londonstuff's Qype profile

Poor poor poor.
Having such a good location has made them complacent: even though you can sit alfresco above Covent Garden Piazza, service today was absolutely lousy. After trying to attract one of the numerous waiters’ attention, I still hadn’t had my order taken after 20 minutes.

Maybe they were having an off day, but the place did seem disorganised in the extreme. In the end, I left, without food, something I’ve never done before: even then, no one at the desk seemed particularly bothered.

Give it a try by all means, but you may be better trying one of the other branches, which is a shame bearing its location.

Difficult to review as this branch of Pizza Express is much like any other: you pretty much know what you’re going to get.

The fairly new 'Theo Randall’ pizzas are rather good (very thin pizza base with ingredients generally placed on top of the pizza after, rather than before, cooking) although much more expensive than the others for no particular reason.

This branch gives decent service on the occasions I’ve been there, but is always packed with families and (generally well-behaved) children at the weekend. I’m pretty sure it also does children’s parties, so beware if you don’t like the noise of children!

I agree completely with all the other reviews above: no plasticky cheese, nothing soggy about the pizzas and ordering options have a variety of healthy-sounding toppings. It also means that your night isn’t held hostage by waiting for a delivery person to knock round: you can order ahead of time and have your food when you want.

Great stuff - everything you want from a pizza takeaway. More branches elsewhere in London would be great.

Located on Jermyn Street in the heart of Piccadilly, Geo F Trumper’s looks like a filmset from a hundred years ago. Selling gentleman’s grooming products upstairs and doing haircuts and shaves downstairs, I half expected Disraeli or Gladstone to walk through the door after me.

Skipping the 4-6 week queue for a cut-throat shave by going on a weekday rather than a Saturday, I was led downstairs, sat back in a barber’s chair and got to work on, first of all being smothered in a warm towel, then having my face scrubbed with a proper shaving brush to make the hairs stand on end.

The shave itself took about 15-20 minutes before being wrapped in a cold towel and then having moisturising fluid applied. While all of this was relatively relaxing, having the cut-throat almost rip the hairs was far less comfortable than a good wet shave at home is.

The assistant was excellent, took her time and got very close indeed. She also gave me various tips on how to improve my shaving technique, which I’ll follow.

While this was a bit of a treat for me, I think it’s more of a one-off place - it wasn’t so much better than something I could do myself to justify the £30 price tag on a regular basis.

Think of the local Post Office if you can do it without grimacing - never less than about 30 people queuing, using up your whole lunch hour to get served, then finally when you get to the front they try and sell you Post Office insurance or broadband when all you want to do is get out. Don’t even think about asking for sellotape or else risk the wrath of hell!

Now imagine Mail Boxes, etc. about 30 seconds further down the road from the Chiswick Post Office. I went in there a couple of days ago to send something I’d sold on eBay. Not only did they actually look happy, something the Post Office hasn’t managed in all the years I’ve been in there, but they also helped me box-up a difficult item and happily offered me parcel tape and a marker pen - all done with a smile, without queuing at all and at the equivalent price of the Post Office.

I really wish I’d discovered them years ago and shall be using their other branches in other places I visit in London.

Thanks Mailboxes.

Post Office, never again, goodbye, auf Wiedersehen, au revoir, see ya later alligator!

About as far away from a 'mainstream’ cinema as you can get: quite a tired 70s building, a short and wide auditorium and off-circuit films difficult to find anywhere else. This is similar to 'The Gate’ in Notting Hill, although with the exception of the location, not quite as posh.

Situated on Curzon Street in the heart of Mayfair and equidistant from Hyde Park Corner and Green Park tubes, it’s obvious that the place hasn’t changed an awful lot in the time it’s been going (it really did bring back memories of long-demolished 70s buildings - orange decor being a prime example!) However, it does have several notable good points:

1) All the clientele are rather nice - no scallies screaming or running from one screen to the next.

2) Very convenient to get to and great to go on from for something to eat afterwards.

3) Unusual films (including the Metropolitan Opera’s live HD tranmissions from New York on Saturday evenings.

Essentially, if the idea of going to the Odeon on Leicester Square fills you with dread, this is a good place to come for an undisturbed, no hassle evening.

I’ve been to this branch of La Tasca several times: being right in the centre of theatreland they know the types of customers they’re likely to get an accommodate them accordingly: service is friendly and quick, hence you’re not waiting around for ages for food worrying about whether you’re going to have to run out halfway through your meal to get to wherever you’re going - ours came within about 7 or 8 minutes and consisted of about 8 different types of tapas. You can be in and out within 45 minutes feeling ready to go on from there - surely what you want from a restaurant in the West End.

The building itself is huge, so don’t be put off if it looks full at the front, there’s plenty of space!