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.

Bistro The Walk, Potters Bar

The Bistro on The Walk has a nice bright, warm atmosphere with pleasant, welcoming, helpful and attentive management and staff. Lovely fresh crusty bread and butter were served whilst we decided on what we were ordering from the dinner menu. The feedback from my group was that all the food was tasty, well presented and decent sized portions. I particularly enjoyed the starter of Turkish Spicy sausage which came with a mixed salad garnish, and main of fillet of sea bream which came perfectly cooked served on a bed of mashed potato and superb saffron cream - served with a nice suprise garnish of a rolled piece of smoked salmon and a mixed salad. Also, others adviced that the lambs liver; aubergine, courgettes and mixed peppers; boeuf bourgignon; and kleftico were all very good and perfectly cooked. French fries I heard were excellent, but they could not finish the portion - their eyes had got too big when they saw the choice of mains + sides. Save room for dessert - the Tiramisu, Apple Tart Tatin and the Banoffee Pie were all fab ends to a wonderful meal. Reasonable prices. We will be back very soon!!!


http://www.bistrothewalk.co.uk/

88 High Street,
Potters Bar,
Herts. EN6 5AT.
01707 664 660

Wallacespace, Covent Garden - a great venue

Fantastic venue for hosting events and courses. Went there with work for a course.

Nice crumpets with fresh marmalade and filter coffee for breakfast. Followed by biscuits and tea/coffee at mid-morning. Yummy lunch of smoked haddock and feta cheese tart with perfect pastry crust, and accompanied by lentil and beetroot, dill mayo new potatoes and a fresh mixed green leaf salad, and rounded off with a good creme brulee. A mid-afternoon treat of a variety of sweets that reminded me of my childhood was great way to finish the day.

Amazed with the level of service, food and overall attention to detail to cater for all our needs. Friendly staff.

Would strongly recommend.

Wallacespace - Covent Garden

2 Dryden Street, London WC2E 9NA

020 7395 1265

Cabana - the new churrascaria on the block

Went to this Cabana on the first day of their opening and it was very very busy, I would strongly recommend that you book esp on Fri/ Sat. It’s based on Brasilian churrascirias where they bring skewers of meat around to your table. We had the pamonahs for starters which were so sweet they tasted like a dessert and deep fried cheesy rice balls. I would probably skip these next time and head straight for the main event, the skewers.
Because we hadn’t booked they ended up seating us in the bar which was fine but it meant that the service was a bit hit and miss as it relies on the waitress bringing the skewers round to your table and we weren’t in the bit they were circulating through. I really enjoyed most of the skewers, especially the lamb which was soft and juicy and the baby back ribs, probably my favourite of the night as they were properly spicy with a decent kick. The only one I didn’t like was the chimichurri beef rump as it was quite chewy. I would also recommend getting a side of the cassava chips as these were great.
Desserts other than fro-yo are limited but the banana and dolce du leche cheesecake I tried was brilliant. Not fridge cold and impossible to cut as cheescakes often are but dense and crumbly with delicious candied nuts on top. A winner!
I would go back to Cabana especially now I know which of the skewers I like but I would make sure I book first!

Cabana

7 Central St Giles Piazza, London WC2H 8AD

020 7845 9730

Big Easy - yummy shrimp on the King's Road

Big Easy, Chelsea, was a nice relax venue, which has a live band downstairs in the evenings. The all-you-can-eat shrimp was very tasty and good value for money. However, the full rack of baby back ribs was very dry - it was as if it had been already cooked and just reheated on the BBQ to order which unsurprisingly would have dried it out; not impressed. Overall, had a good time, nice food, pleasant service; and will return to try the Lobster feast.

Big Easy

332 - 334 Kings Road, Chelsea, London, SW3 5UR

Vivat Bacchus - on a quiet street near London Bridge.

Vivat Bacchus, London Bridge, is a bright, airy restaurant. The start to the meal was not impressive: Our waitress upsold us a bottle of wine (when we only ordered two glasses of South African Chardonnay)-& did not apologise. However, the manager resolved quickly (and did only charged us for the two glasses we ordered when we got the bill at the end). The leek & potato soup was lovely; though croutons arrived soggy in soup instead of served on the side. My friend's mentioned that her risotto with courgettes was good. Pork chop with sweet potato & pickled apples was nice, but the fat should have been rendered a bit more. My friend's Raspberry Eton Mess was reported to be good, & I had a lovely Creme Brulee with two crisp lang du chat on the side. Generally, pleasant waiting staff & reasonable food.

If you are around London Bridge and hungry, it is worth checking out as it has reasonable 2 & 3course menu prices.

Vivat Bacchus

4 Hayes Lane, London Bridge, SE1 2HB

The Living Room - York

It may be part of a chain and full of slightly screechy women but it actually has very nice views of the river and the sunday roast is lovely with perfectly done meat (where they offer you the choice of pink or well done) and veg that hasn't been boiled to death. Yorkshire puds are decent and crispy and the sticky toffe pud is to die for. They even had a singer. A nice place if you're not in a hurry, service can be on the slow side as they are so busy.

The Living Room - York

Merchant Exchange, 1 Bridge Street, York, YO1 6DD
4 People, 13:30, 28 August 2011
Offer booked (via Toptable) Sunday Lunch: 2 courses £11.25