london restaurants

off topic but has anyone ever done viajante in bethnal green? just curious cos it's generally been well received but for one memorable aa gill beatdown.

considered it many times but never gone.

not a restaurant and also off topic, but anyone been to the fishmonger on victoria park road, near the lauriston?

xpost same, was gonna go for my b-day, then just ended up booking st john

what abt brawn on colombia rd?

We went to Viajante (for the (relatively) cheap 3-course lunch) one Saturday a few weeks ago. We were, it's fair to say, extremely impressed, not a false note in our meal(s) although some of the combinations were a little unexpected so I can see how they could go wildly wrong. But we're dead keen to go again, for the longer-form tasting menu. I would always, always take the paired wine flight because the wines they gave us were really unusual and added a great deal.

(LG I don't work Fridays but yeah, same old number, we should get together.)

xp haven't been to Brawn, I really fancy it.

not a restaurant and also off topic, but anyone been to the fishmonger on victoria park road, near the lauriston?

the fish house? i love it. the vibe is great, kinda like a diner. the staff are very friendly. the fish is good and there's a big selection.

oh wait the fish MONGER. yes i've been there. kinda pricey but not as bad as bway market obviously.

yeah i hate the scolt head...reminds me of my local in dublin at christmas, awfully designed place, just has zero charm for me as a pub.

nah i love the layout and what it innately has to offer (and the selection of wines!), the only thing wrong with it is the crowd that started packing it out all the time. if it's quiet it's a great pub to hang out in.

i forget that you lot are fond of the wenlock though :/

scolt head "garden" (it's just a patio really) is ok. quite twatty and i also had a friend who mysteriously lost a bag there. :-/

also "szechuan folk" by spitalfields market is really good

yeah i went on friday this place is good

this burrito place is great too if you're around middlesex st. at lunchtime:

http://www.theflyingburrito.co.uk/

if and (only if) the scolt's quiet the tables directly on the left are ok. but the sofa is lame and the back room has a gross vibe. the restaurant/pub division is super awkward and unchill, especially when you have to tiptoe through anyway just to get to the bogs. and the staff are generally wannabe smartarse dicks who i wouldnt be surprised had a hand in the thievings tbh. so what's that, like 10% of the whole place being acceptable? nah.

good old wenlock though, i'll be in there tonight i expect. look for a man with a beard drinking ale.

haha. love the wenlock, not been in way too long tho.

have to say the dickishness and general ineptitude of london bar staff never fails to amaze me. in dublin there are all these old codgers working in bars because the idea of the trendy pub has barely taken root, and they can serve about 5 people at once and remember everyone's order and returning change.

if the florist has three people at the bar you could be waiting ten minutes as some disinterested bloke fights his way through pouring pints one at a time. one bloke is so bad that the last time i was in there, one of the west ham guys who hangs out at the end of the bar came over and told me how useless said bar man was and then roared at him to "get a move on". which led to us getting served at least.

i hate old codger pubs like the wenlock - old men staring at you need to fuck off. always felt vaguely inhibited and uncomfortable in there, now i just insist on meeting elsewhere. it serves nothing i want to drink either

had a pretty nice sunday roast at the charles lamb pub just off city rd the other week. it's tiny though.

oh yeah i've walked past that one a few times and always thought it looked like it had potential

haha i've never suffered any starey men in the wenlock! you make it sound like the joiners.

fair enough with the booze though, i mean some of those vanilla caramel ales are just too much.

they don't stare in a pervy way, i could deal with that! it's more like "what is this person doing in my pub".

i am not really interested in ales but the wenlock serves one (1) type of wine and it's not very nice

xp/ also in between venues, E took a lot of private bookings for music and fashion people/events - buzz comes from places for good reasons and I hate it when my friends go all snap-judgement about style press like they're somehow above it all.

In fairness I was being sniffy about style blogs rather than style press. With Dalston it's usually a case of "food looks great, is the place going to be full of cocks?"

The Prince Arthur is a really nice space but TOO FVCKING CROWDED at weekends. Like, ridiculously so. If they'll let you book a table you should be okay though. Clientele is a bit tossy as well in my experience.

The times I've been in London I've always found the florist to be first choice

for a pub that is

I love it but sometimes the bad bar staff (not all of them) make me want to go elsewhere. I just kinda feel I spend enough money in there for people at least to be polite or whatever. It is still great tho.

wasn't there a chance that the Wenlock was going to be closing down? is that still happening? i think it's a great place, despite the likelihood of any session there resulting in a weirdo old barfly hijacking your conversation

I think the sale to the developers fell through so it's just going on as before. The owners are looking to sell but there's still the chance that whoever buys it will continue to run it as a pub, rather than just knock it down and put flats there.

i decided to go for drinks on friday instead, at the palm tree (feel free to join any ilxors!) but went for an impromptu meal last night to brawn on columbia road. it was pretty great, tho think going there for a few bottles of wine and lots of small dishes would be even better than having one of the larger mains. amazing rillette and brawn to start with.

xxxxxxxp ha a few of my friends work at the florist, will pass on yr comments LG

some of them are really pleasant as i said...some are not. i won't give descriptions just in case!

good to hear that abt brawn!

now it's warming up weekend bike rides to the counter cafe in hackney wick are in order, last time i went it was the best breakfast / coffee evah!

had raclette at walluc in shoreditch. it was average. raclette works best over about 4 hours with a never ending supply of wine anyway, cheese didn't seem as nice as the stuff i get from that cheese place in spitalfields

finally did the meatwagon before playing a show at the birds nest in deptford last week (good little venue / pub - lex you won't like it). pretty darn good, prob the best burger i've ever had but it was just a burger.

fancy going to allistairs brasserie this weekend in stoke newington/church st, anyone been? any good?

Kept on meaning to go, kept on getting put off by the prices. Obviously if it's good it's worth it, but the menu never entirely convinced me, can't remember why now. Be interested to hear what it's like tho. He used to run the kitchen at the Defoe I think.

we went to counter cafe on sunday for breakfast, really good food + like you said the coffee's amazing

Ah the Bird's Nest in Deptford, probably the only pub in SE London that's happy to put on bands that are just four people with laptops playing noize. There's an excellent Ugandan restaurant called Afab Star right round the corner as well (huge speakers playing African pop, football on the TV, feel of being in someone's front room, amazing food).

what about forman and sons in hackney wick? apparently does v cheap dinners once a month...anyone been?

Haha LG, I live just the other side of Grove Road from the Palm Tree.

ah not far away then!

anyone got any takeaway delivery recommendations in east london? i normally walk out but there are times when a good one would be useful.

was at the young vic tonight and had an octopus salad in the anchor and hope after...amazing. such a good fun place to eat too.

went to moo grill today...had a lomito and chips. it was fucking great...would go back.

Moo is opposite my Gym.. I should def check it out.

the guys in there are a great laugh too...

any tips for a good place around soho where i can have a few beers and some food? looking for sort of informal, but i guess soho doesn't really have gastropubs does it? any help would be good...

The upstairs of Bodeans?

john snow?

(but yeah bodeans)

Bodeans is a good bet, but it's a great day for the terrace at Dean Street Townhouse. They do homemade Scotch eggs.

garlic and shots, if that's your thang?

probably be tomorrow night, I think bodeans, much as I like it, is a bit too like...I dunno, not pub like enough.

is dean st townhouse terrace open in evenings?

polpo or spuntino? altho depending on how early yr getting there there might be a huge queue