Bring_Stuff's Qype profile

First off - I need to stress that all the reviews about this cinema are spot on. It does show an amazing array of movies, from unusual to the obscure. All the staff are brilliantly friendly and love their jobs. It is an incredibly beautiful cinema and does deserve all the praise lauded upon it for the recent renovation of the foyer, even if it shortened the length of the cinema area (yep! Next time you go, check out the ceiling at the back of the cinema and the upstairs of the foyer). I recently went to see Black Swan and was amazed at the plastic cups of bar drinks and the involvement of the crowd to certain nail biting scenes; I felt like I was watching the film with a load of pals, not a trip to the cinema.

However, there is a gripe that I can't abide and that is terrible toilets. I understand the pressures of running a small local business but a toilet that smells of stale unmentionables and has a cistern leak meaning that you're loath to get any part of your trousers touching the floor; bothers me greatly. Love the cinema, will avoid the smallest room forever.

A dark wood exterior belies a happy and warm bar with exceptionally friendly staff and great pool tables. I did make the mistake of ordering two jugs of beers for me and my friend (we were planning on staying a while and it seemed a good idea to stock up). This raised an eyebrow from the owner, but I put that down to a lack of meeting English people and their drinking habits.

Good, clean toilets and no nasty sticky junk all over the table football (or foosball as we learned that night) made a good impression on my pal - although it being America we had to take passports as we were asked for ID each time we bought a drink. Praise be the airconditioning, needed and very powerful!

First time I'd been to the bar was during Princess Diana's funeral procession was being broadcast on television. This made it quite a surreal experience, to be in a bar full of weeping Americans, but the excellent TV positioning around the bar made sure the place could accommodate a fair few of us and nobody felt left out.

It's a landmark bar, more popular then the venue above it, which is quite amazing for something attached to a 5 star hotel and a layabout daughter. My first visit wasn't great but maybe I'm a little raw about being told that I can't stand next to a table to talk to a friend (as it's not that kind of bar) or that the service charge doesn't reflect the forty minute time taken to get a drink ordered or seated next to fantastically large stewpots meant a five degree rise in ambient temperature.

A second visit thanks to My Kind Of phone and Qype proved a different experience with access to the Kon Tikki canoe filled with a orange based punch and some strong signature Mai Tais. I guess it could have been an unlucky first visit, the service from the staff that night was exemplary and live music is rather special if you're lucky enough to be seated in that quadrant. The porcelain cocktail bowls are very unique and are very pretty. The decor hasn't changed (and doesn't need to) since the swinging sixties with the old bamboo and grass adorning gurning faces from the walls. Look out for the cheeky sailor on the way to the toilets, Chatham will never seem the same again.

If the prices seem a little steep, remember that it is a five star cocktail bar and that the drinks include the history and experience of the venue, which does make for an incredibly special night out.

American pizzas are round, did you know that? Italians make them square because they fit into ovens better and you don't waste those cornery bits. Adagio's passes the first test, the second is taste and it did very well there too; a great range of flavours and pizzas. KNow how they make it better? They use scissors to cut it and you pay by weight, enabling you to eat and pay for the

As part of a treasure hunt organised by Windows phone and Qype, once we'd found this little shop of my homeland they gave us some to taste and try. I wussed out and went for the piquant salami but wished I'd been brave enough to try something involving a numerous selection of good looking cheeses.

I'm not sure about the little grease-proof paper wrapped boards, kinda different and interesting with a bit of fun but also a little messy! Pizza bits and grease went a little everywhere as I hungrily ate my strips of pizza. I can understand trying to do something different to stand out but the excellent tastes on offer should be enough rather then what felt like a gimmick. As cutlery is the only thing I would change, go there and try a few slices out and yes the salami was excellent!

And to think I nearly braved going home to get some hats and tashes - private booth karaoke becomes extremely special when you have a 'thirsty' button with a useful waitress who appears in the blink of an eye and a box of dress-up paraphernalia.

Now I likes me some Karaoke, it's true. In the past I was used to seedy PA systems at restaurants, caterwauling on street corners and even whispered lullabies to sleeping babes (none of mine own). Nothing prepares you for a private session though, in luxurious surroundings, with a fully stocked and prepared cocktail bar with delightful canapés and such friendly and charming hosts.

My visit to the Islington branch of Lucky Voice was courtesy of Qype and Windows 7 Mobile and possibly I wouldn't have ventured so far north to check out this venue. After spending a roaring night of rapping, singing and laughing I have so many good memories that I really would consider dragging my pals to do it, not because the central London venue is booked. Even when I wandered away from the bar to munch on more Hoisin Duck pancakes (folded elegantly like a seaside chip wrapper cone) to find my Mohito delivered to a charming young lady, nothing bothered the bar staff. He was already making a replacement for me, rather then leave it to melt on the bar edge - a sign of good training and thoughtfulness.

Being of Mediterranean blood, I tend to generate enough heat to power a small island and I would have preferred more air-conditioning in the booths - not to say it's rubbish - but as I danced more and got even hotter, I felt the need to take the occasional mulligan in the sumptuous bar area to cool down at times. Aside from that, top times all round!