Profil von Rhian19

This place has good and bad points, in my opinion. As it is a Monday, I will set them out simplistically, for the benefit of my brain. And to save others sifting through endless ramblings.

Good points:
- the pizza is excellent - I didn't have one but my friend did and I tried some, and was very jealous.
- it's not too expensive
- the service was pretty good

Bad points:
- the decor is headache-inducingly try-hard.
- the wine is served in glass beakers akin to those you would expect to find in either a) your nan's house, b) your village hall or c) your church. Stop trying to be unique and give me a wine glass please. I nearly asked for one but then remembered that would be a horrible and facetious thing to do.
- my "spicy chicken and puy lentil salad", filed in the salads section of the menu, was not a salad, but a grilled breast of dry chicken, accompanied by a sprig of salad and LITERALLY COVERED in chillies. I know it was supposed to be spicy but I mean, that doesn't even taste nice. One of few times I have ever left any food on a plate. If you count loads and loads of chillies as food. And the whole plate was just covered in totally flavourless lentils. It looked good but tasted like a fire in my mouth and the thought that went into this dish must literally have been somewhere between "minimal" and "none".

So, if you want a nice pizza and aren't too bothered about bizarre surroundings or crap glasses then go here. Similarly, if you would like a dinner experience akin to drinking petrol and casting a lit match down your throat then Eco is for you.

Otherwise go somewhere else.

Now before I embark on this rant (there's your warning, get out now while you can) I want to say that I KNOW nobody will agree with me and this does not alter my opinion in any way.

All I ask for in the link between an overground and underground station is a wide, empty space - all I want to do is get my head down and plough through said space, angry at having to walk so far between trains, pushing past other commuters etc.

This is normal London fare.

What I DO NOT WANT are 'The Vaults'. I appreciate this is irrational but if I wanted to buy dried fruit or a picture frame I would not be doing it in transit between the Jubilee Line and National Rail services! I want all of my London transport experiences to be hellish and busy as I expect, and this place fills me with anger just thinking about - I DON'T KNOW WHY. I would just rather that it wasn't there.

I think the fact that they can fit a small shopping parade in the gap between two stations that are supposedly under the same name is a constant reminder of how annoying it is commuting around London. I think that's it.

3 stars because the trains are fine and I am in no other way offended by London Bridge. Just get rid of the Vaults. I don't like them.

I've only been here for the gay night that a few other people have mentioned, Popstarz, and I can honestly say it's one of the best nights out I've had in London! Obviously I have a unique taste in music to say the least (well, in fact it's more the opposite - I have a totally mainstream taste in music) and this catered exactly to it - several rooms, a good mix, lots of MJ and R&B - what more could I ask for?

The theatrics of the whole occasion were awesome as well - lots of people in costumes, decoration etc. - unlike a lot of London clubs I felt it was worth paying the entry fee (can't think what this was now, sorry).

My whole night here was as good as the beginning, which entailed me walking in to pay my entry to see three transvestites coming down the stairs, being led by one with the command "COME ON, TRANNIES!" in the campest voice imaginable. And it just got better from there, really. Do it! Get involved!

This is a nice enough pub - when I saw that it was next to a Wetherspoons I was really hoping that it wouldn't be part of a chain but it sadly is, I guess they all are these days. It's a Greene King, I believe. Anyway, drinks are really not that badly priced considering we're in SW London, and it's nice inside in a Greene King sort of way. It's bigger than you'd think, and what I will say is that although I didn't eat, a disoriented member of staff kept coming over and saying "did you order food?" with some AMAZING looking food in her hands and by the third or fourth time, myself and my companion were very close to just saying "YEP that was us, hand it over." Traditional English food and big portions, from what I saw, which is what I suppose you need to compete with a Wetherspoons literally terraced nextdoor to you. I don't think I've ever been anywhere with only two pubs before where they've shared a wall - bizarre. Both seem to be doing fine though.

Fourth star for a lovely outdoor seating area on the pavement - it was hotter than the Sun inside.

Lucky Star - the most simple and successful business plan in Hamburg, if not the World. Make a gimmicky disgusting 50c shot that tastes more like dolmio than a drink, and watch the punters FLOCK IN. As they do. And Lucky Star is teeny tiny and stupidly shaped so even the back, where there actually is a bit of room, is literally unreachable. Sometimes I think it might be a mirage.

I came here once, ordered a falafel burger I think, and as I was happily chomping away on it something blue fell out.

"What's this?" I ask my dining companion.

"A PLASTER", he replies, clearly angered on my behalf.

A PLASTER. OFF THE END OF SOMEONE'S FINGER.

I thought I was going to puke. Staff offered me another burger, which I declined, but then I realised I was hungrier than I was principled, so ordered a burger without the bun (wanted a good look at everything in there).

AND they made us pay for it! Well, I thought I hadn't but turned out my friend had just paid for me. Unbelievable. Don't ever go here.

I am still literally fuming as a result of my lunchtime Maplin experience. There is practically steam coming off me - could just be because it's a hot day or it COULD be because of this silly shop. Maybe a combination.

I am generally against buying electronic products in shops, being fully aware that they are normally cheaper online. However, maplin has a nice font for the title of its shop - and I saw Cedric's good review and thought WHY NOT. I would like to go in and have somebody help me as I don't have a clue what I'm doing.

So anyway, I walked into the shop and was immediately asked if I was OK - at this point I was, I just wanted to get my bearings and see if I could find the power cables by myself (oh yeah, I was looking for a laptop power cable), before I revealed my total incompetence. [as an aside here, I had to ask my 16-year-old brother to jump start my car battery for me yesterday as I was too scared of electrocuting myself - I needed a boost to my technical ego]. Anyway I couldn't find them, predictably, so asked one of the many members of staff wandering around aimlessly and yet very quickly, sort of like those things that chase PacMan, if they could help me.

So basically, I was after a power cable and yet had come in with no information about my computer (other than the manufacturer name and the fact that it needed a new power cable) so I said I would ring my brother and ask him to have a look at the computer. Did this, already been in here about 10 minutes by the time we have gleaned as much information as possible from the remaining, non-broken parts of my computer, and went back to find the man. At this point, he was basically like "yeah well you need all the information" and I was like, look, the one I had looks exactly like this and has the same voltage. Anyway, he was having none of it and was trying to make me buy something the size of a guitar amplifier that cost 60 quid. We argued about this for a while, with me saying things like "look, I don't want to spend 60 quid when I could spend 20" and him saying "yeah well NONE of them are 20" when I was CLEARLY JUST TRYING TO MAKE A POINT...some PEOPLE! And one of them WAS TWENTY!

He then, with a seeming scorn toward my desire to save 30 quid, instructed me to come back after I'd googled my model of laptop. I was like, "could we not do that here?" but apparently this was not possible, despite all the PacMan staff with nothing to do and the widespread nature of Internet access.

I therefore left, in a strop, went back to work, Googled my laptop and ordered a laptop cable for £12.99 on Amazon, saving £45 of my hard-earned money and another conversation with Mr. Maplin. Worked out pretty well I reckon.

The harbour is a must-see for any tourist - always drag people here, regardless of weather conditions, for a walk from Hafencity bus stop to Landungsbrücken, ignoring protests like "oh, it's too windy", "oh, my umbrella's broken", "Rhian, please can we go somewhere else, I am soaked to the skin and the wind is so strong it is blowing children and old people into the harbour" to which I say MAN UP, because the harbour is beautiful in its own way, and that has to be seen. The cranes have a certain industrial je-ne-sais-quoi and I'll keep coming back here regardless of the weather. Also a nice walk from the Fischmarkt on a Sunday morning back down in the other direction.

As always in Hamburg, the boulevard is kept immaculate, and so the walk is a pleasure, particularly past Baumwall towards the Hafencity bus stop where it's all new and shiny. Lots of cafés up that end and then touristy shops, imbißes and other stuff down on the lower level by Landungsbrücken.

Do not miss! Although try and wait for good weather, if you don't want your pleasant promenade to end up feeling like an army boot camp.

This place is great - small, tasteful decoration, great drinks, middle-of-the-road prices...run by an Iranian family who were really friendly and genuinely delighted to welcome every customer. A bit out of the way and I hope business doesn't suffer because of this, it would be a real shame.
You can book this place out for private hire as well, for which it is a good size.