St George's Trauma + Orthopaedics Team Bonding at Jurassic Golf, New Maldon, Surrey & dinner at Al Forno, Wimbledon - 25th July, 2012

After starting the day with an Olympics themed breakfast in preparation for the London 2012 Olympics starting on Friday, we relaxed in the evening with a round of mini-golf at Jurassic Golf, World of Golf, New Malden. It was a fun evening encouraging competition between the dinosaur named sub-teams to see who could complete the course with the lowest par scores. Some of us had had more practice with mini-golf than others - I am one of those who needs to get more practice sessions in though!

Rounded off the evening with an Italian meal at Al Forno in Wimbledon, looked after by Gislena and manager Bruno. The restaurant is designed to have an open, welcoming and relaxed feel. We enjoyed such delights as a cold meats platter, lasagne, puttanesca pasta and fab pizzas including Capricciosa, Prosciutto Rucola, Diavola and Tonno e Cipolla.
Unfortunately, after such huge pizzas (which are great value) and good food, we did not have room to try dessert.
Easily accessable location by public transport links, good service from Gislena (with an interesting method of trying to build banter with customers), and Bruno even kindly removed the service charge from our bill.
Will be back with friends to try some other pizzas (liked the look of the Pescatora) and hopefully will still have room for desserts!
I would recommend visiting Al Forno for good Italian food if you are in the area.

Jurassic Encounter
World of Golf  Beverley Way, New Malden, Surrey KT3 4PH

020 8949 9200

 http://www.jurassicencounter.com

Al Forno
2A King's Road
London, Greater London SW19 8QN

020 8540 5710

http://www.alfornowimbledon.com

Google Places Community Blog - about Jason Pinto

To get to know me a little better, read about me here as a featured user on the Google Places Community Blog:

http://places.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/meet-your-google-places-neighbour-jason.html

Meet your Google Places Neighbour: Jason Pinto

Wednesday, May 9, 2012 | 7:17 AM

Labels: london, user spotlight

Editor’s Note: Now and then we'll spotlight one of our amazing Google Places reviewers. Both so you guys can start to get to know one another and so we can pull together and share our favourite local places. Today, we introduce you to Jason Pinto from London.
Want to be one of our Featured Users? Sign up for the newsletter to find out how or follow us on Twitter for community activities in London.

Jason has been calling London home for ten years, when he moved here to take on a new job. When he isn’t eating out at new restaurants or making “mean chocolate almond cookies,” he’s reviewing London hotspots on Google Places and dropping by our events. Our latest featured user told us his ultimate London tips, including where to find the very best desserts in the capital...

What’s your favourite thing about writing reviews on Google Places?
Getting to go to fun Google Places events! We had the most amazing breakfast at The Modern Pantry.

Share your ultimate London insider tip:
Great, cheap Malaysian food at Rasa Sayang, near Oxford Street (does the best roti canai).

Which celeb would you love to see reviewing on Places?
Raymond Blanc, just to see if he writes his reviews with a French accent.

Tell us some juicy gossip:
SUSHIsamba is opening in Heron Tower during Summer 2012 — they will do Brazilian, Peruvian and Japanese cuisines.

We’ll keep an eye out for it! And what are a few of your favourite London places?

Gauthier Soho - Upmarket feel, great atmosphere and attentive service. Amazing food created by Alexis Gauthier and his team. The tasting menu is highly recommended; in my opinion it is one of the best. Don't fill up on the amazing freshly baked breads at the start, as you will definitely need to save space for dessert, especially if it is their signature Louis XV chocolate praline — heavenly!!!

Galvin at Windows, Park Lane Hilton - We had the set lunch at Galvin at Windows in Park Lane Hilton. Pleasant service as usual and we got a window table as requested, as it was a birthday celebration — it had great views over Hyde Park. Our relatives from abroad enjoyed the experience and are still talking about it. Enjoyed the pork cheeks for mains. L'Artisan du Chocolat chocolates to end was a nice touch with the coffees. Amazing signature marshmallows — especially love the strawberry and coffee ones!!! We will definitely be going back again.

OXO Tower Wharf - Loved the place and amazing views. Attentive staff and fabulous food. Fish and chips is excellent, as well as the burger, and cheaper than other places in Gabriel's Wharf which are not as good in my opinion. Will be back to Oxo Tower again soon!!!

The Table - The Table Cafe is a lovely place, very casual with wooden benches and tables. Our NZ server was super sweet and comped us an extra dessert of ice cream; sadly the salted caramel was a bit too salty for me. But on the whole the food is great, with unusual ingredients like black potatoes. The onglet steak was delicious and not at all chewy, as this cut can sometimes be, testimony to good cooking. Also, the wood pigeon and wild rabbit were perfectly cooked — though they had undersold the wild rabbit on the menu, as it came with beautiful roasted root vegetables. Yummy, sticky toffee puddings. Will be back again very soon!

Clos Maggiore — Excellent service and good food, apart from slightly tough lamb. Waiting staff remembered mention of birthday celebrations without having to be reminded on the day — candle in dessert and happy birthday was a nice touch. Also, conservatory is lovely (and romantic), but if you sit near the fireplace you get a cold blast of air. Overall, enjoyed another great meal at Clos Maggiore and we will be visiting again soon.

Posted by Alexandra Sheppard, London community coordinator

Cinnamon Kitchen - a fab location for dinner away from chaos of Liverpool Street

Cinnamon Kitchen has a great Anise bar and wonderful food produced by Abdul and his team. Excellent, attentive service, particularly from Daniela in the bar, Monalisa (Reservations Co-ordinator), and Andreas and Joao in the restaurant.

Perfect balance of spices and flavours in all the dishes, especially loved the Tilapia starter and the buffalo milk kulfi was a hit with our table.

Will be back again soon as we thoroughly enjoyed it, and I have converted my friends to Indian food. Thank you Cinnamon Kitchen!

Cinnamon Kitchen

9 Devonshire Square, London, EC2M 4YL

Cinnamon Kitchen - Tweet, Meet and Eat

We had a wonderful fun evening, organised by Stella (Events Co-ordinator at Cinnamon Club), tweeting about what was happening during the evening as it happened, like enjoying Cinnamon Berry bellinis made by Daniela and her colleagues, tucking into lamb shish kebab naan rolls made by Abdul and his team, and listening to an interesting spice talk by Abdul. We will definitely be coming back soon!

Funky Asia - a cool Pan Asian restaurant near Liverpool Street Station

Funky Asia was an interesting place to visit. Service was pleasant - did not feel rushed to make food or drinks selection. The Pad Priew Wan (Chicken) was good but slightly too sweet for my taste. My friend had a vegetable stir fry which I was told was good.  Thought, if it was not for the 50% off food bill offer on Toptable, this place I think is overpriced for the food that is served. Overall, good food and service. Worth visiting if in the area for a quick meal.

Funky Asia

159 Commercial Street, London, E1 6BJ

Rich Mix Community Meal - Theme for March, 2012: Banglatown

Rich Mix team are brilliant and organised the first community meal in December, 2011 which had lovely food and enjoyable entertainment by two gospel choirs.

This year the theme is Banglatown and the main dishes are being cooked by Brick Lane chefs. Just bring desserts or side dishes.

Please support them as they raise money for community projects.

Benito's Hat - Oxford Circus

Ben and his team always make us welcome & steak burritos are nice, plus esp on colder days like last week their new cinnammon coffee is a real pick-me up (& only 50p). Will be back esp to Oxford Circus branch.

The Table, London

The Table Cafe, London, is a lovely place, very casual with wooden benches and tables. Our NZ server was super sweet and comped us an extra dessert of ice cream, sadly the salted caramel was a bit too salty for me. But on the whole the food is great, with unusual ingrediants like black potatoes. My onglet steak was delicious and not at all chewy, as this cut can sometimes be, testimony to good cooking. Their  head chef is leaving, hope this place stays just as good! Live jazz too sat/fri nights.