Beiträge von Urbanite
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33-34 Marylebone High Street, Marylebone, London W1U 4PT
Urbanite
am 17 Mai 2010
If eating out was based solely on the taste of food, this spot would have rated pretty highly; but that's not eating out, that's called takeaway and is the only way I'd consider eating from here again, although I think there are better options around for the price.
I went here to get some lunch and spied the lamb tagine, and waited patiently for the two female staff members to finish chatting.I eventually managed to wave one over and placed my order and, being a sunny day asked to eat it on the tables outside. To them this seemed akin to asking for a rolling pin and fake mustache and as I smiled curtly and turned to await my meal I was instructed to wait so I could take it out.
I watched one of the ladies sluggishly spoon out some of the food and hand it over and, spying the pot sitting on the counter asked if it perhaps needed warming up. 'No, it's fine'. After struggling with my drink and cutlery I looked at both of the ladies watching on and one picked up my plate and marched outside.
I followed and, noticing an empty table asked after some salt and pepper. 'It's inside' she shot back over her shoulder as she reentered the establishment. Stupidly assuming that might mean she'd get it, I sat down and decided to taste a forkful of my meal. Which was cold. And needed pepper. Sadly on this day I had had enough and thought I'd take the English way out and complain about it later. So here I am :)
Veröffentlicht auf: www.twitter.com/emzyne
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71A Marylebone Lane, London W1U 2PJ
Urbanite
am 19 Februar 2010
After aborting dessert at the previous spot due to it being a bit shoddy, we ambled down the road and settled in here for our coffee and sweets. The menu is quite extensive and we took our time drooling over it and eventually ordered. For sweet pancakes I found the prices a bit on the steep side, and what came was very different to what we were both expecting. The toppings were pretty sparse and didn't quite match up to the descriptions; 'melted white belgian chocolate with strawberries, toasted almonds and cream sounded A-MAZING. When it came it sported two lost strawberries, a few almond flakes, syrup and a blod of cream. With a couple of hard little chips of white chocolate on the top. Basically a syrup pancake with some pretty garnish. And considering it's around £8 it was a little disappointing.
The owners are all very French but in a good way and this really has potential to be a good spot but unfortunately a creperie is judged on it's pancakes and these failed to deliver for me.
Veröffentlicht auf: www.twitter.com/emzyne , oot-and-aboot-in-london-town.blogspot.com/
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53 Dorset Street, Marylebone, London W1U 7NH
Urbanite
am 9 Februar 2010
I drooled over the menu, and waited excitedly for the bus to stop so I could dash down the road and visit Hardy's with a friend. I was so disappointed by the end of the visit after a combination of things being below par - and not just 'oh-maybe-it's-just-an-off-night' wrong - I ended up moving elsewhere for desert and coffee.
My friend had booked a table and got there a few minutes before I, by when a waiter had already whisked away one of the menus as he needed it - by menu I'm talking a black and white A4 printed page (rather different to the sample menu on their website). Fine, so chatted with my friend and oggled the menu and waited for 20 minutes for someone to come and offer me a drink. I was giving all the right signals - menu down, looking around, neck craning - even a bit of finger tapping to catch someone's eye in order to get a drink. Eventually half out of my chair I waved someone down and asked for a bit of wine advice, were met with a blank stare so we ordered a bottle and got back to chatting. It arrived and was fine and we ordered our food.
We went for the game terrine, rare steak for main. I asked if the steak came with anything to which the waiter floundered a bit and said no I need to order a side vegetable - we both opted for spinach and awaited our food. After a while I imagine the owner came to us and asked if we'd eaten yet, a bit concerned we said 'Er, no'. She disappeared and came back with our plates - 'Who ordered the herbs ont he side rather than on the steak?' It was our turn for blank stares as we had no idea what she was talking about. She shrugged and put the plates down and went off. To cut a long story short the game terrine was like a cold, thick slice of meatloaf, the steak was indeed rare but also as tough as boots - and a big piece but rather unpleasant to eat. I couldn't quite finish all my spinach because it also came with A BIG PILE OF GREENS AND POTATOES (not quite as bare as our waiter had suggested) so the windly bowl of spinach between us (£7.50) was really silly.
After trying to get another drink and waving over waiters for the next 20 minutes we were fed up and decided against tempting fate with teh deserts and asked for our bills.
One of those places I really begrudged paying the 'discretionary 12.5% service charge' which such a lack of it. So £75 for a shared starter, 2 mains, and a bottle of wine really didn't float my boat.
Veröffentlicht auf: www.twitter.com/emzyne , oot-and-aboot-in-london-town.blogspot.com/
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20 James Street, London W1U 1EH
Urbanite
am 8 Februar 2010
Fab, fresh, well-made sushi at super low prices makes this little Sushi den my new BFF.
Went here on a Friday lunch time and worked out the trick is to pre-order (and hopefully have somewhere to eat it other than the 2 mini tables squashed in the back) then whisk in and collect. It wasn't that busy when we came in, with a few people in a queue before us but they seemed to run a person through to completion rather than taking multiple orders and processing. I imagine the latter might speed things along a bit. I suppose it doesn't help that so many phone orders are coming in then too.
Very good value for money - I had two portions of sashimi, salmon and avo california rolls and 2 battered prawns and got change for £10.
Veröffentlicht auf: www.twitter.com/emzyne , oot-and-aboot-in-london-town.blogspot.com/
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66 Marylebone Lane, Marylebone, London W1U 2PF
Urbanite
am 2 September 2009
I’m a Biggles fan and while you’re about as likely to get a fat chat out of the owner as you are a fresh garden salad, the quality and homemade-edness (yes I may have made this up) of the sausages cannot be disputed.
Besides the more expected sausage types like Cumberland, you’ll also find other delights such as a spicy Italian, a take on Chorizo and even the South African favourite, boerewors.
I opted for a bit of Mama Italia and made a very tasty pasta. Whilst there, a regular had just bought up all the Toulouse (for a local football side) but proclaimed these to be the ultimate so will have to return to try.
Only thing that knocked off a star is that the owner is a little behind the times and I’m a bit of a stickler for 'please wear a glove if you’re handling meat and money all day’. And there you have it.
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19 Wigmore Street, London W1U 1PH
Urbanite
am 14 August 2009
I can’t think of a better way to spend a lunch hour. You hand £18 to these lovely people, wash your hands, pop on your plastic apron and get to work. The chef demonstrates how you should be slicing and dicing and you go off to your pre-prepared stations with super sharp knives and get to work.
Our menu consisted of honey-glazed duck breast with stir-fried vegetables. We did the veg first and then all got a duck breast to tidy up before the cooking began.
The time zipped by, the chef patiently answered our pokey questions and before we knew it we were sat before a long table tucking into our tasty meal.
I think it’s a smashing idea to treat a colleague if you work in the vacinity, or to try out one of their night courses or specialised courses (I spied macaroon and pasta making coming up).
Only thing I found was that the group was a tad quiet and the chef, although brilliant, was also a little quiet. perhaps some background music or encouraging chatter may have perked it up. Also the wine is not included with the meal and you had to pay extra for it - I’d rather pay £19 to have the glass of wine thrown in for those who wish.
Great expereince and I’m already wondering who I can re-cook it for. Will definitely be back.
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35 Marylebone Lane, Marylebone, London W1U 2NN
Urbanite
am 6 August 2009
In terms of sandwich shops in London Paul Rothe & Son is a pretty strong contender for the 'best of’ title. Here the charm of the place overrides the other factors of a meal experience and you can pick up British lunch time staples like spuds, sandwiches and pork pies.
As mentioned before the decor is charmingly old fashioned, and so are the prices despite being nestled in the nape of Marylebone. I came out clutching a paper packet of a smoked mackeral pate sandwich, coke and chocolate cornflake rectangle all for under a fiver - brilliant. -
400 Oxford Street, Selfrdiges Food Hall, London W1A 1AB
Brass Rail- Salt Beef Bar - Selfridges
Urbanite
am 15 Juli 2009
Does what it says on the tin - no you can’t get burgers or pizzas or anything else apart from a plump and juicy salt beef sandwich. Walk up, get a tray, get shuffled along by super efficient and friendly staff. Shout out whether you’d like pastrami or salt beef as the man or lady with the big knife slices off generous chunks and piles them on top of your choice of bread. Choose between english/French/American mustard and grab a pickle if you like.
It’s fast, it’s fresh and it’s hell of a tasty. They simply lost a star because at £7.50 a sandwich it’s extortionate, and charging an extra 50p for the pickle on top of that is just plain cheeky.
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Cramer Street Car Park, Marylebone, London W1U 4RR
Urbanite
am 13 Juli 2009
Think of this as the mini, quieter version of Borough Market - same scrumptious home-grown fare, at the same rather costly prices. I could certainly not afford to do my weekly shopping here, though I would love to, but for those treats where a good piece of meat and some pungent cheese is sought after, it’s a brilliant little market to pop into. I was especially excited with my buffalo sausages (£3) and giant beef tomatoes (75p each). Will have to go back for the ginger pig pork roll next time… Only open Sundays 10-2 and as others have said, the earlier the more stuff there is to choose from.
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34 James Street, London W1U 1ER
Urbanite
am 30 Juni 2009
I’ve travelled quite extensively in Spain, and it baffles me a little on various 'authentic’ takes on the Spanish tapas. For any of you who’ve been to a proper tapas bar in Spain, it’s a very casual affair and usually lined up on trays atop the bar. It’s meant to be an evening snack to have with your beer and you normally pay a euro or two depnding on what you’re after.
Saying that, I have before adopted the London tapas way in having it as a main, on a prettily laid-out table and being waited on. Given this you’d think there’s all the more reason for them to include the many more substantial tapas found in spain - different types of mixed seafood and cream/cheese on bread, and a few other carb combos.
But from London’s Spanish restaurants and chains I knew what to expect when going to La Tasca. The setting is ideal on the bustling little restaurant oasis, although the traffic can get a bit loud and destracting when sitting outside.
We managed to catch a waiter’s attention to get a menu and once ready to order spent a little time waving and smiling to place it. Our order came out in decent time and was all generally fresh. I think the cost of each plate of tapas is pretty expensive - from £3.50 - £6.50 per plate and considering you generally order at least 3 each it can get pricier than you’d imagine. Another thing I was a bit surprised by - in Spain you buy the tapas and can generally help yourself to bread - here you have to pay for that too.
In terms of tapas we tried the chorizo, mixed salad, tortilla, prawns, chicken skewers and mushrooms. The tortilla was quite good and gets popped out in a pot before you, the mushrooms were yummy. Prawns and the chorizo wasn’t bad (always very oily) and the rest you could take or leave really - chicken skewers were a bit dull.To be honest I found having to seek out waiters was a bit of a pain - we weren’t in the biggest rush but we did have somewhere to be.
I wouldn’t rush back here but if you’re in the area and feeling for Spanish it’s not a bad option.
