Belgo, Clapham - Restaurant Review

Cuisine: Belgian

Cost:  

Rating:

Where?:  44 - 48 Clapham High Road, Clapham.  SW4 7UR.

Closest station(s): Clapham North, Clapham Common, Clapham High Street Rail.

Telephone:  0207 720 1118

Website: http://www.belgo-restaurants.co.uk

It had been a while since I had visited a branch of this Belgian chain restaurant – having previously tried the ever busy Belgo Centraal in Covent Garden. The Clapham branch can be found at the northern end of Clapham High Road, easily recognisable with its quite shockingly dull grey frontage with a smattering of beer garden tables at the front.

Going in I was surprised to see just how busy it was, it was packed. Having been seated it was then an age before our drinks order was taken and then another near lifetime before the drinks actually arrived. Alongside the moules & frites in which the place specialises, the rest of the menu is rather eclectic and tries to please all with a selection of rotisserie, steak, duck, fish & chips and seabass.

Not being in the mood for moules I went for something that I rarely eat in restaurants - chicken. The dish that came to the table was truly spectacular; I was close to calling a doctor at one point during the meal as it was so dry I was struggling to breath let alone swallow. I can’t remember the last time I had a less pleasant dish. Seeking to reintroduce at least a little moisture into my mouth I tried my dining partner’s moules, though better than the chicken, for somewhere where they are the speciality they were poor. They lacked any real flavour and were instantly forgettable. With mains from £10 - £18 it is not an expensive restaurant; however even for that money a lot more could be expected.

I was surprised at how poor I found the meal at Belgo Clapham – the service was poor and the food was pretty awful; making the fact that it was so busy rather depressing. There are much better meals out there for the same price with better staff, better décor and infinitely better food. If you ever want to know what sandblasting your mouth would feel like then all you need to do is try their chicken.

Hot Stuff - Restaurant Review

Cuisine: Indian

Cost:  

Rating:

Where?: 19, Wilcox Road, Vauxhall. SW8 2XA.

Closest station(s): Vauxhall, Wandsworth Road Station Stockwell, Oval.      

Telephone:  0207 720 1480

Website: www.welovehotstuff.com   

A friend of mine booked Hot Stuff having heard great things from people at work, having been told I was going I had a quick look at some reviews and was quite shocked to have not heard of it previously – it could hardly be rated more highly.

The restaurant can be found hidden on a parade of shops before you reach Vauxhall from the West. This could not be said to be an upmarket road, to be entirely honest I believe I turned and checked that my central locking had definitely beeped twice. The restaurant is tiny, only holding about 25 – 30 people, tightly packed in – though luckily with the front of the restaurant opening up almost completely it does not become claustrophobic.

The instant we arrived there was an extremely friendly welcome, including the question as to whether we had eaten there before (no, it is not part of the harvester chain they were simply being polite). We were told that most people simply have a selection of dishes brought out having flagged any allergies or particular dislikes and that this would come to about £15 per person. Wanting to get into the spirit of things and with the staff being so friendly we went with their suggestion and waited for the onslaught of dishes.

Throughout our meal we did not have a bad dish. From the chilli paneer, to the mixed bhajis, to the goat lamb, to the table sized naan and ending with a selection of delicious side dishes the cooking was reliable, tasty, fresh and fully enjoyed by all. Was it the best Indian meal I have ever had? No. Was it some of the best food? No. It was however very good and without a dud. We came nowhere near finishing the dishes that were placed before us, though not for a want of trying.

The food at Hot Stuff is very good however it is the rest of the experience that combines to make it a great restaurant. The size of the restaurant and the no frills way in which it set up makes an extremely pleasant change from those restaurants that are trying all too hard to be something that they are not. A napkin made of some hideously thick material that is draped over ones lap with unnecessary pomp is not superior to a paper one brought to someone who is happy to have a chat - Hot Stuff certainly proves this. The service and the staff really do make Hot Stuff what it is, it is a while since I last had such friendly and genuine people serving me.

If the above was not enough Hot Stuff is bring your own (BYO) and there is no corkage fee – which to my mind is something that is difficult to beat. The off license next to the restaurant has a truly hideous selection of wine – however pop out to the main road and to Sainsbury’s and you find yourself in better stead.

I will certainly be returning to Hot Stuff, the cooking is good, the service great, you can take your own alcohol and for all that you pay a pittance. 

The Avalon - Restaurant Review

Cuisine: Modern European

Cost: 

Rating: 

Where?:  16, Balham Hill, London. SW12 9EB

Closest station(s): Clapham South, Clapham Common, Clapham Junction, Balham.    

Telephone:  0208 675 8613

Website: www.theavalonlondon.com  

Being a delightful summer’s day and wanting to sit outside the Avalon seemed a good choice as somewhere to go for sustenance and a drop of wine. Falling into the category of gastropub the Avalon sits between Clapham South and Balham with a large terrace at the front and a huge garden at the back. Whilst the atmosphere is pleasant enough there is something a little flat about the whole place, the inside is forgettable and the outside rather like someone went on a shopping trip to a garden centre and bought all the chunky wooden furniture they could find without a thought as to how it would look when they got home.

I thoroughly enjoyed my starter of crab with wasabi aioli, cucumber and fried basil (£6.95)– not a complicated dish but one that was well suited to the good weather and packing sufficient flavour. It was therefore rather a shame that the mains were such a let-down. There was nothing specifically wrong with my dish of linguine with rock shrimps, garlic and lemon; apart from the lack any real flavour. Eating the dish was very much like eating a bowl of pasta that one might knock up at home in a couple of minutes with a dollop of jarred pesto smeared on top – on this occasion it simply had a scattering of prawns. My dining partner’s stuffed courgette with lentils and mozzarella was again uninspiring and bland (and a little too healthy for my tastes). I don’t believe that the ingredients necessarily lend themselves to great feats of flavour, however if the chef hadn’t thought of a way to give the dish some taste then it has to be questioned whether it should be on the menu. At £11 - £21 for mains, though not expensive, a lot more could have been expected.

At £14 the house wine was perfectly acceptable and the bloody Mary with which I started was also well made. The Avalon is not a bad pub, I would happily return to sit in at the front to have a cheapish bottle of wine in the sun and perhaps share a couple of the cheaper starters to fight off any pangs of hunger. I will not however be returning to for a meal, as with too many places it has attempted to jump on the gastropub band wagon without, to my mind, considering what it means or putting sufficient effort into the food.  

The Glasshouse - Restaurant Review

Cuisine:  French

Cost: 

Rating: 

Where?:  14, Station Parade, Kew, TW9 3PZ.

Closest station(s): Kew Gardens, Kew Bridge, Richmond.

Telephone: 0208 940 6777

Website: www.glasshouserestaurant.co.uk

Another restaurant from those that have brought us Chez Bruce and La Trompette, the Glasshouse attempts to use the same formula as the other; namely: good produce simply cooked, excellent friendly service and a smart whilst relaxed dining space.

The Glasshouse follows the formula closely and with very pleasant results. The foie gras parfait was delicious, the pork cheeks were excellent and though I can’t understand why the menu calls it ‘raw spicy beef’; the steak tartare again was a delicious plate of food with the flavours working well on the plate. The only disappointment was the salmon and skate ravioli which was a little tasteless, unnecessarily large and the pasta too thick.

The puddings were again good, however with the stunning cheeseboard on offer I would personally always choose that over dessert. The service was efficient and attentive; without however becoming intrusive. The dining area is plain but pleasant enough; there is something a little too sparse about it however it is only as offensive as neutral can be.  You will find a couple of decent bottles of wine for about £23 and I found a lovely Bordeaux for £25. The menu is £39.50 for three courses which doesn’t seem extortionate for somewhere which ticks so many boxes; you will also often find good lunch deals that make it great value. The Glasshouse is a reliable restaurant, not necessarily quite as good as its siblings but still rarely a disappointment.

Vingt Quatre - Restaurant Review

Cuisine: Eclectic

Cost:  

Rating:

Where?:  325 Fulham Road, London SW10 9QL

Closest station(s): South Kensington, Gloucester Road, Earl’s Court.    

Telephone:  020 7376 7224

Website: www.vingtquatre.co.uk   

 I managed to even shock myself with how much I disliked my outing to Vingt Quatre. As its name suggests the selling point of Vingt Quatre is that it is open 24 hours a day, allegedly offering a fair selection of well cooked food at times that one would ordinarily be condemned to a kebab house.

The first thing that put me off was the décor; the high backed bench seating is unappealing and fails to create a restaurant atmosphere – surely the whole point of the venture is to offer a restaurant experience at anti-social hours. The menu managed to alienate me further; fish & chips, pork escalope Milanese, three cheese macaroni, wok fried vegetables – yes, the menu would appear to have been selected at random; reminiscent of a motorway service station.

You will however find Vingt Quatre busy on a Friday and Saturday between midnight and 3am; with those who have escaped local watering holes in search of food and importantly more alcohol not having a huge number of other options. I have little love for Vingt Quatre, the alcohol is absurdly priced (£17 for a half bottle of house wine in the early hours – when it is in the region of £13 for a bottle during the day) and the food too is rather steep for the mediocre fare.

Why the owners decided to churn out an eclectic mix of average food, rather than trying to offer something unique - namely decent food for when you leave a pub, bar or club I do not know. To my mind if you want food and drink at 3 or 4 in the morning then you would be better off going home,  ordering a pizza and visiting www.drinks-delivery.co.uk.

Le Pot Lyonnais - Restaurant Review

Cuisine:  French

Cost:  

Rating:

Where?:  36-40,  Queenstown Road, Battersea, London. SW8 3RY.

Closest station(s): Battersea Park, Queenstown Road.

Telephone: 0207 622 2618

Website: N/A  

If you had asked me a year ago what I thought of the Pot Lyonnais I would have heaped praise on the place; it has now unfortunately started to slip.  The restaurant is open from mid-morning for breakfast right through lunch and dinner and then seems to close when the last people have decided to leave.

The Pot Lyonnais offers a bar menu including a burger and steak sandwich and also an a la carte menu offering most French classics. The establishment is huge, offering two bar areas, a specific dining area and then outside seating. The restaurant part is never busy, most people choosing to eat at the tables in the bar area. In summer the outside area, though on the pavement of a busy road, has a great charm to it and I would certainly recommend it as somewhere to have a relaxed bottle of wine after work. The beer is horrible – I have no idea what they do to it but it has a bizarre taste; this judgement being made having tried it at least ten times on different occasions.  

I have extremely mixed feelings about the food. The breakfast is a little hit and miss, the eggs benedict can at times be excellent but I have also had a couple of very poor experiences. The bar menu I would highly recommend, sitting outside in the sun recently eating the steak sandwich with frites along with a nice glass of Bordeaux is heavenly.

The main menu is again rather hit and miss. The charcuterie selection is impressively uninspiring, often containing a poor selection of not particularly good meats. The steak wasn’t great either – surprisingly poorly cooked for somewhere that ticks most other boxes for authentic French cooking. I would happily eat the confit de canard with pommes salardaise daily; it would however leave me requiring a triple heart bypass within a year but when furring of the arteries tastes that good then it may just be worth it.

The prices for the a la carte don’t usually appear too bad on the menu however for some reason each time I eat off it I am surprised at how the bill comes to generally spending more than I would want to pay for what I had received.

Overall I would recommend the Pot Lyonnais for a bottle of wine and a snack in the evening or a wonderfully relaxed lunch – I would not however go there for a three course evening meal, there are simply better looking restaurants, with better service and better food in the vicinity. 

Varanasi chefs - Restaurant Review

Cuisine:  Indian

Cost:  

Rating:

Where?:  142, Battersea high Street, London. SW11 3JR.

Closest station(s): Clapham Junction.  

Telephone: 020 7228 3145

Website: www.varanasichefs.co.uk

Varanasi Chefs is tucked away on Battersea High Street, a rather shabby road that I had not eaten on previously. The décor is pretty standard for a run of the mill Indian restaurant, perfectly comfortable and welcoming however little more. The menu immediately caught my attention with a selection of dishes that don’t prescribe to the standard ‘samosa, bhaji, sheikh kebab, chicken tikka’ formula that you find on so many high street Indian restaurant menus. Here instead you have papri chaat, aloo tikki chaat and the wonderfully named lamb mo mo. So, the menu may be a little out of the ordinary however at Varanasi Chefs prices (pretty much all starters under £5) I wasn’t expecting them to be anything special.

The starters that arrived at the table were stunning, real effort has been made to make the starters a feast for the eyes as well as the stomach. These starters have the look of those you would find in an upmarket Indian restaurant; this is certainly more Benares or Cinnamon Kitchen than your bog standard high street Indian restaurant. The starters were without exception excellent.

The mains that followed were also very good, however they could not quite live up to the theatre or excellence of the starters. The sides, roti and naan were all particularly good – the Daal was one of the finest I have had.

I hold great affection for Varanasi Chefs, the staff are extremely friendly and attentive and the house wine comes in around £13. The last time I went I just had starters, which turned out to be a great meal. In addition, the restaurant often has offers in place that make the already reasonably priced food an absolute steal. 

Mien Tay, Battersea - Restaurant Review

Cuisine:  Vietnamese

Cost: 

Rating: 

Where?:  180, Lavender Hill, Battersea, SW11 5TQ.   

Closest station(s): Clapham Junction, Queenstown Road.  

Telephone: 0207 350 0721

Website: www.mientay.co.uk  

There is something about bring your own (BYO) restaurants that I love, it is such a pleasant surprise to come across them as I know that I can enjoy a decent bottle of wine or two with a meal and not have to pay the earth – the great shame is that the majority of BYO restaurants are, frankly, crap. I was therefore intrigued when I heard about Mien Tay, a Vietnamese BYO restaurant with great plaudits from those I trust when it comes to food.

The outside of the restaurant is not very appealing to say the least. The colour scheme includes a decidedly unpleasant green and I don’t think they have done themselves any favours by sticking up newspaper cuttings of reviews they have received. Inside it is pretty bare; white table clothes adorn closely packed tables with little of interest on the walls.

You will generally find Mien Tay packed. When seeking to go for the first time I was surprised to be informed that they were fully booked for the first two attempts. The food in Mien Tay is largely very good. The spring rolls were exceptional and the sesame prawn toast were delicious, without a hint of grease. The clay pot prawn curry with which I followed was also excellent and came as a very generous portion. On the occasions I have been the only culinary disappointments were a decidedly average Singapore noodles.

The menu is long and interesting, including slightly less mainstream dishes including quail, eel and frogs legs – I look forward to returning to sample more dishes. The service can be hit and miss; it always seems rather rude and dishes often don’t come out together. Mien Tay is often set upon by large groups – this has meant on a couple of occasions that it gets very loud in there; fine sometimes but if not in the mood it can ruin a meal.

Overall I would highly recommend Mien Tay – the food is top drawer and you can take whatever you want to wash it down with. I would certainly recommend for when anyone wants a relaxed but reliable meal. Don’t go there however if you are a stickler for good service.  

Tom’s Kitchen, Chelsea - Restaurant Review

Cuisine:  British

Cost: 

Rating: 

Where?:  27, Cale Street, Chelsea, London. SW3 3QP.

Closest station(s): South Kensington, Sloane Square, Gloucester Road.       

Telephone: 0207 349 0202

Website: www.tomskitchen.co.uk       

Following his Michelin-starred Chelsea venture Tom Aitkens opened his less formal restaurant offering breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner.  With the Michelin-starred pedigree I had high hopes about eating there and the media hype that surrounded the restaurant’s launch only heighten my anticipation.

Looking past the stylish black interior I was greet by a surprisingly relaxed white walled room with no frills wooden tables – so far so good, this is what I want for a lunch with friends. Having been seated it soon became apparent just how tightly packed the tables are, I don’t expect to be seated metres away from another table; however at Tom’s Kitchen you feel that you are almost on top of your neighbour – alas I had no interest in being on top of my American businessman neighbour.

The menu is largely British, however with significant Italian influence throughout. My starter of pan fried foie gras, duck egg and bacon was well executed however it failed to come together as a dish and the foie gras was not as rich as would be expected (and for over £15 it certainly should have been). The beef burger with which I followed was again ok, however failed to deliver anything more than that – it was also significantly overcooked having asked for it rare. 

The acoustics in Tom’s Kitchen make it horrendously loud, I am in favour of eating in a buzzing environment however it was clear that most tables were having to shout in order to have a conversation. In addition, with the tables being tightly packed I saw a number of diners having to stand up and move in order for other tables to get out; something that should not happen.

Overall I did not warm to Tom’s Kitchen – with house wine at over £20; starters around £10 and mains around £20 you could expect much more for the money. The service also left a lot to be desired, whilst there I saw a number of other customers complaining about the service and poor food. The media hype on this occasion does not seem to be deserved. 

Franco Manca - Restaurant Review

Cuisine:  Italian

Cost:

Rating:

Where?:  Unit 4, Market Row, Brixton, London. SW9 8LD.

Closest station(s): Brixton, Clapham North.     

Telephone: 0207 738 3021

Website: www.francomanca.co.uk     

So, where is London’s best pizza served? An answer to this question that I had repeatedly heard was Franco Manca. When I enquired where I could find this great restaurant I was surprised to discover that it was nestled in the heart of Brixton Market; certainly not where I would not have expected to find the capital’s more prestigious Italian restaurant.

I found myself meandering through Brixton Market in search of Franco Manca. On arrival its celebrity was clear – it was packed; with a queue about fifteen deep. The restaurant is split across two sides of a thoroughfare in the market itself. The tables are small and tightly packed - creating a buzzing atmosphere.

Having been seated we were given the menu. I have never warmed to a menu so swiftly before. There are six pizzas to choose from (ranging from £4.50 - £7); two types of red wine and two types of white – that is pretty much it.

Having ordered it was not long before large, beautifully blister wood fired pizzas came to the table – a light tomato sauce and a generous sprinkling of toppings simply highlighted the beauty of the stunning dough.

This is not a restaurant where you are encouraged to while away hours; the food is however excellent and the prices stunning. One thing that is clear is that you need Franco Manca more than it needs you – evidenced by the fact that it does not open in the evenings and is closed Sundays. It also does not allow reservations. A great place to eat and I can honestly say I have never had better pizza in the UK.  

Chez Bruce - Restaurant Review

 

Cuisine: French

Cost:  

Rating:

Where?:  2, Bellevue Road, Wandsworth Common, SW17 7EG

Closest station(s): Wandsworth Common, Balham.  

Telephone:  0208 672 0114

Website: www.chezbruce.co.uk

Having previously been to La Trompette, Chez Bruce’s Chiswick based sibling I had extremely high hopes for the meal as it is certainly the better known and often more highly praised older brother. I have to say that my experience at Chez Bruce was excellent. From start to finish the service was impeccable without becoming intrusive or overbearing. The tongue and brain starter was delicious, as were the potted shrimps.

The mains managed to keep up the high standards, turning out fresh and tasty food; my cod with olive oil mash was a great success. The puddings and cheese rounded off the meal excellently – the cheese board should not be missed. The wine list has considerable Gallic persuasion, not a bad thing in my book; with effort clearly being put into keeping the top section of the list reasonably priced – there are a couple of bottles for under £25. If you want glitz, glamour and pretention then don’t go. Chez Bruce serves up excellent food in a modest but pleasant environment with great service and decent wine to wash down each delicious morsel. 

My only real complaint about Chez Bruce is that they seem to have a rather small wine fridge, on a couple of occasions when I have order a bottle of wine they have said that they haven’t got one cold as they have just sold a bottle of it – surely they could keep more than one bottle chilled!

Despite the prices creeping up this Michelin-starred food leaves not too large a dent on the wallet, the lunch menu being particularly good with 3 courses for around £27; dinner being around £45. Certainly one of the best, if not the best, restaurant south of the river.