The Chelsea Kitchen is one of those places that you just can’t put together. It’s located in the trendy Chelsea area with the nearest tube station being Sloane Square. At first I thought that this place was simply another English greasy spoon but upon closer inspection of the hand written menu hanging outside, it is clearly at least an Italian equivalent with greasy-spoon like prices.

Inside it looks very genteel, with the top floor filled with brightly lit wooden booths and the downstairs just as antiquated. We ate on the bottom floor at a large wooden table that could have easily been a wine cellar in a former incarnation as indicated by the arched wooden slates around us. Unfortunately the décor doesn’t really go hand in hand with all the other offerings of this place.

The prices at this place are dead cheap, and if the décor looks this good, something else had to give. In our dining experience it was the service that we received, and the presentation of the food that suffered the most, but thankfully not the food itself as much.

When we first arrived at the Chelsea Kitchen we were told to go downstairs since the upstairs was busy. After wandering around downstairs (there’s no obvious queuing, nor waiting area) we asked one of the attendants who rudely told us to return upstairs because it was full downstairs. We walked back upstairs and since we were hungry, I was almost ready to leave for another place until the owner took us back downstairs and got the waitress to find us a table. After that we actually had quite a nice waitress attending to us but she only came to take the order and deliver the food, and not check up on us throughout the meal.

The menu is interesting as it looks hand written and I take it as a good sign that it must change a little bit from season to season. There are plenty of dishes to pick from depending on how hungry you are from various types of starters, sandwiches, salads, pastas, grills, and puddings. At the price of the mains (none exceeding £6) we received decently sized meals (served with both chips and vegetables). It’s not presented beautifully. In fact, the food sits on a plate you would expect to see at your typical English greasy spoon café. Thankfully looks aren’t everything and both of our meals (the Veal Escalopina Ala Diavola and the Chicken Parmigiana) were extremely delicious and very filling.

The Chelsea Kitchen appeared extremely popular and with good reason for its affordable and hearty meals. It’s never going to win awards for service especially the excessively fast turnaround of customers but I’m sure there are plenty of places in that area if you really want that.

Details: The Chelsea Kitchen
Found on: 98 Kings Road, London, SW3 4TZ
Contactable on: 0871 3328713
Highlights: A place consistently serving hearty meals at very affordable prices. A large variety of offerings from English and Italian foods. The layout is slightly dated, but does add a bit of charisma to the place.
Room for improvement: Service can be shocking if it’s busy, and don’t expect Michelan star presented or quality food.
The Kua Rating: 7 out of 10

Before heading out to the theatre on Tuesday, I went for dinner at a new Japanese place that had recently opened near Holborn. Prices appeared comparable to Yo Sushi but the range appeared much larger and appeared a little bit more authentic than the other modernised chain. This store is part of a larger International chain (there’s other stores in Seoul, Hollywood and Paris as well), and it appeared to be run by Koreans, so expect a few twists on your typical Japanese dishes.

The atmosphere is a little bit more traditional if you manage to ignore the pop music blasting away in the background. We sat at the sushi bar and with the number of staff that buzzed around us, it was not at all difficult getting service throughout our meal. The sushi was freshly made and tasted of quality ingredients, but it helps that we sat down just after their restaurant opened at 6pm. The best thing I liked about this restaurant was their wide variety of sushi, with many of your traditional rolls and sashimi in addition to some uniquely inspired combinations that could be ordered in hand roll, or your typically cut sushi roll style. One of the different twists we had included some soft shell crab rolls that admittedly was a little overpowered by the mayonnaise. My most favourite sushi of the night was the unagi sushi (eel sushi) since the eel was extremely tender and saucy, unlike the drier varieties I have had at other sushi places.

I’ve written before about how expensive Japanese food is in London and though Sushi Hiroba serves excellent quality sushi, I would still budget for a more expensive meal. I found it worth it though considering the quality of the ingredients and the greater variety of sushi available. Better yet is that they don’t charge for water at your table either.

Details: Sushi Hiroba
Found on: 50-54 Kingsway, Holborn, London, WC2B 6EP
Contactable on: 020 7430 1888
Highlights: Super attentive service, unique variety of sushi, delicious unagi sushi and service is still only 10%
Room for improvement: It’d be nice if the wasabi wasn’t the reconstituted powdered variety.
The Kua Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Last night I had dinner at the opening of a yet another location of Wagamama’s, with the new store opening at Earl’s Court. Openings to Wagamama’s are great if you can get invites to one, since you get a main, a side dish, two drinks, and as much mineral water as you want – all for free. The restaurant gets a lot out of this by testing their staff and seeing how they cope with a restaurant at full capacity. The only thing they ask of you is to fill out a simple questionnaire about your attendant and the things that you liked and disliked about your experience.

Since this was my first opening ever, I decided to try two dishes I’d never had before at Wag’s – the Chicken Yakitori and the Ebi Raisukaree. The yakitori sticks went down a treat, smothered in delicious yakitori sauce, while the Ebi Raisukaree was admittedly disappointing. Despite the rice being drowned in a Thai like curry sauce and surrounded with lots of vegetables and prawns, it seemed like I had been given someone else’s “extra” dish since it came along luke warm. At least I got mine though, with two of the people dining with us, not getting theirs until our waiter noticed it missing and followed it up. Other than that, the food was at least standard Wagamama’s quality and the service was typical over the top friendly.

There’s not too much different about this location compared to many other branches, other than perhaps a few smaller tables for your own instead of the large benches, and a staircase equipped with a motorised chair to help anyone who might have troubles with them. At least the food and service they offer is definitely consistent with their other outlets and you generally can’t go wrong eating here.

Details: Wagamama, Earl’s Court
Found on: 180-182 Earl’s Court Road, London, SW5 9QG
Contactable on: 020 7373 9660
Highlights: Openings mean clean bright new diggs, free food and generally over the top service.
Room for improvement: My main (Ebi Raisukaree) was disappointingly warm, considering they pride themselves on prompt delivery.
The Kua Rating: 7 out of 10

This Indian restaurant is tucked away on a small side street not to far from Piccadilly Circus, and serves modernised dishes from numerous regions around India. I believe the menu, or at least some of the regional specialities rotate quite frequently, and they also serve some classic dishes for those that are not as adventurous. This restaurant is owned by the Mela Group, of both Mela and Soho Spice fame, and though the food is not as cheap as many other restaurants around London, I think you get excellent quality for the price.

Tables are split into two main rooms, with each dining table being effectively one long bench and shared Wagamama style. Each night they offer two platters (a non-vegetarian and a vegetarian) that allow you to sample large amounts of different dishes. The main meals off the menu are also served with rice, naan and a daal-like dish so at least you are not forced to order additional sides to make a complete meal. Dishes are presented exceptionally well, with most of the dishes served in little crescent-shaped white plates that fit together perfectly to form an entire platter in front of you.

We had outstanding service the night we went. One of our dining members was taking a phone call when all of our meals arrived, and one of the waitresses insisted keeping the food warm until he came back. Even better was that despite being relatively busy that night, the waitress immediately noticed his return to the table, and promptly delivered his food still piping hot.

Details: Chowki
Found on: 2-3 Denman Street, London, W1D 7HA
Contactable on: 0871 3328062
Highlights: Wagamama-ish style dining tables, quality foods at reasonable prices. Great service on the night as well.
Room for improvement: The place becomes extremely noisy despite its high ceilings and fairly wide spaces so avoid if you want a little bit more personal space or a bit more of an intimate affair.
The Kua Rating: 8 out of 10

Charcoal cooking is guaranteed to be an amazing dining experience, especially when it is done at an Argentinean restaurant, where they part delicate smoky flavours to their food over a parilla (an Argentine charcoal grill). Quite recently I was able to indulge in a wonderful meal at Buen Ayre up in Broadway Market (see my thoughts on another restaurant close by called The Dove).

This little Argentine Grill & Bar offers a simple but effective menu and although they exceed the expectations of a wonderful Argentine beef eating experience, they do also cater for vegetarians with their grilled mushrooms, aubergines and haloumi cheese.

The various steaks they offer are apparently from Argentine and for the flavour, texture and preparation you get, I think is definitely worth the average of £12 per steak. I was fortunate enough to be dining with a large group of people so we also tried a number of their other dishes including their empanadas, grilled provolone cheese, ox tongue and chips with garlic butter. Pretty much everything was wiped clean except for the ox tongue that not even the brave person who ordered it could finish. I think it’s extremely thick cut combined with its unique texture and strong flavour is only for the true aficionado.

One of the best things about this restaurant includes their innovative extension of the parilla to the dining table. These excellently valued parrilladas are definitely worth getting if you have least two people. Each parrillada (a small brazier) arrives at the table filled with hot charcoals and topped with a plethora of meats including steak, sausages and a variety of sides depending on which one you choose.

Before eating at this restaurant I don’t think I have eaten that much meat since arriving in the UK, but I really enjoyed the atmosphere and the quality of the meat that we ate. Broadway market is not exactly close to a tube station and even though you should make a reservation, I think it is most definitely worth the trip out to East London for it.

Details: Santa Maria del Buen Ayre
Found On: 50 Broadway Market, London E8 4QJ
Contactable On: 020 7275 9900 or their website
Highlights: Great parilla cooking, fantastic quality steaks at very reasonable prices all in a great atmosphere.
Improvements: Bookings are timed and its location means you have to get a bus from the tube station.
The Kua Rating: 8 out of 10