The Long room bar & hotel 130 Mitcham Road Tooting SW17 9NH
The Long room bar & hotel
Inside
Strange wallpaper and carpet
It is quite large as you can see
The Long room bar & hotel (formerly the Mitre hotel – the sign outside still has the old name) is a very large pub located in Tooting which is better known for curry houses than pubs. They have tables outside which is a nice feature especially during this late summer period. Inside, it is large with many seats and areas. I am not too sure what to think about the carpet and the wallpaper design and colours… Let’s say it is original 😉
It is a pub but they have a big range of meals. They have sandwiches like hot special ciabattas and paninis with steak and onions, caujun chicken, Cheddar etc. There is a long room burger grill menu with the Classic burger (£6.95), the Lamb & Rosemary Burger (£7.95), the Spicy Chicken Burger (£6.95), the Mediterrarean Veggie Burger (£6.95). All their burgers are home made with 100% British beef and come served in a floured, salad filled bun with chunky chips, seasonal salad & hamburger relish) As main courses they have a braised lamb shank (tender lamb shank in a minted gravy served on a bed of creamy mash – £8.95), bangers & mash (Cumberland sausage served on a bed of creamy mash and rich onion gravy – £7.25), 10oz sirloin steak (100% British beef sirloin steak seasoned, served with chunky chips, sauteed mushrooms, grilled tomato and seasonal salad – $11.95), hickory – smoked barbeque rack of ribs (served with chunky chips, seasonal salad and barbeque sauce – £8.95), beer battered fish and chunky chips (freshly beer battered fish of the day served with chunky chips, garden peas and tartare sauce – £7.95), breaded scampi (wholetail breaded scampi served with chunky chips, garden peas and tartare sauce – £7.95), salmon fishcakes (salmon fishcakes in a breadcrumb coating served with wedges, salad and tartare sauce – £7.50), chilli con carne (100% beef mince in a rich, spicy chilli sauce served on a bed of boiled rice – £7.25), nachos and cheese (nachos topped with Cheddar cheese, jalapenos sour cream, guacamole and salsa – £5.95) and the Long Room platter (half rack of hickory smoked barbeque ribs, BBQ chicken wings, spring rolls, onion rings, wedges with salad garnish and selection of dips – £11.95).
We ordered the fish and chips and the braised mint lamb with a pint of Moretti beer (served nicely cold) and a glass of orange juice which was quite decent – not too sweet, and served with a good amount of ice.
Great Moretti beer
The two meals
Fish and chips
The fish and chips were quite good. The only real complaint I would make was with the batter, which was on the hard side of crispy and made it a bit excessively hard to eat. The tartare sauce was fine, as were the fries (ideally, I would have wished them a bit thinner and crispier – but they were still OK as they were) and accompanying peas.
Braised lamb shank
The lamb shank was quite good and large. It was sitting on excellent real mash potato. The mint gravy sauce was very nice too. For less than £9, it offers a great value for money.
Cost and conclusion: it was £23.60. No 12.5% optional service charge here! We were happy to discover this place with cheap but decent food. Recommended if you are in the area! If you are into pizza, you can go to Limoncello just accross the road or Sette Bello 5 minutes walk away.
Spice Village 32-34 Upper Tooting Road, Tooting London SW17 7PD
Spice Village
Spice Village has been voted the best curry house in the Tooting round of the 2009 Tiffin Cup – which is an annual competition run by a cross-party group of MPs to find the Best South Asian Restaurant in Britain. Last year the winner in Tooting was Al Mirage.
On Fircroft road side
Spice Village is located near Tooting Bec tube station, at the corner between Upper Tooting road and Fircroft road. The restaurant, which used to be quite a lot smaller, has recently been extended. As you enter, on the left is the ‘kitchen’ and the counter which handles takeaways as well as meals ordered inside, and at the right is the dining area which is a little like a moderm canteen with flashy colours (blue and green apple).
It was very busy with tables occupied mainly by family groups but we managed to find a table. The downside of being that busy is the noise which is not helped by the room’s acoustic: it is not easy to hold a conversation without talking loud. We ordered two seekh kebabs, a Masala fish, two garlic naan, a chicken biryani and a chicken tikka masala. To drink we had two mango lassi.
Mango lassi
Sheekh kebabs & masala fish
Garlic naan
Kebab and fish
Chicken biryani and curry tikka masala
My plate with everything on it.
The sheekh kebabs were lightly spicy and quite good (though perhaps not quite as good as those at Lahore Karahi nearby, which serves the kebabs with onions and on a crackling hot metal plate, which ensures they remain piping hot). The fish masala was excellent, really perfectly cooked and one of the best examples of this dish I’ve had.
I have mixed feelings about the naan. On the one hand, it was very garlicy – they weren’t at all stingy there. But on the other hand, the naan wasn’t as light and fluffy as it should be, so a little disappointing.
The chicken biryani was a bit average. It was too dry with stuck-together rice, dry chicken, and not a lot of flavour. To a degree, that’s just a feature of biryani (so maybe it wasn’t the best choice), but overall still a fairly average rendition. The chicken tikka masala was quite good. The chicken was tender, and the curry sauce creamy. But again, not quite perfect – it seemed just a bit too heavy.
Cost and conclusion: it was about £23. Overall, this is still a good curry house. I think it is not as good as Al Mirage and Lahore Karachi further down the road toward Tooting Broadway. But it is still good, and easily better than most others in the area. The service was friendly suggesting meals and efficient. Other curry houses reviewed in the same area are Mirch Masala and Kolam.
Pakistani restaurant Lahore Karahi 1 Tooting High Street London SW17 0SN
Lahore Karahi
We have not been to this restaurant for a couple of years, mainly due to the very poor service (especially to women) that we had experienced in the past. That was quite a while ago now though, and we decided to give it another try. I’m very happy to report that things were much improved, with smiling waiters who even showed some humour.
It is quite a large space inside the restaurant, with an upstairs area available for functions. When you enter, the grills and tandoors are to your right. This is noticable after you leave also, as our clothes always smell very strongly of curry. Better ventilation would not go astray, but at the same time, it is only after you leave that you notice it – the atmosphere inside is not choking.
As starters we took a shish kebab, and the kebab roll – just to find out what that was. It turned out to be a shish kebab in naan bread, with a little salad and onions. And as mains, we took one of their specialities, chicken tikka masala karachi – which is a very creamy and mildly spiced chicken tikka masala – and a chicken korma. To this we added two naan bread, and to drink two sweet lassi.
Sweet lassi
Kebab roll
Shish kebab
The shish kebabs (both types) were very good – nicely cooked and lightly spicy. These starters are inexpensive, and we didn’t realise they would be quite so big. Another time, we would just take one and share it.
The two curries
Curries and naan bread
Mix of tikka masala karachi & chicken korma curries
Close-up
The chicken tikka masala karachi was supremely creamy – if you like smooth creamy curries with some depth of flavour, this is nirvana. It is a naturally mildly spicy dish, but they will spice it up for you if you ask. The chicken korma was also very good, and also very creamy (and actually, taking both of them was overkill), but between the two the tikka masala wins hands down. Really an excellent curry.
Mango kulfi
The lassi were good – not too sweet, tangy, and nicely chilled. I finished the meal with some mango kulfi, which had a rich and slightly caramelised flavour.
Cost and conclusion: for about £20 for two, the value for money is excellent. They managed to improve greatly their service so I would recommend this place if you are in the area. I still prefer overall the Al Mirage curry house two minutes walk away because the service is still better. They do suggest dishes to you, and are happy to provide any description or explanation you need, for example. Both are much better than the Mirch Masala nearby.
Limoncello Trattoria Pizzeria Wine Bar 169-171 Mitcham Road, Tooting London SW17 9PG
Limoncello
Inside Limoncello
We have not been to Limoncello for over 3 months despite their excellent pizzas! We are repairing this mistake today. Limoncello is located 5 minutes walk from Tooting Broadway tube station. The restaurant is quite spacious with a bar on one side and the restaurant on the other side. There is a good distance between tables too unlike the photo above might suggest: the tables there were put together for a party.
As starters we ordered the bresaola avocado (thinly sliced cured beef with avocado – £5.90) and a fried breaded camenbert (£5.90) which was listed on their menu of the day blackboard. For main courses we chose the pizza fiorentina made of tomato, mozzarella, spinach, onions and egg (£7.50) and a pizza calzone (like last time since it was quite good) made of tomato, mozzarella, mushrooms, ham and salami (£7.90). The wine was a bottle of red wine (Cabernet – £13.90) that was already on the table as they were suggesting it. It was well balanced and easy to drink.
Bresaola avocado
Fried breaded camembert
The fried breaded camembert was surprising. It was two huge slices of camembert with an apple compote. The photo does not really show their size. It could have been a main course itself. It was quite good and the compote was a good balance.
The bresaola avocado was excellent. The cured beef was perfect with a squeeze of lemon and some avocado. Usually I find acovado a bit – well, bleh. It is rather bland and greasy for my taste. With the cured beef, lemon and a touch of rocket, however, I finally see the point of avocado. Really an excellent starter that I wouldn’t hesitate to repeat.
The two pizzas
Pizza Fiorentina
Pizza calzone
Anatomy of a calzone
The pizzas were quite good and giant. The pizza fiorentina had a nice crispy base that stayed lightly crispy without becoming too hard as it happens sometimes with pizzas. The toppings with spinach and onions were nice. It was just unfortunate the egg broke while being cooked. Still, a pretty decent pizza. The calzone was, as the last time, very good indeed. It had just the right mix and quantity of ingredients, and stayed nice and crispy. Definitely recommended.
Apple tart
Mint ice cream
The desserts were average. Not bad but they looked like desserts you can get at the supermarket and they were too sweet. The dessert menu already makes you think that because it is one of these standard plastified menu with photos. We also had two limoncello (£6.40) and they were served icy as they should. We even got a free refill from the owner, which was nice of him. We ended the dinner with two good cups of coffee.
Cost and conclusion: it was £57 service charge not included and not automatically added to the bill. We like when it is left at the discretion of the client and in this case as the service was good they got a tip of course. With the exception of the desserts, the meals from the starters to the pizzas were good. It was the second time we went there in 3 months so we can say they appear quite reliable. It has also a nice atmosphere. Highly recommended if you are in the area!
Pizzeria Fiorentina 115 Tooting High Street London SW17 0SY
Pizzeria Fiorentina
There is a telephone booth inside the restaurant
While going to a pet store for buying a flea bomb (never let a stray cat visit your house by the way…) I noticed the pizzeria Fiorentina at the corner of Tooting High St. It looked nice from outside with its nice mix of pale orange and strong green colours. Inside, it is not fancy but it is not bad either, with rustic tables. One curiosity was a red telephone booth in the room. I did not go closer to check if it was real or some kind of furniture or even a fridge, who knows?
We ordered two pizzas: the pizza D’Ischia made of mozzarella, tomato, ham, mushrooms and olivies (£6.95) and a pizza Calzone (mozzarella, tomato, salami, ham, egg and olivies – £6.95). For drinking, we had an Italian Moretti beer (£2.75) and an Italian sparkling Monteforte water (£1.75). While the beer was perfectly cold, the water was not and was served with a glass full of icecubes and a slice of lemon.
Moretti beer but Peroni glass!
The beer was fine, while we regretted the water was not cold
We waited a long time to get our pizzas. I have never waited that long for just a pizza in my life. The restaurant was hardly full (we were the only clients!) so it was a little strange. After about 40 minutes or so they eventually arrived. First, we were surprised by their size which was small compared to what we usually get in other pizzerias. They look big in the pictures below but the plates were on the small side. Also, they looked too burnt.
The pizzas
The pizza calzone was alright at the beginning, but the salt (coming from the ham probably) eventually got me. The mozzarella cheese did not have any flavour, same for the ham (bar the salt) and the base was like bread. I certainly did not enjoy it and it was probably the worst pizza I had for a while, challenging my last, and unique, experience at Pizza Hut near Wandsworth Town 5 years ago.
The calzone is supposed to have an egg
One thing really bothered me. I chose the calzone because the menu mentioned an egg and it has been a long time I did not have that kind of calzone pizza. Well, the egg was nowhere! I thought my friend had it because we shared half of the pizza so we could both get a taste of the pizzas but she did not get it either.
Pizza D'Ischia
The pizza D’Ischia was maybe better than the calzone because it was crispier. The base was very bland though and overall the pizza was quite salty too. We thought this one looked like some average frozen pizza you can get at the supermarket. Both pizzas were quite dense, with a very compact and heavy base and – despite not finishing the pizzas – we did not feel well on the way home.
Cost and conclusion: it was £18.40 service charge not included. While it is a small bill we did not enjoy our meals. The last experience at Franco Manca was not good with a very average pizza but it was still way ahead compared to these. If you are looking for pizzas near Tooting Broadway I recommend Limoncello and Sette Bello where the atmosphere is nice and the restaurants are run by Italians. Here, the atmosphere was zero. On the upside, the prices for the drinks were reasonable.
