Lisa's Qype profile

Myself and my lovely fiancee went there as we have been told the steak is amazing… “the best south american steak” is what the restaurant claims on their card. The steak is indeed a winner, but unfortunately that was it. Maybe we just went on the wrong day but the restaurant was completely empty. The decor inside is very old but not in a cool vintage kind of way, it’s really, really old and I’m sure the place would benefit from a nice restyle, it’s not really a place where I would go again on a night out.
Let’s talk about the food. For starters we had empanadas (traditional savoury pastries) and meatballs in a very rich and spicy sauce. Nothing to die for, but tasty enough to be well happy about our choice. The star of the show was without a doubt the steak… juicy, tender, perfectly cooked. No need to put any sauce on it as the meat tastes delicious as it comes. It’s really a pity that the venue was empty… maybe for this reason I notice even more the old furniture and decor inside…maybe if the venue was full it wouldn’t have looked so depressing. I like to judge a restaurant not just for the food (which of course must be the first thing to be perfect) but also for the atmosphere and the whole experience. Yeah, I’m justifying myself cause I’m feeling kind of guilty to give them just 3 stars… but it’s a constructive criticism I hope, just renovate the place! ;)

Myself and my sweetie pie went there almost a month ago. The restaurant is in an area where unfortunately you wouldn’t go for any other reason as it’s not central and there’s nothing interesting around and this is a real shame cause this place is really, really good! The restaurant is run by a lovely Spanish family who made us feel very welcome. The selection of tapas is very various from meat, fish and veg and the portions are quite big. The quality of the food is great and everything tasted amazing! The Chorizo Flambiado (sausage flambee in brandy!) is really good! We will definitely go back there as we don’t live so far and I would recommend it to anybody living in the area.

Absolutely top kebabs! It's my favorite take away by far! I know it's a chain with different branches but I usually go to the one in Acton as I live close by, but I heard they are all the same. Amazing quality proper grilled meat (no processed shit!) and very affordable. Portions are generous and always accompanied by fragrant rice, fresh and well dressed salad and a home cooked naan bread to die for! I would recommend it to anybody.

I have to say, Firezza pizza is probably the best delivery pizza if you compare it to all the other delivery pizza around. It's wood fired and the recipe is the closest to the Italian one.
Ingredients are always fresh and toppings are generous.
The only concern is the price. I'm happy to pay a little bit more to have quality pizza but I mean it's pizza at the end of the day and I'm having it at home.

Cozy, friendly, lovely British pub. They have a wide selection of beers and wine and food is always delicious and fresh. Go for the pie of the day, you'll be never disappointed. The atmosphere is always good in there and in the summer time if you are lucky you'll find a spot in the lovely back garden... and if you are really lucky it could be a barbecue day!

My review on Sabroso is based on tapas. I was there for the first time a few weeks ago after a nice walk in Portobello market and I'm going back there for sure. The decor is stylish and the atmosphere is relaxed and chilled. The service is friendly and polite although slow and inattentive; we waited a little bit too much for our sangria after they had already served the tapas and even if the venue is quite small, it was impossible to catch the attention of the waiting staff as they were all lost in their thoughts wiping cutlery. Service aside, the food is amazing and it comes in large portions for being tapas. Fresh oysters (6 big oyster included in the tapas menu), Galician octopus, calamari,mussels, pork belly.... all delicious! They have an excellent variety of tapas on the menu and the selection of wines is vast and for all pockets. I would suggest it to whoever happens to be in the area.

After a nice stroll through the colored flowers of Columbia market we bumped into this lovely place and decided to have lunch. Inside it's incredibly small and cosy with legs of ham hanging from the ceilings and mismatching tables and chairs. The place was packed so we had to wait almost half an hour before having a table and that gave us time to look around. As I said the venue is really small but we soon realized that the service is surprisingly inattentive and sloppy. To run that place you would need one good waiter or two average waiters. They were three, including the manager. A couple waited 10 minutes trying to catch the attention of one of the waiters just to ask the bill and other 10 to pay with their card. When they finally left, we took their table. Before the waiters clean the table and bring us the menu, it was already late for us as we had to attend a show in Angel an hour later. We decided to order a cheese and cured meat board to share as we thought it would have been the quickest dish to be prepared as it doesn't involve any cooking. No need to say that we were wrong. We almost finished our carafe of wine before we got served. The manager was chatting outside with some friends and the two waiters were chatting with the chef, wiping cutlery. The cheese and cured meat board was almost a joke. Three tiny thinly roughly cut slices of cheese (I wish I took a picture), three tiny thinly roughly cut salami and 2 slices of transparent ham. It's supposed to be a sharing board for two and we couldn't even share one slice of cheese as they were too small to divide. Also, one cheese which was supposed to be on the board was missing. As the board wasn't cheap at all I tried to catch the attention of one of the waitress. I complained about the size of the poorly presented board and about the cheese missing and she called straight away the manager who was very polite and listened to us. She apologized and brought us more cheese, some olives and took our wines off the bill. I was happy with the way she managed our complain and we left the place with a less bitter taste in our mouths. We'll never go there again though.

Spuntino is a trendy spot hidden in Soho and if you don't mind standing in a queue for a while and you are lucky to get a seat you'll not be disappointed. Stilish industrial decor and nice music, it can get a little bit loud as the place is quite small anyway. It's not a place to go if you are more than two I'd say because you are going to sit most likely around the bar on high stools. Food is very, very good and fresh (I loved the mini burgers!!)  but maybe to to be honest It's a little bit too pricey...The only thing I didn't like about the experience was eating with 10 people standing in the queue looking and waiting for a sit, it made me a little bit anxious...

I ate at St Moritz three or four times now and so far it never disappointed me.
I’m a cheesaholic and I have to admit I had fondue every single time so I didn’t try anything else on the menu apart from the starters.
St Moritz is more a “winter restaurant”, it’s cosy, it’s warm, it’s woody and it reminds of a chalet in the Alps where you snuggle up in front of a fireplace sipping red wine. Good thing they are based in London where even in August on some days it feels like January.
Back to the food, for starters me and my fiancée tried escargots with garlic and herbs and the “terrine maison” which basically is the house pate. They both tasted amazing …the amount of garlic in the escargots (perfect for this dish) is going to affect your social life for the rest of the night and the day after so if you are on a first date with someone you really like, better to pick something else! The pate is like a cream and it melts in your mouth. The star of the restaurant is definitely the fondue (to share). They are specialized in this great dish in fact they have different versions on the menu. To me the best one is the classic FONDUE NEUCHATELOISE with gruyere cheese and bread. I can stay for an hour just rolling the bread in the melted cheese, it feels therapeutic… but that’s just me I guess. We always have a white wine with the fondue as the staff suggested, a very good wine from one of the Swiss canton. The service is great, all the waiters are very polite and caring and they make you feel very welcomed. I really recommend this restaurant in the heart of Soho.

The Mitre is a gastro pub where you go if you live close enough to Notting Hill Area or Holland Park. There is no point to go there on purpose as at the end of the day it’s just a pub with a little bit of a posh twist (nothing wrong with that, just saying…) The venue is very stylish and kind of baroque in the décor but it still maintains that warm atmosphere that an English pub must have without looking too pretentious.
There are two areas, one more pub like which usually is very busy and loud and another one more intimate and more ideal for a dinner.
The menu is mainly British as you would expect with really good quality food. For starter I had mussels (juicy and plumpy) in a calabrese sauce with n’duja (a very spicy cured creamy mince pork meat speciality from the south of Italy where my family is from… it was like jumping in the past for me, amazing!) My fiancée had the pate which was very good too. For mains we both had a pork belly to die for with potatoes. The wine list is impressive as also the beer choice. To me the low points are: the venue is a little bit too loud to have an easy conversation (sometimes unfortunately even if you sit in the intimate part of the pub) and the venue is a little bit too dark to me. The service is not super friendly but very professional though. It’s also a bit pricey considering that is a gastro pub, but I have to admit for the quality of the food it’s worth it.