jiamins's Qype profile

I'm a little puzzled as to why this place gets such a high rating. Had the tori suimono soup, which was so incredibly salty that I could only manage a couple mouthfuls of soup and just eat the ingredients. I also had the mixed sushi plate of 2 maki and 6 nigiri. Quality of fish was ok, not great, and the rice used was again too salty.

Err I'm not sure having a menu for Vietnamese food and a menu for Japanese food counts as fusion food. None of the dishes on their menu offer a true fusion dish. Nuocmam just looks like a Vietnamese restaurant with a few sushi and sashimi dishes on their menu.

I went in for lunch just now, wanting to try somewhere different. There was only 1 couple in there, which was already a warning sign. I ordered the spicy herb salad with chicken, but was given a tofu vermicelli salad. I didn't want to wait for them to do up a new dish, so I got them to add chicken to my order. For a large, the portion wasn't quite big enough for me to stand as a main. The vermicelli was too dry and gave me the hiccups, there were some bizarre strands of pickled vegetable in the dish, almost as if they dropped in there by accident. Overall, the dish wasn't unpleasant but certainly not something I'd go back for.

I really wanted to like this place, I did. After reading lots of good reviews, I had my hopes up. Chinese restaurant, no menu, tapas-style bites. Fantastic idea!

Sadly, I came away from it disappointed. The service was good, fast and very polite, and the dishes came out at a furious pace (a little too fast for my liking, to be honest). My main gripe is that all the food didn't taste very fresh - something that came through in the fish and the starter pickles.

It wasn't all bad though - there were some dishes I liked and which reminded me of home, like the soup in a bamboo cup, sizzling beef, tempura green beans, deep fried pigs intestines, eel, seaweed tofu and the dessert of red bean pancake and almond jelly (it was strangely served together, tastes which I think don't gel well together).

Is the food good? It's not bad, but I don't think it's worth paying £50 for. I'd much rather spend that money at Min Jiang or Royal China.

My friend discovered this place by chance last night, and tonight she brought me here. When the staff and customers all seem to be mostly Japanese, you know you’re in for a good thing.

We had: sashimi moriawase (mixed sashimi), hamachi and salmon sashimi, deep fried aubergine, tuna with spring onion and ponzu sauce, 2 types of salmon & avocado rolls, fresh tofu, skewers of yakitori, pork loin, asparagus and pork, deep fried tofu, ox tongue, shitake mushroom.

That’s quite a lot huh? Well, we were 3 hungry girls. Sashimi was fresh and deeelicious, the skewers from the grill were also yum yum yum.

Service is very polite, although as the place packed up, they weren’t very quick to refill the tea (we had to wave them down and ask). That’s just me nitpicking though. This is a great place for a very satisfying Japanese meal at reasonable prices away from town.

Total bill was about £27.10 per person. Make a booking if you want to come on Friday night. Can’t say about the other nights, but I’m sure I’ll find out next time.

Very pleased indeed by this little discovery. We stumbled upon this place while walked along Fulham Rd looking for some dinner before our movie at Cineworld nearby.

It’s small and simple, and I like that they don’t faff around with useless but pretty decor and fancy tableware. The focus is entirely on the super-fresh food. Only bad thing is the acoustics in this place. Boy does it get noisy when the restaurant is full.

As for food, we opted to share a main order of ginger and coriander mussels (fat, plump and juicy) and penne with tuna in a tomato sauce (perfectly done al dente). Quick and polite service, reasonable prices. Total bill came up to £17, minus service. And you get jelly beans with the bill. Jelly beans? Aww. It’s a winner.

South Indian food is harder to find in London than North Indian, so it was a pleasure to discover Cochin Brasserie so close to home. Contrary to the classification, it isn’t just a takeaway place, but has a very decent-size dining area too. Rather chi-chi looking too - white tablecloths, nicely set tables, excellent service.

Anyhoo, on to the food. There is a very large variety of food to choose from; it’s separated between starters (which we skipped to save tummy space), mains of chicken, lamb, fish, one lone duck dish and lots of vegetarian options. Here’s the hard part: you have to pick one. It helps to come in a big group so everyone can pick something different and you can all share. Communal eating is just so much fun, y’all.

Everything we had was super tasty (I say this with great confidence as I have piggily sampled about 8 mains on the menu within 2 visits). If we could have licked our plates clean, we would have. In fact, our waiter had to surpress his smile while clearing our table. The good thing is the food isn’t so filling that you walk away feeling sick, but just pleasantly full, albeit with bulging tummy. Price-wise, they are pretty decent, about £8-£9 for a main dish. For 3 of us, the bill was £52 for 4 dishes and 2 desserts.

I believe in giving second chances, and for Ben’s Cookies, I’ve given them about three. Each time I’ve had a cookie, I’ve been sorely disappointed. It’s really naughty how they entice you in to buy them: from their cute Quentin Blake illos, yummy smells and mouthwatering flavours and big generous portions.

And yet, and yet…each time I’ve had one, the cookie has tasted horribly underbaked - plucked out of the oven before its time. I bought 2 last Sat, a dark chocolate cookie and a lemon cookie, and both had that taste of unbaked cookie dough. I think I make better cookies than these, so won’t be back for anymore, no matter how enticing they smell. Sorry, that’s how the cookie crumbles.

I live around the area, and I can’t believe it’s taken me almost a full year to come here to eat. Just had brunch here with a friend and am giving it 4 stars mainly because of the ambience and decor. I love the cosy feel of the place with the long wooden benches, the smell of mulled wine in the air, being surrounded by sweeties and cakes, and the bottles of honey and maple syrup on the table.

Had french toast and fresh fruit salad washed down with mint tea, while my friend had the vege breakfast. Very generous portions, tasty food, smiley waitress. Pricing is not exactly the cheapest, but I didn’t mind it so much. This is very dangerous; I could get used to this kind of brunching lady-of-leisure lifestyle.

There’s no menu at this place, they don’t take reservations and only seat you when all of your party are present. But I’ve got no problems with that, because the food is so yummy. When you sit down, you get a starter salad with walnuts and some bread. Once that’s done, you’ll be served steak with some amazing sauce and seriously yummy fries. My favourite part is when they come back for a second round and give you more steak and slather it with more sauce. My kind of heaven. Dessert is where you can pick what you want, traditional French desserts like creme brulee, profiteroles or sorbet. I went with the Vacherin, a towering mound of meringue, ice-cream and chocolate sauce. You get lots of jealous looks too.

Prices are fairly reasonable - all up I paid about £30 (includes 1 glass of wine and dessert). This place makes me a really happy bunny - I couldn’t stop grinning like an idiot throughout the meal. Sooo going again.