K-10 - Japanese

City Pig’s summary

Snapshot
Cuisine:	Japanese
Price:	£6 lunch deal – hot rice/noodle/single set sushi option with drink. Assorted sushi set £7.50
Healthy:	Healthy
Tasty:	·         3.5/5 – Food ·         3/5 – Service ·         3.5/5 – Overall rating
Occasion:	·         There is a restaurant but very busy. Booking is a must. ·         Take-away. ·         Quick lunch.
Address:	20 Copthall Avenue, London,EC2R 7DN (near Moorgate tube station).
Opening times	Monday to Friday - 11am to 3pm 111am-3pmpening Times: Monday - Friday (11.00aT Tel: 020 7562 8510el: 020 7562 8510
Eat in/Takeaway:	Eat-in and take-aways
Recommended dishes & drinks	Sushi rolls and teriyaki hot rice dishes.
Vegetarian dishes	Yes
Loyalty card	No.
Website	http://www.k10.com/
Notes	A quick Japanese take-away eatery. Authentic and tasty Japanese food – be quick as queues form even for take-aways. Bookings for the restaurant are highly recommended.

City Pig’s analysis

K-10 is a well-established Japanese restaurant and take-away spot for City lunch diners. As you arrive, lunch queues have already formed outside the shop. This is where the take-away shop is and downstairs is the restaurant.

This is a real no-nonsense Japanese food brought to the City. K10 brings good quality sushi and hot meals. It is reasonably priced and with the lunch deal being set at £6 for the rice/noodles of the day with edamame beans and a drink you can’t go wrong.

Those that want just the sushi – I found is much pricier. However, I think one will struggle to find decent sushi at a very cheap price.

The rolls are the typical variety as one would find in a Japanese restaurant, such as inside out rolls and sushi nigiri etc. The taste is fresh and beats most chain sushi restaurants.

Add this place to your little black book for food. I am wishing they would extend the lunch hours to dinner as I think City diners would eat here after work.

Bubbleology - Bubble tea (Taiwanese drink)

Snapshot
Cuisine:	Café – Bubble Tea specialists
Price:	£3.45 regular bubble tea
Healthy:	Yes – I believe there are no added sugars (but please check with the staff.)
Tasty:	·         3/5 – Drink ·         3/5 – Service ·         3/5 – Comfort of dining in ·         3/5 – Overall rating
Occasion:	·         Meeting with friends. ·         Makes a change from Coffee bars.
Address:	49 Rupert Street, Soho, London, W1D 7PF
Opening times	Monday to Thursday – 11am-11pm Friday- 11am-11:30pm Saturday - 11:30am-11:30pm Sunday - 11:30am-11pm Tel: 0207 494 4231
Eat in/Takeaway:	Eat-in and take-away
Recommended dishes & drinks	Original bubble tea Rose milk bubble tea Strawberry bubble tea
Vegetarian dishes	No gelatine – suitable for vegetarians.
Loyalty card	No.
Website	http://www.bubbleology.co.uk/
Notes	A popular oriental drink from Taiwan with a clever marketing making you feel you are in a lab!

After 5 + City Pig’s analysis

Bubbleology is a specialist café bringing you bubble tea. Bubble tea originates from Taiwan and can be found across the Far East and many parts of US and Canada.

It is essentially tea mixed with tapioca pearls which brings the chewy texture whilst sipping the drink. The tapioca pearls is like giant jelly balls but is not made from jelly, so vegetarians can have it too.

The tea can be served hot or cold and in many flavours ranging from fruit flavoured to milk based teas. The original bubble tea is the Assam or Jasmine flavour (black teas). The milk tea may remind you of a milkshake but less rich and creamy.

This place is busy because the owners have made the shop looking like a lab where staff serves you in lab coats. It is very clever and really provides Bubbleology a unique position as the ultimate bubble tea masters. Although, it is small in the Soho branch, it is pleasant once you find a seat.

The regular size bubble tea is very generous and often felt I could not finish the drink as it is very filling. At £3.45 it is not super cheap but it is reasonable and comparable to some coffee shops.

It does make a refreshing change to the usual coffee shops and has a youthful feel bringing you back to school days. However, do not feel you cannot come here if you are not a student; there were plenty of other mature looking office types here as well as the more junior looking students.

It cannot compare to the authentic Taiwan bubble tea I have experienced but it sure makes a good stab bringing some uniqueness to the non-alcoholic drinks industry.

Peony Club - Chinese

Snapshot
Cuisine:	Chinese (dim sum available for lunch)
Price:	Average spend £12 (Based on just dim sum dishes and a drink). Average spend £20 (Based on dim sum dishes, main dishes from menu and a drink. Set lunches start at £18.50 per person
Healthy:	Health and diet conscious: Opt for steamed dishes and stir fry vegetables. Chinese food can be oily but Peony stir-fries and even duck dishes were not too greasy.
Tasty:	·         3.5/5 – Food ·         3.5/5 – Service ·         4/5 – Comfort of dining in ·         4/5 – Overall rating
Occasion:	·         Friday lunch time treat. ·         Dinner - clients/colleagues and friends catch up. ·         Private dining and lounge
Address:	46 Gresham Street, London, EC2V 7AY
Opening times	Monday to Friday –11am-3pm & 6pm-11pm. Saturday and Sunday – Closed. Tel: +44 (0) 020 7726 0308
Eat in/Takeaway:	Eat-in and take-aways
Recommended dishes & drinks	Dim sum: ·         Steamed prawn dumplings (Very large and generous prawn meat inside the dumpling). ·         Steamed prawn and scallop dumplings ·         Singapore fried vermicelli.
Vegetarian dishes	Yes
Loyalty card	Membership available for an annual fee.
Website	http://www.peonyclub.com/
Notes	A posher Chinese restaurant but without the pretentious atmosphere. Great Cantonese dishes that is rare to be found in the Square mile.

City Pig’s analysis

Peony is the newly refurbished Chinese restaurant on Gresham Street which was formerly known as Goldfish.

I had been to Goldfish and was not impressed by the Chinese food served there. I decided to give Peony a chance, as clearly it has undergone a vast image change.

It’s striking black and pink logo and dark interiors as you walk in breathes an air of elegance that never existed in Goldfish. I noticed there were books on the shelves which seemed odd but added to the stylish designs.

All staff was friendly enough to greet us and bring us to our tables. It felt luxurious but not in a pretentious manner and I can see this being a place to bring your clients or perhaps a nice treat with your colleagues.

The dim sum menu might seem limited to those who are regular dim sum eaters but the staple dim sum e.g. “Prawn dumplings” are there. Indeed, the prawn dumplings were superior as the name describes. They were by far the most generous with the prawn meat and it was encased with a thin see through rice flour shell. It was perfect.

Most of the steamed dumplings were very good. I was a little disappointed there wasn’t more choice on the dim sum. However, the Singapore noodles were cooked very well – not too spicy and a hint of curry powder mixed in. Some Chinese restaurants tend to cook very oily and greasy dishes but I was pleased peony did not follow.

The portion sizes could be bigger, to reflect the prices but this is where up-market Chinese restaurants seem to all have smaller portions.

It is not an everyday lunch option but a Friday lunch time treat or a place to meet friends or colleagues for dinner in the Square mile. I will have to try the dinner menu next time and see how this compares.

I have always wanted there to be more good Chinese food in the City of London and I can count Peony as being one of them.