Tuesday 26 March 2013

Bill's

After 5 + City Pig’s summary      

Snapshot

Cuisine/Speciality:
Cafe/Brassiere
Price:
£16 each for a main meal, soft drink and service charge.
Healthy:
·         Healthy scale 3/5
          A lot of comfort food on the menu but vegetable and salad  
          sides  available.
Tasty:
·         3.5/5 – Food
·         4.5/5 – Service
·         3/5 – Comfort of dining in
·         3/5 - Value
·         3.5/5 – Overall rating

Occasion:
·         Casual brunch/lunch/afternoon tea/coffee break/dinner

Address:       
          9 White Lion Street, London N1 9PD. Nearest tube station    
          is Angel.
Opening times
·        Monday to Saturday: 8am to 11pm
·        Sunday: 9am to 10:30pm

Eat in/Takeaway:
          Eat-in
Recommended dishes & drinks
·         Fish and chips
·         Great selection of desserts.
·         Cinnamon doughnuts with chocolate sauce and 
          strawberries are a winner.

Vegetarian dishes
          Suitable for Vegetarians.
Loyalty card
          No.
Website


After 5 + City Pig’s analysis

Bill’s is a place to come if you fancy modern and classic European dishes. It is like a café but offers more than coffee and tea. It has a menu jam packed with a lot of dishes ranging from fish and chips, burgers and fries, classic fish pies and specials like BBQ ribs. For brunch, there is the classic English breakfast and pancakes. Then for teatime, there are scones, lamingtons and Eton Mess.

Bill’s have been sprucing up all over town and it is not hard to see why with their friendly service and attentive service and a menu that has a great comfort food to see us through these cold spells.

I experienced fantastic customer service, such as asking if I wanted table water, asking if we needed more napkins because we chose a messy ribs dish. Offering to take a photo is just another example of attentive service which even posh restaurants fail to deliver.

It is colourful inside with walls lined with jams and tins stocked with Bill’s own produce.
It is a feel good place to bring friends to have a lazy brunch and lunch. There is also absolutely no need to feel you have to wear anything special here as it is very casual not like many artisan boutique breakfast bars.

Classic dishes like fish and chips are a no-nonsense choice. Portions are generous and you will be very full. There is a large selection of desserts to tempt those with bigger appetites and you really should leave some room. The cinnamon doughnuts for example, are a real delight, hot, light and puffy.
I recommend coming here in the weekends for brunch, to line those stomachs and warm yourself up with plenty of coffee.




Coffee presented to me.

Coffee pattern I created.

Square Meal

Saturday 23 March 2013

Rotary Bar and Diner


After 5 + City Pig’s summary

Snapshot
Cuisine/Speciality:
American style
Price:
£10 for a burger and £10 for pint sized cocktails.
Healthy:
  •   Healthy scale 2/5.Chips and burgers on the menu sums up this place to be an American diner style food so avoid if you are on a serious diet.

Tasty
  •  3/5 – Food 
  •  4/5 - Drinks
  •  4/5 - Service
  •  3.5/5 - Comfort of dining in
  •  3.5/5 - Value
  •  3.5/5 - Overall rating

Occasion:
  •   Drinks with friends at the bar; Lunch and dinner dining.

Address:       
70 City Road, London, EC1Y 2BJ. Nearest tube station is Old Street Station.
Opening times
10am to late Mon-Sat (closing at 2am on Thurs-Sat)
Eat in/Takeaway:
Eat-in and drink at the bar.
Recommended dishes & drinks
  •    Day Boat Bun (Fish and crab burger) and cocktails.
Vegetarian dishes
Suitable for Vegetarians but limited.
Loyalty card
No.
Website

Recently there has been lot of new hip eateries around Shoreditch. Rotary bar diner brings American style food and lots of pint sized cocktails. I came here on an early Saturday evening for some dinner and drinks. The music and lighting was perfect as I was able to hear myself speak but at the same time, upbeat background music to keep all entertained through the night.

Staff here, are friendly and allow Yum Bun customers to eat in. The menu at present is limited and concentrates on a lot of meat like burgers and grills.
BBQ food will arrive later according to the menu. The fish burger and chips was very filling and I found this interesting as most burger joints really just focus on beef burgers. It is a very large portion as the filling is sandwiched with a sauce that is similar to the one thousand island sauce which I find a bit too rich.
The fried chicken roll also has quite a strong black peppery taste which I wasn’t expecting. However, the burgers are not bad but there are better ones in town.

I was really impressed with the quality of the cocktails and the size. Cocktails here are priced at £10 but be assured, the balance of the flavours in the cocktail is superb. They are presented in a pint size glass and beer mug. The drinks scored highly for me and here is definitely a place to bring some friends for a good catch up over a few drinks.








Square Meal

Sunday 17 March 2013

Yum Bun

After 5 + City Pig’s summary


Snapshot
Cuisine/Speciality:
Oriental/Street food
Price:
£3.50 for one bun or £6 for two buns. 
Healthy:
·         Healthy scale 3.5/5
Steamed bun has no oil and meat cuts seem to be tender cuts and lean.
Tasty:
·         3.5/5 – Food
·       4/5 – Service (Yum Bun customers may bring their buns and eat inside the Rotary Bar and Diner which is right next door. There is a door linking the two eateries.)
·         3.5/5 – Comfort of dining in (Only assessed if you are eating your buns in the Rotary Bar and Diner.
·         3.5/5 - Value
·         3.5/5 – Overall rating
Occasion:
·         Snacking/Street food/Night time munchies
·         Light lunch/dinner
Address:       
31 Featherstone Street, London, EC1Y 2BJ. Nearest tube station is Old Street Station.
Opening times
Monday to Friday: 11:30am - 2:30pm for lunchtime trading.
Thursday to Saturday: 6-10pm for evening trading.
Eat in/Takeaway:
Eat-in and take-away. Note: Eat-in next door at the Rotary Bar and Diner is allowed as there is not really any space to eat at Yum Bun. 
Recommended dishes & drinks
·         Classic Pork yum bun with hoi sin sauce.
Vegetarian dishes
Suitable for Vegetarians.There is a vegetarian option.
Loyalty card
No.
Website


Yum Bun just opened in Old Street right next to the new Rotary Bar and Diner. This place offers soft white steamed buns filled with either pork, beef, mushroom and chicken options.

The classic bun is the pork bun, filled with hoi sin sauce and spring onions and cucumbers  This creation is very similar to a duck hoi sin wrap but minus the duck.

This definitely works, as the bun is very soft, moreish and the pork tender and moist with the hoi sin sauce. At £3.50 a bun, this really is an affordable snack. The only problem is that you probably could definitely eat more than one.

I am intrigued about the other options and whether the other combinations works just as well. Steamed buns or oriental style buns could be the new street food trend and I always have craved for something like this to arrive in London. I could do with a bubble tea in one hand and a yum bun in the other. This would be the perfect combination.

Just as people enjoy the pub crawl, a food crawl might be the latest trend we see in London. I hope there will be more places like Yum bun where you can eat one snack and then move to the next food stall. 


View 20130316_182512.jpg in slide show






Square Meal

Sunday 3 March 2013

Obika - mozzarella bar

 
City Pig’s summary

Snapshot
 
Cuisine/Speciality:
Italian – (Coffee and restaurant)
Price:
£15 for lunch each – average for pizza and a drink.
Healthy:
·         Healthy scale 4/5
Go for tomato based dishes.
 
Tasty:
·         3.5/5 – Food
·         3/5 – Service
·         3/5 – Comfort of dining in
·         3/5 - Value
·         3.5/5 – Overall rating
 
Occasion:
·         Business dining
·         After work dining
·         Lunch time dining
 
Address:       
Canary Wharf branch: Unit 1 West Wintergarden, 35 Bank street, London E14 5NW
Opening times
Monday to Friday: 10am-10pm
Saturday: 12-10pm
 
Eat in/Takeaway:
Eat-in and take-away
Recommended dishes & drinks
·         Pizza dishes
·         Salads – Caprese Classica
 
Vegetarian dishes
Suitable for Vegetarians.
Loyalty card
No.
Website
 

 
City Pig’s analysis

My search still continues in finding good lunch places in Canary Wharf, ever since I work there. I miss the City of London as there is always somewhere you can walk somehow discover a hidden gem. Unfortunately, the number of eateries versus the number of people working and living in Canary Wharf doesn’t quite provide the rich and varied cuisines found in the City.

Obika is located in Wintergarden and is very obviously a classy looking Italian café/restaurant. It is like an upmarket deli but its main focus is on mozzarella. Apparently it is flown in from Italy and this is what makes there dishes amazing.

I opted for the mozzarella salad and it didn’t fail to disappoint. It was soft but firm and just provided my mouth with freshness. The olive oil and balsamic vinegar is amazing. This simple dish gave such great satisfaction purely because of the high quality ingredients.

My friend tried the pizza and I obviously had a try as well. The pizza is more like a flatbread, crisp and thin. If you prefer thick crust you may not like this version. However, I loved it because the base of the pizza has this lightness and less of the usual doughy texture.

I think it is healthier as there were loads of vegetables on top and a flat base which means less carbs! The service is quite attentive but those coming on a Friday for lunch should book to secure a table, otherwise sitting by the bar is the only option.

The pizzas don’t come cheap and averaging around £11 is quite steep. However, this is Canary Wharf, prices are not cheap around there. For the quality of the ingredients it is worth coming here for a Friday lunch. It may not be super filling but all those Mediterranean ingredients must be good for you.

This is a great place to catch up with colleagues or friends for coffee as they have a separate coffee bar area and a casual t but at the same time slick place to be seen in restaurant.

I also like there chocolate and almond cake as this is not too sweet and just goes fantastic with a strong coffee. I recommend coming here if you want some Italian flavours and if you want to rid yourself of boredom.
 




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