Jikoni
Sous Chef
Well, yeah Hugh Grant...rings a bell, oh yeah what did I do with his phone number?
I knew he looked familiar when he came over to say hi 
I knew he looked familiar when he came over to say hi 
ENGLAND - Restaurants In Britain
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Jikoni
Sous Chef
Urmaniac13, Ok Day one, Birthday party to attend in Kingston. The host had to address us by the countries we came from. 'oh are you Switerland, Canada or Baharain etc etc' After that we went to the west end to the hotel room where one of us was, she had arrived late after work and missed the party. We sat up and talked until 4am! saturday We went shoping for each other's children together. It was fun. the idea was one buys a present for the other's friends and we had a budget we all agreed on. Had lunch together, then went shopping for each other. On buys some(am I allowed to say this here?....well lets call them under clothes)for another then the next one buys for the other etc etc until we all had something. It was so much fun. evening dinner and dance.5 am found me just getting into bed.
Indian food in London? Brick Lane is the famous area, its in the City and I love to go on Sundays after going to Spittalfields Market. Also had a great meal in Southhall, another Indian/Pakistani area, but something in the food made us high and we were on our knees shrieking with laughter in the street.
Also excellent is the Chinese food in Soho, The New World (near the firestation on Shaftsbury Avenue) has the best Dim Sum of anywhere in the world, including Hong Hong, LOL.
English food.....well we had a meal at The Moody Goose, which is just out side the beautiful city of Bath, and it was a fantastically beautiful meal, perfectly balanced and also has a superb wine list. The chef there is a genius. In the same county but further south there is a lovely little restaurant in a small town called Bruton...the restaurant is Bruton House, inovative and locally sourced ingrediants well combined....a good example of a perect English restaurant. Its getting more and more easy to eat well in England. I would say that some of our chain and "local" restaurants are better (though more expensive) than their equivalents in France now. I think that the boutique restaurants are better than the big "name restaurants" right now. Although I am going to Jamie Oliver's Fifteen soon, so maybe that will excite me. There is a wonderful resurging interest in good traditional British food and quality produce.....real and fresh English food is wonderful. The problem is it is very expensive to shop for good food aned to eat well in England, particularly in the south.
But foodies have to go to the Borough Market in London (London Bridge tube, Fridays and Saturtdays) Amazing but pricey food from around England.....beautiful smoked sea trout, Kentish oysters the size of my foot..opened and eaten greedily by the stand, and wonderful produce from Italy (amazing cheese and hams) and France...including the best creme fraiche and Brittany butter.....and wonderful local organic vegetabes at a more reasonable price than the supermarkets. We tend to have brunch as we walk around tasting things and buying.
Also excellent is the Chinese food in Soho, The New World (near the firestation on Shaftsbury Avenue) has the best Dim Sum of anywhere in the world, including Hong Hong, LOL.
English food.....well we had a meal at The Moody Goose, which is just out side the beautiful city of Bath, and it was a fantastically beautiful meal, perfectly balanced and also has a superb wine list. The chef there is a genius. In the same county but further south there is a lovely little restaurant in a small town called Bruton...the restaurant is Bruton House, inovative and locally sourced ingrediants well combined....a good example of a perect English restaurant. Its getting more and more easy to eat well in England. I would say that some of our chain and "local" restaurants are better (though more expensive) than their equivalents in France now. I think that the boutique restaurants are better than the big "name restaurants" right now. Although I am going to Jamie Oliver's Fifteen soon, so maybe that will excite me. There is a wonderful resurging interest in good traditional British food and quality produce.....real and fresh English food is wonderful. The problem is it is very expensive to shop for good food aned to eat well in England, particularly in the south.
But foodies have to go to the Borough Market in London (London Bridge tube, Fridays and Saturtdays) Amazing but pricey food from around England.....beautiful smoked sea trout, Kentish oysters the size of my foot..opened and eaten greedily by the stand, and wonderful produce from Italy (amazing cheese and hams) and France...including the best creme fraiche and Brittany butter.....and wonderful local organic vegetabes at a more reasonable price than the supermarkets. We tend to have brunch as we walk around tasting things and buying.
I lived in London for many years - One of my children still lives in Islington. There are so many good restaurants in London and its environs. I visit about once every five weeks, either for business or pleasure.
The last place I had lunch was The River Cafe, the food was good - but not as good as I remembered it to be!
Frankly, Ive eaten better food (Michilin starred) in Scotland in recent years. Fresh food, in season and wonderfully innovative chefs like Malcolm Duck, for instance....
The last place I had lunch was The River Cafe, the food was good - but not as good as I remembered it to be!
Frankly, Ive eaten better food (Michilin starred) in Scotland in recent years. Fresh food, in season and wonderfully innovative chefs like Malcolm Duck, for instance....
I've not been to London yet, but am about to go soon, see my new thread in Health and Special Diets.
I love the diversity of british cooking. We have a great Asian food area (Indian and Pakistani and Bangladeshi) called Rusholme. It's vibrant and bustling, and if you like curry, it's fantastic.
Locally we have a restaurant up our street called Ramson's. Ramson is the old Lancashire word for the wild garlic that used to grow everywhere in our vallery (but has all but died out). He does innovative Italian cuisine using local and Italian ingredients. I find the food a wee bit on the stodgy side, as I do a lot of English cuisine.
What I find sad is that so many pubs subscribe to chains, the menus are boring and very samey, the food pre prepared and microwaved. When you find an independent pub doing good home made food, it is a place to cherish!
I love the diversity of british cooking. We have a great Asian food area (Indian and Pakistani and Bangladeshi) called Rusholme. It's vibrant and bustling, and if you like curry, it's fantastic.
Locally we have a restaurant up our street called Ramson's. Ramson is the old Lancashire word for the wild garlic that used to grow everywhere in our vallery (but has all but died out). He does innovative Italian cuisine using local and Italian ingredients. I find the food a wee bit on the stodgy side, as I do a lot of English cuisine.
What I find sad is that so many pubs subscribe to chains, the menus are boring and very samey, the food pre prepared and microwaved. When you find an independent pub doing good home made food, it is a place to cherish!
London has so many gastropubs nowadays, Kyles... You'll be spoilt for choice!
I know what you mean about the pub chains' food - places like Wetherspoons etc.... BLECH!
The wild garlic has been out for a few weeks now. Yummy and FREE!
I know what you mean about the pub chains' food - places like Wetherspoons etc.... BLECH!
The wild garlic has been out for a few weeks now. Yummy and FREE!
I agree that River Cafe is somehow disappointing now. Perhaps a victim of its own success and our expectations?
But it IS possible to eat very, very well in London and the South of England and the more we praise our recovering fine food industry the better it will get.
Chains are the saddest thing of all, though I have to admit we go to one called Gaucho Grill, an Argentinian steak house, quite a bit. At least the food there is cooked from scratch and the same dishes taste a little different at each branch. It was devastating when the revamped Spittalfields was opened to see the number of chain places, all of them completely out of place like Pret a Manger, Giraffe and Pat Val, which though fine are just not what I want when I go to Spittalfields. Slowly but suely they will put the individual traders out of business.
But it IS possible to eat very, very well in London and the South of England and the more we praise our recovering fine food industry the better it will get.
Chains are the saddest thing of all, though I have to admit we go to one called Gaucho Grill, an Argentinian steak house, quite a bit. At least the food there is cooked from scratch and the same dishes taste a little different at each branch. It was devastating when the revamped Spittalfields was opened to see the number of chain places, all of them completely out of place like Pret a Manger, Giraffe and Pat Val, which though fine are just not what I want when I go to Spittalfields. Slowly but suely they will put the individual traders out of business.
auntdot
Head Chef
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2004
- Messages
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Just heard that Daquise Restaurant reopened (it had been the victim of a kitchen fire).
This is not a fancy place but good, simple, traditional Polish good, pig knuckles, bigos, pierogi, that type of thing. And is very reasonable.
It is at 22 Thurloe Street in South Kensington (just get off the tube at the South Kensington stop, walk out the station, turn right, and it just a short stroll. You don't even need to cross the street.)
We'll be back to Britain in a few months, and will definitely stop there.
This is not a fancy place but good, simple, traditional Polish good, pig knuckles, bigos, pierogi, that type of thing. And is very reasonable.
It is at 22 Thurloe Street in South Kensington (just get off the tube at the South Kensington stop, walk out the station, turn right, and it just a short stroll. You don't even need to cross the street.)
We'll be back to Britain in a few months, and will definitely stop there.
