Dinner at The Dove

Patrick Restaurants, UK Life

London’s pub food has improved a lot with age and although finding your typical Bangers and Mash at any pub is not a difficult task, you will also find they now offer a much wider range of cosmopolitan cuisine. One that I ate at last Saturday is The Dove that can be found on the East side of London. Not to be confused with The Dove at Hammersmith that is most well known as the smallest bar in London, this pub is much bigger that also doubles as a Belgian Pub. The menu can be overwhelming serving English food, Belgian essentials including Moule and Frites, and a surprisingly great selection of Thai food but is definitely worth the effort.

You will find this gastro pub located nearest to the Bethnal Green tube station but you may have to catch a bus to more easily get there. Unlike most pubs, this once offers a separate dining area that is also smoke free. It also has a sister pub called The Dovetail that can be found closer to the city that I have also heard about good things for this place.

Details: The Dove
Found on: 24-28 Broadway Market, Hackney, E8 4QJ
Contactable on: 020 7836 4751
Highlights: Fantastic variety of food, reasonable prices, huge selection of beer, non-smoking dining area in a pub
Room for improvement:A little out of the way for people from the West and South side of London
The Kua Rating: 7.5 out of 10

A Poor Experience at Mahal Indian

Patrick Restaurants, UK Life

I rarely write reviews about restaurants and cafes that are simply average, or just so-so because, well frankly, there are too many of them and it would take up too much of my time. A consequence of this is that most of my reviews end up pretty positively skewed towards the higher end of the rating scale. Last night I dined at a restaurant that I thought deserved to be reviewed, but this time, not so positively.

Mahal Indian Cuisine is located almost half way between the Notting Hill Gate and the Queensway tube stations. From the outside it looks to be quite decent, with nice cloth napkins and fairly large wine glasses welcoming people to their tables. I’d walked by there a few times on my way to the tube station, and so on an early Sunday evening, my sister and I decided to have dinner there. A couple more tables were filled but by no means could you call it busy.

We caught glimpses of the poor quality of service we were about to receive when we first placed our order, or at least tried to. Despite having only two tables in the restaurant at the time, and closing our menus right in front of the waiters, it still took them about ten minutes before they came around. After another fifteen minutes, apparently the average time to pour some juice from a bottle, they finally delivered some drinks but somehow got our order confused with the only other table right next to us. We were quite pleased that the curries were quite good when they finally arrived but beware the rice and naan for which you pay above average prices for below average serves.

Despite business remaining fairly quiet throughout the night, the two waiters still managed to ignore all solid attempts at pleasing their customers. It seemed to take at least two requests before anything arrived (both the request for water and the bill) and took even longer to be able to make eye contact or a gesture at one of them to come over. It got so bad that I was almost at the point of having to tap one on the shoulder.

I highly recommend other people staying clear of the place – there are much better curry houses to spend your money in London.

Details: Mahal Indian Restaurant
Found on: 6 Wellington Terrace, Notting Hill Gate, London, W2 4LW
Contactable on: 020 7229 3553
Highlights: The chicken in the Makhini was surprisingly tender and the lychee juice was quite nice.
Room for improvement:A terrible attitude from the waiters, leading to discourteous service, and an appalling response from any requests made by customers.
The Kua Rating: 3 out of 10

Dinner at The Ivy

Patrick London To Do, Restaurants

The Ivy The initial question guaranteed when you tell people that you had dinner at The Ivy is, ‘How did you manage to get a table there?’ It is one of those places in London that you must book ahead, from anything up to four and six months for a table of two. The biggest reason that my sister wanted to go to this place was because it was well known for one of those haunts where you might cross paths with some celebrity. I, on the other hand, don’t really care too much for celebrity status with my preferences being placed more heavily on the great food, service and ambiance and despite my initial thoughts that it might be a pretty pretentious environment, I was pleased to find that everyone was treated equally and the service was prompt, polite and unobtrusive to the entire dining experience.

The Ivy is located on a rather non-descript street just at the back of Covent Garden and you would never really guess that it contained such a famous restaurant, with perhaps its only indication being a doorman dressed in black tails welcoming you as you enter. The restaurants’ windows are made of, what looked like, 1920s stained glass, effectively preventing anyone from being able to peer inside or out, but adding to the nice dining atmosphere. Darkly stained wooden veneer covers much of the insides and the dimmed lighting helps to add much to the ambiance of the entire place. The main dining room, for which you pay a £2 per person privilege for eating there) is not as large as you might expect and the tables are optimised to make use of the entire space without making you feel uncomfortably close to other diners. There are plenty of wait staff buzzing around resetting tables, taking orders, and delivering food and drink and yet it did not seem like a chaotic environment.

Bang Bang ChickenThe menu has a large variety of offerings, with many of the items constantly changing on a weekly basis and is best described as a combination of innovative contemporary and traditional English meals. A wide variety of meats, seafood and game is on offer, all cooked in many different styles and dressed with many different sauces. For the sort of place that it is, I was surprised to see that many of its dishes were not ridiculously over priced, with many of its main dishes below £20. Be warned though that, if you decide to go the full three course meal, the starters and dessert prices are not as slim for what you get.

For my starter, I ordered the Bang Bang chicken just out of curiosity. It was a dish in which smoked chicken lightly brushed with a sweet-chilli sauce, covered in a smooth peanut sauce laid a top a bed of finely sliced vegetables. The smoke flavour in the chicken was deliciously subtle though probably over powered by the peanut sauce that seemed a little bit more like peanut butter than anything else.

The Fillet of CodMy main was a grilled fillet of cod served with on a bed of crab risotto and my sister and I shared a side of Parmesan-fried courgettes served with tomato relish. The thick slice of fish that arrived was perfectly cooked with a nicely charred bottom and juicy flesh that you could tell had just gone from being translucent to white. The small bed of risotto that accompanied the fish was also excellent, each mouthful bursting with flavour but without being overly fishy.

To finish off the evening, I had the dessert of the night, which was a piece of vanilla roasted pineapple served with a scoop of lime and coconut ice. Although the warmed pineapple was perhaps a bit overly sweet, its soft flesh was perfectly paired with a bit of the ice which was strongly flavoured and slightly tart. The caramelised edges were probably the best bit of the pineapple as it had the strongest vanillan flavour but unfortunately its excessive sweetness overcame me and I could not finish it.

After dining at the restaurant, I am actually quite glad that I did go as it was a unique experience. It’s not one that I can afford to do any time soon and I can now actually recommend the experience to everyone. Taking pictures of my food was tolerated until the flash accidentally went off when taking a picture of my main, so unfortunately no picture of the dessert.

Details: The Ivy
Found on: 1 – 5 West Street, London WC2H 9NQ
Contactable on: 020 7836 4751
Highlights: A fine dining experience at (relatively) reasonable prices and for those inclined, the opportunity for a celebrity sighting.
Room for improvement: It would good if you didn’t have to book so many months in advance.
The Kua Rating: 9 out of 10

A For Amato

Patrick Restaurants, The 'He Who Knows' Challenge

AmataoOn the way to Maoz for lunch on Friday, I stumbled across Amato, one of the places I was asked to review by He Who Knows. I thought that even though a hot chocolate would be nice after lunch, I was too full from the falafel pita to even consider it. I did however end up going much later in the afternoon and let’s just say that I wasn’t disappointed.

Looking in from the outside, the decor and shop front gives little indication that this cafe offers that much, but do not be put off by the store’s appearance. If anything, the wide assortment of cakes, biscuits, the other afternoon team and the buzz of the people inside should give you an indication that this place is actually pretty good. It seems that quite a number of people go there by themselves just to indulge in a coffee or tea and a slice of cake. I, on the other hand, had a mission to complete and so promptly ordered a hot chocolate to have in.

Amazing by the time that I had walked into the place, gave my order, and finally pulled up a table and chair, my hot chocolate appeared out of nowhere. I was blown over by the size of the cup that arrived, about the same size as a mugaccino from back home. I mistakenly took a quick sip and found myself gagging at what seemed like dirty water. A quick dip of the spoon however seemed to indicate that a nice slurry of real chocolate laid like a sunken treasure and you only had to stir the waters to bring out the drink’s full potential. After finishing off the hot chocolate I was glad that I hadn’t ordered a slice of cake but was the hot chocolate worth the £2.50. I definitely say yes.

Details: Amato
Found on: 14 Old Compton Street, London, W1D 4TH
Contactable on: 020 7734 5733
Highlights: A to-die-for hot chocolate that was actually real chocolate, with a nice atmosphere and a wide selection of cakes and afternoon tea delicacies.
Room for improvement: None that I could think of
The Kua Rating: 9 out of 10

Lunch with Maoz

Patrick Restaurants

MaozWhen I was working in the office a couple of weeks back, I went out to lunch with the Ops team to this fantastic place called Maoz. The key to this vegetarian Dutch chain of take-away joints (this one was the first in London), is the freshness and variety of salads on offer. Its core menu item is the fresh falafel that you see being formed and cooked right as you order it, served up in a fresh brown or white wrap to which you can load on a ridiculous heaping of differently dressed salads.

Details: Maoz
Found on: 43 Old Compton Street, Soho
Highlights: Offers a huge variety of salads, fresh falafel, pretty good chips (for the UK), fresh juices and a busy vibe.
Room for improvement: Store gets pretty busy at lunch-time and more seating could be offered (but a perpetual problem in the UK)
The Kua Rating: 7 out of 10

Covent’s Belgo Centraal

Patrick Restaurants

Belgo CentralAlthough Belgium is apparently just a Eurostar train ride away, I’m surprised that I haven’t yet had food nor a beer from a Belgium restaurant or bar. As you can probably tell from the title of this post, that all changed last night as I feasted on a filling meal at the Belgo Centraal restaurant. Located opposite the Paul Frank store and Neal’s Yard in Convent Garden, a flight of stairs will take you down to the spacious basement holding the huge kitchens and the large number of tables and benches making up the restaurant.

Until this morning I did not realise that the Belgo Centraal is actually part of a larger chain (funnily enough called Belgo Restaurants) but not on the same scale as your McDonalds franchise. It seems that the chain is having a promotion for many of its restaurants and last night we partook in the Beat the Clock one. By ordering one of the promotional meals (that is also served with a Maes lager, house wine or soft drink) you only pay the price at the time of your order as long as it is between 5pm and 6:30pm.

Thrilled by the mussels (or moule as they call it) at the Belgium Beer Café back home, I decided to go for the moule and frites special. Although I will admit that the meal was not as good as the same as you would get back home, it was still tasty overall. Perhaps it was the size of the more miniature mussels that took more effort eating, or that it was the white wine sauce (or did you ask for soup?), or maybe it was the frites that were more like french fries than anything (still definitely much better than your typical English chip affair, but not matching the extravagance and crispness of the thick beer battered ones back home). Don’t be mislead by my detailed description, the mussels were still a huge serve and extremely tasty even without the sauce. My sister and her friend both ordered a chicken which was I was told was extremely succulent through and full of flavour, even with the rich sauce that almost drowned it.

The food was so good that we even decided to follow it with a dessert comprised of a Belgian waffle sitting in a rich dark chocolate sauce and topped with a scoop of hazelnut ice-cream.

Details: Belgo Centraal
Found on: 50 Earlham Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2 9HP
Contactable on: +44 (0)20 7813 2233
Highlights: Open tables and atmosphere that is quite busy but not overwhelmingly noisy. Good food and beer selection (the schnapps sticks looked deadly though entertaining). Beat the clock deal also offers great value for diners.
Room for improvement: Benches are a little too close together, perhaps making it too easy for a knee in the back as people walk by.
The Kua Rating: 7 out of 10

I’ll have a Vespa with that Coffee thanks!

Patrick Restaurants

Vespa on the MenuYesterday my good friend Kath (a fellow Brisbanite) came down from Oxford to visit me in London yesterday. It was a beautiful London day, and we walked around town and ended up having a coffee at Putney just across the river Thames. Avoiding the Rocket Restaurant Riverside this time, as I saw that awful waitress serving, we sat down at a nice little cafe that ended up being Carluccio’s (as in after Antonio Carluccio, the famous chef that can be seen on some cooking shows). I didn’t realise that the cafe bore any relationship until we went to have a look at the deli inside the cafe and saw his cookbook there. It’s a very nice deli, small but serving a good variety of things, from salads, cured meats, sweets and cakes, and well as many various packaged goods.

Feeling like I wanted to avoid anything with lots of caffeine, I tried the Cioccolata Fiorentina (described as a thick drinking chocolate in an espresso cup) but couldn’t help but laugh when I saw what was at the end of the menu (a Piaggo Vespa for only £1799)!

Rocket Restaurants, London

Patrick Restaurants

Last night I attended Ben’s surprise birthday dinner, organised by Michelle and held at the Rocket Restaurant (Riverside). This bar and restaurant overlooks the Thames and is within walking distance of the Putney Bridge. It’s excellent location means that any sunset on a summer evening is going to be spectacular, assuming that the day is not suffering from London’s typical drizzle. The restaurants has seating both inside and out, but the most eye-catching seat in the resturant is the clam shaped, circular seating into which we all crammed ourselves in last night.

Food at the Rocket Restaurant is best classified as modern cosmpolitan, serving a wide variety of pizzas and calzones, as well as steak, tuna, sashimi and dinner salads. They also have a small number of starers, an excellent selection of side dishes but the size of their main meals do not warrant one. They also have a pretty ordinary dessert menu, with each item offered at £5. Although I did not have any, I was told that the strawberry chesscake (lavishly drizzled with strawberry juice and built up on a mini circular biscuit base) was excellent.

I had the vegetarian pizza served with lots of fresh Mozzarella was huge and extremely tasty. I ended up giving up a lot of it as it was so big and had ordered a side of Zucchini Fritters as well. The small individually battered zucchini chips were served on a decently-sized plate, and the naturally sweet flesh of the zucchini, well balanced with the light, crisp and saltiness of the batter was well received by everyone who had a taste.

Details: Rocket Restaurant (Map)
Found on: Brewhouse Street, Putney Wharf, Putney, SW15 2NS
Contactable via: 0208 789 7875
Highlights: Food quality was pretty good. Decently sized meals. Wide variety of side dishes and salads
Room for improvement: No drinks menu, service was shocking.