| February 8th,2012  Wild Mushroom and Truffle Risotto @Almeida Category: Brasserie (£££) Almeida,a French brasserie just opposite the outstanding Almeida Theater,does a very good value pre-theatre menu:2 courses for 16 and 3 courses for 19 pounds. We went to see The House of Bernarda Alba,a Llorca play with a pure female cast, transferred from catholic Spain to rural Iran. I liked it a lot,while my boyfriend found it depressing and hated it. I suggest you believe me and go see it,it’s on until 10th of March. January 24th,2012  Menu @Mishkin Category: Bistro (££)
I absolutely love Spuntino,have enjoyed Da Polpo,feel rather indifferent towards Polpo and haven’t yet been to Polpetto. This,in one sentence,summarises my experience with the restaurants owned by Russell Norman and Richard Beatty,undoubtedly the most interesting and most influential restaurateurs to have appeared in the London gastronomic scene over the past few years. January 12th,2012  Scallops,Garlic,Chili (11) @Galoupet Category: Brasserie (£££) And another small plate restaurant. I remember when these restaurants started to pop up everywhere I was thrilled. Now I have reached a point of saturation where all I want once in a while is a normal menu! November 6th,2011
 1. course:Soup with chicken and mushroom
Category: Brasserie (£££) Hunan on Pimlico Road is contrary to what the name suggests,not a Hunanese restaurant. In my limited knowledge of Chinese cuisines,I would have placed it as being Cantonese,as dishes were rather mild and a some reminded me of upmarket versions of stir fries I had in Chinatown. According to their website,Hunan‘s food is mainly the chef’s own creations,chiefly influenced by Taiwanese. 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 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?? September 13th,2011 Category: Budget (and there is a bar too which gets a very green light) I went to The Breakfast Club following a Twitter recommendation when I was looking for a decent restaurant/cafe/pub to eat,drink and gossip around Liverpool Street Station. It is surprisingly difficult to find a place in close proximity to the station that is not infested by investment bankers and alike,basically people wearing stilettos and suits. They make me feel intimidated as I can’t walk in stilettos and my only suit is gathering dust in my wardrobe. 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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