Although Belgo’s speciality is mussels, we didn’t fancy these for this evening meal! Instead, we had chicken and burgers and frites!

The half chicken was spit roasted and basted with Belgian blonde beer and apple juice. The chicken was really tender and the meat come off the bone so easily. It was served with a mushroom and cream sauce and a big bowl of frites.

The sauce was creamy, as expected and also had a good amount of mushrooms in it. The frites were thick and perfectly crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside.

My friend was impressed with her burger and frites. She asked for the burger to be cooked medium/rare and was pleasantly surprised when it was more rare than medium, just the way she likes it! Other restaurants seem to go the other way and overcook the burger so it is entirely medium cooked!

The waiter was great! He was really friendly and gave service with a smile. I asked for the sauce for the chicken to be served on the side. When the waiter brought out our meal, he told me that if I needed any more of the sauce, then just to let him know. It was a big portion of sauce but it was nice to know that Belgo didn’t skimp on these extras!

Belgo do a great Beat the Clock menu, usually between 5-7pm on the weekdays. This means that if you order any items on that particular menu then you pay the price that you placed your food order!

Belgo, 67 Kingsway, Holborn, London, WC2B 6TD

Our Rating:
4 out of 5 stars

The decor is quite cool and quirky. There was a main long dining table with a few hoops above it, which we were told was for the circus entertainment in the evening. The other tables were to one side of the main dining table. The chairs were a mish mash of plastic and material chairs, all in black, white or translucent. On the other side of the main table, you could see the kitchen area.

Circus reminded us quite a lot of the Sway Bar and Kitchen in Holborn:

http://ratemybistro.co.uk/sway-bar-and-kitchen-holborn/

There was also an additional area filled with comfy seats and seemed like a good place to be able to lounge! The walls and lights were glittery and shiny!

The menu had some variety but it only had one main vegetarian item. To start off the meal, we had the baby squid and the chicken wings. The crispy fried baby squid was ok; it wasn’t greasy. It was supposed to have a sticky coconut glaze but I couldn’t taste it.

The tamarind and chipotle chicken wings was a good portion. I was glad that it came with a hot sauce and a blue cheese dip, as the chicken wings on their own seemed to lack flavour. The chicken wings were tender.

I was hoping that the main dishes and the side orders were going to be tasty. The vegetarian parcels was like a big round puff pastry pasty! It was filled with cheese, sweetcorn, black beans and other vegetables. It was very filling and it also came with a pomegranate and pecan salad. Again, it needed the coconut dip to give it that extra flavour. It was nice that it was a baked dish.

The chorizo and king prawn pizette was average. It was quite dense with the toppings and also with the cheese. The pizette was enough for one person.

To go with the meal, we had cornbread and portobello mushrooms. The cornbread came with Cajun honey butter and it was four thick triangle slices. Unfortunately the cornbread was really very bland and only tasted  better when we dipped it into the coconut dip.

The portobello mushrooms were a better choice. They were presented in a little clay pot and were quite juicy. They had been flavoured with garlic butter.

For drinks, there was a good range of hot and cold drinks. I had the fresh mint tea which was served by the pot. The little teacup that came with it had some quirky circus related image!

The staff was friendly and gave service with a smile. We were served quite efficiently and it was good to see that the staff were knowledgeable about the items on the menu.

Circus had made the effort on the presentation of all their dishes. It is a shame that most of the food was bland and it just lacked that little something. It had seemed to have got everything else right, such as the decor, the service and the ambiance!

Circus, 27-29 Endell Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2H 9BA

Our Rating:
3 out of 5 stars

The bruschetta was a good portion for a starter. Two triangle toasted pieces of bread topped with ripe cherry tomato halves, pesto and served with a bit of salad.

The bianca pizza had a nice crispy thin base and was topped with asparagus, semi dried tomatoes, mozzerella and tomatoes. It was supposed to have goat’s cheese as a topping as well but I asked for it to be left off. The only thing that I would say is that it would have been better if the knives had been sharper. Halfway through eating the pizza, it felt like a bit of a mission to have to keep putting in a lot of strength to cut through the pizza base.

The apple juice was fresh and you could tell that it was not from a concentrate.

Now onto the situation that we had after we had finished eating the main meal. We were given the dessert menu and only after about a minute, one of the staff came and asked if we were ready to order. After saying that we needed a bit more time, the waiter (or it could have been one of the managers) told us that seen as we had the menus closed, it meant that we were ready to order. We did try to explain to him that we had only just been given the dessert menu.

So, we now had the menus open and a minute later, another member of staff came and asked for our order. It looked like we just didn’t get the menu etiquette right: open menu means ready to order, closed menu means ready to order!

We decided to skip dessert as the staff had begun to irritate us. Shortly after, we were told by one of the staff, that as seen as we were not going to be ordering dessert, then we should leave. At this point, we had already got the bill, paid and were sorting out a tip. But after all the hassle and the pushiness of the staff, we decided that they did not deserve the tip.

What happened to the days where you could go and relax and take your time over a meal out?! It seems like more restaurants are like fast food places. The concept of order, eat, pay and leave as fast as you can. What we couldn’t understand was that there were free tables in the restaurant for other customers. Even if the restaurant had been full, we still shouldn’t be rushed to leave.

This same Prezzo on a previous occasion surprised us in a bad way. We wanted to go to Prezzo for coffee and dessert. After being seated, we were told that such an order was not an option. The staff said that we would have to order a main meal and not even a starter would do, if we wanted to have dessert.

It is a real shame that Prezzo gave such bad service and had rude staff, as the food was actually of a good quality!

Prezzo, 161 Euston Road, London, NW1 2BD

Our Rating:
2.5 out of 5 stars

The bruschetta was generously topped with fresh chopped tomatoes, although it had a little too much pesto drizzled on top. The olives that came with this starter were extremely salty; almost to the point where they were inedible.

The fillet of salmon was ok. The white wine sauce was not that tasty but it was nice that this dish came with green beans. The side dish of grilled vegetables were the best part of the meal. It was a selection of peppers, artichokes and courgettes. The vegetables came with Carasau bread. I’ve never tried this bread before and I would describe it like being a cracker bread. It was very thin and extremely tasty!

Initially, the dining area in Getti looked quite welcoming. It had pale wooden tables and chairs and deep blue walls. But after we were seated, I realised that the restaurant was fairly cramped with the tables too close to each other. This meant that we had to wait till one waiter was done serving one table, so that another waiter could get to our table.

The staff at Getti were friendly and quite helpful with our food queries. We were served our food quite fast. One thing that would improve Getti is if they had more vegetarian options, apart from pasta, on the set menu.

Getti is conveniently located in the West End, but I think that there are better Italian restaurants that you could go to in this area.

Getti, 16/17 Jermyn Street, London, SW1Y 6LT

Our Rating:
2.5 out of 5 stars

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:
5 out of 5 stars

We had the waffle with kiwi frozen yoghurt and banoffee ice cream. The waffle was quite disappointing as it was just microwaved. I’m not sure if it was because the waffle was stale or if it was because it had been over microwaved, but it resulted in it being very chewy. After a little while, it was way too hard to even cut.

The ice cream and frozen yoghurt were both good! The banoffee ice cream definitely tasted of banana and it had swirls of toffee through it. The green kiwi frozen yoghurt was fairly refreshing but not too sharp!

Rendezvous do coffees, teas and hot chocolates. The latte was creamy and tasted good. The hot chocolate is quite rich. It’s nice that it is made from the liquid chocolate and not drinking chocolate powder like some places.

The staff and the service were nice and friendly. They let us take our time when we couldn’t decide on the flavours of ice cream to choose! The only thing that we were concerned about was the hygiene levels. One of the staff coughed and didn’t wash his hands before serving the food and drinks.

Rendezvous has quite a big outdoor seating area in Leicester Square. It also has the outdoor heaters to keep you warm on the cold days!

Rendezvous, 48 Leicester Square, London, WC2H 2LT

Our Rating:
3 out of 5 stars

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:
5 out of 5 stars

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:
4.5 out of 5 stars

First impressions definitely count for something on most occasions and for Wahaca, this did not work in its favour. When we arrived, the restaurant was fairly empty. We asked for a table for three people and the waiter showed us to a table that was clearly just for two people. So we asked if we could change to a slighter bigger table and he let us but wasn’t too happy with us doing so.

I’ll talk about the food and drinks first and then go onto the service. Two very different experiences! I decided on sampling the street food, so had the seasonal vegetables tacos. These were three palm sized soft corn tortillas topped with vegetables. The seasonal vegetables were the autumn ones which included winter greens, butternut squash, red onions, garlic, mushrooms and ancho chilli. The vegetables were chopped up into bite size pieces and were tasty. The kick of the chilli came through even though it was not supposed to be a spicy dish!

To accompany the tacos, the green rice was a good choice. This was rice with onion, coriander and garlic. The rice was not served that hot, it was more like lukewarm.

To have something different to drink, the Horchata almond and rice milk took my fancy. This dairy free milk was served cold with cinnamon. It was too sweet for my liking. I’m not sure if sugar was added to it. If it was, then it would have tasted a lot better without it.

Now onto the staff and the service. The food was served fairly quickly and we were told that the dishes were likely to be served at different times, depending on when the kitchen made each one. We were fine with that aspect of it.

What really got to us was that the waitress was really annoying and very abrupt. She kept coming over constantly and asking if we needed anything or wanted to order additional items. This is acceptable the once or the twice, but we found it very rude of her to keep doing it. It meant that we could not have a conversation among ourselves without being interrupted.

Also, we felt that we were not allowed to take our time to enjoy the food and drink. We were given the impression that the staff wanted us to order, eat up our food and leave. Wahaca did get really busy while we were there and there were so many people all gathered and queuing around the seating area. It all did not make for a good dining experience.

At the end, the waitress just cleared up our table and told us that she was bringing us the bill. Even if there was a queue of people waiting for tables, we should have been allowed to take our time to enjoy the food and the company of friends. We were paying customers who had come out for a dinner get together. It is a shame that we had such a bad experience with the staff. They need to learn some basic manners and about good customer service.

Wahaca, 66 Chandos Place, Covent Garden, London, WC2N 4HG

Our Rating:
1.5 out of 5 stars

The tea and coffee were both served by the pot. The tea was served in a ceramic pot and the coffee in a metal one.

Richoux has its own blend of tea. This was an average tea and I don’t think that it tasted very different to other black teas. It was nice to get quite a few cups of tea from a single pot!

You can go here for breakfast, lunch or dinner as the menu includes soups, salads, sandwiches, meats, fish, pasta and risotto. They also do afternoon tea and have quite a few pastries, cakes and ice cream sundaes for people who have a sweet tooth!

The service was a little slow and we were there for quite a while before any of the staff came to take our order. On the other hand, it was nice that we did not feel rushed while we were having our drinks, even though the cafe got quite busy at some points!

The staff were pleasant enough but they just seemed that they were there to do their job. The service did not feel very personal.

We were seated at the front of the cafe which meant that there was the constant opening and closing of the door. Also, there were always people walking past and queues of people waiting to be seated. I think that the busyness of Richoux had a lot to do with its central London location.

Richoux, 172 Piccadilly, London, W1J 9EJ

Our Rating:
3 out of 5 stars