Juicy Fruity Bits

The restaurant is located just off the town centre, it is small but chic and elegant.  It really felt cozy in this Korean run restaurant which offers both Korean and Japanese dishes.

I opted for the Matsuba Bento lunch.   It there is quite a lot, miso soup, tempura, chicken teriyaki, salad, edamame, bean spouts, sushi, sashimi as well as having rice on the side.  I think the amount that you get is quite good for what you pay for and not to mention the variety of food.

The tempura stood out the most, it was amazing.  It was very crisp and light and the sauce was still very warm.   To be honest, I think this is one of the best I have had.   I was most disappointed with the Chicken Teriyaki, although the the sauce was not to sweet and nor strong, the chicken seems over done and was quite chewy.

I wasn’t too sure about the service, I was seated but we weren’t given the menu until quite a bit later.  Everything else is pretty much average, they were not very attentive or anything .  I expected better service from a small restaurant so that side was quite disappointing.

Address: 10 Red Lion Street, Richmond, TW9 1RW

Tel: 020 8605 3513

Value for Money: 6/10 Food: 7/10 Service: 5/10

Additional comments: It wasn’t anything exceptional and I don’t think I will be returning to this one

The Grill at the Dorchester, has allocated time slots where they ask you to arrive 15 minutes prior to the allocated time slot, so be sure that you get there on time as they can get quite busy during lunch.

When we arrive in the lobby we were a little lost.  There were members of staff looking at us when we walked in and with us shuffling we didn’t get approached till a little later.  After we were directed to the restaurant and then seated I noticed that the staff are professional but they do seem to look quite miserable.

For lunch we settled for the 3 course set menu, we were provide with bread the two which stood out were tomato and Stilton.  Incidentally I did tried both, I have to say the tomato just taste of bread where as the Stilton does have distinct taste of cheese.

I had the Mackerel for my starter, I was disappointed with the the salad that accompanied with the Mackerel because it was quite sharp, but it was very crunchy.  I loved the beetroot jelly it wasn’t anywhere as nearly as sharp as the vegetables and it melts in your mouth.

The lamb I had was tender and full of flavour, it tasted lovely and the skin was still crisp when I took my first bite.  It was complimented with gnocchi soft, small and not dry.  Although the portions looks small it was surprisingly filling

When my Banana financier arrived in front of me,  it had a strong scent of being sweet and sugary.  It was very nice finding slices of banana inside but when I tried the sorbet I was shocked, it instantly reminded me of grass.  I didn’t think that it could be right and combine the two together, the combination of both infused into a totally different flavour.

Address: The Dorchester, Park Lane, Mayfair, W1K 1QA

Tel: 020 7629 8888

Value for Money: 8/10 Food: 8.5/10 Service: 7/10

Additional comments: Really enjoyed the experience of fine food and would love to go again

Summer season and we all love icecreams and sorbets.  This year my friends bought me a ice-cream make for my birthday and it is a really amazing.  I love it so much, its small and compact and it makes it so much easier to make icecream.  I have tried to make it manually in the past but sometimes it can tricky because you have to remember to take it out to break the ice crystals.

So far I have made mango sorbet, berry sorbet and mocha hazelnut ice-cream.

All are very tasty but my personal favourite mango sorbet.

Mango Sorbet

1 large mango.
50g sugar add to taste
100ml of hot water

1. Skin and chop the mango
2. Puree the pieces
3. Place water and sugar into a sauce pan with the pureed mango and simmer for approximately 5 minutes
4. leave to cool overnight.
Freeze and occasionally break ice crystals or place in ice cream maker and follow instructions

Momo has moved from the side street and into a small hotel which has a colourful history. The hotel use to be a brothel, it wasn’t till six years ago it was renovated to the hotel it is today. To mark the hotesl’s interesting past they have placed a red lamp as a symbol.

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The reastaurant itself is small but spacious, the don’t have many tables and general its quite minimal.  I was facing the garden which is very beautifully maintained.  I did get a bit fidgety towards the end of the meal because the seat was relatively quite hard

I

Most of us ordered the set dinner, which came in four courses.  I selected the sashimi set dinner, it came with dumplings, a choice of tempura or soup, my main and dessert which comes in small selection in which you can pick from.

Dumpling was rather nice, to honest it came out quite quickly so I expected it to be cold or lukewarm rather than hot.  Tempura was not one of the best that I have tried it was reasonably portioned and slightly crisp but not very light and airy.

I quite like my sashimi meal, the fish was displayed beautifully which is accompanied with a bowl of miso soup.  I personally found that the soup was very strong.  Dessert was simple we had a choice of fruit, ice cream with a few flavours and yoghurt and orange jelly which was quite interesting.  It was definitely not we were expecting,  it was quite firm with gentle hints of orange.

This is more of a family and conserved place so I don’t think they enjoyed the fact that we were a little loud, and that really showed.  Generally service is quite good but some times its a bit difficult understanding them particularly when they were telling us the desserts but they were kind enough to let us know by writing it down for us.

Address: 55 Hanger Lane, London, W5 3HL

Tel: 020  8991 4450

Value for Money: 7/10 Food: 7/10 Service: 6.5/10

Additional comments:Well decorated and spacious environment, but it is more of a quite place

I was actually looking forward to going to this restaurant, particularly when I had a friend from a friend which came from aboard joining us.  However it didn’t pan out the why we thought.  We actually argue with a manager regarding the sitting arrangement, and we got up and left.  When the restaurant is not busy and there is more than plenty of space I don’t think I am asking for much to have a table per pair (particularly when the tables are designed that way).  I was pretty annoyed and upset about the situation I decided them write to them to ensure that this doesn’t happen again.

The first response wasn’t what I expected,  I felt a bit fobbed off being angry and fobbed of I decided to write another email.

Following from the above email I have declined their offer and highlighted that I hope that he and senior manager will treat the matter seriously.  I have no intentions of going back to this particular branch but I have not ruled out other branches.