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Gourmet Pizza Company looks like a beach hut and it may not be exactly next to a beach, but it has the River Thames on its side! The actual location is in Gabriel’s Wharf on the South Bank.

Seen as it is a pizza restaurant, it seemed wrong to order anything else other than pizza. The menu does have pastas and salads as well.

There were two pizzas that were especially appealing. One was the grilled vegetable and caramelised onion which had toppings of aubergine, courgettes, peppers, onions, mozzarella and goat’s cheese. I decided on the other pizza though which was generously topped with tomatoes, sundried tomatoes, roasted peppers, courgettes, olives, mushrooms, garlic and mozzarella.

The pizza base was perfect. It was crispy and still had substance to it as it wasn’t paper thin. The garlic with the tomato sauce made the flavour of the pizza really great.

Gourmet Pizza Company do a range of hot drinks including coffees and teas. The Earl Grey tea was served in a tall latte glass but I always prefer having tea served in a teapot. The fresh mint tea was also served in the latte glass. It was good that the mint tea was not made from a teabag but from fresh mint leaves.

This restaurant has an open kitchen with the dining area surrounding the kitchen. The decor is all wooden tables and chairs and there is also outdoor seating facing the river.

The staff were really friendly and very welcoming. They gave service with a smile and were not pushy in any sort of a way. It made the whole atmosphere relaxing and comfortable.

If you’re ever around Gabriel’s Wharf, then Gourmet Pizza Company is a lovely place to go for lunch or dinner. It would be great in the summer months too! 

Gourmet Pizza Company, Gabriel’s Wharf, 56 Upper Ground, London, SE1 9PP

Our Rating:

As soon as I entered Reun Thai, I was taken aback by the friendliness of the staff! It is quite a small restaurant and  was decorated in earthy tones. The wooden chairs were comfortable as they had seat cushions.

The Pad Thai Jay was made of rice noodles, beansprouts, carrots, spring onions and crushed peanuts. It was a nice filling dish but was quite oily. It would have been better if it had more vegetables. We were given prawn crackers to start off the meal.

Reun Thai seemed like a popular restaurant and all of the tables were occupied fairly fast in the evening. It was good that we had made a reservation for our evening meal!

Reun Thai, 100 Fulham Palace Road, London, W6 9PL

Our Rating:

If you want to go for a traditional English Afternoon Tea, then you must try the Tea Room at Brown’s hotel. It is quite formal and an excellent treat for a special occasion. This venue and its Afternoon Tea was awarded the “Top London Afternoon Tea 2009″ by the Tea Guild.

Brown’s has an extensive range of teas; a total of 17 teas to choose from. We finally decided to go for the Cornish grown tea and Brown’s Afternoon Blend. I was intrigued by the Cornish grown tea as it is the first true English tea, which is grown in a tea plantation near Truro! Both teas were great and were served in silver teapots. We were given additional hot water and a jug of milk. The staff also replaced our cups and refilled our teapots halfway through our Afternoon Tea sitting!

The selection of sandwiches included egg, ham and mustard, cucumber, smoked salmon, chicken; all were really fresh. We could have had more, as the staff did ask us if we wanted another plate of them, but we thought it best to have some room left for the cakes and pastries!

Both the fruit and plain scones were delicious. They were just the right size and were perfect when topped with the clotted cream and strawberry preserve. The strawberry preserve was some of the best that I have ever had! Brown’s gets a lot of compliments about its strawberry preserve and the staff told me that they are now looking into ways to bottle it up, so that it could be made available to purchase!

There were a choice of two cakes from the cake trolley. One was a classic Victoria sponge and the other was a fruit cake. The Victoria sponge was light and was filled with cream and jam.

The final plate consisted of assorted cakes and pastries and we were spoilt for choice! The orange macaroon had the right crunchiness and a great chocolate filling. The other cakes were lemon tart, cream filled profiterole, chocolate cake topped with chocolate cream, and a rhubarb compote topped with cream. All of the cakes were yummy and it was a nice selection to have.

The English Tea Room has two open fires, wooden panels, soft lighting, big arm chairs and sofas. There was live soft piano music playing in the background which suited the relaxed atmosphere. It was nice that the Tea Room felt quite spacious.

The staff were excellent and very attentive. It is essential to make a reservation and on weekends, you are only allocated an hour and a half in the Tea Room. We still had not finished in that time, so it was really great that the staff allowed us to take our cakes through to the bar area! A bonus is that you are given a small sample of the tea leaves to take home with you!

English Tea Room, Brown’s Hotel, Albermarle Street, Mayfair, London, W1S 4BP

Our Rating:

Tex-Mex Experience was discovered when we were trying to escape from a very rainy evening in Fulham! Initially, we went into the Fulham Broadway shopping centre to take shelter from the rain and then realised that there were restaurants in the building. Another enlightenment was the fact that it was actually time for dinner and once seeing the restaurants, hunger seemed to appear!

This Tex-Mex restaurant had a quirky red and lime green decor including Mexican hats along shelves and great ornamental artwork on the walls. There is the bar at one end and the restaurant dining area at the other.

The breaded mushrooms were filled with Mexican cheese and garlic and were served with some salad. I chose the rice and beans to make it into a main meal. It was all very tasty and the flavours worked well together.  The mushrooms were not greasy and I was pleased that they were not overfilled with cheese!

I’m not sure what type the beans were! They were in a tomato based sauce. When we asked two different staff what type of beans they were, we were given two different answers! One said that they were pinto beans and the other said that they were Mexican beans! Whatever they were called, they were good!

The vegetarian chimichanga was a soft tortilla filled with lots of vegetables and topped with cheese. It was a generous portion as it came with rice and beans as well. A great choice for a satisfying meal!

The mango juice was very nice; quite a big glass of it! It wasn’t pure mango juice, more of a carton drink, but that was fine. There were also a tempting range of non-alcoholic cocktails on the menu!

The service was good and the staff were friendly. Even though the restaurant got busier towards the end of our meal, we were not rushed and could easily have spent a lot of time sitting there. At the end of the meal, one of the waitresses brought us the wrong bill. When we raised the issue with another waiter, he swiftly replaced it with the correct bill. As we were leaving Tex-Mex Experience, the waitress apologised to us about the mistake.

Tex-Mex Experience has daily offers on drinks and food! This makes it an even more appealing place to go for dinner!

Tex-Mex Experience, Unit 2, Fulham Broadway Retail Centre, London, SW6 1BW

Our Rating:

For some unknown reason, Med Kitchen has not been one of those places that I have wanted to try. I’m not sure why this has been the case for so long. But I’m so glad that we went to this restaurant and gave it a go! We really did have such a pleasant dining experience at this particular Med Kitchen in Islington!

The roasted Mediterranean vegetables with couscous and chickpeas was very filling and tasty. It had plenty of strips and chunks of courgettes, peppers, red onion and aubergine. It was supposed to have harissa  in the dish but I wasn’t sure if it would be too spicy for me. So the waitress kindly suggested that I could have it separately on the side. That was great as I could add it to my suit my taste buds. The whole dish and the flavours worked well together. I was glad that the couscous was not coated in olive oil, as it did not need it at all.

My friend had the slow roasted lamb, feta and onion stew and she thouroughly enjoyed her meal too. The chunks of lamb were perfectly cooked and were tender. This dish was served with sesame and onion flatbread. This fresh bread was perfect to dip into the gravy of the stew!

The waitress that was serving us was really honest and we truly appreciated this. When I asked her if the fish was fresh, she told us that it was on some days but on other days, it could be a day or so old. Also, when it came to the coffee, I was originally going to order a mocha. I asked her if this was going to be a big drink, like a latte usually is, but she told me that it was more like an espresso. So, I had a cappuccino instead.

As I mentioned I had the cappucino to end the meal. It was a really good rich, creamy hot drink. A nice touch was that the hot drinks were served with a little biscuit! The tea was served by the pot which is something that I always prefer!

Med Kitchen was a relaxing place to come for our evening dinner. But I can see it being a good restaurant to come to for breakfast or lunch as well. The atmosphere was nice with the soft music playing in the background. There was a range of seating with the cosy cushioned seats along the back wall. I also liked the open kitchen area making up part of the restaurant area. It was great that the waitress was so truthful and didn’t just give us false information so that we would order quickly. It made a huge difference to our whole evening dinner. It made us feel that it was a more of a personal and friendly evening out.

Med Kitchen, 370 St John Street, London, EC1V 4NN

Our Rating:

This is Carluccios flagship restaurant and it is spread over two floors. The entrance and interior reminded me of a grand home. It has high ceilings, stone floors and a big spiral staircase. We were seated on the upper level, which looked like the private dining area. There are huge windows that overlook the surrounding streets of Covent Garden. It felt like we were dining in a stately home!

The starter of foccacia bread was a big piece. It was a little heavy and plain to have as a starter dish even though it was served with olive oil to dip in.

The Arancini Di Riso Siciliani are two fried rice balls served with a red pepper sauce. One of the rice balls has a mozzarella filling and the other has meat ragu. I found that even just one of the rice balls is quite filling but what would complement this dish would be a salad.

The Pasta E Fagioli soup is described on the menu as being a thick soup with vegetables, borlotti beans and pasta. It was more of a broth based soup and not as rich as I would have expected it to be.

I have tried two different main dishes at Carluccios and definitely have a preference. I would recommend having the Penne Giardiniera. The pasta is served with a nice mixture of courgettes, fried spinach balls, chilli and comes with Parmesan and garlic. The flavours and textures of this dish really work together!

I really did not enjoy the homemade ravioli. The filling was spinach and ricotta. This dish was not at all filling. It tasted really bland even though it was served with butter and sage. Also, the side dish of spinach with garlic was average.

The Tiramisu is a fantastic dessert! It has the perfect combination of coffee, cream and chocolate. The portion was enough to share!

If you fancy something sweet, but don’t really want a dessert, then you should try the Ciocolatta. This is a satisfying thick hot chocolate with frothy milk on top. If you don’t want the spoonable hot chocolate, then you can always ask for extra hot milk on the side and dilute the chocolate down a bit!

The cappuccino is good and creamy and a nice drink to have at the end of the meal. Carluccios do not serve soy milk.

The staff were really friendly and the service was good. Carluccios have a shop on the ground floor where you can buy lots of Italian goodies and treats!

Carluccios, Garrick Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2E 9BH

Our Rating:

Rocca di Papa had such a warm and welcoming feel. It made a refreshing change to other restaurants. What was striking was the original brickwork walls, big canvas pictures and high ceilings. This building used to be part of Christie’s auction house.

The waitress was really friendly and didn’t mind me waiting for a while at the table for my friends to arrive. It made a nice relaxing start to the evening. I did notice that there were a lot of tables reserved but we were lucky to get a table without making a reservation. The service was quick, efficient and the waitress made the effort to recommend items on the menu and to make conversation with me.

I wanted to try a couple of things from the menu as quite a few of the dishes sounded really nice. So, I went for some starter dishes instead of one main meal. The homemade minestrone soup was great. It had plenty of chunks of potato, carrots and celery and other vegetables. It was more of a broth based soup rather than tomato and it also did not have any pasta pieces.

To accompany the soup, I really enjoyed the Perdi Tempo pizza bread. It was not a huge portion but a good size to go with the soup. The pizza bread was topped with tomato, rosemary and rock salt and the quality was definitely there.

I would highly recommend Rocca di Papa if you are in the South Kensington area. Great Italian food and they have a menu that they change with seasonal dishes. If you have space for dessert, then you have to try the amazing Oddonos ice cream! Rocca also have a heated outdoor seating area!

Rocca di Papa, 73 Old Brompton Road, South Kensington, London, SW7 3JS

Our Rating:

This is a cute Thai restaurant, which when you enter looks really small. We thought that it only had the four or so tables/booths. So we were surprised when we asked for a table, we were taken downstairs. I just assumed that the downstairs area would be the whole of the kitchen! On the lower level, Thai Pepper opens out into its main restaurant area with lots more seating.

The food seemed fresh as it took them a little time to make it.  The vegetarian dumplings were really tasty and you got six of them, so enough to share! Even though it said on the menu that they were steamed, they had crispy edges, so I’m not sure if they had been fried a little. Either way, they were good and they went well with the fried garlic and soya sauce.

It was a tough choice to decide whether to go for the Thai green curry with rice or the Pad Thai! Finally, I decided to go for the vegetarian Pad Thai noodles! Great fried rice noodles with carrots, bamboo shoots, baby corn, egg and crushed peanuts. This dish was just a bit too saucy towards the end of the dish. If I had to change anything about the Pad Thai is that I would make it a little less sweet and also I would add some tofu to it.

Thai Pepper is a small intimate restaurant with lovely friendly staff. One thing to note is that Thai Pepper is only open during the evenings and not in the day time.

Thai Pepper, 115 Finchley Road, Swiss Cottage, London, NW3 6HY

Our Rating:

Melanzana was one of those places that we weren’t sure whether to go into or not. This was only because we thought it may just be a take away deli and we wanted somewhere that we could sit in and have hot drinks.

As soon as we entered, we were impressed with the colourful displays and the range of food in the deli. Little did we know that Melanzana was a restaurant as well! It’s a shame that some of the food was open on top of the counters. They had a range of breads, pastries, cold meats, olives and roasted vegetables.

The staff were friendly and allowed us to sit anywhere that we liked in the dining area. One of the staff didn’t speak/understand English very well, so when we asked for a hot soya milk, she brought us a hot chocolate made with soya milk instead. The mango fruit tea was served by the cup not the pot.

The foccacia bread was good and was topped with onions. It all tasted fresh and was a good portion. There was a lot of pizzas and pasta dishes being brought out to the other tables and they all looked delicious. If we are in the area again, then we will return to sample some of their hot dishes.

Melanzana is a little gem of a place in Battersea! It felt like it was run by a nice tight knit family group. All the food seemed to be fresh and looked like it was made on a regular basis on the premises.

Melanzana, 140 Westbridge Road, London, SW11 3PF

Our Rating:

Leon is quite a small casual restaurant! I liked it and think it would be good at any time of the day! On this particular occasion, I was there in the evening. It had quite a quirky feel to it. When I first entered, I wasn’t really sure what to expect and didn’t know if they would have much seating.

The waitress was really friendly and recommended lots of things on the menu including the Moroccan meatballs, sweet potato falafel and the original superfood salad! Although it was a busy time in the evening, there were a couple of tables free. I chose to sit in the middle part where they have the high chairs and this particular area separated the two halves of the seating area.

It was very dimly lit with some tealight candles! There were random books on the shelves, which I’m not sure if they were there just for decoration. It felt quite cosy and was the perfect place to warm up on a cold rainy day together with some hearty food! The atmosphere was very relaxed and there was some good jazz like music playing in the background.

I was more peckish than wanting a full blown meal so I was happy to see that Leon had a Kids menu! Some restaurants have age restrictions on their Kids menu but this was not the case with Leon.

The Leon Gobi was really good and as it was from the Kids menu, it was served with rice and peas instead of with fresh slaw. The Gobi was like a curry and consisted of chunks of cauliflower and sweet potato. The taste of the coconut milk definitely came through in this dish with the flavours of the spices being milder. The nutty taste of the brown rice was great and it went well with the peas, edamame and green beans! Even though it was a smaller portion than a main meal, I found that it was quite filling.

Leon is good if you have dietary restrictions. They specify on the menu which items are gluten free, wheat free, dairy free, low GI, vegetarian and low animal fat.

The way that it works in Leon is partly self service. Quite a few eateries seem to adopt this idea. The waitress gave me the menu and she also gave me a small paper with the menu on it. She told me that I just filled out my table number and specified which items I wanted. I should then take this to the counter and hand it there. I sometimes prefer this method as then you are not waiting around for the attention of staff and usually it is a quicker way to get your food! This was the case with Leon as in the food was served pretty fast!

Leon has a great range of salads, main dishes, wraps, snacks and desserts. They also do smoothies, juices, coffee and tea. The soups change daily and they also have a daily main special. In the time that I was there, the type of soup that they were serving, changed a couple of times! It’s nice that they have such a variety. All the food seemed really fresh and healthy and you can tell that Leon takes pride in its meals.

Leon, 73-76 Strand, London, WC2R 0DE

Our Rating: