Tomoe, Marylebone Lane - Don't miss the grilled razor clams!!!

Dec-16th £35pp for dinner. Minimum charge is £15.00 for dinner.

Tomoe is a very interesting Japanese place. It offers a few original dishes, that one should definitely try.
First, let us start with the things we did not like too much...
I been in Tomoe a few times now. I cannot ever recall a good service. It is very slow. The place is busy so it's difficult for them to serve quickly. It's noisy as well. A quick tip: if you eat at the sushi bar downstairs you can always ask the shokunin directly what you want, he will serve you a bit quicker. There is also a minimum cover of £15 for dinner. Oh something else: the green tea is served by the glass, so no free refill here, as opposed to Cocoro. One last thing, atmosphere is not great and I would not have tried this place if no one had recommended it to me. You get the picture, Tomoe is not a fancy place, with a nice atmosphere. When you go there often, they recognize you and service improves a tiny little bit...

Don't worry! The quality of the food does much more than offset those negative points. In other words, if you're happy to try the Tomoe adventure, your palate will be rewarded. Every sushi is good here. And we got a great tip for sushi fans... Best time to get sushis/sashimi is Wednesday evening, the day they receive their sashimi grade fish... I cannot believe they told me this... :)

The menu is organised around a few specialties which are very creative. Among them don't miss the grilled razor clams, home made tofu and dynamite roll (finish with this one).

The masterpiece of Tomoe is the grilled razor clams. It comes with tomatoes, and in a little sauce. It is very fresh, creative, beautiful to the eyes and to the mouth. Don't forget to order one. Even, go there to have one. That should be one of the purpose of you visiting the restaurant. It's their specialty, and you will like it.

Grilled razor clams. Specialty of the house. 

Great to the eyes and the palate.

Home made tofu  is difficult to find in London: you can always find cold tofu, but hot tofu freshly made is extremely rare. This dish is educative because you get to see how it is done. Then it tastes nice. Tofu is sweet, soft and melting.

Home made tofu. I'm not a tofu fan

BUT it's good, and very very fresh... it can't be fresher actually.

Home made tofu comes with spring onions, dried fish (on the right as well)

and sesame sauce on the left.

Like every other roll, dragon roll is superbly realized for 13.50. It's relatively cheap considering the time it takes to be done. It's beautiful and fresh.

Dragon roll, beautiful piece, but a bit expensive, pass your way.

A dish I discovered and I cannot recommend enough is called 'braised pork with soft boiled egg'. The name says it all.... you dip the pork in the cold egg...The yellow of the egg gives consistency to pork and mixes well with the spring onions. I never tried this anywhere before. I'lll definitely have it again.

Braised pork with cold egg - yum

How it looks when you break the yolk.

Dynamite roll mixes salmon, tuna, sea bass and chili peppers. It is VERY hot. Maybe ask them to make it not as hot. Mine was strongly hot hot. Now, it is very creative and was nice to taste something new, sushi wise. Make sure to finish with this roll, not start with it, reason being the hotness will diminish the taste of a delicate sashimi should you get it after.

Finish with the spicy dynamite roll. 

That WILL wake you up! 

Soft shell crab roll - same comment than usual on soft shell crab: 

it's good BUT reheated...

 Scallops nigri were soooo soft, melting and tasty.

Salmon avocado was perfect to me

generous and of good quality

Black sesame ice cream is a good way to finish the dinner if you still have some space. A curious dessert, that you can't find so easily in London.

Back sesame seed ice cream

A very clear signal from Tomoe is that no dish is bad... EVERYTHING I tasted was good. You'll come accross a few very good surprises as well if you're adventurous enough. Don't miss the grilled razor clams, the hot home made tofu, the braised pork and egg and the dynamite roll.

Original Tagines, Dorset St - Best tagine in London

Dec-22nd count £20pp for a Tagine + water. Their most expensive Tagine is at £15. Count £30pp for Starter + Tagine + dessert + water. Count £40pp if you include wine.

I discovered this restaurant by pure luck. A cold winter day, I passed along and tried my chance. Two years later, it's still the best tagine I know in London.

Original Tagine is a family owned restaurant. Guess how many years it has been running for? Any ideas? .... not one year, not five years... not ten years either... but 14 years! 14 years of experience!!! Original Tagines has been serving tagines to customers for 14 years... Fourteen years ago, there were only two Moroccan restaurants in London the waiter and owner told me. 

The starters are not the best I had in London for this kind of food. I would avoid them in general. But then, I am always very harsh with Mediterranean food considering my Lebanese roots. The one starter I recommend is the kefta brioates. It's all in the subtlety of flavors, sweetness of the ice sugar, mixes well with the cinnamon and the lamb... and yes, you read correctly lamb, cinnamon and sugar... and I did like it. My friends liked the aubergine zalook. Frankly, if you know a bit about good Lebanese food/Mediteranean food, pass your way on the most common starters, because you'll most certainly be disappointed... if not, you can always give it a try. 

Kefta brioates - a pastry for a starter

Cheese brioates - not as good as the one above in my opinion

more common taste, and average realisation

Aubergine zalook

if you don't know too much about Mediterranean food, you'll enjoy that 

Now, let's talk about the specialty of the house: the tagines. I am a regular of this place. I tried almost every tagine they serve. I NEVER have been disappointed. I believe the value for money is very good. Quality is there, and quantity too. All tagine comes with bulgur.

The less exotic tagine is their chicken kedra one. But if you feel in the mood, why not try the chicken lemon, lamb pear, lamb prune, or even their lamb apricot? All the tagine are priced in a narrow range of £12 to £15 (for the lamb apricot). Tagine has to be cooked for hours... and they do cook it for hours. We will thank them for that. Purist could always complain about a few things. I wont list the negative points. That's the place to go for tagines in London - full stop.

chicken kedra - fantastic !

lamb prune - fabulous !

lamb apricot - fabulistic !

A tiny little advice, linked to a negative comment. In the winter (most probably you'll enjoy a tagine in the winter), by no means, get a table next to the door. Ask kindly to be far from the entry. The place is definitely cold when people go in/out of the place. That is an important point and is worth mentioning. You cannot say you've not been warned!

That being said, I recommend this place for four reasons. First, it's great value for money. Second, it's difficult to find a good tagine place in London. In that respect, Original Tagines won't disappoint. Third, it's a VERY consistent place. I ate there a few times with friends, date or family, and the cook always delivers in time, manner and panache - the same quality. Fourth, service is friendly and serious and atmosphere is simple, nice, even cute.

Cocoro, Marylebone Lane - A well established Japanese

Dec-15th count around £35pp for a miso soup, green tea with free refill, two expensive rolls and two more common rolls. The dragon roll (their most expensive roll) is £15.00. More common rolls are about £5.00.

Cocoro is a Japanese hidden in Marylebone. In front of Tomoe, it offers a simple and lighty atmosphere. Clients probably appreciate the hidden location. Many Japanese go there as well too. Good efficient service.

Tea refill comes in time, don't be afraid to ask for more green tea when you finished your glass.

Concerning the sushis, the rice has been cooked with too much vinegar in my opinion. Some people might like it that way... I personally believe it masks the taste of the fish. For this reason, I'd recommend to go for the fattiest pieces (such as salmon or eel or anything with avocado). Also, as a general rule, I find the rolls not too generous in fish, with too much rice compared to fish (in particular the tuna avocado roll or the cucumber and eel roll). That's why I would not consider Cocoro, the best place for sushi in London. Now, it's a good hidden place to have them. It's an interesting place to go, for a date for example ?

Now, there are a few surprising specialties at Cocoro, which are worth talking about... and maybe try them. 
A very interesting roll, called the "Cocoro special" or "7 fish roll" has been created by the cook. It includes salmon, tuna, mackerel, shrimps, scallop, yellowtail and sea bass! All those in a single roll with radish around. This roll is generous in fish, as opposed to the other rolls. The result is unique. I personally don't think it works very well, but it is certainly worth tasting, for its creativity.

Cocoro special roll - generous in fish 

Also the dragon roll is a beautiful piece. I would recommend it because fish and avocado tastes match well the strong vinegar rice flavour. Yellowtail, salmon and avocado do go on well together. But style and substance come at a price: £15.00 for this roll.

 Dragon roll - beautiful for the eyes and the stomach

Two starters I enjoyed were the ikanato (ika is squid and nato is the fermented soybeans) and the tako wasa (tako is octopus, so tako wasa is octopus in wasabi sauce). Ika nato was of good quality. If you never tried nato give it a try. The taste of it goes certainly well with the squid. Better even was the tako wasa, a simple starter for a small price. Tako is chewy as expected. Make sure you like wasabi before ordering because it is strong.

 Ika nato - small portion

the tastes of the squid and the nato beans go well together

Tako wasa - it tastes better than it looks

Nato roll - well done, a nice vegetarian sushi

Cucumber eel roll - not enough eel to my taste

Tuna avocado roll - same comment

too much rice, not enough tuna in comparison...

A less better experience is the soft sheel karaabe in ponzu sauce. Now, let me get this right. First impression is good. Soft shell taste is strong. It was nice BUT soft shell crab has been reheated (and not just cooked before ordering). That is always the case in every place in London I ordered this dish so far... so let's not conclude too quickly Cocoro is not an appropriate sushi place. I liked it but it seems it's difficult to find a place for fresh soft shell crab. Ponzu sauce was a good realisation.

 Soft shell crab

We finished the dinner with hokkigai nigri. I found it a bit chewy and they had the idea to put a vinegar sauce on it... I don't know if Japanese people have it that way. I found it way too strong in vinegar.

Hokkigai.... too much vinegar for me....

Cocoro, is a place of interest for sushi if you tried the "must go" sushi bars in London before and are looking for a new place to change. Also, if you like vinegar rice, chose this place. I would certainly recommend the Cocoro special, the dragon roll, ikanato and tako wasa. Now, if I am honest, I think other sushis places are better that cocoro and so must be tried before.

Sahara, St John's wood - Possibly the best tabouleh in London

Dec-13th £35pp (3 course meal a la carte, with Lebanese coffee and a glass of Arak)

Some might know, I have Lebanese blood. Truth to be told, it is very difficult to find a good Lebanese place in London. When I fancy Lebanese food, I often offer myself a treat in an Iranian place. The flavours are similar, but it's easier to find a good Iranian than a good Lebanese. Not anymore. Sahara is the best Lebanese restaurant I tried in London so far. I would not go as far to acknowledge it is a truly Lebanese place, but it is a good place to have something not too far from the real Lebanese experience, and in particular their tabouleh.

Don't expect a fantastic atmosphere as the place is simple. Not too much effort is put in it. Service is efficient and the waiters do speak Lebanese.

Tabouleh was good, fresh, tasty and chunky. The wikipedia photo link has way too much bulgur to consider it a proper tabouleh. Tabouleh (like the one served at Sahara) should have much less bulgur, and more parsley. It is difficult to find a good tabouleh in London. It's understandable why it is so difficult and there are two reasons for this. First reason is parlsey has to be fresh and freshly cut. That's how it releases its flavor. Eating tabouleh not recently cut is just not a nice experience. Now, it always depends how it's stored... At home, it's always ok. But in a restaurant, my experience showed they just dont manage to store it properly, and the parsley looses it's chunky under the teeth... All in all, what we want in tabouleh is fresh parsely, freshly cut too. Second reason is that you simply cannot get a robot to cut the parsley for you. It HAS TO BE CUT BY HAND. Trust me, I tried a few times to cut it with a robot. The parleys becomes a puree... and that just does not work... even if you cut just a little bit, the parsley is not as chunky... and we deserve the chunky, don't we? I tried everything, different robots too, but nothing works. Tabouleh has to to be cut by hand. And that, my friends, is time consuming. Sahara does all this. And we thank them for that. The result is the best tabouleh in London, and I tried a few.

Truly Lebanese tabouleh at Sahara

Now, let's talk about the less positive points...
Kibbeh (orthograph might vary, I'll stick to the wiki one) is a dish a national unity in Lebanon. I don't know any counterpart in any other culture. What I mean by national unity dish is that EVERYONE in Lebanon eats it. Weathly people make it with less bulgur and more meat, poorer with less meat and more bulgur, but every home cooks it.

There are many variations of the kibbeh. I tried the kibbeh nayyeh (a Lebanese verison of the steak tartare -  raw meat with bulgur that you eat it with onions and fresh mint) and kibbeh siniyeh (same than kibbeh nayyeh but cooked in the oven - usually with pine nuts inside - you eat it with yoghurt). I understand some find meat and yoghurt disgusting. Try first and decide then. Kibbeh nayyeh was good and fresh. Now, if I am being honest, it did lack of bulgur hence tasting more like what we call habra nayyeh, which is more or less a medditeranean version of the French steak tartare, without bulgur this time (cannot find a wiki link for this).

Kibbeh nayyeh

The kibbeh siniyeh is the kibbeh variant cooked in the oven. In my opinion, it was too thin, and a tiny bit too dry. And the people familiar with Lebanese food would agree the one they served looked more like a big kibbeh taboussa and not litterally a kibbeh siniyeh (although the taboussa version is fried, which is NOT the case of the one they served me). Usually, kibbeh siniyeh is supposed to have rigs on top then the oil drips in and cooks the meat better. That's how it becomes more soft. I would post a google link for the taboussa version but I cannot even find on google! The quality of the meat was good but not as great as it could. And unfortunately, no pine nuts inside... :( This being said, it's still a version of the kibbeh and if you're not familiar with Lebanese food, it will still taste somehow roughly how a kibbeh tastes.

Kibbeh siniyeh

 

Dessert I ordered was kneffe (again, orthograph might vary). The wiki link is not exactly what to expect, those photos are more the Turkish version. The photo below is more the real thing. Kneffe is - from very very far - a mediteranean version of tiramisu because it has cheese in it. Now, kneffe taste is very different than tiramisu. They reheated it as I expected: no places EVER make it just for you... unless you're in a Lebanese patisserie in Beirut... It tasted good and close to what it should taste. After the last mouthful, you're just completely full, could not move anymore... At this point, I remembered I was in a Lebanese restaurant... 

Kneffe you can see the cheese at the bottom and 

the couscous like grains on top

To cool it down, I had a glass of arak, Lebanese version of like uzo, sambuca, raki... It was very well balanced to my taste but £7.00 the glass... expensive you might think, but you cannot have the truth experience without it. Also, Lebanese restaurants always charge you so much for arak.... Don't forget they are born traders!

A glass of arak to help ! 

And after dessert, and you're full, I had a Lebanese coffee... which comes VERY VERY hot, and that's just how it should be.

To conclude, I would recommend this place for a few reasons. It's possibly one of the best Lebanese place in London for food. It's a cheap Lebanese considering what you usually pay for an ok Lebanese food (forget Edgware roads, I tried Noura, Maroush and assimilates... etc they don't serve good food and sometimes expensive). Now, the problem with Lebanese food, is that most of the dishes, including the most traditional ones, simply cannot be prepared just for you in a restaurant as some dishes take hours to be made. So, they do have to be reheated. Dont take offense, that's what all restaurants do. As a consequence, you never get the traditional Lebanese experience in a restaurant. From there you have two options. Either you're lucky enough to have a Lebanese friend and you go to his mum who cooks for you . Then you'll taste the real thing. Either you don't, and then you can go to Sahara. It gives a satisfying Lebanese experience for an ok budget. I would still consider it the best Lebanese restaurant in London, although not quite the real thing (apart from their tabouleh).

Akasiro - The cheapest Japanese in town

Dec-12th £6pp (the lunnch menus chicken katsu curry includes a miso soup for less than £6pp!)

Eating Japanese food on sundays in London can be a tricky thing, reson being many Japanese restaurants close on sundays. Last Sunday, I tried my way to Tokyo Dinner. They refused to serve me, invoking they had trouble in the kitchen. I was disappointed... but the good thing is I tried a new restaurant just next to it, called Akasiro.

I was just lucky I went in. I might have found as well the cheapest Japanese restaurant in London.

The restaurant is modest and small (around 5 tables upstairs). Atmosphere is sobre, and simple.
The waitress was very kind.

The menu is not only Japanese, there are some Thai dishes in the menu (such a bulgogi).
I just quite don't get how they manage to make a profit from their prices... Ok, the place is mild, but still, £5.80 the chicken katsu ?!? (the lunch price - in the evening the prices jump). They have to pay the cook, the waitress, the ingredients and the monthly rent with this.
Chicken was relatively light. I wrote ''relatively'' because it is crumbreaded chicken, so if you want something very light, you should not go for this... What I mean is that it was not oily, and rightly crispy. It's a tasty meal and a good surprise at this price.

The chicken katsu curry was fine

I liked the little "mini salad" made it more digest

The sushi experience was not as good and heavy. Maybe, we should not have ordered the volcano roll. The orange sauce (which they call spicy) is way too heavy... The volcano roll is a regular salmon roll which is then deep fried... don't go for this, really.

 DO NOT GO FOR THE VOLCANO ROLL

WAY TOO HEAVY

All in all, Akasiro is an inexpensive substitute to Tokyo dinner. It is even less expensive than Tokyo dinner and the hot meal was very acceptable. What we call a good value for money. Have to go back and taste again the more common sushi rolls to see what they're worth.

Dishoom, Upper St Martin Lane (Leicester Sq.) - The first of many

Dec-16th £15pp (chicken tikka, naan, lassi, gola and coffee) 

I heard of Dishoom twice. First time was from a work Indian vegetarian collegue. And second from Time Out which spoke of it highly. I often walk about Leicester Sq. area on week end... I passed upon Dishoom yesterday and could not resist saying hello.

I did not expect a bad experience. Rightly so, the experience was very good at every level: atmosphere, service, food, and price. It's almost boring writing this review, as it seems this place manage to be spot on almost everything. There is very little to be criticized. Don't take the negative comments too badly if you never tried the place. My main advice is go there, the sooner the better.

First of all, the atmosphere is nice. Efforts has been placed on this. They also have a big terrace, so why not enjoy it in the summer?

The naan was freshly made. Also, the naan was very thin, not like many Indian places where it is thick heavy bread... Dishoom serves delicate food. Shame they took a bit of time to bring it so it was not VERY hot, just warmish. I would not hesitate telling them next time I go to make sure it comes very hot. They do have the special oven to cook it... So why not having the best possible experience when it is possible to?

Freshly made naan, very thin

Salty lassi was milky and not too thick: how it should be. They put cumin seeds on top of it... for a better experience. Too often places forget the cumin...

Chicken Tikka was very good (again!)... It comes with lemon, coriander and other spice to dispose of the way you most prefer... The guys in the kitchen cooked it in the rules of the art... I never taste a chicken tikka so flavored before. Maybe what I thought was chicken tikka was not... The spices are well right and touches you very softly and spot on. If I could make a tiny little bad comment on the chicken (to be perfectionist cause again it is probably the best I ever had in London) it would be the following: the chicken quality used could be a bit better... but again for £6.80, you cannot possibly expect the top high quality grain fed chicken can you? I found it a (tiny mini little bit) fatty... I hope this comment wont forbid you to try the whole Dishoom experience... cause that's a MUST GO in London. At the very least, try it once next time you think of an Indian.

Chicken tikka, well spiced, good balance.

It comes with coriander. 

I planned to stay half an hour as I had to finish something, but I felt good inside... so I decided to try a dessert. I had a gola. First time I tried that was in Hawaii (they call it shave ice there).  Now, gola and shave ice are the same thing, so I knew how it would taste - sort of... Still Dishoom managed to surprise me...
The ice snow they serve is chunky. Not surprisingly, they serve the two tastes pomegranate and passion. By doing so, they play a bit with your senses and feelings... Indeed, the ice spots could be pomegranate seeds or passion seeds... the metaphor is poetic... and tasty :)

Passion ice gola - the poetic surprise

All in all, you have to try this place.  So, some might say "ok then I can go in 2011"... Well, if you want my opinion, that's too late. Why? They even give you a 20% discount voucher if you go this year to use in Jan or Feb-2011.

Two last things. 1. I would not be surprised if they increase their prices. It seems very affordable for a restaurant of this quality in London. 2. I would not be surprised if more of those cafes opened soon hence the title of the review.

Atari-Ya, James St - You said fresh fish?

Dec-15th £15pp for 3 expensive rolls to take away

Now this blog starts getting serious about London restaurants. We cannot talk about food in London without talking about Japanese food and more particularly about sushis. Reviewed today is Atari-Ya.

There is lot of mystery behind Atari-Ya. I live right off Marylebone High St and the very few times I tried the touristy restaurants on James St, it was almost always a catastrophe. It took me some time to try Atari-Ya. From the outside, the place looks dodgy and I would not even want to try the fish there judging by the vitrine. There are 5 VERY small tables. No decoration. Now, I noticed the place is often busy... after a few months, I gave it a try.

I'll be straight. The place serves excellent sushis.
For foreigners who do not speak good English or people doubting about what I said above, I'll repeat it. Sushis at Atari-Ya are excellent.

In fact, they are so good, I did a bit of research about the place. It's not often you find a gem in London. And there is a lot of mystery about the bar (it's a sushi bar, not a restaurant). I heard Atari-Ya supplies 80% Japanese restaurants in London for their sashimi grade fish. Honestly, I doubt they do, because 80% seems a huge number. However, I wouldn't be surprised if they did supply some Japanese restaurants. After all, you can buy sashimi grade fish if you ask (I did it). What it means is that you're one step before in the chain of food when going to Atari-Ya... hence the fresh fish. I also heard the chefs come and work here for a few years and master the art of sushi-making so quickly that they go in top sushi restaurants (including Nobu). Again, I don't think it's 100% true, but it might be somehow true. Some Nobu chefs might have worked here before. Don't get me wrong, I still think Nobu is overpriced, expensive, you don't get what you pay for... etc. However, everyone believes the best sushi chefs are there. Why they cannot deliver food in line with their high quality staff is another question. Finally, I heard Nobu staff (including chefs) from time to time, come to Atari-Ya after lunch and before the evening service to eat good sushi... We won't blame them? Why would you blame someone wanting the best sushi in town? Well you get the picture, I wont write a novel. Atari-Ya serves among the best sushis in town. Those sushis are recognized as being some of the best by the Japanese community living London. Oh, by the way, have a look at Atari-Ya website (google it), you'll see it targets Japanese living in London. It rightly does, a large number of customers are Japanese.

The best surprised is that it is very cheap too. £1.80 the salmon or tuna roll?!? Are you joking me? Now the photos... There is no point uploading regular sushi photos as almost every sushi place have them almost the same way (salmon roll, tuna roll... etc). I want to talk about three rolls worth talking about...

The best sushi I tried at Atari-Ya is the rainbow roll, you cannot find it everywhere in London. The name is pretty straight forward. The roll is filled with salmon and Japanese mayonnaise (Kewpie type) inside (you cannot see it on the photo). That's cheating to put mayonnaise, but it is just a lush roll.

Salmon roll is very well realized. But again, every sushi is good.

Spider rolls are good, very good even. Spider roll is how they call soft shell crab rolls. But, I can think of places where they are better than here (they re-heat the soft shell crab at Atari-Ya). Now, it is well above the average soft shell crab roll in London and even I would recommend trying it once.

Rainbow roll?... what about it on a rainy day? 

I could have it any day, if I am honest... like sex.

Left: Salmon avocado roll

Right: Spider roll

Blue Elephant, Fulham Broadway - A truly Thai restaurant?

Dec-8th £65pp (tasting menu with soup and without lobster, added two bottles of sparkling water and three alcoholic drinks).

That's a difficult review to write because I hate writing bad reviews. I much prefer have a good experience and be happy and write a good review... but honestly I cannot write a good review for this place. There is one word to summarize the whole experience: disappointment. I put lot of hopes in the Blue Elephant. It did not reach anything close to my expectations for a restaurant costing 65 quids per person.

First of all, let me explain how I heard about the Blue Elephant. A friend of mine recommended this place. I always kept in my head I had to try it. Then, for the Wine Show this year happening in Kensington Olympia, I found a little stand representing the Blue Elephant. I tried their steak and I must admit I found it very delicate. That day, I decided I'll try the real experience in the restaurant. I surfed on their website, it seems it's a typical Thai place. I booked.

Upon arrival, the place inside is just beautiful. The atmosphere and decoration is just amazing and a lot of effort is put in. That's probably what you pay for, and service. They gave us a crap table (next to a huge noisy party). I asked kindly to change the table and they gave us a very satisfying table that time. I was in a good mood for a good dinner. Honestly, it's difficult from there to mess it up. Blue Elephant managed to mess it up. I had dinner with a foodie/friend of mine, excellent cook, who spent a month on vacation in Thailand. She knows about Thai food and we did agree on the food review below.

First starter was a prawn bag. That was heavy... I thought "surely the rest of the dinner will be better".
Soup was alright, even good. And then that's when the dream started to turn into a nightmare.

Starters were not Thai. Dim sum was a pale copy of a third class Chinese dim sums restaurant. Meat in the dim sum was of bad quality, and fatty. Deep fried prawns and assimilates were heavy. Chicken satay was alright but well under expectation for a restaurant of this price range. Chicken quality used was flavorless. The peanut sauce masked that.

Then the main. Green curry was tasteless. It has been cooked with no soul. At some point, I was wondering if they forgot the lemon in it. In fact, they did not, you can find some small ones without any taste... It had no green curry paste taste either. No lemon taste. No lemongrass taste. Chicken used was chewy. The list can be longer. Why not add flavorless and insipid? Beef with oyster sauce was alright. The 2 prawns were good though, that was the best note of the dinner, the 2 prawns. As a whole, it was a disappointing vapid dinner. Fortunately, I had a good company.

 First appetizer, prawn bag... heavy.

 Tom kha soup (coconut soup), good realization but spicy

 Tum yum soup (lemon grass and galangal among other spices), good realization but hot

 Sauces for the starters... not very elaborate

Starters (dim sum in the middle, chicken satay on the left, they look awful actually now that I uploaded the photo... , prawn deep fried on the right, nothing exciting really)

Green curry on the bottom right, bottom left are the 2 prawns, and top left is the oyster sauce beef (alright but nothing too crazy, it has black mushroom by the way... since when Thai food use black mushrooms?!?), top is jammy fish, at most average, and top right are vegetables. 

On the positive side: as you can see, the dishes are well presented, service is good, and atmosphere is nice(provided you make sure you have a good table). Some of the tables are very nice next to some river, a fountain etc...
Also, the Thai version of the bloody Mary was well balanced.

 Dessert - nothing to add.

To conclude, I will avoid this place for some time. I suggest you guys/ladies do the same, it's well overpriced and you'd better give 50 quids to a charity than eating there, at least you recover 50% in tax that way. I might give it another chance sometimes later. Maybe their steaks have more flavor?

 Bill photo breaks my heart... sniff sniff they wont see me for a while.

Gaylord, Mortimer St - The realm of Lamb

Dec-7th £30pp (including a 660ml Cobra per person and with a 25% off food TopTable offer)

This is my second time in Gaylord. I have to admit, I am not keen on the atmosphere, as I find it too plain vanilla, with no heart and no soul. It is very noisy place as well. Truth to be told, however, Gaylord is, an EXCELLENT place for Lamb. Notice how I wrote it with a capital L. Lamb is cooked with soul, love, tender and care. Slowly, for hours in big pots or casserole (for the saucy dishes). The tandoori lamb is very nice as well, tender and tasty.

Worth mentioning, Gaylord is a middle class Indian restaurant coming directly from India. The same owner has at least two restaurants like this one in India. One fo those is in Mumbai, second is in Delhi. Why is it that you cannot find the website of the Indian places on the internet? Why don't they even market it and mention it on the uk website? Well, Indian restaurants in India almost never have websites. It's worth mentioning though. So we will state it again. Gaylord IS a truly Indian restaurant imported directly from India to London, UK. It's an affordable place in India where you eat good typical Indian food, in a unpretentious way.

I have Lebanese roots. I have to admit during my first experience at Gaylord, their lamb texture (cooked in sauce) and softness reminded me of my childhood's mum's dishes: cooked for hours with love and care. Lamb is cooked so slowly and carefully that it melts in the mouth. Again, it's so soft, you reach an orgasm by eating it. Then, you talk to your friends/date, sip some beer, and take a mouthful again, between two jokes... and orgasm again. Twice in 2min?!? How is that possible? Don't believe me? Go there, order Lamb and see for yourself.

Shahi Gosht and yes, that was lovely. 

Chicken and lamb tandoori

My second experience at Gaylord, although still excellent, was not as great. I won't blame it on my date. It was just that the lamb was (VERY slightly) less tender. Again, the standard of lamb here is great. I would recommend this place. It's a buy. If you can get a TopTable offer, then do. Even better.

One bearish note, they served our food to the wrong table when we were there. That was not great. First time it happened to me in a restaurant. I did not comment on it. I could have, they apologized 20 times...
It wont stop me going again. Also, one of the waiter, unfortunately poured some water on my bag-pack at then end. It's worth mentioning, but these things can happen everywhere even at the Dorchester.

A vegetarian Indian lady I know recommended the black daal. It seems to be a house specialty. I went for it... The daal is very soft and tasty. With the right amount of spice. Get a beer and enjoy the journey.