Where should I eat in London?

benjybars

benjybars

village elder.
can i have recommendations for Italian restaurants please??

the best one on in London (i borboni on green lanes) is sadly gone forever :(


so yeah, top 5 italian places in LDN?????
 
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baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
benjybars said:
can i have recommendations for Italian restaurants please??

the best one on in London (i borboni on green lanes) is sadly gone forever :(

so yeah, top 5 italian places in LDN?????
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Pity about i borboni, but that particular location is not promising sadly. the replacement cafe isn't gonna last long, i fear.

Trattoria Mondello on Goodge Street has brilliant food, and the owner is completely mental. Trattoria Luigi in Stoke Newington is way above the average too.

Sadly (not for people in Bournemouth) by far the best Italian restaurant I've ever been to in Britain was in Bournemouth. Unbelievably good. If they opened a branch in London they'd clean up. This place, which I'd never been able to re-find until just now: http://www.italianlastrada.co.uk/ Just silly how much better it was than most Italian places.
 
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viktorvaughn

Well-known member
benjybars said:
can i have recommendations for Italian restaurants please??

the best one on in London (i borboni on green lanes) is sadly gone forever :(


so yeah, top 5 italian places in LDN?????
Click to expand...

Trullo, Highbury Corner (they have a more casual bit downstairs which is cheaper)

Zucca, Bermondsy St (they have a sister cafe called Maltings which is brilliant, and cheap, but only open weekdays daytime)

Bocca di Lupo, Soho (perfect for a birthday etc)

Brawn, Columbia Rd (Is Italian-ish, nods to Spain, France, good modern small plate food)

500, Archway (more trad)
 
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baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
Good call on Trullo, Viktor. Plans changed so I was able to go this lunchtime, and the beef shin ragu is great (i think the quality of the pasta helps hugely too). If they'd given me 25 per cent more would've been perfect!

Now to track down some mozzarella di bufala in a shop to avoid paying for it in a restaurant again....
Ah - Gazzano's in Farringdon. I forgot that I've been meaning to go there for ever... : http://www.qype.co.uk/place/66379-The-Gazzanos-London
 
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benjybars

benjybars

village elder.
thanks for the tips! any more?!

also, i remember reading an interview with an author in time out a few months ago (completely forgotten the name of the author now but i reckon it'll come back to me).. anyway, it was one of those 'how i spend my writing day' type pieces and he was saying that for lunch he always go to a very little-known place in notting hill where you get a ridiculously nice lunch for under a fiver.. where's he talking about??
 
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baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
i was struck by how mellow yet complex the taste was. really inspirational in terms of flavours. I made a kale paneer thing yesterday which was inspired by that aspiration - mellow flavours rather than overpowering/sharp ones. Obviously didn't get near to that level of complexity, but the general principle transformed the way I made that paneer dish, to reasonably good effect.
 
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mistersloane

heavy heavy monster sound
I went to Chilli Cool again recently, and it was veeeeery veeeeery good this time, not sure what's changed there - new chef I'd wager, but it was fucking mindblowing this time.
 
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baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
I've always found it really good, but must go soon if it's especially great at the moment.

Went to Moro this weekend for a special occasion meal, and left disappointed by the very bland first course and the general lack of food. Leaving a restaurant still hungry is a crime after parting with 40 quid... Big fan of their cookbooks, but won't be going back to the restaurant.
 
M

mistersloane

heavy heavy monster sound
baboon2004 said:
I've always found it really good, but must go soon if it's especially great at the moment.

Went to Moro this weekend for a special occasion meal, and left disappointed by the very bland first course and the general lack of food. Leaving a restaurant still hungry is a crime after parting with 40 quid... Big fan of their cookbooks, but won't be going back to the restaurant.
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:( that's a bummer.

Went to the Tramshed, the Mark Hix/Damien Hirst thing with chicken and steak. I really, really liked it though others I was with I think didn't so much. We were really early sitting - 6.30 and it was just great. It was filling up with people by the time we left though and I'm not so fond of that. I just found it really gratifying, but I also just really, really like chicken, steak and chips.
 
matt b

matt b

Indexing all opinion
mistersloane said:
I went to Chilli Cool again recently, and it was veeeeery veeeeery good this time, not sure what's changed there - new chef I'd wager, but it was fucking mindblowing this time.
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We went when we were down in London for the day for the Olympics (used 4linehaiku's map-nice one!). It was lush. Even the two toddlers in the party enjoyed the less spicy dishes.

Did you go in the 'hot' restaurant, or the 'normal' one? The waiter in the 'hot' one, saw the push chairs and quickly ushered us in to the less spicy establishment.
 
B

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
that's strange - they used to have one side of the restaurant solely for the confusing and expensive hot pot dishes, and the other for the ordinary (but still incredibly spicy) menu, which was a much better bet imo, although the hot pot definitely had novelty value
 
benjybars

benjybars

village elder.
viktorvaughn said:
Trullo, Highbury Corner (they have a more casual bit downstairs which is cheaper)

Zucca, Bermondsy St (they have a sister cafe called Maltings which is brilliant, and cheap, but only open weekdays daytime)

Bocca di Lupo, Soho (perfect for a birthday etc)

Brawn, Columbia Rd (Is Italian-ish, nods to Spain, France, good modern small plate food)

500, Archway (more trad)
Click to expand...


thanks for the recommendations

went to Zucca.. fucking buff food but they sat me in a chair facing a huge granite wall.. it made me feel a bit like i was eating in a prison. a ridiculously tasty prison.
 
B

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
Went to Cats on Stroud Green Road for some Thai food. Wasn't expecting much but deep fried tofu with red chili paste was surprisingly excellent
 
M

mistersloane

heavy heavy monster sound
baboon2004 said:
Went to Cats on Stroud Green Road for some Thai food. Wasn't expecting much but deep fried tofu with red chili paste was surprisingly excellent
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I'm starting to reaaaally like tofu, thanks to the Chinese. Had a long conversation with the girl at our local today, which now has an online menu! This is - they apologised - only the stuff they could translate. I asked what one thing was and the girl just laughed and went "Oh don't know" lol

http://www.royalpalace.foodkingdom.com/SupplierWebSite/21/Default.aspx
http://www.royalpalace.foodkingdom.com/SupplierWebSite/21/CuisineList.aspx
 
Slothrop

Slothrop

Tight but Polite
baboon2004 said:
Tofu is definitely the way forward, given all the different variants of it you can get.
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It's surprisingly versatile stuff once you get used to the idea that it isn't a meat substitute. Somewhere early on in the cooking thread I posted a beautifully simple Madhur Jaffrey recipe which is basically tofu with chilli, soy and coriander and which is absolutely buff. The Ottolenghi recipe with black pepper is also good.
 
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