chain. The Fiorentina pizza was pretty good. The rustica option (rectangular pizza with a thin base) is a good addition to their menu, and the thinner crispier (without being hard) base is an improvement on their usual style. In the case of the Fiorentina pizza, that means enough room for 2 eggs. They were perfectly cooked, still liquid inside. An interesting change to the topping since the last time I took this pizza is the addition of buffalo ricotta – which has a sort of whipped cream-like texture. I have not quite decided yet if I like that or not, but it certainly makes the pizza that bit more interesting. The Trentino pizza was nice, with excellent ham and buffalo mozzarella. It is a little like a copy of my favourite Buffalo pizza at Pizzeria Rustica in Richmond – well below Rustica’s standard, while still being good. The beer was perfectly cold. Not that common in London.
Cold Peroni beer
Pizza Fiorentina
Details of the pizza Fiorentina
Pizza Trentino
Details of the pizza Trentino
The pizzas were served on a nice wooden tray
Cost and conclusion: it was £27.30 service charge not included. At Zizzi all tips and gratuities are discretionary. I really like that policy. Since the service was good, they got a tip of course. Overall, a decent meal and a good safe option on the high street especially compared to the Fire and Stone not far away. We will be back, especially since the office is only two minutes walk away.
Mexican restaurant Wahaca 66 Chandos Place Covent Garden London WC2N 4HG
Mexican restaurant Wahaca
Spacious room
Watching the kitchen
Wahaca is a Mexican restaurant located in Covent Garden, not far from Charing Cross tube station. From outside it does not look big but as soon as you enter and go downstairs, you see the bar and behind it the huge open space. Usually I do not like eating in a basement but here I have to say it was fine. Probably because of the large room and the fun design. The atmosphere was great and the music not too loud. Fortunately we did not have to do the queue, as we came early for dinner, but by the time we left there were people waiting on the stairs.
I am not a specialist of Mexican food. I mostly ate Mexican food when I lived in Los Angeles (that was over 10 years ago) and I remember it was quite filling. That said, I did enjoy US Mexican cuisine, Taco Bell included. At Wahaca, we initially ordered two main courses only, assuming that that would be enough but actually they were not so we ordered more food. Thus, we managed to have the main courses followed by starters, which is a first for me.
As main courses we had the Classic enchilada (described as Succulent free-range chicken bathed in our house tomato sauce and sprinkled with crumbled cheese – £8.50) and a Marinated, grilled chicken (described as chargrilled, free range chicken in our homemade Yucatecan marinade with cumin, oregano and spices. Served with coriander rice and pink pickled onions – £8.50).
The classic enchilada wasn’t that great. Most of the problem with this dish is the minimal amount of chicken in it. Can you really call it “chicken” when the customer needs a magnifying glass to find it? I think tomato sauce tortilla with chicken flavour might be a bit more accurate. It was mostly sauce and tortilla. Mexican food (at least in London) has a tendancy to be very bland, and on the plus side, I would say it was the least bland mexican food I’ve had here. But £8.50 for a tortilla that had almost no filling is a bit steep. It could have used a more generous sprinkling of cheese too.
The marinated grilled chicken was good. It had flavours, was tender and it was nicely burnt. I found the meal on the small side but at least it was good. I used the red spicy sauce with it and it was seriously hot. If you are not into hot spicy stuff, avoid the red sauce and take the green sauce which was very mildly spicy.
Since we were still hungry (what a contrast compared to Taco Bell in the US where I almost had to nap because the portions were too big for me), we ordered a Chipotle chicken (Chicken cooked in a spicy tomato marinade, with cheese – £3.75) and a Beef salpicón (described as tender, shredded, aromatic beef with spicy habanero and red onion salsa – £3.75).
The chipotle chicken was OK. Kind of a small mexican toasted sandwich. As with the rest though, I’d make the complaint that there is seriously little meat in here. Dipped into the spicy sauce the taste was good. The beef dish was also OK. The shredded beef seemed very watery though… combined with my experiences of the other dishes containing minimal meat, I am left with the impression that this restaurant is trying to spend as little as possible per customer.
As drinks, we had the Tequila Limon (lime, tequila and sugar blitzed with ice – £7) which is a shot drink for two and a Mojito (tequila, mint, lime and apples – £6). The Tequila Limon was not good. I found it to be too watered. I miss the Cadillac Margarita I could get in California. The Mojito was not great either. It was too full of ice and the alcohol was not mixed through.
Classic enchilada (£8.50)
Marinated, grilled chicken (£8.50)
Details of the grilled chicken
Beef salpicón (£3.75)
Chipotle chicken (£3.75)
Overview
Mojito and Tequila limon
Cost and conclusion: it was £37.50 service charge not included. I like the fact they did not automatically add a 12.5% service charge. They will add it to parties of five or more though. I think it should be left to the appreciation of the customers only. The service was friendly though a little erratic (like the food). Overall, the food is OK and it is nice to have large tables but it seems very overpriced for what it is, and certainly not worth standing in a queue for.
