Profil von melvrs

Yum! Not the most creative menu, but everything here is pretty well done. It’s always full with Chinese people, so I take that to be a good sign. Service is fast and the prices are even better. I don’t eat pork, but friends who have had their barbecue say that it’s pretty tasty stuff - they do seem proud of it, displaying it proudly in front. Best of all? Open until 11 pm.

I once saw Paul A. Young here in the back doing this thing and had to stop from giving him a huge hug for making my rainy Mondays absolutely glorious. I restrained myself, so as not to alarm him and get myself blacklisted from heaven-at-angel (haha get it? ok I write poor puns).

HOT CHOCOLATE. Gorgeous, thick, and more than worthy of the praise lavished upon it by everyone. It’s not thin or milky, but gorgeous and thick in the brave continental European style. The special trick is that you get to mix in a spice of your choice with every cup - cardamom is my favourite, it is like drinking chocolate blended with flowery perfume. Other spices are nutmeg, cayenne, cinnamon, and paprika. You can only get these to go, but I reckon it is for the best as Mr. Young knows that providing a real place to sit and hang out means that people won’t ever leave.

Chocolates are exquisite, and very creative. I am from the Philippines and was delighted and surprised by him using kalamansi, these small thimble-sized lemons we grow at home, in his chocolate. The brownie is intense, more like fudge than a brownie, so I am curious what would happen if I were to bake it just a little bit more at home, to make it more cakey?

It is absolutely worth it to plan a trip out to Angel just to visit this place.

PS UPDATE May 9: Hot chocolate has been repalced with ICE CREAM!!!

So my motivation to go here was the chocolate fondue. No, really! I wanted chocolate fondue real bad. And it was very nice and tasty. It was a little pricey but I thought it very yummy, and I guess it’s not the sort of thing you eat everyday so why not.

But my dessert came with, uh, other things. And obviously, not just the tortilla chips that came with the chocolate fondue (surprisingly super tasty, but appropriate to the store, made me feel sinful). As you can see from everyone else’s reviews, there’s a lot of erotic art, books, and toys around which make for a much more unique environment than Starbucks, and offer up lots of good things to talk about (“this goes… where?”). The environment of this place is incredibly unique. The sex is there, obviously, but you don’t feel trashy or awkward for being there… any qualms disappear after two minutes and your first hello from the staff. They are SO WELCOMING, and they really strive (and I believe, succeed) to make you feel comfortable, no matter what your bedroom tastes are, how reserved or how out-there you may be. They are just as okay with wide-eyed stares of curiosity, as they are to aroused excitement, and best of all to good natured laughter at just how funny some of their kinky things are. It was unexpected for me how there was no “let’s-get-out-of-here-asap” nagging sense in your head-- in the way that perhaps one might drop into Harmony or Ann Summers just to look around, feel kind of sheepish despite the salesgirls’ smiles, and shuffle out with maybe one discrete purchase. No, at CCK, you WANT to hang out here for longer, and it is in fact encouraged! If a full cafetiere just for you with your order of a coffee isn’t encouragement to linger, what is?

Even as a first time visitor I got a sense that there is a community built around this place. The sincere welcome, the surprisingly homey feel, the fact that the staff are just outstanding characters in their own right (great service + interesting characters + straight up friendly people who pay attention to how you may be feeling), the Monmouth Coffee (yum!!) and many, many desserts… almost makes me want to move back to the Covent Garden area!

Oh wait, my stolen wallet has never been found. Never mind. At any rate, go to CCK.

What horrible service!

The food is passable - like KizzieFK, the Pad Thai is the standard of my measure. I didn’t hate it -- at least it wasn’t the bright orange concoction you get at most Thai restaurants. it also had all the right condiments, from the crushed peanuts to the raw beansprouts. The spring rolls were something awful -- looks like they had just bought them at Sainsbury’s.

But the service!! Awful!! I was so harassed and looking for some comfort food and a late lunch -- the waitresses seemed more interested in making me hide my bottle of juice from plain view than taking my order. Literally! They kept coming over to tell me off about it (who tells off their customers?? a polite request will do), and when i would reply that I’d be happy to do it if they could please take my order, they would just walk away… and then someone else would come to tell me off about the juice bottle, but not give a damn about taking my order. I had to wait quite. a. while.

HONESTLY. Serve your customers first before asking them to do something to preserve your “look”.

Also, I noticed that the girls across from me waited the length of time for me to be seated, served, and half done with my food before their waitress got around to giving them the bill they had asked for. Such patience - I would have left a long time ago. They also kept a poor man by the door for a very long time before they approached him to greet-and-seat.

I won’t be returning. I’ll take my local orange-pad-thai place, because at least the service is worth it.

A big downer is how freaking hard this place is to find. Fieldgate street forks, mind you. The neighborhood isn’t quite exactly what you’d like to show off to your folks either -- hasn’t quite got the character-filled, fun atmosphere brick lane has.

BUT THE FOOD. OH THE FOOD. whereas brick lane can be hit or miss depending on which curry-pimp you listen to (and this can be very tiring), tayyab’s is hands down tasty, inexpensive, and very accessible in terms of the crowd -- lots of types here, no need to be in a suit, nor hipper than you in skinny jeans. indeed i don’t recommend the skinny jeans as this is the place to loosen the belt in terms of your tummy. the menu won’t explain things to the unfamiliar (know what all the curries are ahead of time) but you may as well just close your eyes and point, you can’t go wrong, or if you really want to be careful hope that you get one of their more patient waiters who might help clarify. the place is big and the turnaround fast, so pardon the speedy, cold service that’s usually the norm.

Long and short - under any other restaurant I wouldn’t go back, because of how far it is and the service, but Tayyab’s is SO delicious and INCREDIBLE value for money (30 pounds for four people, inc. drinks when i last went) that i would definitely just go ahead and plan a day around it. :-)

I don’t understand why this place is such a hit. I’m a HUGE noodle soup fan so Wagamama was so exciting at first. But in the years I’ve been there either with others, on my own, whichever location… it’s just awful. AWFUL. The noodle soups are generally tasteless, you might as well choose your order by randomly picking something, anything, from the noodle soup menu. I looked forward to the spicy curry-ish noodle soup hoping for some laksa and I just got something that resembled more like a generic tasting, solid curry/stew, and not a noodle soup -- yes, there is a difference.
I moved away from noodle soup, desperate to try to like something my friends seemed to like so much. The fried rice is bland and needed about a third a bottle of kikkoman, yakisoba is passable, the chicken katsu curry was stingy on the meat and the sauce.
They aren’t so cheap, either. So what’s the fuss about?? The communal eating concept?? It’s no longer unique. I happened onto Satsuma on Wardour Street, which is basically the same concept with the same prices and much much better food, if you must get your fix… or indeed, Chinatown is so nearby, why not just walk the extra blocks to get more bang for your buck?
Service is rushed too, at this particular Wagamama… I don’t feel the love!

I was quite excited to see LaDuree here, but it seems totally wiped of all charm as opposed to the original Parisian outlets. The staff are condescending, perhaps they are venting their anxieties from operating in the bizarre all-gold environment on me? It would make me nervous too. Their alienating attitude though totally robs you of the sheer visual delight and childish excitement from seeing those trays and trays of pastel colored macarons, and the adorable boxes. Magnify this disdain should you dare ask for a single piece to nibble on your way -- you can’t. There is a minimum purchase requirement.

If I’m spending so much on a sweet, I pay for experience and not just the product. LaDuree here gives me my yummies but stops at that. I prefer Fortnum and Mason across the way or maybe Prestat Chocolates at an arcade further down the street, where they know that when I’m damn well paying more than the price of cab fare for a sweet then they owe me a smile and a pretty little box. I’ll save my macaron purchases for Paris.

I just moved to the neighborhood in January and I am so so pleased that I can call Arabesque my local eat-spot, as it’s just down the block. It’s practically tied with Noura at Picadilly Circus for me in terms of gorgeously yummy Lebanese/Mid-East food -- and at a third of Noura’s price!

The menu is small, but I’ve never been unhappy with a single thing I’ve ordered. Particularly adore the baba ghanoush and the kuba (which i think is spelled kibbeh at other places), which is served in a huge portion along with all the other main courses (about 6.50-8.50 - such a good deal). It’s a small place, though quite atmospheric with the mid-East decor which works particularly for dinner-dates. It never fails to make me and my boyfriend of forever feel like we’re on a romantic date again circa early-relationship, when we’d go to these nice places to try to impress each other. But it’s just as solid a place for me to grab a quick lunch before I run off to the library - when I order even just two mezzes, I’m still served very well by the staff who even have the kindness to cross off their service charge on the bill total because I’ve ordered so little. I give it to them anyway! :-)

We can usually walk in for a meal except on Friday and Saturday evenings, when a reservation is needed.

About me: Espresso is my life.

About Cafe Vergnano 1882: Their espresso is my adolescent schoolgirl crush

The stuff you get here is consistently solid, very very excellent. The damn espresso machine isn't as big as your fridge for nothing. DO try it. The exterior is most unimpressive and the pastries aren't much to write home about (though I must say the cannoli is looks at me flirtatiously) but the coffee, ah, the coffee. The actual object of my affections (person, not beverage) claims he has not had a better espresso shot - it was balanced, sublime, not too much of anything (not too mild, not too bitter, not too etc. etc.) but just as it should be in its lovely honey color and presented not merely in a tiny cup but a platter accompanied with water shot to get your excitement going. I am fond of the cappuccino, which has an excellent foam consistency, no bubbles at all.

I have been to their branch at the Southwark center as well for dinner, and apart from the coffee the actual food and dessert menu makes "the stuff i have to do to get to the coffee" more a pleasure than a chore.

Highly recommended.