Two huge wooden tables and long benches make up Papa Del’s communal dining area! There are also a few window seats!

Papa Del’s has a very natural feel to it. The tables are uneven so that slate placemats are used to keep the plates level! It was nice to have such a dining area with all the wooden surroundings! The painted walls and wall lights gave a soft ambiance!

The food was cooked fresh in the open kitchen and so we were waiting a short while for it! The Vegetariana pizza had a thin crispy base and the tomato sauce was tasty. It was topped with tomato, mozzarella, sweetcorn, onions, peppers and mushrooms. We had an additional topping of aubergine! The vegetables were all cooked perfectly!

The Penne Arrabiata was a big portion! The pasta was topped with a sauce of garlic, tomato, olives and chilli! The sauce had a good flavour and it definitely had a spicy kick to it!

The staff were friendly, but there was a slight language barrier going on. A few times when we asked the staff questions, they just said that they did not understand! Luckily, we had the patience to try and explain what we meant in several different ways!

Papa Del’s does a good evening deal between 9pm and 11pm! It is also open in the morning for breakfast!

Papa Del’s, 347 Archway Road, London, N6 5AA

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An afternoon tea with an Indian twist is what 3 Oceans provides! Gone away are the traditional scones and in come the vegetable samosas!

It made a refreshing change to have many savoury items and less of the sweet ones! Instead of small finger sandwiches, we were given two whole sandwiches, cut into triangles! The cheese and tomato one had thick slices of cheese and was on granary bread. The egg mayonnaise one was made with wholemeal bread! There were the options also to have smoked salmon, prawn and ham sandwiches, but we decided just to have the cheese and egg ones.

For the Indian snacks, we were given vegetable samosas, crispy bhajia and kachori. None of these were greasy or oily and all had a mild spice level! The vegetable samosas had a crispy pastry and were filled with mashed vegetables. The kachori also had a similar sort of a filling but were made with a batter outer rather than pastry. The bhajias were sliced potatoes cooked in batter too! All were very moreish and went well with the mint, yoghurt chutney and the tamarind chutney!

As if that wasn’t all filling enough, there were also the chocolate based desserts! There was a rich chocolate cake and also a brownie style cake. Both were very rich and had pieces of nuts in them!

3 Oceans had a lot of teas to choose from; the list spread over two pages! I had the lychee red tea which was a black tea! It had a wonderful sweet subtle fruity flavour! The tea was served by the pot! It was really nice that the staff did not mind giving us additional pots of hot water to replenish the tea through our meal!

The restaurant area was clean and spacious! There were cream cushioned high backed chairs and dark wooden tables. It also has a separate bar area.

The staff were absolutely fantastic and so friendly! They made sure everything was to our liking all the time that we were dining here. It made us feel that we were getting such personal service and made us enjoy our time at 3 Oceans. Even though there was a private event going to happen that evening, the staff in no way made us rush. They let us take our time and did not make us feel uncomfortable or that we were getting in their way!

3 Oceans is a lovely friendly place to go to, with great attention paid to the food and service!

3 Oceans, 4 Lodge Lane, Off North Finchley High Road, London, N12 8JR

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The Highgate Pantry has a big display of tempting sweet things in its window! Cupcakes, fruit tarts, macaroons, fruit crumble slices, egg custards and the list goes on!

An afternoon filled with tea, cake and the girls brought us to this bakery! We were spoilt for choice so we decided that the only way around that was to pick a few cakes and to share them!

Two fruit tarts, one lemon and one cherry, and a plum crumble slice were our final choices! The cherry tart had plump cherries bursting with flavour. The lemon tart was tangy but also sweet! Both had good pastry! Big slices of plums mixed with a cake like filling made up the crumble slice. It would have been nice to have had a little more crumble topping.

The tea was served by the cup. The English Breakfast tea was a good accompaniment to the cakes!

The staff were friendly and did not rush us. The Highgate Pantry also serves hot dishes such as jacket potatoes and it also does various bakes, pastries and sandwiches.

The interior of The Highgate Pantry is quite small which means that the tables are close together. Also, customers queuing for takeaway items are waiting around the seating area. This is a sweet little shop but would definitely benefit by having a larger seating area.

The Highgate Pantry, 57 Highgate High Street, London, N6 5JX

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