Previously on The Blog About Nothing... in London!

  • stamaria Santa Maria
    Best Pizza in London
  • tapcoffee Tap Coffee
    Coffee time in Warren St
  • exmouthespresso Bean Review
    Exmouth Espresso Blend
  • kurobuta Kurobuta
    Japanese Tapas
  • oddonos Oddono's
    Gelato in Chiswick
  • smokehouse Smokehouse
    Mouthwatering Burgers and BBQ
  • firehouse No 197 Fire Station
    Complete disaster
  • irisandjune Iris & June
    Independent Coffee Shop in Victoria
  • coffeeguide The Not Official London Coffee Guide
    Humble take on the independent scene
  • dumdum Dum Dum Donutterie
    They don't have Cronuts but they do Cros
  • bonanza Bean Review
    Bonanza's Espresso Blend
  • moo Moo Cantina
    Lomito Time
  • chorbizarre Chor Bizarre
    Restaurant with personality
  • squaremilebelen Bean Review
    Square Mile's Belen Espresso
  • ottolenghi Ottolenghi
    Not as good as usual!
  • quantus Quantus
    European cuisine in Chiswick
  • pearlliang Pearl Liang
    About Time for a Chinese
Showing posts with label gastropub. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gastropub. Show all posts

Gastropup in Imperial Wharf

Aw, these eggs are disgusting. This chicken should be ashamed of himself
Cosmo Kramer (Seinfeld episode “The Little Jerry”)

We went the other day with a couple friends to The Sands End Gastropub. Their idea is bringing a bit of the countryside pub to London. Seasonal menu, rustic décor, good selection of ales, and famous scotch eggs. The place is quite popular, busy and a bit noisy, completely pack on a Tuesday night, so go early or if you want to have a bit I would suggest booking a table in advance.

Bite time
I couldn’t miss trying the scotch eggs and the sausage rolls, as every review I read they were mentioned. As starter we got a burrata with artichoke, which was nice, creamy and fresh burrata as you would expect. Then the scotch eggs and sausage roll, the eggs was nice, great flavour, a runny yolk, lovely. The roll was ok, nice seasoning, the pastry wasn’t crispy enough, and the roll was cold, I would love it to be hot, but for that you might need to get earlier.

Nice food, good beers, ideal if you’re a local of the area.

The Sands End
T: 020 7731 7823
Gastropub
Approx Damage: £27pp
Area: Imperial Wharf
Borough: Hammersmith & Fulham
Twitter: thesandsend
Sands End on Urbanspoon Square Meal


Belgian Pub and Theatre Time

What do you mean, what is it? It's a country right next to Belgium
Jerry Seinfeld (Seinfeld episode “The Butter Shave”)

I finally went to see War Horse, so before getting into the theatre we did a quick pit stop for some pints and a bite in Lowlander. Belgian pub with great selection of beers, around 15 on draught and more than 80 in bottles. For food some of the classics such as moules frites.

The place
We got the Moules a la Biere, and the Sicilian sausage with a Gorgonzola polenta. To wash the food down a couple pilsners including the Cristal and the house Pils. Food was ok, nothing to highlight except for the lovely beers. Definitely a place to go for drinks and not for eating.

Moules
Lowlander
T: 020 7379 7446
Gastropub
Approx Damage: £20pp
Area: Covent Garden
Borough: City of Westminster
Twitter: LowlanderLondon
Lowlander on Urbanspoon Square Meal


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Thai in Walmer Castle

In a tiny way, I almost feel responsible. I'm the one who sent him to Thailand in search of low-cost whistles. Filled his head with pseudoerotic tales of my own Opium excursions. Plus, I have him some phone numbers of places he could score near the hotel 
J Peterman (Seinfeld episode “The Bookstore”) 

No I’m not talking about the one built by Henry VIII. I’m talking about the gastropub in Notting Hill. As usual for the area the pub has a Thai restaurant and there is no exception with Walmer Castle, nice laid back traditional pub style downstairs, and upstairs a Thai cuisine world. 

Thai Menu
Keep Calm and Eat Thai
We got a couple starters including the duck spring rolls and crispy squid with salt and pepper. Nice flavours and a good start. For mains we went for Kaeng Kiew Wan the traditional green curry with aubergine and added tiger prawns, and the Pad Kee Mao Talay stir fry noodles with prawns and squid. 

Rolls
Squid
Stir fry noodles
Green curry
The food was good, the curry was better than the noodles, nice flavours but not the best Thai I have had. Probably the Churchill Arms is a bit better. If you’re around and running out of options, or craving Thai give it a go, and the pub is a gem, really lovely with great atmosphere.

Walmer Castle
T: 020 7229 4620
Thai Cuisine / Pub
Approx Damage: £20pp
Area: Notting Hill
Borough: Chelsea & Kensington
Walmer Castle on Urbanspoon Square Meal


The Hope of the Gastropubs

The Anchor & Hope is a no reservation Gastropub in Waterloo nearby the Old and Young Vic Theatres. I have wanted to visit them after I tried their rabbit in the first Feast festival. Dark, noisy, and rustic place with a nose to tail menu. Winners of fourth place on the 2012 Top 50 Gastropubs in Britain. 

The place
We got our table in the pub side in no time. No rabbit as it ran out by the time we were ordering the food. I went for the rare roast venison, gnocchi, and chicory. Marisol got the skate in crab broth with mussels. 

Venison
Venison was quite nice, perfectly cooked, nice flavours and good balance. The skate stole the show, it was great, perfectly executed, the depth of the broth, amazing flavours. 

Skate
Really nice diner, good food, and decent price. Definitely an excellent option if you’re in the area. 

Hope reminds me the Seinfeld episode “The Fix Up” 

George: I mean it's gotten to the point where I'm flirting with operators on
the phone. I almost made a date with one
Jerry: Oh, so there's still hope
George: I don't want hope. Hope is killing me. My dream is to become
hopeless. When you're hopeless, you don't care, and when you don't care, that
indifference makes you attractive
Jerry: Oh, so hopelessness is the key
George: It's my only hope

The Anchor & Hope
T: 020 7928 9898
Gastropub
Approx Damage: £20pp
Area: Waterloo
Borough: Southwark
Twitter: AnchorHopeCut
Anchor & Hope on Urbanspoon Square Meal


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Burger Wars Episode LIII: The Fox And Grapes [BurgeReview]

One gastropub I was dying to visit was Fox & Grapes, the place is quite near my flat in Wimbledon Village, holds a Bib Gourmand award from the Michelin guide and was selected as 26 of the top 50 Gastropub Awards. Is the typical country side pub, full of character, and immediately you can feel that something else is going on, and that's a great kitchen on the place. Opened by Chef Claude Bosi same of the two Michelin star Hibiscus, he controls the operations as executive chef while his brother Cedric is the manager. 

The place
Walk this way
I got the visit of my cousin Roberto and his girlfriend Eliana, so decided it was a good time to go there and take them to their first gastropub experience. We got a couple pints and ordered food, for starters we share scratchings and scotch egg, the pork scratchings were really nice and crunchy, perfect to go with the pint, the wild boar scotch egg was superb, perfectly cooked, the running yolk was beautiful, and the flavour excellent. 

Scratchings
Scotch Egg
Perfection
As a main I went for the F&G burger, tomato relish and Blackstick blue cheese. 

Burger time
The verdict, perfectly cooked the meat, medium rare, with a smoky flavour from the coal josper oven, nice melting blue cheese, the relish was excellent, the home made mayo quite good, nicely balanced, the glazes brioche bun was spot on

The damage, 14.5 quid for the burger with fries

The conclusion, beautiful burger, top in the city, I love the fact that it comes from a gastropub, spot on, the fries were crunchy and soft inside, just brilliant. I will give them almost a perfect score in my scale 9 for my local pub

Close up
Roberto got the burger as well, Eliana went for something more traditional Fish and Chips, I had a bite and they were brilliant, perfectly battered, the fish cooked to perfection as well. As side we add some bubble and squeak, which was nice, and the triple cooked chips, surprisingly they weren't as good as the fries. 

Fish and Chips
Eliana ready
Bubble
Chips
For dessert we share a pistachio crème brulee and chocolate shortbread, perfect ending for a lovely diner. 

Desert
Fox reminds me the Seinfeld episode “The Understudy” 

Elaine: The Korean women were talking about me. I think they were calling me a dog 
Jerry: How would you know? You don't speak Korean 
Elaine: Because this woman came in with a dog and Ruby called the dog the same word they used when they were pointing at me, “ge ge ge” 
Kramer: You know, maybe in Korean dog isn't an insult. Could be like the word fox to us. Oh, she's a DOG!

Fox and Grapes
T: 020 8619 1300
Gastropub
Approx Damage: £40pp
Area: Wimbledon
Borough: Merton
Twitter: thefoxandgrapes
Fox & Grapes on Urbanspoon


Churchill Where are the arms?

One of my favourite watering holes in London is The Churchill Arms. The décor definitely has character, old memorabilia all around, historic pub, opened in 1750, and an excellent Guinness. For that reason I always take visitors there, so they can experience a nice British pub. One thing I’m trying to figure it out is why in that area most of the pubs have a Thai restaurant, it’s like a theme in Kensington/Notting Hill, well Churchill is one of them and actually the first one in London to have a Thai restaurant, so we must blame them for that. 

The pub
Getting in
My friend Maraca came down here to the rainy capital, and stayed nearby the Bayswater area so our first stop was Thai food and a pint. We got a couple lagers I went for my Guinness while we waited for a table in the restaurant, it’s amazing how you cross a door and it’s like getting into Narnia, basically it’s a tropical paradise, they call it butterfly themed conservatory, completely opposite to the pub old memorabilia style. 

Jubilee celebration decor
With Maraca
We got our table, and decided to order a couple dishes to share between the four of us. First prawn crackers and spring rolls, both nice, good spicy kick into the crackers and in the dipping sauce for the spring rolls, probably the spring rolls where the weak point. Then as a main, we shared three dishes, Pad Thai, Kaeng Ped Phed Yang, and Pad Gai Himmaparn. The Pad Thai was traditional, well executed, nice chilli flavour, with the peanuts, the bean sprouts, the onions, and the egg, good start. The Kaeng Ped, lovely, roasted duck red curry, the coconut milk just perfect, a touch of pineapple, and the basil, perfect, best dish of the night. Finally the Pad Gai, stir fried chicken, cashew nuts, onions, peppers, chilli, and soy sauce, it was excellent the combination of flavours. 

Lunch menu
Menu
Crackers
Rolls
Duck
Curry Duck
Pad Gai and Pad Thai
Great dinner, nice beer, and amazing venue. One of our friends that visits Thailand regularly said this is the real deal, he would expect these flavours in Thailand. Think that's a pretty good compliment, for me it's a must stop if you're visiting or just happen to be in the area.

Themed pub
Where is the Thai restaurant? © Fuller's
Thailand reminds me the Seinfeld episode “The Bookstore” 

Peterman: Elaine, do you have a moment? It's about your lover 
Elaine: Oh yes. I know all about his little performance in the break room 
Peterman: Elaine, who among us hasn't snuck into the break room to nibble on a love newton? 
Elaine: Love newton? 
Peterman: I'm afraid the problem with Zach is more serious. He's back on the horse, Elaine. Smack. White palace. The Chinaman's nightcap 
Elaine: An addict? Well, it just keeps getting better! 
Peterman: And, in a tiny way, I almost feel responsible. I'm the one who sent him to Thailand in search of low-cost whistles. Filled his head with pseudo erotic tales of my own Opium excursions. Plus, I have him some phone numbers of places he could score near the hotel. 
Elaine: Look, uh, Mr. Peterman, the fact is that I was planning on breaking up with Zach anyway. He was cheating on me! 
Peterman: Damn it, Elaine. That wasn't Zach, that was the yam-yam. Now, he is going cold turkey, and you will be at his side

The Churchill Arms
T: 020 7727 4242
Pub / Thai Cuisine
Approx Damage: £18pp
Area: Kensington
Borough: Kensington & Chelsea
Churchill Arms on Urbanspoon


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