Rate my Bistro

This is a nice enough cafe next door to the Sadlers Wells Theatre. At first, it looks like they only have a few of the high metal tables and chairs by the counter. But at the back, it opens out into the garden court area. This is indoors and is very light and airy.

The Stage Door Cafe prepares fresh sandwiches and then they are wrapped and displayed in the fridge. The ham and mustard wholegrain sandwich was good, although a little pricey. They also have a range of hot food such as jacket potatoes, pasta dishes, bakes and soup. These are all self service and are in open trays on the hot plate.

I was going to have the cauliflower soup but then when I lifted the lid of the soup container, the soup looked stale as if it had been sitting there all day. They had a range of cakes and brownies too.

The latte was nice and they do flavoured coffees too. The cafe also serves teas and hot chocolate.

A good place to come to relax before a show or even if you just want a quiet place to have a drink and a bite to eat. The cafe does get busy before a show performance.

Stage Door Cafe and Bar, Sadlers Wells Theatre, Rosebery Avenue, London, EC1R 4TN 

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We’ve been to Le Pain Quotidien many a time and it is good at any time of the day! It’s great to go early in the morning when the pastries are all fresh.

They do good quality croissants and pain au chocolat. The granola with yogurt could have done with more yogurt to balance out the amount of granola. I’ve tried their muffins and thought that they were tasty and not overly sweet. The individual fresh fruit tarts always look tempting too!

The organic mezze platter is great to share. It comprises of hummus, babaganoush (aubergine salad) and aubergine and tomato. The bread that comes with it is usually rye bread but you can ask for any bread from their selection. It is all very moreish!

The coffees, teas and hot chocolates are all good. They do serve soy milk. Their freshly squeezed orange juice is OK. I did like the Luscombe bottled juices that they do.

I really like the wooden decor in Le Pain Quotidien and the rustic feel that this bistro has. It has a big communal table as well as individual seating. The staff are always friendly and accommodating to any special dietary requests.

Le Pain Quotidien, 18 Great Marlborough Street, London, W1F 7HS

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A great pizzeria tucked away from the busy streets of Covent Garden. This restaurant is quite small although it does have some tables downstairs. We were lucky to be seated upstairs!

The decor is pretty cool; nice artwork on the wall and strings of lights near the back of the restaurant. The staff were really friendly and the service was good.

Freshly baked pizzas with generous toppings is what we experienced. The food was tasty and it was nice that the atmosphere was fairly relaxed.

Sapori, 43 Drury Lane, London, WC2B 5RT

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On this site used to be one of my regular restaurants, Caffe Uno. This has now been changed (just like many others) to the French restaurant Brasserie Chez Gerard.

The food here was average and I wouldn’t call it outstanding. I had the seasonal vegetables tagine which I would give full marks for presentation but not for flavour. The taste of the spices didn’t really come through. I was expecting it be more of a tomato based tagine. This Moroccan dish was cooked with chickpeas, spinach and baby carrots. It came with a good portion of couscous.

The actual restaurant decor is nice with a range of seating, from window seats to wicker chairs and normal dining tables and chairs.

The staff were friendly although the service was slow at times. We were waiting for quite a while to get the attention of the waiter, so that we could order desserts. By the time we managed to get his attention, we weren’t even sure that we wanted to order anything else.

The warm almond and cherry tart was a huge disappointment. It tasted like it had been microwaved and the pastry had become too soft. The only upside to this was that the coffee ice cream (that came with the tart) had a good flavour.

Maybe I should have opted for my friend’s choice of the warm Belgian waffle with chocolate sauce and ice cream. That looked of a better quality!

Brasserie Chez Gerard, 9 Kensington High Street, London, W8 5NP

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This Parisian tea room is hidden away on the ground floor of the famous department store, Harrods. As soon as I entered, the colourful selection of macarons and the amazing display of cakes caught my eye!

The hot chocolate had the right creaminess and thickness. It was served to us in a pot and we just helped ourselves. There was enough hot chocolate for a couple of top-ups!

To go with our drinks, we had the millefeuille praline which was caramelized puff pastry, praline cream, almond pralines and crispy hazelnuts. Each mouthful was divine and heavenly! It really felt like we were indulging!

The macarons are Laduree’s speciality. We went for a selection of the mini macarons: pistachio, praline and caramel with superfine salt. They were all really crisp and smooth. The waitress accidently gave us an extra macaron but she did not charge us for it, even when we told her that we had not ordered it! Must have been our lucky day!

The service was a little slow, so don’t go here if you are in a hurry. The staff were all really friendly and didn’t rush us at all. It was a very relaxing atmosphere.

Personally, I would come here on an empty stomach as the cakes and drinks are filling. It is nice to get seating upstairs as this overlooks the counter displays!

Laduree Tea Room, Harrods, 87/135 Brompton Road, Knightsbridge, London, SW1X 7XL

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