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Update Jan 2012

Since my earlier review, the menu has been cut back drastically; snacks such as socca and some of the bruschettas have disappeared, which is a shame – La Civette is now a great place to lunch/brunch and drink, but if you want a light snack, the choice is a little limited.

As ever, friendly staff and a great place to while away an hour or two, especially mid-morning, when the market’s are up and running.

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Probably the best spot on the Cours – as mentioned in other (English and French) reviews, it enjoys sunshine throughout the day and is extremely popular – be prepared to wait for a table at lunchtime.

The Civette is a local gay hang-out. During the day, the crowd is pretty mixed; all ages, both sexes. This changes dramatically at night-time, and just about every gay dans la ville is to (or has to) be seen there at some point, so even though there’s no dress code, you’ll feel better if you dress up to dress down.

The Bandol is their best wine; the white is more than a little tart and it’s worth splashing out for a better-tasting bottle. Food is good; the omelets and salads are superb and club sandwiches are enough for two to share (avec frites).

If you’re stuck for somewhere to drink after the fireworks on New Year’s eve, this is a good spot. The staff handed out streamers and other party gear, and we drank until the small hours.

Nipped in here for un cheeky petit verre after dinner at Mudmee (qv).

A minor irritation greeted us before we stepped across the threshold; cash only (PDQ machine out of service). Never mind – we scraped together enough cash for a couple of glasses. And then, when we ran out, they persevered and got the payment made. So it was a very minor irritation.

Charming staff and good wine – I asked about a particular wine and was asked if I ’d liike to try it – service above the norm, as I was buying by the glass. Not to my taste, but the manager guessed exactly what i was going to order instead.

Decor – wooden, Victorian, charming if a little too tourist-friendly. Some very yobbish old City boys behind us, which was a shame. Par for the course in those parts, though.

I liked it, and will definitely go back. They are open later on Fridays – I hate being asked to leave anywhere (see above) but it’s quiet around there earlier in the week, so I’d imagine they don’t get much custom on Monday and Tuesday, to give them there due.

A Chinese restaurant that rivals just about any of the local eateries for quality of food and good value. Who knew?

The menu is in English and Chinese; the chinese staff speak Italian and, yes, Chinese – but not French, as do many of local proprietors; Ventimiglia is popular with French shoppers who nip over the border for cheap booze and cigarettes.

If you’re vegetarian/vegan, it’s the perfect destination; they serve a kind of Tofu casserole that makes the 40km, 90-minute, €12 round trip from Nice worth every metre, minute and centime.

Don’t ask for tap water; they don’t serve it – but to give them their due, the prices are so low that the can’t afford to. Lunch for two – four dishes and soft drinks – at just 23€.

If you find yourself in Ventimiglia, opt for La Muraglia over most of the local Italian restaurants; most of them serve the kind of low-quality lasagne and spag bol you can find at Tesco.

C’est le seule cafe dans Nice ou on peut trouver du café fait avec du lait de soja, mais c’est dommage que cela coûte 60 centimes de plus – € 4,10 pour un café de soja est très cher.

J’ai trouvé, ici et a Emile’s au port, que le personnel ne sont jamais vraiment prêt à prendre son ordre – souvent trop occupés avec les cookies. Et le bruit de la cuisine – rappelez-vous, s’il vous plaît, que nous y allons à lire, parler, se relaxe, de penser.

Autrement, Emilie a le potentiel pour être un café fantastique.

Paolina’s only competition, in the ‘scruffy, endearing, delicious and cheap’ league, is Tippy’s in Barking, where one of my dearest friends and I used to scoff Pad Thai while pretending to be anywhere but East Ham.

Yes, Paolina’s is scruffy. Its pine-paneled dining room is bizarrely reminiscent of an ersatz Swiss chalet, or a themed room in a Bangkok “love hotel”. Yes, really. But it’s in a pokey corner of Kings Cross, and kinda fits in.

As other reviewers have noted, the food is as authentic as you’d find in any restaurant (or on any street corner) in all of Thailand, the staff are charming and helpful (“Pad Thai Jai – egg or no?” – without having to ask), and it’s very, very cheap.

I’d disagree with lizwhitney – it’s for those dates you want to impress with your local knowledge, or you’d want to make out with in a “love hotel”, and those you’d go absolutely anywhere with.

Go there and fall in love – with either the food, the faux Swiss chalet, or with someone you’re with.

My hackles rose as soon as I arrived here and asked that the door, which was ajar on a cold and fairly windy night, be closed. It was explained to me, politely, that the restaurant is heated by the wood-burning ovens in the kitchen, which becomes unbearably hot without a flow of air. I didn’t believe this for a moment, but was soon proved wrong; the Primrose Eatery turned out to be just about the warmest restaurant I’ve eaten in north of the Equator. So, gentle reader, this restaurant is a hotspot for a cold winter’s night.

For once, I fared much better than my non-vegan dining companions, who chose salmon (which looked nice but not very special) and the house salad, which looked nice but not very plentiful. I went for the Falafel sharing platter (yes, all to myself; vegans are always hungry – didn’t you know?) and my request for extra falafel instead of halloumi was met cheerfully and generously. It turned out to be a brilliant choice – genuinely stunning dish of freshly-made hummus, tabouleh, home-made falafel (with a little lick of tahini on the top), enough pitta bread that I didn’t need to ask for more) and some mixed leaves to freshen it up. Sublime.

With two glasses of wine and an additional bottle thrown in (for food orders over £30), the bill for four came to £69, So that was one course each and 1 1/2 bottles of wine for nearly £70.

I didn’t try the pizzas but they looked superb. You can eat well here for under £20 per head, which isn’t bad at all for that neighbourhood.

Recommended for winter. You may need to take a fan at other times of the year.

This place would have been great:-

…if the young lady who attended our table had known what was in the food without having, at a busy time, to go back to the kitchen and ask repeatedly;

…if she had been polite and friendly instead of sullen and ungracious and, when I asked for Diet Coke, my request hadn’t been met dismissively. “No, we don’t do it.” (Not, “No, sorry, we don’t do it, but we’ve got X, or Y if you’d like”).

…if the non-dairy, non-meat option had been something that wasn’t simply less its main ingredient – a soup with the pesto sauce taken out isn’t really a vegetarian option when it’s the only option. Because it would have been great if the vegetable thai curry had been vegetarian – fish sauce meant it wasnt.

…and it would have been great if the loo had been working, but …"Uh, you know, it’s not working the moment’.

So, you’ll have got the message. It wasn’t that great. From the reviews above, it looks as it can be, sometimes, if you order the right food at the right time, and you arrive on the right day, when the staff are in the right mood. But just not all the time.

As we left, I commented to my friend that The Kitchen Table somehow failed to meet the M&S benchmark; that is, was the £4.50 I paid for my soup more than the £1.50 M&S charges for a similar product, with the difference in price being the experience, atmosphere, and service? I felt weirdly short-changed.

But I had M&S soup for dinner, and felt much better.

Greasy spoon - without the grease. Or rather, less of, and higher quality produce.

Ostensibly a typical East End caff, a couple of items on the menu - halloumi cheese, maple syrup, Tunnock's Caramel Wafers, for example - suggest a somewhat alternative sensibility. Standard fare - a selection of breakfasts, sandwiches, omelettes etc. is on offer, as is a laid-back, friendly atmosphere.

Fullmarks and five stars go to the DLC for maintaining the spirit of the area while serving decent healthy food; the arrival of the self-consciously pristine 'Healthy Stuff' health food shop and café next door, with its decor complementing the new Barratt homes development at Dalston Junction, feels like one small step towards Starbucks E8.

Black pudding and bubble. Bring it on.

Since Chris's review, the introductory offer's price has risen to £25 for 10 days which, although good value (compared to £15 for a drop-in or £12 for a 10-pack), doesn't compete with BikramYoga North/West's 30 for 30. And no, I don't work for them.

Having started my ten-day intro course at sohotbikramyoga's Victoria studio, I was just a little less impressed with the 'Soho' branch (and yes, it IS in Fitzrovia). The lobby's a little smaller, the yoga studio perhaps a little less spacious, and the general experience just a little less 'wow'. But that said, it's still a spotlessly clean, friendly and welcoming environment.

To second Chris again - yes, it's a bit out of the way. Not quite 'around the corner' from Great Portland St, Warren St or Oxford Circus. But it's hardly really far.

I'd recommend Bikram Yoga to anyone, and both the Victoria and 'Soho' studios of this company. But shop around before signing up - there are now around 9 studios run by three companies. All offer the same formulaic classes based on 26 postures performed in 109-degree heat for a total of 90 minutes.

Give yourself three sessions before jacking it in out of exhaustion and pain, and you'll start to love it. If you can make it through 10 classes, you'll be hooked.