The Ship Tavern 12 Gate St, Holborn London WC2A 3HP
Reviewed on Thursday 4 June 2009
The Ship Tavern in Holborn
The Ship Tavern is a traditional pub, located in Holborn not far from the tube station. They have been there since 1549! Inside it is small, dark but cosy. They have more room upstairs in case it gets really busy. It is usually quiet during the weekend but during the week go early in the evening for securing a table. This is the third time we went there and we have been quite happy the previous time. Will it be the case again?
We ordered the crisp pork belly (again! Third time now!) served with buttered mash potato, green beans, port gravy & spiced apple sauce (£9.95) and the steak & real ale pie made with Bombardier ale topped with puff pastry (£9.95) for trying something new. We had two Budweiser beers too. As at any pub you order your food at the counter and pay there in advance. Then you get a big wooden spoon with a number so they know who to serve. The staff were friendly and polite as usual.
The steak & real ale pie was great. Of course it is not exactly what we can call a light meal but the puff pastry was light and good, providing a nice contrast to the meat which was also good, with some ale flavour which reminded me of the Carbonnade flamande you can get in Belgium. The fries were crispy and good. I prefer when they are thinner but at least they were not huge and undercooked as it happens often in the UK. The crisp pork belly tasted good, was quite large but not warm enough unfortunately. Also it wasn’t as crispy as previous (which is probably due to the same problem – not cooked long enough the second time). It was better the previous times we went there, especially the first time. Maybe we arrived there too early this time?
Nice cosy interior, good beer!
The glass with the spoon we got after ordering
The counter. Nice ceiling.
The TV for watching sport
The crisp pork belly
Steak & real ale pie
Overview of the table with the two meals
Cost and conclusion: for less than £30 I think this place is a good value for money especially considering the location. Pity for the pork belly this time though and hopefully it was just an accident. You can read previous reviews of the Ship Tavern here (12 April 2009) and here (3 May 2009).
Pizza Metro Traditional Neapolitan Restaurant 64 Battersea Rise London SW11 1EQ
Reviewed on Tuesday 2 June 2009
Pizza Metro
Pizza Metro is apparently the first restaurant in London to cook their metre long pizzas in a wood burning oven. That was in 1993. We did not order a metre pizza even if it would have been fun taking a photo of it. For a half metre rectangular pizza the price is the same as two round pizzas so we prefered the classical rounded way. We saw some tables getting a metre pizza and it is quite impressive because it is put on a raised baking tray that is at eye level. Not too convenient for chatting across the table but fun to watch! The atmosphere is very Italian with a map of Italy, giant bottles of wine next to the windows, frypans attached to the walls. Several customers were also Italians. A good sign
We ordered two pizzas: the Ripieno which is a kind of calzone pizza with ricotta, parmesan, ham, basil, Napoli salame, tomatoes, and mozzarella (£9.95) and the Diego’s with mozzarella, buffalo ricotta, Napoli salame, rocket, basil, olive oil and parmesan (£9.95). We had a bottle of red wine Angelo Rosso Sicilia 2007 (£16). The Diego’s had an extremely thin base that was nicely crispy on the edges. I really enjoy thin base pizzas. The toppings were excellent too and the creamy buffalo ricotta was a great touch to the pizza. I was a little surprised my pizza was precut but it was fine. I guess it is easier when kids eat at the restaurant. The Ripieno (not precut of course) was good, and very hot due to the folding design of that pizza. The tomato sauce used in the pizzas had a good “real tomato” taste. The pizza base had a nice flavour, and the mix of ingredients in the pizza was well balanced (nothing nasty, like too salty ham, for example). It was just a little ‘different’ with the buffalo ricotta. I liked that there was also mozarella as I find just ricotta in a calzone to be a bit bland. The pizza base could have been a bit crispier, but it wasn’t soggy either. The spicy oil could also have been spicier. As desserts we had a chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream and a vanilla panna cotta. The waiter came with a plate of desserts and these were the ones we chose. The chocolate cake was nice, not too sweet at all, and moist in the centre, crispy on the outside. The vanilla panna cotta was great: light enough, not too sweet and with some crumbles on top that were a good addition.
Entertaining design
At the right in the back there is the food burning oven
Huge bottles by the windows
Pizza Ripieno
Pizza Diego's
The two pizzas
The chilli oil!
Detailed view of the pizza Ripieno
Detailed view of the pizza Diego's
Vanilla panna cotta
Chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream
Cost and conclusion: the total bill was £53.89. It already included the service charge, something I dislike since it should be up to the client to decide on. That said, the service was excellent (friendly and paying attention) so they deserved it. The bill was a little on the expensive side but at least the lunch was good. While we found the pizzas better than at Buona Sera located 5 minutes walk away we still prefer the pizzas at Franco Manca (in Brixton) and at Rustica (in Richmond).
Japanese restaurant Akasiro 8 Little Newport Street WC2H 7JJ London
Reviewed on Sunday 31 May 2009
Akasiro
View of the counter
This is my 6th review of Akasiro in 2 months! We really enjoy this basic but good Japanese restaurant and the staff are always very friendly and efficient. This time we had as first courses the age dashi tofu (£4.50) and buta kakuni (£5) followed by a tonkatsu (£9.50) and a sashimi set (£11.50). We were a little stressed by work so we had 4 bottles of Asahi beer.
First, the beer was very nice. Unlike many places the beer here comes really cold and it is very refreshing during this rare hot period of spring weather. The buta kakuni, which is a braised pork belly, was quite good and its taste reminded me the ones I used to eat in Japan when I was a child. The age dashi tofu was good but we think the portion has shrunk a little compared to the time this place was Zipangu. Still, it was hot and tasty. The tonkatsu was nice and crispy, maybe a little bit overcooked and personally we prefer to have the bulldog sauce to add ourselves than to have it already on the plate. The sashimi set was also good but I wanted a larger portion The tuna was excellent and the wasabi was fresh so seriously hot… The kind that hits your sinus instantly.
Great cold Asahi beer
Age dashi tofu
Buta no kakuni (one piece is missing, I ate it before taking the photo...)
Tonkatsu
Sashimi set
Overview
Cost and conclusion: it was £42.10 which is not bad considering beside the two first courses and the two main courses we had four bottles of beer and the Asahi beer isn’t cheap. We will be back! If you wish to read previous reviews of this restaurant, go to the list of restaurants by alphabetical order and at Akasiro you will find five other reviews.
Pakistani restaurant Al Mirage 215 Upper Tooting Road, Tooting London SW17 7TG
Reviewed on Saturday 30 May 2009
Restaurant Al Mirage
After the not so great experience at Kolam we decided to go again to Al Mirage to get fantastic curry. It has been over two months since we ate there (click here for the 25 March 2009 review). What we like at Al Mirage is the modern, clean style. You have room between tables, something that cannot be said for most restaurants we’ve tried in this location. The staff are friendly and efficient too.
We (two people) were quite hungry so we saw big, maybe a little too big… As a starter we ordered the Special Mixed Grill made of four grilled chops, four seekh kebabs, four pieces of chicken tikka and one grilled fish (£12) and for main courses we chose the Balti chicken tikka massala (£6) and the Balti chicken korma (£5.50). As drink we had two sweet Lassi (£1.40 each). They provided some papadum ( thin crispy wafer) and a basic salad while we were waiting for the first course.
Papadum
Salad and papadum
Spicy sauce
Sweet lassi
The Special Mixed Grill was excellent! They have the grill within the dining area behind the counter so you can see the lamb, seekh kebabs being chargrilled. It does generate some smoke but the ventilation is quite good, you can feel the wind sometimes. The pieces of chicken tikka were great, with some bits burnt giving a barbecue taste. The seekh kebabs were really good, with a nice spicy flavour and a little crispy on the outside. The grilled chops were good too but too tiny to really enjoy them. We were already starting to get full when the grilled fish included in this starter arrived. We forgot about it! The fish was excellent too. Firm enough inside and the coating was crispy and quite spicy. For just two people this starter can easily be the unique meal.
The Special Mixed Grill
In the plate
Detailled view of the chicken tikka, seekh kebab and grilled chop
Grilled fish
We were still eating the chops, seekh kebabs and chicken tikka pieces when the fish arrived...
Excellent fish
We were still eating the fish when the two currys and the butter naans arrived. The naans were hot, crispy on the outside and covered by butter. The currys were really good. The balti chicken korma was extremely creamy, with a delicious smooth and lightly spicy taste. The balti chicken tikka massala was also creamy but less so than the korma and also more spicy. We can clearly tell the chicken pieces were grilled before being put in the sauce. By the way there is plenty of sauce in the two meals for good use of the naans. The sweet lassi drink, which tasted a little like yoghurt, was good to fight against the hot spices.
Balti chicken korma
Balti chicken tikka massala
The naan bread and curry
Seekh kebab and fish from the starter mixed with the curry
Overview of the table
Cost and conclusion: this is the best place for eating curry in London! Definitely a better (less diner-like) surrounding and also better food too compared to the curry houses in the area and we did try almost all of them in that street! My minor complaint is about the timing between first course and main course. All the dishes arrived a little too quickly, which was ok but we would have wanted more time between them. Possibly the cook thought we were four as this starter was for four people but he could have looked at us or the waiter could have told him to wait a little. Still, all that for just a little over £26 is a very good value for money! We will be back!
Kolam Restaurant 60 Upper Tooting Road, Tooting London SW17 7PB
Reviewed on Thursday 28 May 2009
Kolam Indian restaurant
We had intended to go to to Al Mirage since it has been a long time since we were there. On the way, we noticed Kolam and its promotion of £15 for two for two starters, two currys, two bread or rice, and a bottle of wine. Actually it is the bottle of wine that caught our attention since many restaurants in this area are Pakistani and alcohol free. So can we eat well for a little over the price of two fastfood menus?
Outside, the restaurant looks small but inside it is pretty long to the point to waitress has to walk to come near your table to check everything is all right. It is decently decorated. It does not look like an ordinary curry “diner” but more like a comfortable restaurant (with tablecoths, etc). For the starters the requirement from that £15 deal was to take a South India starter. The menu is quite extensive so the choice was in no way restricted. We chose a dosai masala and a dosai “special” masala. A dosai is a crepe stuffed with potato curry, onion and for the “special” masala it also had some chicken. It is a meal that can be eaten for breakfast too, apparently. They were both good, with crepes that were crispy on the outside. They were surprisingly spicy, and even hot. The two sauces were good too. The green one was served cold while the other one was warm. I do not know enough about Indian food to tell what they were exactly. It is a very filling meal. Seriously, after eating it we wondered how we were going to eat the main course! As main courses, we had to choose between currys and we decided on the spicy chicken vindaloo curry and a chilli chicken curry. We had a problem with them: they were both very spicy, which is fine as we are both into hot spices, but they were WAY too salty. The vindaloo was salty but could be handled. The chilli chicken was just too salty. It was more salty than spicy (and it was seriously spicy, so that tells you about the amount of salt). The two currys looked similar but had different taste in case you wonder about it looking at the photos below. The naans could not soak up the salt. They were on the heavy, dense kind of naan. They could be good if things were not that salty. The wine included in the menu was a bottle of Marcel Hubert dry red. It is of course a cheap wine that costs around £3 but it was not too bad. If you do a search for that wine you can find other restaurants charging about £10 for this same wine!
Spacious restaurant
Marcel Hubert red wine included in the £15 menu for two.
Dosai
Dosai masala
Not too bad for a cheap wine
Inside the dosai
The sauces served with the dosai
Naan and vindaloo curry
Chilli chicken curry
Details of the vindaloo curry
Cost and conclusion: two starters, two main courses and a bottle of wine for £15. Hard to beat it! Just too bad the currys were so incredibly salty because the surrounding was pleasant, the waitress very nice… Without that problem (which completely ruined the meal), it would be a good value for money and we can only think and hope it was a one time mistake. In the area, you have Al Mirage if you are into curry (2 minutes walk toward Tooting Broadway) and the Kings Head if you are looking for a pub (same way as for Al Mirage but it is closer).
