Dim T, 2 More London Place, Tooley Street, London, SE1 2DB (Second visit)

I am surprised with how I "may" actually become a regular to some restaurants. Emphasizing the word may as I'm always up for trying something new rather than going to same places. This time I had visitors from abroad, they preferred asian cuisine. London Bridge branch of this restaurant has a great view of Tower Bridge especially at night when it is lighted. Getting off the tube/bus at London Bridge you walk by the Thames on Queen's Walk in order to reach the restaurant which is good in both ways: On the way there you enjoy the promenade, on the way back it helps you digest all that food you have just eaten!
As starter: edamame beans (naturally good as it's hard to mess it up), duck spring rolls and satay chicken (both are disaster)
My guests have chosen crispy duck which is basically Beijing-style duck slices that comes with onions and pita. I go for udon noodle prawn teriyaki. Prawn was a bit blunt but the noodle tastes good and it is filling without giving you discomfort in the stomach.
I picked chocolate bento box as a dessert. Brownie and vanilla ice cream comes in a mysterious black box. I like these sort of little gimmicks that add to your dining experience. Some guests chose mango sorbet, I tried a bit as well, absolutely great. If you want something a little lighter you could choose this over brownie. And the picture is the fruit that went into the chocolate fondue dip :=)

Chez Gerard, 38 The Market, Covent Garden Piazza, WC2E 8RF

It is great to have an affordable French restaurant in central London. I have been to this place quite a few times and always enjoyed the food. Staff are very nice people. A quick search on Chez Gerard restaurants tells me that it is one of the 11 branches of the group and this particular branch alone generates GBP 5million annually, not bad, eh? :=) Also it is quite amazing that they have around 6o staff in this restaurant serving to 250 covers. Respect! I've always admired hospitality businesses.

This time we went there for a friend's birthday on a pleasant weekday afternoon. This is my favourite Chez Gerard branch as it has a roof top balcony overseeing Covent Garden.
As students we like smart deals such as their "prix fixe" where you can choose either a starter-main or main-dessert. The picture is goat cheese starter dish. As a main, I usually prefer steak-frites. They know how to cook proper medium rump steak. Although I'm quite interested in the vegetarian movement I cannot help when it is good red meat. I could maybe give up on chicken but not steaks, well sea food is hard too:)
Although our waitress recommended tart au citron (lemon tart) as a dessert saying it's quite popular, unfortunately we don't agree with her. Next time, I'll go for somethnig chocolatey, you can't go wrong with that!

Manorom Thai, 16 Maiden Lane Covent Garden London WC2E 7NJ (Second visit)

Well, another visit, as promised, however good food combined with a heated conversation on London job market is the reason to forget taking a picture again. We had the set menu again. Everything is the same except that spicy chicken soup is getting better and spicier every time! I literally burst into tears when ambitiously trying to finish it, not even mentioning my friend's face going into different expressions with every sip :)

I think the soup so outperforms all other dishes that I lose my objectivity in evaluating them. Well, the chicken in the curry dishes is not soft rather crunchy. Steamed vegetables are alright. Finally gotta stop giving canned lychee fruit as the dessert.. Prices increased 2-3 pounds as well. Well I would go there again for sure as I like its cosy atmosphere quite calmer than the rest of Covent Garden restos.
Posted by rev at 10:13 PM

Abeno Too, 17-18 Great Newport Street, London

It's been 2 years since I last had okonomi-yaki...good old osaka days :) I was walking around when I bumped into this sweet restaurant in leicester square. Wow, they actually have a specialised okonomi-yaki place in London, I'm such a beginner to the London restaurant-scene, I guess they have everything!
Ok, what is okonomi-yaki? It is a savory pancake that is cooked on the hotplate of your own table. It is topped with mayonnaise, katsuobushi(shavings of smoked tuna) and aonori(seaweed flakes). Sounds different huh?



Monday 2pm, obviously not a peak time, we are one of the only two tables :) We picked the lunch set menu that comes with a miso soup, okonomiyaki and seaweed cucumber salad. Our preference of okonomiyaki was Shinshu Mix which contains chichen, cheese and asparagus. Luckily it was diner-style, i.e. the cook prepared it for us, otherwise I don't think I'd be able to fry the pancake thoroughly.
It was a dear friend's birthday. Without making him realise, I asked our lovely waiter(chatty and amicable lady) to bring a dessert with a candle on top. She recommended Sakura-jima sundae, which I loved. Quite weirdly my friend didn't like chocolate much(!), so I might have had the most of his dessert :=)
Having the dish cooked in front of you is fun and it is filling!

Tibits, 12-14 Heddon Street (off Regent Street) London

People! see me published at the restaurant web-site :=)


http://www.tibits.co.uk/e/about-us/media-roundup/


This vegetarian restaurant has no menu but "the food boat" which is basically an open buffet with some 30 dishes to choose from. They are GM-free and made with fresh, seasonal produce sourced from the UK and Europe. There are asian, indian and mediterranean dishes such as hummus, tabouleh, dahl, cheese-jalapeno balls, falafel, flat bean salad, mushroom salad... You fill your plate from the buffet, weigh it at the cashier and pay accordingly. For dinner "boat" price is 21pounds/kg. A plate like the one in the picture weighs around 500g.
I learned from the lovely lady at the cashier that they change the mains every 3 months (i.e. seasonal), but they keep the classics like jalapenos and dahl all year round. By the way there are some desserts as well but was too full to even have a look :) My plate had way too many tastes altogether therefore I choose not to have a drink/juice in order to focus on the dish.
Such a healthy and wholesome dinner!

Manorom Thai, 16 Maiden Lane Covent Garden London WC2E 7NJ

As a regular of covent garden, I was quite ashamed not having discovered this street. Manorom is a small, really small restaurant with less than 10 tables I suppose. It was deserted when we got there on a thursday evening around 6pm. You know when a restaurant is empty, one can't help but have prejudice for low quality/mediocre taste. Only 5 minutes after we put our bums on the chairs, the place was packed!
We preferred the 3-course dinner set menu. For less than 15 pounds we had awesome (seriously no words to describe it) spicy chicken soup, hearty portion of sweet and sour prawns, jasmin rice, veggies in oyster sauce and lychee desert. Amicable staff, good taste, great value.

Soon after this first visit I have taken another friend to this place on a friday evening and it was fully booked for the night. Apparently people have discovered this place already! If you haven't, consider it for your next time in covent garden:=)

Yes I was so hungry, I even forgot to take a picture..this gives me the excuse to go there again!

The Real Greek, 60 - 62 Long Acre, Covent Garden, London

To start with let me say this place is good food for value. Especially if you are into mediterranean cuisine you'll like it. As a beginner to greek cuisine I can't tell whether the dishes taste traditional but anyways they taste great. You can really feel that the ingredients used are fresh fresh!
In the picture you see Cretan Meal Deal, you choose couple of mezes and a main. Enjoy sharing!

After all I think a-la-carte items should be a little more cheaper. If you were to order meze individually they cost around 3-4 each. So you feel obligated to choose the sharer to get more value but then again the sharer options are limited to cheaper menu items.
I would still go there to try other dishes.

In my second visit I tried Soutzouki Souflaki; spicy beef sausage on flatbread topped with tzatziki. Intense taste and aroma but don't worry not that spicy plus yoghurt topping helps tone it down.

My third, fourth and ...visits followed as I got addicted to this place. Steamed baby potatoes are tasty and the red wine is fine. What I like about this place the most is manager Roman, such a fun guy! He must be tired as his restaurant is busy pretty much the whole time but he never shows. He is always cheerful and willing to have a few words with you :)

Tas Restaurant, 22 Bloomsbury St, London, WC1B 3QJ

My first Turkish restaurant visit in the UK. More to come!
The long and feastish lunch began with the starters (mezes). Honestly I didn't like any of them. When I see the dishes I could tell what they are but then they taste totally different than what I normally expected! As for the main, I chose Hunkar Begendi (lamb on a creamy-aubergine sauce). That is one of my favourites in turkish cuisine. Here the sauce was well prepared however the meat, I couldn't eat...I could never know that I would forget all about my disappointment in the main dish by the time I had my first bite of the dessert. Baklava was alright. But the chestnut and cream was a blast! It's a retouch to the chestnut candy; lighter and still full taste. As you can see in the picture, the display is also nice huh?
I will try some other main dish before a final verdict :)

Dim T, 2 More London Place, Tooley Street, London, SE1 2DB

Again a chain restaurant..
Location is lovely, if you get a window seat you could enjoy the view of Tower Bridge, cool!
Atmosphere is informal and elegant. Little dim at night though..
As a main I enjoyed my prawn sweet coconut rice noodles. Probably the tastiest and most filling noodle ever!
As a dessert we had fruit and marshmallow chocolate fondue, you can never be wrong about chocolate :=) Though I never had marshmallows before in my life, my friends were so nice not to make fun about it :))
The washroom is cleannn. Haha they also followed this invisible-door trend I see nowadays. Although it may seem like a brown wall, if you are lucky you can discover the door before it's too late :P They also play good music in there ;)
Prices are also moderate, worths a visit!

Hummus Bros, Victoria House 37-63 Southampton Row, WC1B 4DA, London

First of all this place is innovative in the sense that they use hummus which is usually a side dish as a base for mains (veggies, chicken, beef etc.). The hummus is a little creamy than I expected and it comes with a medium piece of pitta bread which is usually enough.
Chunky beef is my favorite along with mushrooms. Can't wait to try the guacamole next time! Though I don't understand why they treat tzatziki as a topping for mains rather than as a side dish...
One negative comment for the menu is for tabouleh and baklava, both are very dry.
Aloe vera juice is energizing, love it!
They bring complimentary salad/dessert and mint tea which is a lovely treat :)
Great value for money.