Pizzeria Rustica 32 The Quadrant, Richmond, Surrey, London, TW9 1DN Reviewed on Saturday 2 May 2009 lunch time
We have been many times to this place which is, in my opinion, the best pizza restaurant in London. It has already been reviewed previously here. It is a good place to stop before going to Richmond park for taking photos of deer & bunnies.
The room open to the street
This time we both decided to take different pizzas than the usual ones we get so we ordered an American Hot (£9.50) and a Capricciosa (£10.90). As drink we chose Moretti (£8.50) as suggested by the waiter who said the staff liked this beer better than the Peroni. We thought it was an excellent beer. The American Hot pizza was a little disappointing because it had too many pepperoni for my liking, making the pizza a little too greasy. The Jalapeno chilli bits were not spicy enough. Fortunately the pizza base was really exceptionally good, being tender and crispy at the same time. That was very nice. The Capricciosa pizza was excellent, with tasty mushroms, the right amount of pepperoni and a perfectly cooked egg.
Moretti beer
Pizza Capricciosa
American Hot pizza
Overview of the two pizzas
Cost and conclusion: it was still a nice lunch with one exceptional pizza and one average pizza on toppings but both fantastic for the base. The Capricciosa will become one of our favourites, with their Buffalo and Calzone pizzas! The bill was £28.90 (plus service charge to add).
Akasiro Japanese restaurant 8 Little Newport Street, London WC2H 7JJ
Reviewed on Monday 27 April 2009 late evening.
After two weeks in the South of France and a long weekend in Paris, it is nice to be back to London! Why again the Akasiro? 1) it is good 2) it is late in the evening 3) it is just a few tube stops from St Pancras Eurostar station 😉 As starters we ordered the age tofu (£4.50) and the spicy sushi salmon (£4). Both were good but it is better to eat the age tofu first because after the spicy sushi (with some really hot bits) you do not feel much of the age tofu taste. For the main courses, we took again the tempura udon (£8.50 – see previous reviews to see why “again’) and tried the Bulgogi which is a Korean barbecued beef (£10). The tempura udon was like everytime: fine. The bulgogi was good but I found it a little too salty, probably because the meat was marinated in the soy sauce (as it should be). I had a green tea ice cream (£3.50) as dessert. It was very good, not too sweet nor too creamy and a little bitter. The drinks were two Asahi beer (£5.80) , served chilly as usual.
Asahi beer
Spicy salmon sushi
Agedashi tofu
Hot tempura udon
Bulgogi
Cost and conclusion: another very decent dinner for £36.30 which is a good value for money. The service is very nice and despite the late time we were not hurried to leave at all. It is the 5th time I review this place
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
Covent Garden
Marquess of Anglesey
View from the restaurant
Alta Vista Premium Malbec 2007
Roast loin of pork
8oz exmoor beef burger
Absolutely nasty!
The Ship Tavern 12 Gate St, London, WC2A 3HP
Reviewed Sunday 12 April 2009
The Ship Tavern in Holborn
This Sunday we decided to try a traditional pub after yesterday’s not so great experience. We went to the Ship Tavern pub in Holborn. It is close to Sir John Soane’s Museum and not far from Covent Garden. Like many pubs you can get fish & chips (haddock dipped in our homemade beer batter & served with chips, minted pea puree & homemade tartare sauce – £9.95), a Tavern burger (home-made 8oz beef burger with mature English cheddar, smoked bacon, chips & Bloody Mary ketchup – £9.55), a whole baked camembert (baked in its box & served with a chunk of crusty bread & a fig & chilli marmalade – £6.95) but also some less usual meal like the Doorstep sandwiches Fish finger (breaded cod goujons with homemade tartare & rocket leaves – £5.55) I promise to try next time I come here. We ordered roast beef with Yorkshire pudding, roasted vegetables with horseradish sauce (£12.95) and a Crisp Pork belly served with buttered mash potato, green beans, port gravy & spiced apple sauce (£9.95) and two beers (Budvar).
The roast beef was all right but it wasn’t hot enough and it was badly cut so it was quite tough. It was not overcooked. The Yorkshire pudding was very good, the roasted potatoes were well done too. The crisp pork belly was excellent! It has been a long time since have eaten a nice pork (it was at Botin restaurant in Madrid – considered to be the oldest restaurant in the world – where their beef was wonderful too. It just lacked some better sauce). The meat was tender and the skin nicely crispy. It was so good that I worry I might not have it done the same way next time I come back!
Roast beef
Crisp pork belly
The two courses
Cost and conclusion: The lunch was excellent and all for £29.70. This was a very nice discovery and we plan to go there again!
