A late Friday afternoon is how we ended up at Ziloufs! We weren’t sure what we were expecting when we went into Ziloufs. We were after a relaxed afternoon with some tea!

Surprisingly, Ziloufs was a spacious place with a separate dining area and another area near to the bar. There was plenty of light coming into the bar area due to the glass front of Ziloufs. It was nice that there were cosy leather sofas, just what we were looking for!

Ziloufs did serve tea and they did it by the pot! The Earl Grey tea was good. The latte was made of strong coffee and it had a good depth to it.

We had some double cooked potato wedges to snack on. These were served in a big bowl and were steaming hot. It came with some wasabi mayonnaise. I wasn’t too sure if the combination of the wasabi and mayonnaise would work. I thought that the wasabi may give too much heat to the mayonnaise. Actually, the two worked really well together. We were totally satisfied with the wedges and the wasabi mayonnaise!

The staff were really nice and friendly and let us take our time even though we were only having drinks and snacks! It didn’t take long for Ziloufs to get really busy as the afternoon became evening!

Ziloufs, 270 Upper Street, London, N1 2UQ

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Ever since Pick More Daisies closed down in Crouch End, I’ve always ventured further afield for brunch. That is until now; now that Monkey Nuts has been discovered!

Don’t get me wrong, I have been to Monkey Nuts a few times before. But it has always been for drinks in their cosy sofa bar area!

Monkey Nuts has a big glass fronted entrance which makes the restaurant feel very light and airy. There is the dining area at the front of the restaurant and another towards the back. Even though we were seated just by the entrance, we didn’t feel the draft of the door and the outside air.

Sunday brunch consisted of tea and eggs on toast! Toasted triangles of granary bread topped with softly scrambled eggs and individual butter portions on the side! The tea was served by the mug. The Teapigs chocolate tea was a good choice.

The cousins decided to go for a savoury and a sweet option! Both equally satisfying and all the portions were of a big size. The Grilled Chicken Macho Nacho Burger was made up of chargrilled chicken, nachos, cheese, guacamole, sour cream, onions, lettuce, jalapenos and tomato sauce. A steak knife was definitely needed to tackle into this big burger! The side of french fries was good too!

The French Toast were soft, fluffy, thick bread slices lightly fried with cinnamon. They were topped with the healthy option of apples, berries and greek yoghurt.

The staff and service were great. We received service with a smile! There was a fantastic range of music playing in the background, from current tracks to some older ones! It was the type of music that definitely added to the relaxed Sunday atmosphere!

Monkey Nuts now seems to be a new local favourite, especially for a weekend brunch!

Monkey Nuts, 2 Park Road, Crouch End, London, N8 8TD

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If you fancy a good evening meal out in a relaxed environment in North London, then you should give Siaim a go! It is noticeable from the subtly changing colour of its sign outside. This continues into the interior of the restaurant, with the wall backlight gradually changing from colour to colour!

There is cushioned seating along one of the walls and the rest of the dining area is made up of dark wooden tables and chairs. The bar and counter area are at the back end of the restaurant.

A really great starter was the Mirza. This was a combination of smoked aubergine, garlic and tomatoes. The smoky flavour came through but was not too heavy. It was served with some warm flat bread.

The halloumi cheese were grilled slices and they were served with rocket leaves, olives and walnuts. The halloumi had been cooked just right.

Siaim had quite a varied menu with some of it having Turkish influences and also some Mediterranean items. Originally, I was thinking of having a fish dish. When we asked the waitress if the fish was fresh she told us that it wasn’t fresh in that day. I really appreciated her honesty.

On that note, I opted for the Risotto Verdi. A huge dish of hearty creamy risotto was served! It had plenty of green beans, peas, baby spinach, courgettes and asparagus. A good dish to have on this cold wintery evening!

My friend chose the Persian sea bass. This fillet of fish had been cooked in wine, garlic and parsley. It was served with some herby rice and salad. It was an enjoyable and tasty main dish!

As for drinks, Siaim does a range of hot and cold drinks including freshly squeezed juices and smoothies. The fresh mint tea that we had was served in small white teapots. It was nice that the staff refilled the pots with hot water during our meal, when we asked them.

The staff were really friendly and made us feel very relaxed during our meal. Even though we ended up being the last ones in the restaurant, and it was closing time, they did not come and ask us to leave. They let us take our time and did not hurry us. It was only when we noticed that they were starting to tidy up for the night, that we said that we wouldn’t have minded being told that they were going to be closing shortly!

Siaim was a good restaurant and it got busier during the evening time. It is a place that I’m sure that we will return to when we want a nice relaxed meal out!

Siaim, 59 Ballards Lane, Finchley Central, London, N3 1XP

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