O perfil de Urbanite

A little weary of the hype living up to expectations we picked a gloomy early week day to tube it over to Leather Lane and see if Daddy Donkey was in fact God's gift to burritos.

A little surprised to find it operating out of a little market stall at first, but it makes sense given the street food ethic of the place - and it has indeed found its perfect home. The queue snaked along a little path marked out with rope but passed remarkably quickly an before I knew it I was trying to rattle off the combo I'd been planning off the board. It came out as something like 'Steak burrito. Medium. Um, everything please' and everything came. And it was amazing - all bits in harmonious balance from the cheese to the spicyness to the soft salty meat.

So Daddy Donkey takes the crown for Burrito of Lodon for me. Only draw back is that as it's a tube ride away from the office I'd love a covered space there to guzzle it then and there.

Initially I preferred this spot to the main neighbouring restaurant as it served simple quick lunch fayre and was a lot more relaxed. I've been twice and on my initial visit I was hovering around the 3 star mark; food was alright but not amazing, the staff seemed a tad unfriendly and I found it odd that an Italian restaurant claimed to be out of parmesan cheese.

On my return today the place sank to a new low and from this visit will no longer return or be able to recommend it. I ordered the sausage pasta to eat in and moved along the counter. I was asked if I was having anything to drink and when I replied 'Oh I'd love a glass of tap water please' got a stony stare in response. Without a word the lady slowly ambled over to the sink and poured me one and I found a chair with my friends. I realised I'd forgotten to ask for parmesan and got up and waited to speak to someone to ask. A few minutes later the man behind the counter asked what I was after and I made my plea. He shook his head, spun on his heel, walked over to the fridge and had a loud rant about me in Italian to his colleague before getting the cheese.

I would like to point out now that one should be weary about a language which is no longer as niche in London as it might have once been as a few more people might speak it than you'd expect.

As I returned to my table my companions pointed out their horror at the death glares I was receiving from the two people behind the counter, which were again offered out as I was leaving. If I wasn't horribly hung over I might have said something, but in my current state I was afraid I might climb over the counter and swing a few spoons.

In the serving industry it pays a lot to wait ten minutes for a customer to leave before you bad mouth them, and it doesn't hurt to hide any facial remarks til then either. What a pity - especially as they're just down the road from our office who are now likely not to return either.

Update 20 aug 2010

Sadly I've been back 3 times since my first awesome visit and it seems like their popularity has gone to their head and general experience has nose-dived.

My most recent visit was last night. After booking well in advance for a special occasion for 2 people we got wedged between two other startled couples on a 6-seater table. Although half the other tables were empty we were told they were being held by other people for later so we couldn't move. To make matters worse our table lighting seemed to have kicked the bucket, so it was hard to make out much - and made worse by the bright lights flanking us from the table on either elbow.

On top of this despite explaining it was my brother's 30th brithday we had the frostiest of welcomes and farewells and just weren't made to feel welcome at all. Quite disappointing after explaining it was in my top spots.

The food is still quite tasty (though not so much the salmon ceviche) but is a ludicrous amount of money to pay for the portion size. I was happy to before considering the whole package, but as the rest of the package seems to be deteriorating I think there are better experiences to be had nearby and think that visit was my last.

-end-

Bored of the usual lunch routine? Tired of dirty crumpled menus and trying to wave a bored waiter over to get your order placed? Well Inamo may just be up your little techie alleyway.

The simple computer tables are easy to use and fun to navigate, allowing you to select your own table cloth, place drinks and food orders (with full colour pictures that show up over your dinner plate) and play little games while you wait - all without seeing a single person.

Weirdly the few members of staff we did see - those that brought out our orders when they were ready, and the lady who took the money at the end were a little computer-like and cold themselves. Because each person ordered their own items individually the staff knew exactly who ordered the pomegranite juice and the cinnamon chicken - so there's even less interaction than you'd think, bordering a bit icy.

One thing that did surprise me; often places that have a gimmicky thing tend to under deliver on other elements - sacrificing taste and presentation for the experience, but here this was not the case. The food arrives in various arrays of stylish dishes and some dishes were bloody scrumptuous.
Money wise it's a little dear; small plates (2-3 per person) will set you back £5-6 per plate while mains are £12-18. They have a range of wonderful looking teas that seem reasonable at £1.50 a pop.

If this is the future of dining I'm okay but they won't get a star back until their staff crack a smile and say something when they come over to the table.

Stop the Press; a dedicated dazzle of Qypers has chanced upon one of the best beer gardens South of the Thames. And no it wasn't the free food that swayed me; although the juicy dripping burgers, flame-grilled spicy chicken and neat, tender little sausages may have helped.

Around 2 years ago the Renaissance gang gave this spot one hell of a refurb, and opened their delightful back garden to the Summer folk last year. It is one of the more spacious you'll find - perhaps being a little further out allows for the generous space - but is also really quite pretty.

They've got long family/party-type tables in the front with big brollies, then the garden closes in a little further back, narrowing down to twin seaters and tables that encircle a little bubbling fountain. It's got the flaming BBQ menu (around £8 a main), jugs of Pimm's, tellies in the front for football and good bathrooms.
If you happen to be around Clapham on a sunny day it would be a pity not to pop in.

If eating out was based solely on the taste of food, this spot would have rated pretty highly; but that's not eating out, that's called takeaway and is the only way I'd consider eating from here again, although I think there are better options around for the price.
I went here to get some lunch and spied the lamb tagine, and waited patiently for the two female staff members to finish chatting.

I eventually managed to wave one over and placed my order and, being a sunny day asked to eat it on the tables outside. To them this seemed akin to asking for a rolling pin and fake mustache and as I smiled curtly and turned to await my meal I was instructed to wait so I could take it out.

I watched one of the ladies sluggishly spoon out some of the food and hand it over and, spying the pot sitting on the counter asked if it perhaps needed warming up. 'No, it's fine'. After struggling with my drink and cutlery I looked at both of the ladies watching on and one picked up my plate and marched outside.

I followed and, noticing an empty table asked after some salt and pepper. 'It's inside' she shot back over her shoulder as she reentered the establishment. Stupidly assuming that might mean she'd get it, I sat down and decided to taste a forkful of my meal. Which was cold. And needed pepper. Sadly on this day I had had enough and thought I'd take the English way out and complain about it later. So here I am :)

Pretty nifty bar on curtain road just before shoreditch high st coming from the Old St end. Now that we have location sorted... Certain elements were hit and miss here; we spent most of the evening outside after lucking out with a warmer evening. The clientele were a mixture; some of the classic shoreditch types but also many 'normal' folk here for decent drinks and decent priced food snacks. I can recommend the Greeky pitta, olives, dolmades and hummus plate (£5) and also the nachos weren't bad.

The bouncer wasn't letting in groups of guys without lasses; and for good cause it would seem as later on a group of very loud, very drunk guys were ruffling a few feather's outside and made for a pretty unpleasant environment until they moved off. Place gets pretty busy on weekends and when a few parties are booked they don't let non guestlisters enter which is a bit of a shame allowing for no spontaneity; and given the large outside area I imagine they'll have quite a few bookings this summer. Not my kind of music but yeah, decent spot for a night out and I'm sure I'll find myself there again.

The first thing I noticed about All Stars was how wee it was - just four lanes with a section to dine and a loungey area around the bar. I'm so used to bowling alleys being all-round entertainers with pool tables, pinball machines and even cinemas cluttering about. I quite liked that this was definitely a bowling alley, and you come here for one purpose - and so it all holds together very well with the theme and decor. But saying that we did still leave after a drink or two to a competitor alley that, while less pretty, offered a range of other activities to make a longer night of it.

The shoes and balls were in good nick and everything was well kept and clean. The staff could have done with a bit more oomph and the lanes we had were disappointingly faulty - more than once - not counting a strike here, counting another strike that didn't happen, not resetting pins etc. If this is as frequent as it seemed they'd do well to place a spare hand in the vicinity to sort this out.

I hope they do league nights here though didn't see any notice of it - would be a super place for those bowling diehards (permitting they sort out their technical bits).

After shunning the touristy hovels spanning out from the Grande Place we went on a mission for something special, and chanced upon this lovely little French restauarant. The front windows and shelves are packed with preserves and different sized tins of fois gras.

We trotted in and took a seat, before being served by two people who knew very little English. Undeterred I went ahead to order from my school French supply and a head waitress passing by slapped two English menus in front of us and asked us politely what we wanted.

After umming and ahhing I opted for duck with roasted potatoes and salad and my partner for a cassoulet and a glass of red wine each.

The food was simply brilliant and the place was slightly quirky - with a few silver toasters perched on tables with scribbles on the front - a message from the owner from what I could tell.

There's a creaky old tap that looks a hundred years old but really just serves to give the place more charm.

Near the end of our meal the place had a total electricity black out and the staff apologetically scattered a few t-light candles around us and gave us some wine on the house.

It was by far my best meal in Brussels and proves that it's worth heading off the beaten track every once in a while - someone has to dig up the hidden gems for the rest of us.