Its been a while since I’ve been out to dinner with Jules and Sandra (with the two of them together that is.) They certainly keep themselves busy, especially with Jules training constantly for his latest interest (triathlons) and with the both of them filling their weekends with either training or actual races! So we decided it would be nice to go out for a meal – especially as how they were both going away for a week’s leave and also I thought it would be nice to see Sandra before her birthday on Friday… We ended up going to Smithfield’s Bar and Grill which is actually only about five minute’s walk from my brother’s place!

Normally on weekends the area around Farringdon, which is where Smithfield’s Bar and Grill is, is fairly quiet until evening falls and then it starts to become quite a big party – especially with clubs like Fabric in the area.
Smithfield’s Bar and Grill is what is says – a bar at the front and a grill (restaurant) out the back. The bar bit, which you have to walk through to get to the Grill, was fairly busy and very noisy but as soon as you got to the restaurant some magic meant it was fairly calm and you could actually talk to each other without having to shout. A pleasant change.

Smithfield’s Bar and Grill is very attractive with very modern dark colours and bright lighting and white throughout. On corner tables they had round leather booths which were pretty cool. I quite liked the look and the toilets were pretty cool too – each one is individual with its own sink and air dryer.

The menu is described as Modern European with pretty much a mix of everything on their. Being situated across a meat market you’d expect there to be a lot of meat on the menu – and there is in the form of steaks and meaty pies but surprisingly also a huge variety of seafood offered on the menu. There are so many options its almost too overwhelming to make a choice. Funnily enough despite the variety both Sandra and Jules went for the same starters and the same mains (steaks – but different sizes!) ha ha. But this situation is not that unusual and actually normally I would have gone for the same things as they did except for some reason tonight I felt like going for completely different things but with similar themes (seafood followed by meat.) We all obviously have great taste. 🙂

Before our proper food came we had some bread that didn’t come pre-sliced. Sandra wanted me to point out that because of this it went absolutely everywhere!

Our starters – Salt & Pepper Calamari for Sandra and Jules and Mussels in a Coconut, Chilli, Lime and
Ginger broth. Looks pretty tasty right? I don’t how Sandra and Jules felt but I actually felt quite full after finishing with my mussels! Probably a good thing that I didn’t indulge in any of the bread to start with.

For my main I opted for the Ostrich (I can never resist unusual meat on a menu – even if I have tried it before.) It was served simply just garnished with caramelised onion so I also ordered a side of broccoli and cheese & chive mash. Mmmm … As I mentioned before Sandra and Jules both ordered steak (beef) with the difference being in the size. Unfortunately Jules steak was cut very thickly and as a result it was more rare than medium – it was very bloody though that didn’t stop him finishing it. The ostrich for me was just okay but didn’t really have that gamey flavour I’ve tasted previously in ostrich. It could have been beef steak for all I know. The mash was delicious however I couldn’t finish it because I started to feel really full and still wanted to leave room for dessert. Heh heh.

Dessert was delicious though Sandra’s grilled bananas with toffee and ice cream were literally bananas grilled – before peeling! Be warned when ordering this dessert though as there is a 15 minute wait it them.

Smithfield Bar and Grill was excellent value at 50% off. For all our food plus a round of softdrinks and service it only came to £26 which is pretty good considering what we actually ate. Good atmosphere too and fairly good service. The only minor complaint was that we were sat under an air-conditioning unit which was blasting the cold air straight down on us. Until they turned the temp up a bit it was a bit uncomfortable.

After a hard day’s sightseeing we fully deserved a fantastic meal. We met up with my brother at Great Queen Street. Teesh was really surprised to see how my little brother had grown up – the last time they saw each other he must have been about ten years old – a chubby little thing wearing cute little pjs!

Great Queen Street looks like a gastro pub but is actually more of a restaurant. Bookings are pretty much essential at this venue, especially on a Saturday night. We were seated by the window so we could see the goings on outside the window. Service was very relaxed and I was impressed that they didn’t try to rush us out the door.

There really was only one disappointment and that was the offerings on the menu. There wasn’t really much that caught my eye and disappointingly the desserts were pretty unimaginative. I can’t believe I didn’t have any dessert! So unlike me!

For our mains Pat and I ended up sharing this gigantic beef pie. It was pretty darn tasty and pretty darn huge. Big chunks of beef under a very thick crust pastry – parts of it actually needed a steak knife to get through it. Heh.

If I ever come back here I just hope the menu gets a bit more interesting for me.

Cyprus Mangal has to be Notting Hill’s/Bayswater’s little-known secret. New to the area I’ve often walked pass this modern Turkish restaurant wondering why it didn’t have that many patrons. Please note that this is not to be confused with another restaurant called Cyprus Mangal located in Pimlico though if reviews are to be read that Cyprus Mangal is also a gem.

Toptable had a 50% offer and for something a little different we decided to try it out for a work celebration lunch. Although a bit of a hike it certainly was a welcome change to the usual places we hit at lunch time in Hammersmith. The lunch was one of the best meals I’ve ever had in a while. Not only did the 50% off make it an absolute steal (so nice and reasonable for Jules and I to shout the team) the food quality is actually very good. Portion sizes are also generous. So much so that after two-courses there was no way we were going to fit in dessert.

Service was exemplary during our lunch. Admittedly it wasn’t very busy at all but the service was at the right level and also extremely friendly. On Friday and Saturdays you can be entertained by belly dancers if that’s your kind of think.

I get so excited when I see old brands with strange new flavours. I blogged about one new flavour a few months ago and today I saw that there was a multi pack of three different flavours! Sour Cream and Drive (okay – not so much a new flavour as a new name); Roast Beef & Horseracing; and Mango-Karting Chutney. Pretty cool huh? I’m a marketer’s dream ….

This pic may not look all that but trust me this Black Sesame Seed shake is to die for. The most delicious drink I’ve had in absolute ages!

Cheap eats are a dime a dozen in Chinatown especially with all the buffets suddenly popping up all over the place (including one that sadly replaced one of my favourite yum cha places Laureate 🙁 ) however Café de Hong Kong, which is not a buffet, delivers a little something different, as Timeout points out, from spag bol to creamy condensed milk on thick toast. Yum. But yes it is a Chinese restaurant so there are also loads of other traditional favourites on the dining menu too. Plus, in addition to the delicious Black Sesame Seed shake (a must try) there is a huge selection of bubble tea so everyone should find something to their satisfaction on the menu.

Its cheap, its fast, its tasty. Don’t think I really need to say much more than that.

This is ridiculous. Before March this year I don’t think I’ve ever been to the Haagen-Dazs in Leicester Square for dessert before and tonight I went again for the third time in about 6-7 weeks! (The last time I went was with Rehana after we saw Thriller Live!)

I’m not complaining though because I LOVE ice-cream. Tonight I went with Caro, Nate and Philippe. We’d actually just had dinner at Wagamama’s but just as I was getting excited about ordering their white chocolate ginger cheesecake somehow the idea of Häagen-Dazs came up!

At least the menu at Häagen-Dazs has changed now to reflect more spring/summer flavours. This time I decided to go with crepes to go with my ice-cream – it was a very good decision actually. Very yummy. Very filling.

Hilariously Philippe actually went for 4 scoops of ice-cream!! I must admit I was a bit jealous …