For a really special occasion, Portal is the place to go! Exquisite food, excellent service and a wonderful atmosphere is what this restaurant is all about!

On entering Portal, there is the bar area. The restaurant area is slightly separated from the bar and it extends right through into the conservatory! As we were early, we started off with drinks at the bar. The bar staff were really knowledgeable about the drinks and made us feel comfortable straight away!

As soon as the restaurant was opened for the dinner service, we were shown through to the light filled conservatory and our drinks were carried through for us! This dining area looked out onto the greenery filled garden. The tables were decorated with fresh pink roses in black square vases and white square candles! There was also a room filled with neat rows of the different wines at the back end of the conservatory!

The friendly staff presented us with a bread tray which allowed us to choose our bread roll of choice! The waitress was helpful with recommendations of the food and also explained us to us quite thoroughly about the dishes that we enquired about.

As we were waiting for the starters, the staff bought over a couple of canapes, which were complimentary from the chef. These were little biscuit spoons with artichoke purée, topped with mackerel. The canapes were really nice and we were pleasantly surprised that they were served warm!

The hot starter of roasted green pepper salad with grilled sardines was lovely. The sardines were rolled up and on a skewer on top of the sliced peppers and onions.

Both of our main dishes were presented beautifully and looked too pretty to eat! There was a great amount of attention to detail! The Portuguese turnip leaves rice with grilled halloumi cheese and tomato concasse was absolutely perfect. The rice and turnip leaves tower was surrounded by raspberries, blackberries, orange crisps and fig crisps! The halloumi cheese had been grilled just right. All the flavours worked well together. This dish was extremely pleasing to the eye and to the palate!

Portuguese octopus rice with pan fried octopus fillets and watercress salad was the main dish that my friend chose! The octopus fillets were tender and cooked to perfection. The tomato based rice was served from a steaming iron pot which the staff brought to the table to serve from!

Our dessert was pumpkin souffle with strawberry ice-cream. It has to be the best dessert that I have ever tasted. The pumpkin souffle oozed with the warm liquid centre. It was not served in a ramekin how souffles are normally served. The pumpkin souffle was topped with fresh strawberry and blackberry pieces. The strawberry ice cream tasted like we were eating fresh strawberries. It had such an intense flavour. To top it off, the strawberry crisps and starfruit crisps were also great! The whole dessert was amazing!

Portal served us with the most wonderful dining experience and one which we will always remember!

Portal Restaurant and Bar, 88 St John Street, London, EC1M 4EH

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Just a few minutes away from Old Street tube station, down a small side street, is GRAB Thai Street Kitchen! GRAB opened its doors in the summer but it has taken me a few months to finally go visit!

Fresh, tasty, authentic, quality Thai food is what GRAB is all about! The decor is based on creating a scene from the Bangkok markets! Big lightbulbs hanging from coloured wire from the ceiling and wooden tables with small plastic stools make up the casual dining area.

Just inside the entrance are the open fridges, with boxes of salads, iced coffees and drinks. Next to this, is the unit with the tubes of hot food, all neatly labelled!

As soon as we entered GRAB, we were welcomed by the friendly staff! They asked us if we had been here before or if it was our first time! After stating that we were newcomers, the staff explained that all the hot food was ready to go, except for the curries.

For the curries, we just needed to choose the type of rice (white or brown jasmine) and then bring it to the counter for it to be topped with the curry of our choice! I wasn’t sure if the curry would be too spicy but the staff were more than happy to give me a sample of it before I ordered!

The green curry was slightly spicy so I went for the Pad Thai Crispy Tofu! It was great that this came in a mini size as well as regular. The mini portion was perfect and surprisingly filling. It had plenty of rice noodles, tenderstem broccoli, egg, crispy tofu, coriander, beansprouts, crushed peanuts, all topped off with a wedge of lime! Just writing about it now makes my mouth water! The Pad Thai was absolutely delicious! All the flavours were well balanced and had the right sweet and sour tastes going on! It was easy to tell that this food had no additives and no MSG in it!

Instead of the Thai iced coffee and Thai milk tea, freshly squeezed carrot and apple juice was had! A very refreshing drink and there was a slight heat to it due to the addition of some fresh ginger!

GRAB Thai Street Kitchen was extremely busy not only during the lunchtime hours but well into the afternoon! Even so, the staff were so efficient with their service that they seemed to get through the queues of customers very swiftly.

The hot and cold food displays were constantly being refilled with all the freshly cooked food from the kitchen downstairs!  GRAB provides a casual eating experience with diners happily munching on their pots of food standing up, when all the seats were taken!

Even though I was definitely full, I was still intrigued and tempted by other items on the menu, especially the Mushroom Fresh Rolls! So, I decided to have these and the Mango and Coconut rice dessert as a takeaway order, to have at home in the evening!

The Mushroom Fresh Rolls were a big portion of three rice wraps with a chilli and lime dip. The rolls were filled with Chinese mushrooms, cucumber, carrot, lettuce and rice vermicelli. The rolls were jam packed with the fillings and even without the dipping sauce, they tasted wonderful!

The sweet treat had fresh slices of mango topped with sesame seeds! The coconut sticky rice was not too sweet and it had a subtle flavour!

All of the food at GRAB was perfect and it’s going to be difficult to resist going to this Thai Street Kitchen on a regular basis! GRAB has hit the nail on the head with its great food, fantastic friendly staff, clean cafe and relaxed atmosphere!

Speaking to one of the owners before I left, I was told that they had plans to expand the dining area so that it would accommodate more people. They were also going to try and have seasonal specials on the menu! It was nice to see that all the hard work and effort of the management and staff at GRAB was paying off! All the long hours and many months of planning was making this restaurant a success!

GRAB definitely had their regular loyal customers and it’s easy to see why! It’s great that a good honest business has got off the ground and I’m sure that GRAB Thai Kitchen will continue to thrive!

GRAB Thai Street Kitchen, 5 Leonard Street, London, EC2A 4AQ

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This is a gem of an Indian cafe with all the food tasting authentic. The idea behind this cafe/restaurant is the Indian tiffin tins. Tiffin tins are what are used primarily in India to transport lunches to workers. There are usually 3 containers: one with rice, one with a curry and one with vegetables.

The food served here differs from that from other Indian restaurants due to the fact that they do not cook with ghee (clarified butter). This means that their dishes are not heavy and they are actually healthy.

I had the vegetable biryani which came with jeera (cumin seeds) potatoes and a chick pea curry. It was really tasty and reminded me of home cooked food. The portion was plenty for a lunch time meal. Tiffinbites also do fresh naans cooked in their tandoor.

If you don’t fancy the tiffin menu, then there is also a range of snacks such as samosas to choose from and they do wraps as well.

Being an Indian cafe, on the drinks menu is chai (spiced tea) and also lassi (yogurt drink). They use Alphonso mangoes for their lassi. Alphonso mangoes come from India and are the sweetest mangoes that I have ever tasted!

The service was very quick and efficient. The communal tables were kept clean as the staff cleared up as soon as you had finished your meal.

I liked the relaxed atmosphere of Tiffinbites, although we seemed to have got there just before the lunchtime rush. The place was heaving as we were leaving the cafe!

I would come back to this restaurant either at lunchtime or even in the evening for a satisfying meal! So, skip the boring sandwich and salad, and visit Tiffinbites for a traditional Indian lunch!

Tiffinbites, 22-23 Liverpool Street, London, EC2M 7PD

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