The Bee Menu
| October 13th,2011 Category: Bistro (££) Hammersmith in West London is completely out of my culinary comfort zone. Apart from the budget-breaking River Cafe I am not aware of any decent restaurants in this area and River Cafe is certainly too posh for a quick pre-theatre bite. When researching for a restaurant close to the Lyric Hammersmith,I stumbled upon this review of The Gate on Time Out. A vegetarian restaurant that gets 5 out of 5 stars? Intriguing. Even though I am certainly NOT a vegetarian,I do very much enjoy pure vegetable dishes if they are well done. Our attempts to visit The Gate were hindered by the fact we couldn’t find it. Even though we had the exact address we kept running up and down Queen Caroline Street which almost ended up in a relationship crisis. Maybe The Gate would consider putting a sign up,that people can actually see? I am sure this would help in getting customers. Anyway,we did find it in the end and I was glad that we did not give up,or break up for that matter. As far as non-Asian vegetarian restaurants go,The Gate is as good as it gets. You will certainly be disappointed if you expect oddly dressed hippies wearing birkenstocks,you will search in vain for the obligatory falafel on the menu and no,the waitresses don’t have dreadlocks. There is a tree painted onto the wall though. I loved the bright room with the high ceiling and large windows. It could however do with a little refurbishment. Overall the place looks a bit run down,which was apparent when we arrived and it was still light,and less obvious during the course of the evening. And have I mentioned that a big sign in front would be a really good idea?
I loved both of our the starters. October 6th,2011 Category: Bistro (£ Oliveto is another example of a substandard,overpriced Italian restaurant in London. I don’t know why you can find so many of them in London,I think I have eaten more bad Italian food than any other cuisine. September 28th,2011 Category: Bistro (£ I think I was one of the first blogger (or even the very first?) to write about Zucca just a couple of weeks after it had opened and it was at the same time one of my first posts. I have to admit that this was by chance rather than culinary instinct. I used to live just around the corner and walked past this new Italian restaurant every day on my way to work and thought it looked nice. There we go. September 25th,2011 Category: Bistro The Riding House Cafe, North of Oxford Circus,is one of the most enchanting places I have been to in a long time. As an all day restaurant it comprises of a more formal restaurant corner,large shared tables perfect for brunch and comfy sofas for the afternoon coffee or pre-dinner cocktail. The overall decor and the attention to detail is remarkable. The generous room shows a number of different textures such as stone,steel,wood and tiles and is filled with antique mismatched furniture interspersed with modern pieces. Wherever you look you can find charming accessories –a grandmother lamp,a weird statue or some other knickknack. Particularly thoughtful I found that they disguised the Dixon hand-dryer at the Ladies’with a fake-antique metal cover.  Riding House Cafe So nothing but praise for the interior of The Riding House Cafe. I just wish they had put as much emphasis on the food as they had on their design. This seems to be a common problem also of the other 2 places by the same owner,namely The Garrison and Village East (both at Bermondsey Street). All three restaurants are pushing the boundaries regarding their design and concept,while staying on the too safe side with their food. The Riding House Cafe has just like everybody else at the moment embraced the small plate concept,serving 5 or 6 dishes each for 3,4 or 5 pounds. Instead of entirely focusing on perfecting its ‘tapas’,it also offers a conventional menu with burgers,steak and fish and chips. We decided to stick with the small plates. The quality of the bread served is very often an omen for things to come and this proved true also for this occasion. Competitively priced for £1.5,the bread was unfortunately bland and starchy. The artichoke puree it came with was ok,but I have no urge to ever eat it again.  Bread selection,artichoke purée £1.5 @Riding House Cafe Our clear favourite was the most low-profile dish we had ordered,namely the roasted butternut squash with sage and chili (3.5). September 22nd,2011 Category: Bistro+ (££-£££) I cannot believe that it took me so long to finally eat at Sushi of Shiori! This Japanese eatery has been on my to do list for the better part of 2 years and when I think of all the amazing sushi that I have missed by not trying it earlier… Sushi of Shiori serves among the best,if not the best,sushi I have ever had in London,particularly considering the value for money equation. Here everything is about quality of the food without the fuss:nothing of the sedate indulgence of Umu, Zuma‘s upscale party atmosphere or Nobu‘s elitism and patronizing staff. The place really doesn’t look like much from the outside and no one would expect a sophisticated sushi bar behind this facade in a little side street somewhere around Euston Station. Stepping through the door,you enter a tiny room with 2 tables,each with 2 seats (you might be able to fit another chair if you are slim) and 3 more seat at the sushi counter where you can watch the master in action. The head chef and owner has worked for the Michelin starred Umu before setting up his own little family venture with his lovely wife taking good care of the patrons.  The Master at Work @Sushi of Shiori I will not go too much into detail about each of the single nigiri that I have tried,most of which were of extraordinary quality. A very good option for Sushi of Shiori newbies is the Shiori Platter which for £19.50 for 8 pieces of nigiri and 3 hosomaki is incredible value for money. The sushi master probably got sick of observing people drowning his little works of art with the rice side in salty soy sauce thereby masking the subtle taste of the different toppings. So we are explained to use the little brush to brush only little soy sauce on the fish side of the nigiri.  Sushi Platter @Sushi of Shiori September 17th,2011 Category: Bistro I will try to hold back and not spend 500 words telling you HOW bad the service was at the new Covent Garden Thai restaurants Suda Rice Bar (I went there in the soft opening period about a month ago after I had read the Skinny Bib’s review). I am terribly delayed with my restaurant posts,so the HORRIBLE service I experienced might have improved by now. I hope it has really,otherwise Suda Rice Bar won’t be around for much longer,let me tell you that much. Suda Rice Bar is one of these mixed restaurant/bar places which sometimes work but very often don’t…The interior is all about dark wood and little wood donkeys on the tables grazing on grass (see below). I spent the whole evening staring at them and wondering what the interior designer wanted to express. I still don’t know if I like them or not. They are certainly…ahmmm different?  grazing donkeys @Suda From the name I expected the menu to be very rice oriented ,but in the end there were only 6 rice dishes on the menu,comparable to any other Thai restaurants. The menu does sound very interestingly though and there is certainly some divergence from the standard Thai fare on offer. This is hardly surprising considering that the masterminds behind Suda are the same people that are also involved with the high-end Thai restaurant chain Patara. Jumping on the small plate bandwagon,Suda Rice Bar also has a “small plate”section on the menu (they used to be called starters,right?). You will search in vain for greasy prawn toast or other fried monstrosities,but find light and creative fusion style dishes. The Crabmeat rolls (5.95) which were served drizzled with a sweet and tangy tamarind sauce were rather lovely. Less convincing was the pomelo salad (5.50). While the kaffir lime based sauce was gorgeous,I found it rather lazy to just dump some pieces of pomelo and some prawns on a plate without any additional ingredients. What about herbs? Chilli? Peanuts? Anything?? July 26th,2011 Category: Bistro (££) I went to university in Vienna and left the Austrian capital almost 6 years ago when I moved to London. Whenever I come back to Vienna now,I am reliant on Austrian foodies for advice on exceptional restaurants. Following my urgent request on Facebook for recommendations for my recent impromptu trip to Vienna,Artner auf der Wieden was suggested to me by several Viennese friends. It is in walking distance of the hotel I was staying at (Hotel Das Triest,review to follow) and,even though in close vicinity of the city centre and the First District,far off the beaten track.
Artner auf der Wieden serves traditional Austrian (Viennese) cuisine with a sophisticated twist in modern and stylish surroundings and cosy atmosphere. A great restaurants to introduce the food conscious tourist to Viennese cuisine. I was immediately taken by the delicious home-made bread which was served with a selection of butters (Irish butter and butter infused with rocket and garlic) as well as two different kinds of salts (Welsh sea salt and black salt). As amuse bouche we were served a shot of lovely chilled cucumber soup.  Amuse bouche @Artner-Vienna
 Fresh Bread @Artner-Vienna July 23rd,2011
Matt Chatfield is delivering produce from his home county Cornwall to the top restaurants in London such as The Ledbury and Marcus Wareing,apparently he supplies meat and fish to 25 Michelin stars each day. He is the owner of Cornwall in your Kitchen and works together with the Cornish fishmonger with major focus on sustainability,Fish for Thought.  Cote de Boeuf at The Cornish Grill Matt decided that he wants to make his high quality ingredients accessible to more people and has founded The Cornish Grill,a pop up restaurant at the Manor House Pub in Clapham,which is open on Saturdays and Sundays throughout the summer. At this decidedly laid back neighbourhood pub he sells his fish and meat to ‘BBQ prices’. The menu changing every weekend (when I went,the menu was Spanish-influenced) and he has young chefs (often sous chefs from London’s finest restaurants) prepare the food. June 27th,2011 Category: Bistro (££-£££) I tremendously enjoyed some of the dishes I had at the Opera Tavern earlier this month and was therefore keen to try its two older siblings Salt Yard and Dehesa. All three restaurants serve a range of charcuterie and tapas-style dishes with strong Spanish and some Italian influence. While dishes like the pork and foie gras burger at the Opera Tavern were amongst the best things I have eaten in the past few months and showed signs of true genius,Salt Yard was a disappointment in comparison. All the non-cooked dishes such as Serano ham and cheese were highly enjoyable,but Salt Yard was let down by the dishes that required preparing.
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